Tavern on Rush is keeping its sign. When Phil Stefani and his children reopen the steakhouse across the street from its original space in Gold Coast, passersby will see the familiar oval-shaped black and gold logo with the tagline “an exciting restaurant.”
A revived Tavern on Rush should open on Monday, September 30 at 1015 N. Rush Street, according to a news release. That’s at the Thompson Hotel inside the former Nico Osteria, the lauded Italian seafood restaurant that opened in 2013 by the team behind the Publican and Big Star. Before Nico, the space housed Chicago’s outpost of the Whiskey, the chain of bars owned by Rande Gerber, the entrepreneur who also launched Casamigos Tequila with George Clooney. Gerber is married to model Cindy Crawford. The two are parents of model Kaia Gerber.
In both the Whiskey and Tavern’s heydays in the ’90s and ’00s, big-name touring musicians would stop by as would sports stars playing Chicago teams. Stefani would reminisce about seeing Michael Jordan smoke cigars. Tavern was known for its people-watching and bars, though it also served steakhouse fare. The original closed in October 2023, capping off 24 years on Rush Street. Stefani, a revered culinary figure in Chicago, was pushed out by his landlords, Fred Barbara and James Banks. In March, those two opened a new restaurant, the Bellevue, in the Tavern space.
The revamped bar.Tavern on Rush/Alexa Vaicaitis
Tavern on Rush’s private dining room.Tavern on Rush/Alexa Vaicaitis
The two sides have apparently made peace as they’ve moved on to their new projects near Rush and Division, an area known for iconic restaurants like Gibsons and Maple & Ash. However, the biggest opening of the year may have been the return of Foxtrot, as its founder relaunches the corner store chain after its former founders left the brand in bankruptcy. Rosebud Restaurants hope for their own revival after crews demolished the building that housed Carmine’s at 1043 N. Rush Street. A new location should open inside the newly constructed building in the spring.
Tavern 2.0 takes up two floors and 16,000 square feet. It’s larger than the original and will have food from Chicago native chef Michael Wallach. “Wally” has worked at Weber Grill, Carlucci’s, Nick’s Fishmarket, McCormick & Schmick’s, and Park Grill. The experience fits with what Tavern customers expect near the infamous Viagra Triangle. Sample menu items include wagyu ravioli and perhaps a nod to Nico with seafood Cataplana.
In earlier interviews, Stefani’s children spoke about leaving their marks. For example, Gina Stefani said she was excited about focusing more on brunch as the Gold Coast needs more options. Gina Stefani enjoyed success at her West Loop restaurant, Mad Social, which built a strong brunch following. While the ’90s and ’00s may have seen long late-night lines flowing outside bars, the demand isn’t as strong and perhaps has shifted toward morning meals. Brunch will launch after the restaurant debuts. The bar program won’t just be about whisky, beer, and martinis. They’ll incorporate ingredients and spirits not associated with the original tavern using agave and pineapple. That’s one way to appeal to a younger crowd who might not be enthralled with the restaurant’s history.
Does Tavern still qualify as an “exciting restaurant?” Find out when it debuts in 10 days.
Tavern on Rush, 1015 N. Rush Street, planned for a Monday, September 30 opening.
Jewish families love to pass along legends of selfless bubbes who have spent countless early fall afternoons in the kitchen, kneading challah dough, chopping carrots for tsimmes, and stirring steaming pots of chicken soup. How those women suffered to prepare the high holiday meals! How they wanted their children and grandchildren to know of their suffering!
Luckily you can deliver a Rosh Hashanah feast without all that work and guilt by perusing Eater Chicago’s list of restaurants, delis, and bakeries in and around Chicago with full meals and soup, sides, and challah. There are options to dine out and cater in for the Jewish New Year and break fast platters loaded with lox and bagels for Yom Kippur break fast. Just be sure to order well in advance to avoid any kvetching.
Aba: Aba in Fulton Market offers a Mediterranean inflection on holiday favorites — customers can order verjus-braised chicken, charred beef brisket, sumac-roasted baby turnips with mini carrots, and apple kataifi tart tatin for takeout. Orders are open until 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 29 via Tock. Dine-in patrons can count on special dishes such as shaved brussels sprouts salad from Wednesday, October 2 through Saturday, October 5.
Beatrix Fulton Market, River North, and Streeterville: The Beatrix Rosh Hashanah meal serves up all the classics: gefilte fish (typically for Passover), chopped liver, matzo ball soup, burnt honey chicken, slow-braised short ribs, potato pancakes (see: Hanukkah), apples and honey, and two kinds of cake — lemon olive oil and chocolate. The family-style package is available to order until noon on Tuesday, October 1 for pickup or delivery on Wednesday, October 2, and Thursday, October 3. Order online.
Bistronomic: The Gold Coast French restaurant offers a three-course dinner Wednesday, October 2, and Thursday, October 3 including housemade chicken liver mousse, seared salmon with eggplant puree and apple & honey challah bread pudding. Make a reservation through OpenTable.
Ema: Aba’s River North sibling offers a Rosh Hashanah dinner for two, or for 8-10 for those feeding a group, that includes shaved brussels sprout salad, braised lamb daube, miso-maple tzimmes and apple kataifi tarte tartin. Orders can be placed on Tock through noon Monday, September 30 for carryout or delivery Wednesday, October 2, and Thursday, October 3. Some of the dishes are also available on those days as dine-in specials.
The Goddess and Grocer: Chef Debbie Sharpe’s mini-chain has a variety of options.Choose from family-sized portions of appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts; dinner packages for two or more; and Yom Kippur platters of bagels and lox or vegetarian frittatas. Preorders for Rosh Hashanah must be in by noon on Tuesday, September 24, and Yom Kippur by noon on Monday, October 7. Peruse the menus and place orders online.
The Goddess and Grocer
Helfeld’s Deli: The Wicker Park Jewish deli offers a Rosh Hashanah catering menu Wednesday, October 2 through Friday, October 4 featuring whole roasted chicken, tzimmes, chopped liver, round challah, and noodle kugel. Pastrami, hand-cut nova lox, pickles, and cream cheese are also available by the pound.
Lure Fishbar:New York import Lure Fishbar will mark the High Holidays with a dine-in menu of matzo ball soup, Autumn harvest salad, oven-roasted chicken, baked whitefish, an apple and hot honey sushi roll, and ricotta doughnut with apple cider glaze for dessert. The lineup is available for Rosh Hashanah from Wednesday, October 2 through Saturday, October 5.
Manny’s Deli: For a traditional feast, order from Manny’s Deli, a family-run spot that has which has been serving Ashkenazi Jewish fare for more than 80 years. Their Rosh Hashanah menu includes chopped liver, matzo ball soup by the quart, four types of brisket, sweet noodle kugel, and round raisin challah. For dessert, add on apple honey cake or cookies shaped like a shofar. They also supply everything needed for Yom Kipper break fast, with trays of lox, tuna salad, and deli meats. Place an order by Friday, September 27 for Rosh Hashanah or Wednesday, October 9 for Yom Kippur.
Max and Benny’s: The beloved Northbrook deli will be open on both Rosh Hashanah (dine-in and takeout) and Yom Kippur (takeout only) and also has a full catering menu available, with chicken, brisket, fish, chicken soup, bagel-and-lox platters, and more. Order online by Sunday, September 29 for Rosh Hashanah or Wednesday, October 9 for Yom Kippur for pre-holiday pickup.
Mensch’s Deli: Evanston’s new Jewish deli offers a special catering menu from Tuesday, October 1 through Sunday, October 13 including matzo ball soup, roasted beet salad, honey harissa-glazed roast chicken, carrot tzimmes, and challah bread pudding. Challah, potato kugel, and vegetarian stuffed cabbage are available to add on. Mench’s regular menu of lox, bagels, pastries, and fruit trays is available to break the Yom Kippur fast. Place an order online 24 hours in advance.
Prairie Grass Cafe: Suburban Northbrook’s Prairie Grass Cafe is offering holiday brisket dinners for two that include salad, barbecue brisket, roasted cauliflower, and warm sticky toffee date cake from James Beard Award winner Sarah Stegner. Add-ons include chicken noodle soup, tzimmes, and chopped chicken liver. Call (847) 205-4433 by Monday, September 30 to order; pickup is 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, October 3.
Schneider Deli:The Jewish deli within Chicago’s iconic mid-century Ohio House Motel is offering brisket, oven-roasted turkey breast, matzo ball soup, honey cake, and a smattering of sides including garlic roasted broccoli and latkes with sour cream and applesauce. Orders can be placed through Toast for Wednesday, October 2 through Sunday, October 6. The deli’s standard bagel and lox platters are available for Yom Kippur Friday, October 11, and Saturday, October 12.
Steingold’s of Chicago: Chef, owner, and bagel specialist Aaron Steingold has tons of Rosh Hashanah offerings available from Tuesday, October 1 through Friday, October 4 this year, including beef brisket, apple cider roast chicken, and honey apple cake for four to six. Options available through Oct. 13 include smoked trout salad, chicken schnitzel, rugelach, and lox platters perfect for breaking the fast after Yom Kippur. Order online via Toast.
Summer House Santa Monica
Summer House Santa Monica: The Lincoln Park restaurant offers a four-course dinner from 5-9 p.m. Wednesday, October 2 and Thursday, October 3 start with a spread of challah, apples with honey, chopped liver, and gefilte fish with beet horseradish. Polish off a bowl of matzo ball soup before a choice of wood-grilled salmon or slow-braised beef short rib served with potato pancakes and tzimmes, with an apple galette for dessert. Reservations are available through OpenTable though those who prefer to dine at home can preorder the meal by noon on Friday, September 27 via Tock.
Concertgoers love an encore. Daisiesset a standard in January with its croissant collaboration with Wieners Circle, as the Logan Square pasta power created a croissant filled with the familiar toppings of a Chicago hot dog. Partner and pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky has since teamed with the Chicago Blackhawks on a limited-time offering.
Daisies found an unlikely collaborator with Wilco, the Chicago-based alt-country band passionate about supporting small businesses. Starting on Friday, September 20 Daisies will sell a limited edition croissant that celebrates the band’s 30th anniversary and all things pickles. Tweedy and Omilinsky take Wilco fans on a nostalgic journey on social media using song references while Tweedy provides his rationale.
