Who is Little Red, and what’s he doing atop this building?
.JPEG "Meet Little Red, the rooster on the roof of the new Love & Co. Kitchen & Cocktails. Little Red used to be known as Big Ed, and painted white, when the business was the Donut Whole.")
Back in 2009 when Donut Whole co-founder Michael Carmody debuted Big Ed, a fiberglass rooster atop the business near Douglas and Hydraulic, he said the couple thousand dollars he spent on it was a lot more economical than a neon sign.
With a few $20 floodlights, he said, “Kapow! Instant icon.”
Now that Love & Co. Kitchen & Cocktails is opening the space, Big Ed has gone through a transformation and now may become iconic for a different reason.
He’s still part of the Douglas Avenue menagerie — which includes the nearby bronze horse atop the Superior Rubber Stamp & Seal building and a menacing gorilla lurking over the Artist at Large Tattoo building — but he’s now painted flaming red and been renamed Little Red.
“He is in tribute to the late Coach Theo Cribbs,” said Adrian Love, who is opening the restaurant with his sister, Kiavoni Judie.
Love said Cribbs volunteered his time and talent for, among other things, youth football.
“He’s a legend to everybody,” Love said. “He was influential to the north side.”
Cribbs, who coached a team he started called the Bulldogs, was known for a chant about a little red rooster that caught on with other coaches and teams.
“Little red rooster, sittin’ on the fence,” he’d say, and his players would repeat it.
“Cheering for the other team, because he didn’t have good sense.”
The kids would repeat that.
Then Cribbs, followed by the kids: “That same little red rooster, sittin’ on the fence.”
Then: “Cheering for them Bulldogs, because he had good sense.”
The players would repeat that and come in for a “one, two, three Bulldogs!” cheer or break to go to their positions.
“I thought it was the coolest thing, but I knew he meant business when he said little red rooster,” Love said. “We knew when they started screaming that we was gonna have a long day.”
Lots of people have asked Love what he was going to do with the chicken atop his building.
“I’m like, that’s a rooster,” he corrects them.
“You know, I’m a country boy. Our family’s from the country.”
His grandmother, Ahnawake Love, used to own the popular Mama Love’s restaurant, which he and his sister are partly reviving.
They had their fist sold-out tasting event at Love & Co. over the weekend.
“It was amazing,” Love said.
The grand opening is Sept. 22.
If you’re not sure where you’re going, look for Little Red. Given that he’s actually 9 feet tall, you can’t miss him.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 4:05 AM.