WEST LOOP — As spring arrives, a slew of new restaurants and bars are cropping up in the bustling West Loop.
Here’s a rundown:
The Hoxton: Cabra Cevicheria, Cira, Lazy Bird
Boka Restaurant Group debuted a trio of highly anticipated concepts — under one roof at the West Loop’s newest hotel, The Hoxton — with Cabra Cevicheria, Cira and Lazy Bird.
Helmed by James Beard award-winning chef Stephanie Izard, Cabra Cevicheria draws inspiration from Izard’s travels across Peru. The rooftop restaurant and bar offers up a menu that includes ceviches, tiraditos (a Peruvian dish of raw fish), empanadas and shareable dishes including Adobo de Cabra, Chicharron Lamb Ribs and a whole fish cooked in Japanese curry.
Swift & Sons Chef Chris Pandel oversees Mediterranean restaurant Cira in the hotel’s lobby, which draws on influences from across the region.
Guests can expect a mix of small and large shareable plates at Pandel’s all-day eatery; offerings include a hearth-roasted whole turbot, confit duck rice and a mixed grill of lamb.
“We’re taking the liberty of looking at all 21 countries that surround the Mediterranean and making a mashup,” Pandel told Chicago magazine.“We’ve got Spanish, Turkish, a touch of Israel and Syria, some North African stuff.”
Led by beverage director Lee Zaremba, late-night basement bar Lazy Bird offers 52 classic cocktails and live music on select nights.
Riccardo Osteria
Chef Riccardo Michi has ventured away from Lincoln Park to open his third restaurant, Riccardo Osteria, at 1023 W. Lake St. in the space that formerly housed Spanish wine and coffee bar Vera.
The chef behind the highly regarded Riccardo Enoteca and his Bib Gourmand award-winning restaurant Riccardo Trattoria offers an extensive menu of pasta, focaccia, risotto and seafood dishes, Eater reports.
Rooh Chicago
Rooh, a San Francisco-based Indian restaurant and bar, is set to open its second location at 736 W. Randolph St. in Chicago this spring. Led by chef Sujan Sarkar, Rooh Chicago will offer “new-age Indian cuisine” — including paneer pinwheel, lamb chops and a beef short rib curry — and 12 seasonal cocktails in the three-floor restaurant.
Bandit
The team behind West Loop’s Bar Siena and BomboBar are gearing up to open a new restaurant and bar, Bandit, in the old Gideon Sweet space at 841 W. Randolph St., in June.
The DineAmic Hospitality concept will offer American comfort food including mac and cheese with bacon, breadcrumbs and black pepper and “disco fries”— hand-cut spuds topped with pulled pork, scallions and cheese, according to Crain’s.
“Bandit will have a playful, condensed menu of our favorite dishes we like to cook at home,” David Rekhson, principal and partner of DineAmic said in a statement.
Time Out Market
A 50,000-square-foot food hall will bring some of the city’s most famous food to Fulton Market later this year.
Time Out Market will have 18 eateries, three bars and a demo kitchen spread out across three floors, with food, cooking classes and other activities available to visitors, according to a news release. It’s expected to open in the second half of the year at 916 W. Fulton Market.
The market will also have a rooftop area, retail and an event space. It will seat up to 600 people, and customers will be able to grab everything from noodles and burgers to charcuterie and ice cream.
A lineup of eight chefs and restaurants, including Brian Fisher of Michelin-winning Entente and Bill Kim of urbanbelly, will have space inside the food hall, with more chefs to be announced.
The food lineup so far:
- Chef Brian Fisher of Entente
- Chef Bill Kim of urbanbelly
- Chef Thai Dang of HaiSous
- The Purple Pig
- Split-Rail
- Mini Mott
- The Art of Pizza
- Pretty Cool Ice Cream
Fulton Galley
Pittsburgh-based Galley Group’s 13,000-square-foot food hall and restaurant incubator at 1115 W. Fulton St. is also taking shape.
After first announcing their Fulton Market food hall last fall, co-founders Ben Mantica and Tyler Benson have picked five vendors that aim to dazzle visitors when the hall opens this Jubne.
The lineup includes Ron Aleman’s Taco Mucho, Dennis Bernard “rotisserie-focused concept” Fairview, husband-and-wife Gerad Gobel and Alexis Rorabaugh’s Italianette, Thai restaurant Pink Salt by Palita Sriratana and Aaron Steingold’s Steingold’s Deli, according to the Tribune.
Politan Row
Another food hall, called Politan Row, is also expected to open this year in the neighborhood. Politan Row aims to debut in May at 111 N. Aberdeen St. with food from 12 vendors, including Passion House Coffee and Piko Street Kitchen.
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