“Every song I’ve ever written is about pickles,” Tweedy deadpans in an Instagram video posted on Wednesday, September 18 announcing the croissant.
While the Daisies/Wieners Circle croissant included a pickle, nothing matches the pickled prowess of Daisies’ newest creation, called Dill-Co. The croissant will be available for a limited time and launch in conjunction with Tweedy’s upcoming appearance on Saturday, September 21 at Navy Pier, part of Chicago Live!, a free festival featuring more than 100 performances. Sales from the croissant will benefit the former Lakeview Pantry, now known as Nourishing Hope.
Daisies has long celebrated pickling and fermenting techniques in its food and drink, so pickles weren’t an odd request for Omilinsky. While the world of pickles is vast, Tweedy and his camp wanted pickled cucumbers. Knowing that Omilinsky needed something to hold the pastry together, and turned to Jewish delis for inspiration, opting for a dill cream cheese. She adds chopped pickles, giardiniera, dill, and dehydrated pickle powder.
This isn’t Wilco’s first food collaboration. They also partnered with Foxtrot in 2022 as the chain produced a snack mix with the band’s branding.
Omilinsky has spent the last few weeks at Green City Market in Lincoln Park, selling pastries on Wednesdays and Fridays. While they won’t sell the Dill-Co pastry at the farmers market, she says it wasn’t hard convincing Tweedy to collaborate: “People are pretty cool, and I think that’s a good thing to remember in this day and age,” she says. “All you have to do is ask.”
She adds she was taken aback filming the video at the Loft, the legendary practice space turned studio. Omilinsky says Tweedy had stories for every trinket inside.
Daisies co-owner Scott Goldstein and his brother-in-law, Dave Yakir, were again in charge of putting the video together, as their company Streeterville Productions specializes in such content. Goldstein says coming up with the pickle jokes was a challenge, but once he fixated on Wilco’s song, She’s a Jar, the floodgates opened. Goldstein was also very complimentary of Tweedy’s acting talents.
“It’s a crime we can’t play guitar and sing as well as he can tell jokes,” Goldstein says.
Dill-Co at Daisies, starting on Friday, September 20.
Jason Chan wants to fill a void in Old Town, one that’s existed for nine years after Bistrot Margot closed along Wells Street. Chan, one of the most beloved figures in Chicago’s restaurant scene, is known for his love of martial arts almost as much as his affability. He’s now opening a 32-seat French restaurant in October at a space a few blocks from Bistrot Margot.
Old Town may have a French bakery in La Fournette, but Margot’s closure left the neighborhood without a French restaurant — the closest a mile north in Lincoln Park at Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ Mon Ami Gabi. Chan will rectify that when he opens Gavroche late in September at 1529 N. Wells Street. Chan’s travels over the last two years have sent him to Japan, Italy, and Spain, but he says his time in Paris left the biggest impression. While in France, Chan says he witnessed a culinary revolution that spun away from the bistros Chicagoans associate with French food.
“Of all the places, what I really loved the most were just tiny mom-and-pop, the 20- or 30-seat restaurants that had maybe five employees,” Chan says.
Gavroche — also a character from Les Misérables — will offer a “contemporary, modern version of French food” without “the heavy creams and butters and seven mother sauces,” says Chan. The menu will have about 18 items with seven daily specials. About four of the specials will be classic dishes, what most envision when they crave French food, Chan says. Chan says he made a spreadsheet of Chicago’s 17 French restaurants and found most of them had the same menus. One way of distinguishing a menu is embracing how African influences have impacted French cuisine. All in all, Chan wants his new restaurant to disrupt with innovation: “Bistro is not rocket science,” he says.
The menu at Gavroche will include dishes like charred French radishes with salted butter, fennel pollen, and a warm demi-baguette; a “niçoise” hamachi sashimi with egg yolk confit, seasonal vegetables, petit lettuce, pickled pearl onion, and white anchovy vinaigrette; and turbot au four beurre blanc with Polanco caviar and smoked crème fraîche beurre blanc.
There will be a four-seat counter. There are no plans for a tasting menu, but if Chan sees one of his chef friends or someone he knows who would appreciate something a little extra, he’ll seat them at the counter and curate a menu omakase style: “It would kind of be like a secret deal that’s not a secret,” Chan says.
Chan took a corporate job during the pandemic, and found love — he’s engaged. His fiance, Heather Blaise, is also a designer and is working on the restaurant, the former Old Town spinoff of Fish Bar. Chan’s resume includes serving as the general manager of Kitana, giving the chain someone with deep Chicago roots. He also opened Juno, the sushi restaurant in Lincoln Park. He’s worked for several restaurant groups, including DMK, and opened Butter in 2005 in West Loop. He comes from a legacy of restaurants as his parents ran several restaurants around Chicago, including a Jewish deli in Lakeview, an Irish pub in Andersonville, and a coffee shop in the Loop. Chan independently developed a love for French cuisine, working in the mid-’80s at L’Escargot in the Allerton Hotel off the Mag Mile. His parents pushed him away from working in the kitchen, wanting him to enter the professional ranks as a doctor or attorney. They gave Chan the least desirable jobs hoping he would be repulsed when he was a youngster. It backfired.
“Buddy, when you’re when you’re in a 3,500-square-foot Irish pub by yourself, and it’s Saturday morning and you’re pissed because all your friends are in pajamas, eating cereal, and watching cartoons, and you’re cleaning a fucking restaurant bar,” Chan recalls. “After three months of crying and hating it every time I did it, I would pretend I was a chef when I was in the kitchen, I would pretend I was the manager when I was sweeping the floor.”
While Chan serves as the inspiration for the restaurant, he’ll delegate cooking responsibilities to Mitchell Acuña. Chan was impressed by Acuña’s willingness to learn, and the chef worked at Boka, North Pond, and Sixteen. Chan spoke with Sixteen chef Nick Dostal who gave Acuña his endorsement as the two worked together at the Trump Tower restaurant when it was worthy of a Michelin star. Also joining the team is pastry chef Christine McCabe. McCabe worked at Charlie Trotter’s and worked with Chan prior, most recently at their Time Out Market Chicago stall, Sugar Cube. Chan says the pandemic led to the sweet shop’s demise just when the sweets shop began to find traction in 2020. McCabe will bake the breads and eventually be in charge of upcoming brunch and lunch menus.
Reservations will only be accepted for groups of six or more — Chan wants to encourage walk-ins. He also wants to offer late-night dining. They have a 2 a.m. liquor license and intend to make use of it. He’s also sowing the seeds for more projects. He loves the history of Prohibition and says he has an idea for a speakeasy bar, one that eschews gimmicks for a genuine slice of history. He also has an idea for a fast-casual restaurant.
Gavroche, 1529 N. Wells Street, planned for late-September opening.
It’s September and students are back to school and the colors have started to change. As the seasons turn, five notable restaurants have launched new weekend brunch services. Here’s a rundown on what to expect.
Daisies
The popular Logan Square restaurant was a brunch paradise at its original location. But chef Joe Frillman’s crew have been reluctant to bring brunch back at their larger space, preferring to focus on dinner, the daytime pastry and coffee program, and weekday lunch. But, with the blessing of GM and pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky, they’ve launched Sunday brunch, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with reservations via OpenTable. The menu includes whole-wheat pancakes, Frillman’s signature Overpriced Tomato (get it while tomato season lasts), a brunchy pasta with runny egg — carbonara cavatelli — and salmon gravlax. Omilinsky’s pastries are also available.
Goose Island Salt Shed Pub
Brunch is now served on Saturday and Sunday at Goose Island’s Salt Shed Pub.Goose Island Beer
After relocating from their home of more than three decades in Lincoln Park, Goose Island Beer has set up shop next to the Salt Shed music venue with a pub neighboring the Chicago River — there’s even patio seating. Brunch is served at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and reservations are available via Resy at 1221 W. Blackhawk Street. The menu includes French toast with a Bourbon County Stout caramel sauce, a green eggs and ham croissant sandwich, cornmeal biscuits & gravy, and more.
Hawksmoor
In River North, Hawksmoor has been open since late June inside the former Michael Jordan’s at 500 N. LaSalle Drive. The English steakhouse also has a location in New York. On Sunday, September 29, they’ll introduce their Chicago location to the British tradition of the Sunday roast, a meal typically eaten after attending church. Steak is usually the centerpiece of a roast, and at Hawksmoor, they’ll feature dry-aged roast beef rump with potatoes roasted in beef fat with bone marrow gravy. There’s also Yorkshire pudding (Sunday Roasts originated in the 15th century in the English city), Brussels sprouts, and carrots. Hawksmoor also serves bone marrow stuffing and cauliflower cheese. Reservations are available via OpenTable.
Minyoli
Minyoli’s dan bing.Minyoli
In Andersonville, Minyoli, 5420 N. Clark Street, has been serving Taiwanese noodles since May. Chef Rich Wang’s restaurant now offers Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The brunch menu — which is also available for carryout — includes Taiwanese breakfast rice rolls called fan tuan. They’re served with youtiao, a type of savory doughnut. There’s also a Taiwanese egg crepe, dan bing with scallion as well as sweet soy and hai shan (soy paste). Finally, don’t forget the flatbread sandwich. Shaobing comes customizable with options including Taiwanese fried chicken, sliced beef shank, and pork floss. Reservations are available online.
Skylark
One of the best dives in Chicago has been offering Sunday brunch since September with a rotating crew of talented chefs, and that’s drawn attention from North Siders who aren’t always open to visiting neighborhoods south of Roosevelt. At Skylar, 2149 S. Halsted, brunch is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on Sunday, September 22, they’ll feature Morgan Street Snacks, the operation that took up residency next to Kimski/Maria’s Community Liquors in fall 2022. The Reader published a nice profile of Morgan Street’s leader, Ryan Cofrancesco, last week. On Sunday, September 29 the Skylark will serve something many Chicagoans have tasted: Thai brunch. Puan Bahn Thai Brunch will be served by chef Fred Noinaj, most recently of Lost Lake. Be on the lookout on Skylark’s social media channels for future brunch pop-ups.
It’s hard to think of any food Chicagoans agree upon more than cheese. They argue about hot dogs, beefs, tavern pizza, and tacos. But when cheese enters the conversation, locals become soothed like an angry tiger tamed by a trainer. They eat “cheese” on nachos in plastic batting helmets (no matter which team is playing), scarf-flaming saganaki, fried cheese curds, and gooey quesabirria, and are tantalized by the cheese pull from a pan of deep dish.
As the weather cools, Eater Chicago collected five examples of excellent cheesy dishes around town that will charm every savage beast.
La Serre’s French onion fondue
La Serre has been packing the house since they opened this past summer in the crosshairs of the Fulton Market restaurant zone. Every Emily-in-Paris-in-Chicago has been clamoring for a table full of St. Tropez Spritzes, angel hair with caviar, and duck Chinois, plus the best mussels this side of northwest France’s Brittany region. Naturally, there’s plenty on the French-ish menu to choose from for the cheese-loving set, but the French onion fondue is truly not to be missed. Gobs of wine-soaked caramelized onions served topped with melted gruyere cheese for spreading on grilled sourdough, baguette, or frite without annoying soup to water down the experience.
Nettare’s cheese plate
This isn’t a sad wine bar’s cheese plate at Nettare.Nettare
When Conner O’Byrne, owner of West Town’s Nettare, asked chef John Dahlstrom to add a Midwest cheese plate to his menu, he worried if his boss “wanted a quintessential phoned-in wine bar menu.” O’Byrne pushed hard, inspired by Wisconsin’s epic rep in award-winning cheese production. Dahlstrom accepted the challenge and made O’Byrne and Nettare’s customers happy. Dahlstrom is proud of a rotating selection of the Midwest’s cheese bounty, including Black Goat from Prairie Fruits Farm in Champaign, Dirt Lover from Kansas City’s Green Dirt Farm, and many more. Guests can select one, two, or three options and add a house-made charcuterie item. Dahlstrom throws in tahini crackers, local honey and jam, and a handful of smoked and candied black walnuts. This takes this cheese plate far higher than just a pedestrian wine bar menu.
Maxwells Trading’s Loaf Lounge marble rye with stracciatella
Maxwells Trading showcases marble rye from Logan Square’s Loaf Lounge.Wade Hall
The menu changes frequently at Maxwells Trading, but the local love-child vibe stays true to its delicious Chicago roots. That vibe includes featuring friends like Sarah Mispagel and Ben Lustbader and their magnificent Loaf Lounge marble rye sourdough bread and neighbors like rooftop basil and cherry tomatoes which, according to executive chef Chris Jung are amplified using a soak of Japanese flavors like shiro dashi and united by a tasty cloak of fresh stracciatella cheese from Caputo Cheese in Melrose Park. Because honestly, what brings folks (and other ingredients) together better than cheese? Stracciatella is poised to topple the reign of cheese terror previously held by the beloved burrata ball for almost a decade. Made up of torn bits of mozzarella dressed in cream (like what you’ll find in the center of that burrata), stracciatella’s milky, spoonable richness deserves the star turn it has been taking lately.
Mano a Mano’s eggplant cutlet
Mano a Mano’s eggplant cutlet is memorable.Mano a Mano
The menu at Logan Square’s Mano a Mano is loaded with stracciatella and other Italian-style cheeses — like zucchini flowers stuffed with fior de latte mozzarella and fresh buffalo milk ricotta, the tiny ravioletti filled with taleggio and black truffle, and — just like at nonna’s — you’ll get a bowl of grated cheese to sprinkle on your dinner at will. Your server will advise you to order the eggplant cutlet, and order it you must. Chef Doug Psaltis’s take on eggplant parm is a young farm eggplant, crisped up and served with a spicy tomato sauce, with that delicious stracciatella schmeared on top. Says Psaltis: “I fell in love with it after first tasting it on a trip to Puglia. Stracciatella’s wonderful creaminess and fresh cream flavor make it a perfect pair for the spicy Diavolo sauce of our eggplant cutlet.”
Beautiful Rind’s chevre sundae
Ice cream and cheese create a great combo at Beautiful Rind.Beautiful Rind
You already know that Beautiful Rind is one of the city’s best cheese shops. You might even know that they offer an exciting dine-in or takeout cheese board menu complete with imaginative, housemade, choose-your-own-adventure accompaniments, plus gooey sandwiches, charcuterie, and fried cheese curds. But did you know that you can order a chevre sundae, consisting of three scoops of fresh Wisconsin goat cheese plus seasonal sauces and crushed marcona almonds, and no one will judge you? “We’ve always scooped fresh goat cheese with an ice cream scoop to help showcase the fluffy, light texture of fresh, hand-ladled cheese,” says owner Randall Felts. The next step was serving it sundae style in a cut glass dish, obviously, with toppings like salted stout chocolate ganache, strawberry amaro jam, and pineapple jam spiked with Aleppo chiles. “We want people to have fun with cheese and see our shop as a more adult version of a candy shop… full of delicious treats of the cheese variety,” Felt adds.
One of Eater’s 15 Best New Restaurants in America in 2022, owner and chef Mona Sang closed the restaurant after construction dust at an upcoming Starbucks next door contaminated her restaurant. “Our dining room, our kitchen, and everything was covered in dust, top to bottom,” Sang says. Debris seeped into coolers and contaminated glassware. Sang says she feared that she might never reopen again, noting that a financial advisor estimated it could cost $400,000 to cover lost revenues and cleanup efforts at 6580 N. Sheridan Road.
Sang says construction workers at the neighboring business initially “brushed me off,” and continued work despite the dirt and dust that forced her to throw away $10,000 of food. She says she’s not 100 percent sure how the dust made its way from Starbucks to the restaurant. It may have been the HVAC system or through two holes in a wall between Khmai and the coffee shop. Apparently, a demising wall, a type of structure used to partition sections of a building, was put up by the university and hid the holes from Starbucks’ general contractor. The holes weren’t patched when construction began on August 12. Sang says the contractor told her that their work would not affect her business. But on August 13, she arrived to chaos.
“We couldn’t even breathe, so at that point, I told everyone just to finish up putting things away and put on a mask — I had to have my mom put on a mask, she was having a hard time breathing,” Sang says. “And then basically I was like, I cannot serve people. I cannot do this.”
Sarom Sieng and daught Mona Sang at their original restaurant in Rogers Park.Jack X. Li/Eater Chicago
She announced the closure in an Instagram post on August 14 and then went into more detail with a video shared on August 23. Now that she’s announced a reopening date, Sang says she hopes Starbucks will halt construction, or at least be considerate, while her restaurant is open. Loud construction noises have a habit of ruining any ambiance in the dining room.
No one has taken accountability for the mess with the unnamed general contractor, Starbucks, and Loyola blaming each other. Sang is caught in the middle after pursuing a fresh start with the university. The restaurateur left her original Rogers Park location near the Evanston border in late 2023 due to trouble with her landlord.
Starbucks maintains that since Loyola is the landlord it’s their responsibility to deal with Sang’s concerns. Sang has written emails and spent countless hours trying to find answers.
“Everybody is going to be pointing fingers,” Sang says. “At this point, I don’t care whose fault it is.”
Sang, who got her start with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, called the decision to close heartbreaking. The restaurants had only been open in the location since June, near the campus where Sang’s daughter attends college. Inside a bigger and more modern space, Sang unveiled two restaurants, a casual space similar to her original, called Khan Khmai. A second dining room housed a different menu, meant to showcase Cambodian cuisine in a more upscale manner. Just before the shutdown, the city had granted Khmai a liquor license and the restaurant had begun serving cocktails. Alcoholic drinks can be a huge revenue generator for restaurants that can help sustain them.
“I put all my hard-earned money into it — all of our savings, creating everything — so that we have just to open up this place and for like, within like, you know, less than two months,” Sang says.
Sang says Loyola was helpful during the closure, but only after she wrote a letter to Loyola CFO Wayne Magdziarz telling him that she needed assistance or her dream restaurant would permanently close. Sang says the school responded to her by offering a loan that could help her quickly reopen. The terms of the loan haven’t yet been finalized so Sang can’t say how much money she’ll borrow. She calls the money “the bare minimum” amount so she can once more serve customers. Sang will also have to dip into her personal savings to keep the restaurant afloat. Loyola did not respond to Eater’s request for comment.
The Starbucks should open sometime this fall. Last week, a Starbucks rep provided a statement on the matter.
“Starbucks is committed to being a good neighbor, and we strongly encourage all parties to find a resolution that works for everyone, so that our soon-to-be neighbor can reopen right away,” the emailed statement reads.
The juxtaposition of a small family-owned restaurant being impacted by the actions of one of the world’s biggest companies isn’t lost upon Sang. She says there’s no way Starbucks would care about her business. Regardless of whose fault it was, Sang says she’s disappointed that no one from Starbucks made contact with her: “Just reaching out and asking if there’s anything we can help you with” would have been nice, Sang says, “Just to say ‘I’m sorry this happened.’”
Khmai’s famous egg rolls.Jack X. Li/Eater Chicago
Beyond lost revenue, Sang is concerned with broken trust. She feels guilty about canceling reservations — diners had booked tables to celebrate special occasions. Workers left the restaurant needing income while the restaurant remained closed. Some of her mother’s favorite employees won’t be returning, and that’s a difficult conversation Sang had to have. Before closing, Khmai employed about 40 people. Sang says Khmai is hiring for all positions if any service workers have an interest.
On the bright side, opening day will take place on Sieng’s birthday. Though a lot of records and history were lost as they fled Pol Pot’s regime for America, Sang says she believes her mother will turn 82. Cooking Cambodian food proved therapeutic for Sieng and was one of the reasons that made Khmai special. It goes beyond the stellar egg rolls that Sang made for her church before opening her restaurant. Sang also trains workers on the history behind her dishes so they can share with diners.
Sang says when Khmai opens they’ll launch happy hour specials from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. with the hope that will help them pay off the loan. Later this fall, Khmai will also launch weekend brunch.
Starbucks’s general contractor and Sang’s restaurants shared the same insurance company. Upon learning that, Sang says she wasn’t surprised when the company denied her claim. Sang says friends have recommended attorneys, but right now she’s not pursuing a lawsuit.
“It’s not about even the money,” she says. “The reason we opened up this place was because we wanted to educate Chicago about Cambodian food. We wanted to make sure that we had a place for our community.”
Correction, Monday, September 16, 9:12 p.m.: A previous version of this story misstated that the opening day was Thursday when it is on Wednesday, September 18.
River North, especially the area surrounding Hubbard Street, is one of Downtown Chicago’s busiest neighborhoods at night. Tourists and locals alike fill the bars, clubs, and restaurants with herds weaving in and out of traffic crawling to their next destination.
The neighborhood’s latest addition is a joint venture between former Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler, country singer-songwriter Chase Rice, and former Chicago Bear Roquan Smith. The trio has opened the third location of Welcome to the Farm, a country music venue and club with locations in St. Petersburg, Florida and Cleveland. The celebrities are backed by Forward Hospitality Group, a Cleveland outfit that owns Good Night John Boy in West Loop. Fans of Barstool Sports may know one of the principals at Forward, Dante Deiana. Deiana’s a DJ and writer for the infamous media company.
The Bears might actually be worth watching in 2024. Probably.
Spare ribs, pulled turkey, brisket, and short ribs are on the menu.
Smoked brisket nachos
The space’s retractable roof remains.
They’ve remodeled the former Fremont, keeping the retractable roof and modernizing the space which has a stage for small concerts and room for 300. They’ll offer bottle service late into the night. But for folks into food, country music often goes well with smoked meats, and on the restaurant side they’ll serve brisket nachos, smoked chicken wings, pulled pork sandwiches (a Cuban served Miami style also uses the pork), plus spare ribs, short ribs, turkey, and sausage. Fried chicken and tenders are on the menu, as well. Forward Executive Chef Raheem Sealey debuted the menu in Florida at Drinking Pig BBQ, and now he brings his meats and treats up north.
Does this follow U.S. Flag Code? Well, the DQ sign doesn’t object.
Bowls, like this one with crispy cauliflower, are also available as lighter options.
The buttermilk-brined fried chicken sandwich.
Butler, a perennial All-Star, also played in Minnesota and Philadelphia before finding at home with the Miami Heat. He his own coffee company. He launched BIGFACE in 2020 during the pandemic, when the NBA brought all its playoff teams to Orlando, Florida to limit travel and the spread of COVID. The Bubble and its restrictions made it hard for players and coaches to find a good cup of coffee, so Butler seized the opportunity. For the first time ever, customers will be able to taste BIGFACE drinks in a restaurant setting. A news release touts “new specialty coffee products from Butler’s coffee brand BIGFACE that are available to consume while taking in the scene.”
Check out the space and some of the menu items below.
Welcome to the Farm, 15 W. Illinois Street, (312) 833-2080, open noon on weekdays, and 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday; kitchen open until 1 a.m.
Welcome to the Scene Report, a new column in which Eater Chicago captures the vibe of a notable Chicago restaurant at a specific moment in time.
Checking out Beity, a Fulton Market restaurant from chef Ryan Fakih, was meant to be the highlight of my week, for good reason. The Michelin Guide recently recognized the Lebanese gastronomic experience, which opened in early August after two years of anticipation in a food scene with few Middle Eastern fine dining options. The 16-course tasting menu ($165 per person) is called “Teta’s Tasting” after Fakih’s grandmother, who sends him personalized cooking videos from her home in Lebanon. And Beity means “my home” in Arabic. That’s what Fakih is trying to evoke here, the feeling of being at a loved one’s home.
The vibe: Aesthetically, Fakih’s goal of creating a homey space has been accomplished. The building used to house Michelin Bib Gourmand wine bar called Joe’s Imports. The chic 60-seat restaurant has stone walls, warm lighting supplied by brass fixtures, and archways reminiscent of classic Levantine architecture. Old classic Middle Eastern music like Palestinian Fairuz, Egyptian Amr Diab, and Western Saharan singer Mariem Hassan played in the background; it truly did feel intimate and exciting.
My friend and I went to Beity the day after Labor Day as people tried to cling to the long weekend. The 15-seat bar was packed with groups of friends and a couple lone diners, all drinking and snacking. We were the only ones in the main dining room — there’s another in the basement that gives an even more cozy, grandma’s house vibe with a fireplace — but around 7:00 p.m., the other tasting menu diners started to trickle in until the main dining room had a decent but small crowd. Around 8:15 p.m., it started to slow down, with not many customers coming in (the last seating is at 9:30 p.m.) and the bar folks beginning to leave.
The wait: Around 11:00 a.m. that same day, I tried to make a reservation and was dismayed to see Beity use Google’s reservation system — my arch-nemesis. Google told me they weren’t able to contact the restaurant to confirm my reservation and I called a couple times that afternoon with no answer.
But we decided to risk it and just show up. Thankfully, they had space for us to try their tasting menu; the night was nowhere near booked. Fortunately, Beity also uses Tock.
The drinks: I’m Muslim and don’t drink, so I asked about non-alcoholic cocktails and was disappointed that they only had two to choose from — the Jallab Spritz, with pomegranate molasses, pine nuts, soda water and rose water and the Apricot About It, with orange and rose blossom and apricot syrup, Seedlip 94 and egg white.
It’s already difficult to find non-alcoholic options, and I had hoped a Middle Eastern restaurant might be a bit more accommodating to Muslim non-drinkers. I ordered the Apricot About It, which was floral and yummy, but not very exciting. In fairness, it’s hard for me to get excited about most non-alcoholic cocktails except for the ones at Esmé, which rarely let me down, particularly this coconut vanilla cream soda with white miso foam and an accompanying umami explosion, or FRE Sparkling Brut with the alcohol centrifuged out of it, and smoked black teas that curiously smell of bacon.
The stone walls and warm lighting help the ambience.Beity/Nick Podraza
People who drink alcohol would likely have a different experience than me. Everyone at the bar seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was clear the cocktail menu and wine list were a huge draw here. My friend ordered the Clothed and Unknown; she loved it. “It’s a typical mezcal sour with added spice from the Aleppo pepper, which you taste at the end,” she described it to me. “This is my ideal sour.” On Wednesday, September 11 Michelin added Beity to its guide and described the bar as “ever-busy” and offering “a casual experience with a limited selection of snacks and thoughtful cocktails made with the likes of arak, Aleppo, and tahini.”
Most of the tasting menu diners also got a wine pairing, and they frequently told their servers how much they enjoyed the wine selection. Beity offers two wine pairings; the Beity pairing is $75 and highlights wines from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Their Global pairing is $90 and highlights wine regions across the world, focusing on organic, biodynamic winemaking from female or family-owned winemakers.
The mezze is a star.Nylah Iqbal Muhammad/Eater Chicago
The highlights: For the food, the mezze was absolutely the star of the night. The fresh baked pita was just a revelation, and I was in complete contentment swirling it in the parsley hummus with lamb and pine nuts, and slathering za’atar crusted labneh on the bread. I’m not alone in the assessment; Michelin concurs. “Drawing on his Lebanese heritage and on family recipes, [Fakih] makes a strong impression with a mezze of parsley hummus with lamb, falafel in yogurt sauce, and generously charred pita. Such a spread shows both heart and refinement.”
Every dish was plated stunningly, and the service was impeccable. The staff gave detailed explanations of each dish and its meaning in Lebanese society and to Fakih and his family, infusing the meal with that cultural experience I had come here for. The sayadieh (a minimalist take on a fish rice dish traditionally cooked in a clay pot) was good. I liked the burst of acidity from the sumac crust on the branzino. Sayadieh is one of my favorite meals, so I was almost humming with excitement waiting for it and my main complaint was perhaps just wanting more. The koussa — stuffed squash with bulgur — was homey and delicious, with a lovely tomato broth and a delightful addition of crispy leeks on the top. And the shish barak (lamb and beef dumpling served with yogurt sauce) was dry again, with a yogurt sauce that was much too thick, but the flavors made up for it.
There were brighter spots at dessert. I loved the lemon frozen yogurt with agrumato extra virgin olive oil. The day before, I had made a plum olive oil cake with olive oil from the family farm of Hisham Khalifeh, owner of Middle East Bakery in Andersonville, in ‘Arura, Palestine, so I was feeling obsessed with olive oil desserts. This one did not disappoint, and I could have taken home a carton of it. The frozen yogurt came with a Lebanese 7 spice (a Middle Eastern blend often called baharat, meaning “seven” in Arabic) digestive cookie with chocolate and caviar. It was nice to have another burst of salt from the caviar with the ice cream.
Chicago doesn’t have many fine dining restaurants that serve Middle Eastern food.Nylah Iqbal Muhammad/Eater Chicago
The lowlights: I wanted to love Beity’s food, I really did. Overall, though, it was much more underwhelming. than I’d anticipated.
The a la carte menu (dishes ranging from $5 to $20) is really just six bar snacks and two desserts, a small offering compared to other places in the city and a deviation from the Beity’s description of it as “a more casual dining experience.” You would not be able to get a full meal from this menu without ordering at least three dishes per person, which would be fine if there were more options. We ordered makanek, a Lebanese beef and lamb sausage with pomegranate molasses. As a lifelong seafood fiend, I also wanted the samak bizri, fried sardines with finger limes and lemon tarator (a Lebanese tahini sauce) tartar, but they were out that night.
The makanek was flavorful but much too dry. Without dipping each bite into pomegranate molasses, I couldn’t have enjoyed them very much, and I firmly believe that when a sausage requires a dipping sauce to taste good, then it’s not a good sausage.
The moghrabieh, Fakih’s deconstructed take on a Lebanese stew of semolina dough pearls of the same name, chickpeas, onions, and chicken was also incredibly dry and my least favorite dish of the night. The chicken had every bit of juice that once existed cooked out of it, and was stuffed into a pastry that was visibly cracking from lack of moisture and fat. The best part of that course was the charred onion and the cinnamon jus, but I only ate a couple bites of the chicken-filled pastry.
Even on after Labor Day weekend, Beity had diners.Nylah Iqbal Muhammad/Eater Chicago
The verdict: Beity’s presence on the Chicago food scene is culturally necessary; we need more fine dining options from Middle Eastern countries — honestly, almost every place that’s not Western European is grossly underrepresented in the fine dining scene. Maman Zari in Albany Park, which serves a Persian tasting menu, opened in 2023. It felt incredible to eat the Levantine dishes I love surrounded by vibrant music in a beautiful space with a calm vibe.The bar vibes are so immaculate, I would go back in a heartbeat to have a non-alcoholic cocktail, that heavenly fresh pita and labneh, and to try the samak bizri. I’ve got a feeling I would have gobbled those sardines down at a frightening speed.
However, I wouldn’t do the tasting menu again. At $165 per person (not including the automatically added 20 percent gratuity and 3 percent service charge), it was simply too expensive for the quality of food we received. The elements of a stunning Lebanese tasting menu are all there, but the execution wasn’t what I was expecting.
It doesn’t make me feel great that I didn’t fall head over heels with Beity’s tasting menu. I love Arab food, and it’s hard when people put their culture, their family, their soul into a curated experience menu and it doesn’t stun you. I wanted to be entranced by everything, but instead I found most of the dishes to be lackluster, especially for the price.
Although I was let down by the tasting menu, I have grace and high hopes for the future of Beity. Its bar program seems incredible, and the mezze (especially the pita) is delicious. It only opened a mere month ago, so I’m hoping that with more time, the tasting menu will mature to tell the story it wants to tell. They already have a clarity of mission, values, and culture. The food just needs to catch up.
As the new owner of Etta Collective attempts to distance itself from the bankruptcy filings of former owner David Pisor, the banks are pressing forward with efforts to collect debts. Records show Pisor has defaulted on the $1.4 million mortgage for the West Town building that houses Aya Pastry.
Wintrust Bank has filed a lawsuit against Pisor and also lists his former business partner, Jim Lasky, in the complaint. Lasky’s attorneys have reiterated that their client has been long removed from Aya’s operations stemming from an acrimonious split between the parties in 2023. The two also founded Maple & Ash in Gold Coast and Etta. The latter had multiple locations while a Bucktown restaurant remains open under the new ownership of a Texas tech company. Johann Moonesinghe is the founder of InKind and took over Aya Pastry earlier this year after he won an auction for Etta Collective’s assets. Moonesinghe is now the tenant at 1332 W. Grand Avenue and tells Crain’s he’d be interested in buying the Aya building if it were made available. In Scottsdale, Arizona, an Etta outpost was recently sold to RDM Hospitality, an Austin, Texas company. The restaurant will relaunch in late September with renovations and a new modern Italian menu, according to a news release.
Back in Chicago, Aya Pastry’s namesake, acclaimed pastry chef Aya Fukai, left the bakery in 2023, but her name remains on all the branding. Fukai, who worked with Laksy and Pisor at Maple & Ash, opened the bakery with the pair in 2017. Her recipes also remain and several local coffee shops stock their pastry cases with doughnuts and croissants from the bakery. Fukai isn’t listed as a defendant in Wintrust’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday, September 10 in Cook County circuit court. Pisor kept Fukai’s departure quiet while dealing with the fallout from separating from Lasky. Over the summer, Lasky and chef Danny Grant announced expansion plans for the bar inside Maple & Ash, called Eight Bar. There’s hope of opening multiple locations across the country, and the duo has plans for Maple & Ash and Eight Bar combo in Miami. The steakhouse holds the cachet of being one of Restaurant Business Online’s highest-grossing independent restaurants in the country and tops in Chicago.
Last year, several former Etta workers protested, citing lapses in healthcare coverage and other operational concerns with Pisor. Meanwhile, Pisor tells Crain’s that he looks forward to resolving the matter concerning Wintrust quickly, describing the bank’s lawsuit as a baseless attack and a “technical default.”
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises has brought its hit Ema to the suburbs hoping the North Shore appreciates chef and partner CJ Jacobson’s menu that mixes California cool with Mediterranean. The concept debuted in River North in 2016 and Lettuce has spun that into a sibling concept called Aba, which begot locations in Fulton Market; Austin, Texas; and Miami.
The buildout in Glenview is impressive, a radical departure from what most associate with the suburbs, taking a page from notable suburban debuts like RH Oak Brook, which channels the energy from the original in Gold Coast. The new Ema features a skylight and a light and breezy design with a track record in other markets.
In Glenview, Jacobson hopes to win over the lunch crowd with more salads — the chef says for the first time he’s offering a chopped salad (with arugula, romaine, cauliflower, caper, date, parmesan, olive, red pepper). A Caesar’s salad is made with a tahini-spiked dressing. The restaurant’s staple dips, including hummus with lamb ragu and a South Asian-street-influenced bhel hummus made with tamarind and mint chutney, are also available.
Jacobson mentions the restaurant’s origins, as LEYE co-founded Rich Melman wanted a Mediterranean restaurant. Jacobson doesn’t possess that family background, saying at first he only knew the cuisine through late-night kebob spots in LA. That’s one of the reasons Ema doesn’t focus on a particular region or country. Jacobson compares how Chinese and Italian cuisine proliferated in America, and how locals interpreted those foods using American ingredients. Jacobson feels foods from the Mediterranean haven’t had the chance to go through those filters, and that’s how he approaches Ema. For example, the lamb & beef kofta comes with a hoisin sauce, drawing from Chinese influences. Since Ema’s conception, Jacobson’s experience has endeared him to the culture and cuisine. He’s traveled to the region and he recounts spending time at a late-night Israeli club known for its hummus. After eight years of research, he says Ema has developed a point of view which is what’s made the brand successful.
Lamb & beef kofta.
Pita with spinach and feta spread.
Jacobson has worked with Lettuce since 2014, when he was one of the chefs at the company’s rotating Intro Chicago restaurant in Lincoln Park. He knows the company isn’t known for short menus. They’re big and feature many items to cater to the pickiest. Jacobson doesn’t necessarily agree with that philosophy and says he constantly worries that customers won’t branch out and try something new.
“Can we be good at all this stuff?” Jacobson asks rhetorically.
Lettuce Entertain You is Chicago’s largest restaurant group and the Melman family’s strategy of ensuring the customer is always right has been successful for 53 years. “I kind of get proved wrong time and time again,” Jacobson adds.
Jacobson ponders his future with Lettuce, saying that he’s due to pitch the Melmans on a new restaurant idea. While he ponders, he reflects on Ema and Aba.
“Anytime you spend this amount of time with a cuisine, it becomes a part of who you are,” he says.
Ema Glenview, 1320 Patriot Road in Glenview, lunch is 11:30 to 4 p.m., until 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; dinner is 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thurday, until 10 p.m. on Friday; 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
A version of this post originally appeared on September 9, 2024, in Eater and Punch’s newsletter Pre Shift, a biweekly newsletter for the industry pro that sources first-person accounts from the bar and restaurant world. Subscribe now for more stories like this.
While Chicago’s public transit system isn’t as reliable as New York’s, it’s not as scarce as LA’s. Last year, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) provided 279 million rides, many of which were for hospitality staff, getting them to and from their place of employment. The Bear found a friend in the CTA, and for three seasons, the FX-produced TV show has relied on the city’s public transit system for plenty of footage, showing Chicago’s famous elevated train system, the El. Much of Season 3, Episode 6 is spent showing Tina Marrero (played by Liza Colón-Zayas) relying on trains and buses during her frantic job search.
But the CTA has drawn much ire in recent years. Low-wage workers like Tina rely on the system, but the city’s network of buses and trains hasn’t proved worthy. That’s especially true on the South and West sides, areas where the network doesn’t fully extend. For example, restaurant owners in Hyde Park, a South Side neighborhood where the University of Chicago is located, have shared that it’s been challenging to lure experienced hospitality workers. They’d rather work on the North Side, where there are more restaurants and it’s easier to get home at night.
While many restaurant workers also depend on their cars for their daily commute, despite Lake Michigan’s infamous spine-chilling winter winds, the city has its share of all-season cyclists, too. We connected with restaurant staff about their commute, talking about convenience, parking, and the power of bike lanes.
Name: Diana Dávila, chef and owner, Mi Tocaya Antojería Length of commute: Two miles Mode: Bike
“I have been a biker for — it’s crazy — the past 20 years. The first place I started biking was [now-closed] Butter. When I moved to D.C., I biked to work… I remember the bike rides when there weren’t bike lanes and I would take different routes, and that was part of the fun, finding which ways to take.
“It’s funny, I never nerded out about bikes. I would just go into the bike store and pick out which one looked nice. Shit, I’ve never been depressed, I’ve always been a super positive person, as a default. But once I didn’t feel like getting out of bed and I didn’t want to see anybody… Those 10-minute rides made such a big difference. It is a service to myself and is 100 percent a stress de-escalator at work for me — open air and sunlight or moonlight.
“Most of our employees live super close, and not everyone has cars. Cars eat income, which is why so many of us cooks ride bikes! Cars are a big responsibility, with permits, parking, insurance, tickets. Bike riding, scooting, and carpooling are great solutions. Just like what we used to do in school.”
Rishi Manoj Kumar from Mirra.Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago
Name: Rishi Manoj Kumar, chef, Mirra Length of commute: Two blocks Mode: Walking
“The market to find apartments right now is horrible. The Bucktown neighborhood was hard, but I just kept searching and searching, and then suddenly, one day, I found what I’m living in now. It’s a block behind Mirra. It was a duplex and a duplex at two grand. Shit, this is unheard of in Chicago. So even before looking at it, I knew the proximity, I knew what it would bring for my peace of mind, like avoiding the traffic and even being able to go in on my days off. I can just walk through the restaurant and just check on things while I’m walking my dog, you know. And that proximity gives you so much freedom mentally, too. So it’s pretty dope.
“Avoiding a bad commute gives you a peace of mind coming to work. Otherwise you spend so much time getting ready, or getting stuck in traffic, like, ‘Oh shit, I’m stuck, I’m an hour late because of something like Lollapalooza going downtown.’ It takes forever to get downtown. For me, I worked eight years downtown, like, just getting to work meant preparing an extra 45 minutes just to make sure I’m turning up on time. That mental burden is gone once you can just, like, wake up, change, go to work in two minutes. It’s a whole different lifestyle.”
Billy Zureikat at a pop-up at Pequod’s.Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago
Name: Billy Zureikat, pop-up chef, Tripping Billy Length of commute: Varies Mode: Car
“I drive everywhere. I don’t take public transportation anymore because it’s just too hard to navigate crowds. I got invited to the Windy City Smokeout and I’m like, ‘I’m gonna pass on that.’ It’s just too hard navigating with a cane [having limb girdle muscular dystrophy]. In an electric car, if I take my foot off the gas, the car will come to a straight-up complete stop. It regenerates your brakes, saving and repowering the battery, and is wonderful for me because I don’t have to pick up my legs and move around as much… It’s so much more comfortable and I feel safer when I drive.
“I have to allow myself more time. There’s a big lack of available parking, especially accessible parking. I’m not trying to walk three or four blocks to get to a pizzeria to do a pop-up. I’m going to circle that block for a while until I find a spot that’s fairly close, because many times I have to carry lots of equipment. And I can’t walk multiple blocks carrying a bunch of heavy things, so I have to allow myself time to get parking.
“I work remotely, so I can do my day job from anywhere. And that allows me the freedom to do these collaborations and pop-ups where I can go in the mid-morning, middle of the day — when it’s maybe a little quieter, traffic-wise — to get something done, or I can do it later in the evening. I have flexibility, and because I have a disability, my body has kind of changed over the years.”
The exterior of Obélix.Chris Peters/Eater Chicago
Name: Gustavo Lopez, food runner, Obélix Length of commute: Five miles Mode: Bike
“Recently, I got a Divvy [bikeshare] membership. I dragged my heels about it, but I thought, I’ll get it for the gimmick, because those e-bikes really interested me. I hopped on one, like, ‘Oh, wow. This is amazing.’ There’s so much power in those electric bikes. Since then, I’ve been on Divvy for about three years. The docking stations are sprawled all over the city, so it’s very convenient. I can get to my destination within minutes.
“If you want to bike [to the restaurant], and you’re chronically late, it’s more of a time management issue. I’m giving you a little leeway, but if you’re not here at the set time you’re supposed to be, then it just ruins the flow with the rest of the team. It doesn’t matter what the position is: server, expediter, food runner… We just pick up plates and just clear the table. The servers have to pick up the slack. It does add up. If there’s an event with traffic, I’m usually pretty vigilant about checking the news on Facebook and Instagram. I’ll avoid the busy streets. But, you know, you always have residual traffic. Thank God for bike lanes.”
Two years ago, Entree introduced itself to Chicago, taking over the South Loop space where the city’s only Michelin-starred restaurant south of Roosevelt stood. Entree delivered meal kits, searching for a sweet spot for folks fed up with fees and mistakes from third-party couriers and restaurant customers who missed eating out during the pandemic. As the business grew, its owners knew they had an asset in their dining room. They threw pop-ups and opened the bar area earlier this year while unveiling a new name for on-premise dining, Oliver’s.
In late August the time finally arrived as Oliver’s dining room finally debuted. The added real estate will give Oliver’s chef Alex Carnovale more room to play. He’s already established a menu of favorites including roast chicken, a burger, and diver scallops. The French Laundry alum has shown his ambitions while developing the menus for Entree’s delivery side. With Oliver’s, Carnovale no longer has to worry about whether his food will survive a car ride.
The space is warmer, with a supper club feeling that presents a departure from the modern vibe of the previous tenant. Specifically, Oliver’s was going for a 1930s speakeasy feel. It’s a comfy place to enjoy truffle gnocchi or tomato risotto. As the bar opened first, the drink program had time to mature under the leadership of Luke DeYoung who worked a Sepia and Scofflaw. A gin martini is garnished with caviar-stuffed olive. There are non-alcoholic options, and a deep wine list, too. Happy hour specials have already launched, and bar snacks include Italian beef popcorn, cheddar fries, and beef-fat griddled sourdough from Publican Quality Bread. The latter is served with whipped parmesan and steak sauce.
Walk through the space below. Oliver’s dining room is now open.
Oliver’s, 1930 S. Wabash Avenue, open 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, reservations via Tock.
Mike Krzyzewski still has memories of Chicago’s Polish Broadway, the stretch of Milwaukee Avenue near Wicker Park that was once a hub for Polish restaurants and businesses. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coach grew up in the area and despite his long career at Duke University, the memories of Chicago cling to him.
“You know, every once in a while, some friends or my family will send me a care package of Polish sausage, one of the sandwich meats — I don’t know if they still make a Krakowska — and I just put it on white bread and eat it,” the 77-year-old hoops legend says. “My family would say, ‘You’ve got to put something on it, tomatoes, lettuce?’ I said, ‘No, no, no — it’s a good sandwich with good meat and good bread.’ Chicago food’s terrific.”
Krzyzewski will be in town later this month for a charity event through the V Foundation, raising money for cancer research. The event, called Chicago Epicurean, leverages the city’s prominence as one of the best places to eat in the country. The foundation is named after one of Krzyzewski’s friends and rivals, Jim Valvano, the former head men’s basketball coach at North Carolina State University. Valvano died in 1993 from metastatic adenocarcinoma. Krzyzewski says Valvano recruited him to be part of the foundation more than three decades ago and that’s why he sits on the V Foundation’s board.
Chicago Epicurean kicks off on Thursday, September 19, at the Aviary with an invite-only event hosted by chef Grant Achatz of three-Michelin-starred Alinea. Krzyzewski says he looks forward to meeting Achatz, as he’s been reading more about the chef’s recovery from Stage 4 cancer, a disease that forced surgeons to remove a part of the chef’s tongue. Achatz says it’s important to increase early cancer detection and to raise awareness among patients, clinicians, and pharmaceutical companies while empowering people to be their best advocates in a comfortable and confident environment.
“As a survivor of a lesser prevalent cancer type that is on the rise — especially in people under 30 — I feel it is my responsibility to raise awareness,” Achatz texts, adding: “I am happy to support the V Foundation in its efforts to combat this disease and bring a better quality of life to millions of people each year.”
The public-facing events include a cooking demonstration and lunch with Top Chef alum Fabio Viviani and the auction and gala on Friday, September 20, hosted by Coach K at City Hall in Fulton Market.
There are parallels between the intensity of restaurants and sports, the sometimes fiery Krzyzewski says. That was also noticed in The Bear, a TV series filmed in Chicago that cast Coach K unknowingly into a role the past two seasons. Coincidentally his middle daughter, Lindy, is nicknamed “Bear.” While Krzyzewski didn’t appear in the show, his book, Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life becomes a source of inspiration and support for Ayo Edebiri’s Sydney Adamu. Krzyzewski and Edebiri share the same talent agency, CAA, and the coach has sent an autographed book to the actress.
“The passion and the intensity that’s shown up in that show is remarkable and that’s why they’ve won so many awards,” Krzyzewski says. “They’re seeking excellence, and they know in order to seek excellence you need everybody on the team seeking it and working as one. There’s a lot of pressure in those kitchens.”
He adds that the culinary world is “very innovative too. You’re not just making a hamburger or hot dog — they’re producing a hell of a lot more than that,” Krzyzewski says. “Although the Chicago hot dogs and hamburgers are pretty good, too.” (Krzyzewski confesses he loves pizza, but isn’t enamored with Chicago deep-dish.)
Krzyzewski says they didn’t dine out much at restaurants growing up, but enjoyed homemade pierogi and sauerkraut. The family was fond of the White Eagle, the event venue that’s famous among the city’s Polish community on the Northwest Side in Niles. Though Krzyzewski’s father, William, was an elevator operator, he would eventually dive into the world of hospitality. He ran a spot that mostly served quick breakfasts and lunches to factory workers near California and Cermak in Little Village: “He wasn’t doing through anything innovative,” Krzyzewski says. “It was really a hard business.”
His father would go on to run a tavern called Cross’ Tap near Damen and 21st Place on the Lower West Side. William Krzyzewski went by the name of “Cross” — his son says during the time of World War II, his family was impacted by ethnic discrimination.
A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Krzyzewski says he learned to enjoy different types of foods while depending on Army rations for sustenance. That comes in handy being away from Chicago in the realm of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“My experience of being an Army officer and then traveling all over the United States and coaching is that you get spoiled by different foods from different cultures,” Krzyzewski says. “I’m also a big Las Vegas guy, and they have some of the amazing restaurants in the world, so I’ve adapted really well.”
While Krzyzewski says he isn’t interested in owning a restaurant, he says he does enjoy seeing friends, family, and former players post photos of their meals on social media.
“I like when people do that, and it also shows that you’re having a good time with friends, and so you would want friends to have a good time with family and friends, so they’re sharing that experience with them,” Krzyzewski says.
The sun is setting earlier and Chicago is prepping for football and fire pit season as fall approaches. Before we wave goodbye to summer festivals, let’s check out Eater Chicago’s 11 most anticipated restaurant openings for the fall.
But to do that, let’s look at the summer openings. From last season’s list, three restaurants were delayed to the fall. That’s not a bad conversation rate when there are a variety of reasons that can impact an opening date. For the fall, there are a pair of Beard winners with upcoming projects, a former Chicago Bear is about to open his second sports bar, a Top Chef winner is debuting a Fulton Market Roman spot for premier people-watching and a new tavern-style pizza spot in West Town.
A rendering of Cantina Rosa.Cantina Rosa
Address: 5230 S. Harper Avenue, Hyde Park
Key Players: Erick Williams, Jesus Garcia, Paul McGee
The fourth establishment from James Beard Award winner Erick Williams is a cocktail bar around the corner from Virtue in Hyde Park. Virtue GM Jesus Garcia is leading the project with a small bar bites menu inspired by Garcia’s native Mexico. As Williams and Garcia’s expertise is in restaurants, they’ve brought on noted barman Paul McGee to help with drinks and the flow of the space. They’re hopeful for a fall open.
Address: 2109 W. Chicago Avenue, West Town
Key Players: Land & Sea Dept., Beverage Director Megan Farnham, Land & Sea Culinary Director Dan Snowden
This West Town pizzeria’s progress provides a case study of how Chicago’s tavern-style pizza has soared into America’s mainstream. Land & Sea Dept. has converted its Chicago Avenue location of Parson’s Chicken & Fish into a pizzeria utilizing the patio of the existing space. This pizzeria didn’t debut in Chicago; the first location opened in 2022 in Nashville and has earned some national attention. Look for natural wines, micro beers, salads, and more. They’re targeting a fall opening.
Ema Glenview
Ema is expanding to the suburbs.Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago
The North Shore is getting the second location of chef CJ Jacobson’s Ema, and it’s primed to give the suburbs a fun lunch and dinner option. Jacobson, a California native, has educated himself on cuisine from Israel, Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries. He feels those cuisines haven’t been as Americanized as food from China or Italy, and he feels Ema brings that type of perspective while leaning into Lettuce’s mantra of ensuring every customer is happy. For example: a kebob is made of brisket and is served with a hoisin barbecue sauce. Expect more salad options and a cute space with a skylight. The opening date is Tuesday, September 10.
Rosebud is going Mexican in Downtown Chicago.Rosebud
Tavern on Green was a popular spot for downtown happy hours, but shortly after the pandemic Rosebud on Randolph took over the space, but its life was cut short. Now, Rosebud chef Mauricio Gomez, who started at the company in 1991, will helm a Mexican restaurant inside the space at the corner of Randolph and Michigan. Look for a fall opening.
Gavroche’s facade on Wells Street.Gavroche
Address: 1529 N. Wells Street, Old Town
Key Players: Jason Chan, chef Mitchell Acuna
Wondering where industry vet Jason Chan has been? Chan, whose resume includes Juno, Kitana, Butter, and Urban Union, has been busy with what he’s calling a boutique restaurant, a 32-seater in Old Town, taking over a space that has seen spots like BomboBar and Wild Taco fizzle. Gavroche is a French restaurant that will serve both classic and modern fare. Chan and chef Mitchell Acuna — he worked at Boka, and North Pond — will offer an 18-item menu and Chan is particularly excited about serving sturgeon roe rarely found at restaurants from Polanco Caviar. They’re looking at an October opening and Chan jokes this would be a place where James Bond would take his wife for dinner.
Address: 51 W. Hubbard Street, River North
Key Players: Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, beverage director and partner Kevin Beary, chef and partner Bob Broskey
As River North recovers from the closure of Hub 51, Lettuce Entertain You is ready to introduce Chicagoans to a new bar — formerly called the Dip Inn. Inspired by an Italian restaurant, Gus’ Good Food, which stood at the same address from 1906 to 1966, the new spot, Gus’ Sip and Dip will feature a cocktail list of about 30 drinks from Kevin Beary (Three Dots and a Dash). Chef Bob Broskey’s menu will feature bar classics including dipped and traditional sandwiches. Late fall is the hope, but don’t be surprised at an early winter opening.
Joe FlammBarry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago
Address: 1045 W. Fulton Market, Fulton Market
Key Players: Joe Flamm, Day Off Group
Chicago native Joe Flamm has zeroed in on Roman cuisine to star at his Fulton Market restaurant. It’s called il Carciofo and customers can look forward to Roman-style pizzas, noodles from a pasta lab, and decadent gelato and sorbet. Look for a fall opening
Chef Amar MansuriaIndgo
Address: 2101 S. Morgan Street, Pilsen
Key Players: Amar Mansuria, DJ Charlie Glitch
Construction is underway in Pilsen on this restaurant which will include several facets of Mexican and Indian cuisine. Amar Mansuria ran Cafe Indigo along 18th Street, and now he’s looking to expand with a bar, all-day cafe, and more. Mansuria wants to debut the space in phases starting this fall.
LOULOU
Jason Hammel wearing his James Beard medallion.Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago
Key players: Jason Hammel, Amalea Tshilds, Siren Betty Design
Address: 3057 W. Logan Boulevard, Logan Square
At the end of August, Lula Cafe celebrated its 25th birthday with an avalanche of special dinners. Beyond the anniversary, the Logan Square icon has had an eventful summer as the restaurant won a James Beard Award in June. The fall will give Jason Hammel and company more time to apply the finishing touches at Loulou, located just a few blocks from Lula. Loulou isn’t a traditional restaurant. Hammel sees it more as a collaborative studio that will welcome artists, writers, and chefs, to host unique events that go beyond the boundaries of a typical eatery. In many ways, Loulou will channel the energy that Lula displayed when it opened in September 1999 harnessing a DIY spirit in a neighborhood that wasn’t known for its restaurants. Times have changed.
Soul & Smoke Evanston
Soul & Smoke’s ribs.Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago
Address: 1601 Payne Street, Evanston
Key Players: D’Andre Carter, Heather Bublick
Soul & Smoke, owned by the husband-and-wife duo of D’Andre Carter and Heather Bublick, continues the journey toward upgrading the original location into a full-service restaurant. Soul & Smoke sells some of the city’s best barbecue brisket and ribs, and also has locations off the Chicago River in Avondale and West Loop at the Accenture Tower (they also serve fans on the 300 level at Soldier Field). The three locations somewhat limit Carter and Bublick, who have fine dining backgrounds. The improvements to the Evanston location will allow for an expanded menu, allowing specials a regular place on the menu, and cocktails. The opening has been pushed back, but the couple is hopeful for fall.
Former Bear Israel Idonije speaks a Soldier Field food preview.Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago
Address: 1736 S. Michigan Avenue, South Loop
Key Players: Israel Idonije, chef Stephen Gillanders
Former Chicago Bear Israel Idonije has keyed on opening businesses in the South Loop. He’s already opened Signature, a sports bar with food from S.K.Y. chef Stephen Gillanders. The two are working on a second project, taking over the former Kroll’s South Loop. Named after A.E. Staley, the founder of the Bears, Staley’s will serve wings, chips and dips, sandwiches, and pizza. It will be open during Chicago Bear gamedays through September, starting on Sunday, September 8. The space won’t fully launch until October.
Lately, there’s been a rising tide of anger from so-called Chicago pizza purists who object to the term “tavern-style pizza.” The objections have coincided with the increased national popularity of the thin-crust pizza which is cut into squares and triangles. Even Pizza Hut has a Bizarro version.
Through these civic shenanigans, a 74-year-old Rogers Park pizzeria is trying to adapt to the times. Candlelite, founded in 1950, has established itself as one of the city’s most beloved spots for thin-crust pies. Instantly recognizable along Western Avenue for its neon sign, it’s become a pillar of the Loyola University community and is Sister Jean-approved. They’ve been selling frozen pizzas via Gold Belly and briefly opened a stall inside the Time Out Chicago Market food hall.
After looking at a few spots, the esteemed pizzeria is ready to open a second location this month, treading on rival DePaul University’s turf in Lincoln Park. Candlelite is partnering with the iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingsbury Street, taking over the comedy club’s food and drink service. Candlelite owner Pat Fowler says the theater’s co-owner, Larry Weiner, is a loyal customer in Rogers Park and floated the idea.
“It’s like having two businesses in one building — two iconic Chicago businesses,” Fowler says.
The bar will seat about 80 and be friendly to sports fans with games shown on TVs. A separate dining room — which will feel more like the original Candlelite — will seat an additional 100. They’ll also serve on two patios with 50- and 100-seat capacities. They’ve already redone the kitchens, bringing in conveyor-style pizza ovens, similar to the ones they have on Western.
Pizzas will be available during shows with servers bringing them to tables. The tables are smaller than traditional dining room tables, so Fowler and staff had to find the appropriate pizza stands to hold full-size pies while allowing room for drinks.
“What’s cool for us, from that standpoint, is iO is a destination, right?” Fowler says. “You know, people want to go to a show, and they’re willing to come from far away or nearby. So we’re able to draw from that.”
Candlelite has changed hands several times over seven decades, and Fowler — a former pizza delivery man who started in 2008 — purchased the business in 2012.
The original restaurant’s full menu — with burgers, sandwiches, and options for kids — will be available, and Fowler says they’re working on their beverage selections, hoping to potentially work with Off Color Brewing whose taproom is across the street. They’ll have some fun cocktails as Fowler reminds us that Candlelite’s famous neon sign features a martini. Speaking of the sign, crews in October will install a replica of the original outside the new restaurant. They’ve turned the sign into a logo, using it for their line of frozen pizzas.
In Rogers Park, Candelite has become a community icon and part of the Loyola Rambler community. Fowler wants to enjoy a tight relationship with the Lincoln Park area, even if that means cavorting with Loyola’s rivals at DePaul.
“I’ll either need Sister Jean’s permission or I’ll have to ask for forgiveness,” Fowler says with a laugh. “But we love supporting local so DePaul will definitely be something we want to incorporate openly with Sister Jean’s permission.”
Candlelite Lincoln Park, 1501 N. Kingsbury, planned for a mid-September opening.
Atelier, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Lincoln Square, has been closed since August 24 as staff contends with a broken air conditioner and wall and ceiling damage caused by heavy rain late last month. As founder Tim Lacey and chef Christian Hunter wait for a new unit to arrive, the small business needs a way to continue in the short term. That’s why they’re offering a special five-course takeout menu from Friday, September 6 through Sunday, September 8.
Lacey admits that his staff is having flashbacks to the start of the pandemic when fine dining restaurants across the country did the unthinkable in offering carryout meals as government officials kept dining rooms closed to curb the spread of COVID. Many fine chefs never thought they would be in the position of creating takeout meals. Chicago’s restaurants leaned into comfort foods which travel well in bags and to-go containers. Even Ever chef Curtis Duffy began selling burgers in December 2020. Atelier, which replaced another Michelin-starred restaurant, Elizabeth, had been blazing its own path and was named a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.
The takeout menu — no substitutions — consists of a pita and mezze course (baba ghanoush, pickled summer squash, fermented garlic scape tapenade, rhubarb chutney); grilled Korean pork sausage Bibb lettuce wraps (sea beans, kohlrabi/kimchi slaw); root vegetable fasolada (diced parsnips, celery root, sunchokes, rutabagas); lasagna in lamb neck ragu with ricotta and sourdough garlic knots. and a nectarine and pear galette with caramelized whey, allspice-cinnamon gelee, and spruce chantilly cream.
Hunter and Lacey are hopeful the air conditioning can be fixed by Tuesday, September 10, and that they’ll be back open on Wednesday, September 11. Check their Instagram for updates.
Atelier’s five-course takeout menu is available Friday, September 6 through Sunday, September 8 with pickup between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Order via Tock.
Surprise a date with a trip to Nine Bar, a speakeasy hidden behind Chinatown takeout spot Moon Palace Express. The glowing pink, green, and blue hues in the Blade Runner-inspired space provide a moody venue to share dumplings, cold sesame noodles and Asian-inspired cocktails like the Neo Toyko blended with Suntory Toki, ginger, and lemongrass or the Paradise Lost, a rum-based drink incorporating mango cordial, ube and Thai coconut milk.
Four and half months after suddenly closing stores in Chicago, Texas, and Washington, D.C., Foxtrot will attempt a comeback by opening its first store this week. Outfox Hospitality, the company that ran those 33 stores filed for bankruptcy in May, leaving a wake of angry vendors, workers scrambling to find new jobs, and accusations of breaking federal labor law. Since then, a new entity has been formed by the chain’s co-founder who says he’ll return the company to its roots by showcasing cool snacks made by local artisans and avoid the pitfalls that lead to the chain’s failure.
The first store is scheduled to open on Thursday, September 5 at 23 W. Maple Street in Gold Coast, according to a news release. An Old Town location at the corner of North Avenue and Wells Street will follow, though an opening date hasn’t been announced. A few vendors Eater spoke with last week said one of the reasons they joined the comeback effort is Foxtrot isn’t rushing to reopen all the stores they closed. Mike LaVitola, who founded Foxtrot in 2013, and is now chairman of the newly named Foxtrot Cafe & Market. He was part of an effort that bought Foxtrot’s assets in an auction for $2.5 million. LaVitola told Eater he wanted to focus on “getting it right” at individual locations rather than opening multiple stores at once. The initial plan announced was to open about 15 stores scattered in Chicago and Texas, with the majority in Chicago. There are two new details from the company’s latest release: They’re not specifying the number of stores anymore (last week, LaVitola said they were negotiating leases in unannounced locations including Wicker Park and Willis Tower.) The other details might be bitter for those in Austin, Texas, as it appears Foxtrot is focusing on reopening in Dallas, at least in the interim. Austin was home to four locations.
The closures caused a nationwide commotion in April, with a combination of anger (a class-action lawsuit alleging Outfox violated federal law by failing to provide proper notice for a mass layoff is pending; October 1 is the next court date), sadness (customers who lived nearby grew attached, one famously bemoaned moving to their residence to be near a Foxtrot), and resentment (some South Siders who had never been to a Foxtrot wondered why folks were being so dramatic). Foxtrot had found a niche in North Side Chicago neighborhoods as a corner store with trendy snacks, a coffee bar, and a cafe space to get work done or to sip wine or beer. It was a kind of third place for former office workers who had transitioned into a hybrid work-from-home schedule during the pandemic. Foxtrot saw an opportunity to scale, and after merging with local Chicago grocer Dom’s Kitchen & Market — which also had its own ambitious expansion plans — in 2022, Foxtrot announced intentions to open as many as 100 locations by 2024. By that point, LaVitola was no longer chief executive officer. He says he was pushed out to an advisory role. Foxtrot began opening in neighborhoods with pricey real estate like Fulton Market and at Wrigley Field. They were spending in the hope of getting noticed.
That detail is important as vendors have been gunshy about joining Foxtrot 2.0 and worried the chain would repeat mistakes. LaVitola told them he wasn’t involved in a leadership role at Outfox. Some have accepted LaVitola’s reassurances, saying they need Foxtrot’s customer base. Others have picked other retail routes.
But, as LaVitola points out, Foxtrot is about more than gourmet gummies or hot dog-flavored potato chips. The coffee bar was “the biggest revenue driver” — it was so much that nearby coffee shops were losing business to Foxtrot. The previous interaction of Foxtrot made a big deal of partnering with Philadelphia’s La Colombe. That relationship will continue, but the new Foxtrot will also stock items from local roasters Metric and Kyoto Black. They’re also adding new food items to complement its morning breakfast tacos, which will remain. Look for new panini sandwiches, salads, lunch bowls, and cookies.
Expect to see growing pains. As of last week, LaVitola wasn’t sure if customers would need to create new profiles on the store’s app, which was vital to the chain’s business. Before it was a brick-and-mortar, Foxtrot used its app for liquor and beer delivery. Still, LaVitola says he’s committed to “delivering an awesome experience in the stores.” One way is making sure customers better connect with the stories behind the people who make their products. He feels the previous iteration of Foxtrot relied too much on its website to do that.
“There’s just going to be a lot more of that content — for lack of a better word — and storytelling happening in the store versus online,” LaVitola says. “Online is still really important, and it’s still there, but I think that gap is going to be bridged.”
Shortly after the Chicago Bears drafted Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the team’s culinary staff began brainstorming how to incorporate the star college quarterback’s “Bear Claw” hand gesture.
Levy Executive Chef Ryan Craig invented the Campfire Milkshake for Sox fans.
These self-serve kiosks use AI and are new for 2024.
These grab-and-go items can be purchased in the self-serve kiosk.
Levy Executive Chef Ryan Craig who already created a viral stadium hit earlier this year with the Chicago White Sox, perhaps providing the South Siders with the highlight of their woeful season with his invention, the Campfire Milkshake, and his team recognized that Williams had provided them with an opportunity. During a media food preview on Wednesday, August 28 at Solider Field, the Levy team unfurled a trio of Bear Claw items. There was a giant pretzel with beer cheese dip and cinnamon-cream cheese icing on the claw (available at the United Club South Market and in the suites); a collaboration with Do-Rite Donuts with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, toffee piece, orange and blue M&Ms, and whipped cream (United Club Bistro, Miller Lite Midway; and suite ticketholders can order a giant cookie with orange and blue icing from Sugar Bliss, a bakery located inside the Palmer House Hilton.
Craig and his staff are trying to match the fan enthusiasm with high expectations as Williams has the potential to give the Bears the perennial All-Pro quarterback the franchise has lacked. Sports food is more fun when the team is actually competitive. Not that Chicago fans know about that.
This doughnut-cookie hybrid is also shaped like a bear claw.
It’s also an opportunity for Levy, which earlier in the year outbid incumbent Delaware North to take over food operations at Soldier Field. The Chicago company already provides services to Guaranteed Rate Field, Wrigley Field, and the United Center. Levy took over this summer right after the Rolling Stone concert on June 30, and there’s been a transition period as Levy rebrands all of Soldier Field’s concession stands. The process will continue over the next 10 days. The goal was to complete the transformation by the September 8 home opener versus the Tenessee Titans. New names include “Burnham Bar,” “606 Sausage Co.,” and “Shoreline BBQ.” Connie’s Pizza remains at the stadium, but the name’s been changed on the facade to Pizza Soldato (Sections 119, 132, 152, 231, 322, 351, 435, and 443).
Shoreline (Section 134) is where fans will find a hot dog inspired by rookie wide received Rome Odunze, the No. 9 pick in this year’s draft. The Odunze Dog is a jalapeño-cheddar dog surrounded by Italian beef and topped with spicy giardiniera, cheddar crumbles, and secret sauce. It’s a salty take on an Italian beef combo.
The smash burgers are created by Boka chef Chris Pandel.
Levy’s presence provides an opportunity for one of Chicago’s most decorated restaurant groups. For the first time, food from James Beard Award-winning Boka Restaurant Group will be available inside a stadium. (Stephanie Izard’s taco stand inside the United Center is an independent venture unaffiliated with Boka, her regular restaurant partner). They’ll serve hand-breaded chicken fingers from GG’s Chicken Shop, with all the fancy dipping sauces. GG’s (Sections 125 and 150) is a fast-causal spot with food from Boka Executive Chef Lee Wolen, a noted Cleveland Browns fan. Next door, at the new Burger Bar (Section 126), they’ll also serve smash burgers created by Boka Group chef Chris Pandel (Swift & Sons, Cira). In October 2022, Levy acquired a minority stake in Boka which opened the door to collaborations. They’ve already collaborated on food at the Art Institute of Chicago. Will Boka also feed Blackhawk and Bulls fans at the United Center and Chicago’s North and South side baseball fans? The company’s lips are sealed… for now.
Rookie wideout Rome Odunze has his own dog, a tribute to Chicago’s Italian beef combo.
The Honey Bear is named for the team’s old cheerleading squad.
For years, AI and analytics have promised to revolutionize the way professional sports teams are assembled. Fans are now seeing the impact on the stadium food experience. New for 2024 is more than 60 self-checkout kiosks with AI-powered cameras that recognize cans of beer, slices of pizza, boxes of popcorn, and other concession items. Made by a company called Mashgin, these kiosks are installed for faster checkout with a claim that they can increase sales.
While Craig didn’t create a sequel to the Campfire Shake for the Bears — he says he needed to let the White Sox have that and that winter might be too cold for ice cream — there are two notable new beverages. Former Bears special teams star Patrick Mannelly has collaborated with suburban Mundelein’s Tighthead Brewery on a beer, Longsnapper IPA. There’s also a new cocktail with a nod to forgotten history. The Bears are one of a handful of teams without cheerleaders, disbanding the squad, called the Honey Bears, after the 1985 season. For 2024, the team has unveiled a drink with lemonade, simple syrup, and honey called Honey Bear. Add vodka for an upgrade. Levy’s senior director of operations for Soldier Field, Kara Jacobs, suggested the name as she was reminded of when the Honey Bears made visit when she was part of a pom pom team growing up in suburban Libertyville
Pizza Soldato is just Connie’s Pizza in disguise.
Levy has been busy rebranding all of Soldier FIeld’s signage.
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