New restaurants opening in Chicago
In the 30 days to Nov 9, we logged 187 new restaurant and bar leads across Chicagoland: 18 liquor license applications, 119 new food, building, and sign permits, and 46 researched openings.
Coming soon to Chicago
Palomino
Steaks slow-cooked over wood and then finished on the grill, plus a raw bar, in the old Proxi space on Randolph: El Che's John Manion is building a 'distinctly American' steakhouse that he says won't be dark or heavy, drawing on live-fire cooking from Texas…
Sugo Italian Kitchen
Cocktails shoot between floors through clear pneumatic tubes from an old bank-teller system at Sugo, the Crown Point square's new Italian spot, which pairs that showpiece with house-made pasta and stone-fired Neapolitan pizza from local group Meraki…
Sifr Café
Baklava croissants, a smoked tahini latte and a carrot halwa babka in the morning: Bib Gourmand favorite Sifr turns its River North dining room into a daytime café, with chefs Sujan Sarkar and Sahil Sethi baking dishes inspired by the Middle Eastern diaspora.
Cha Chin
Oxtail wontons, chili crab dumplings and lomo saltado land on Clark Street as Cha Chin brings chifa, Peru's Chinese-Peruvian cooking, to a 70-seat River North room from Kayao's Éxodo Hospitality team and culinary director José Luis Chávez.
Rosca
Red mole mixed right into the dough of a three-day sourdough bagel: Pilsen native Felix Zepeda is opening Rosca's own 18th Street shop in the building where his dad's family once shared a one-bedroom upstairs.
Noble Thai
Tiger cry beef with a sauce hot enough to make a tiger weep is coming to Clark Street, as West Town's Noble Thai takes over the old Parson's Chicken & Fish building for its first Andersonville location.
Quericozon
Arepas, big Venezuelan empanadas and patacones stuffed with chicken or beef are headed to North Avenue, as Belmont Cragin's Quericozon brings its casual Venezuelan cooking to Humboldt Park.
Molino Los Hermanos
Foie gras enmoladas and suadero tacos on masa milled that morning by a volcanic-stone molino hauled from San Luis, Mexico — Norman Fenton takes his Michelin-starred Cariño casual one door down, selling fresh tortillas retail out front.
La Casa de las Flores
The man behind La Catedral's wall of chilaquiles is finally opening his long-planned La Casa de las Flores, right across Christiana from his Little Village flagship. It's a new Mexican spot from Guadalajara-born chef Ambrocio 'Bocho' Gonzalez.
Jake's Place
Cracker-thin, square-cut tavern pies from the Faulds oven left behind at the old Armand's on Western: Milly's Pizza in the Pan founder Robert Maleski is opening a pizzeria named for his 1-year-old son, serving what he calls "the exact opposite of what we make…
Third City Cafe
Coffee, ice cream and live performances next door to the Third City Studio gallery: this café is the second piece of the plan to turn North and Central into the North Austin Arts District.
Rest + Recreation
Espresso at 7am and cocktails until just before midnight on the corner of Wells and Schiller, across from Orso's: local business owner Elizabeth Transier is turning the old Patina Collection storefront into Old Town's new all-day hangout.
Christophe's Fine Foods
Foie gras terrine, chicken liver mousse and pâté de campagne behind the counter at a new Clark Street food shop, where an open kitchen turns out a rotating lineup of 40-50 restaurant-quality dishes to take home and reheat.
Axum Cafe
A traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony takes over the old Mango Pickle space on Broadway, where Solomon Birhanu is opening a cafe right next door to Axum Ethiopian Restaurant, pouring everything from ceremony coffee to espresso and fresh juices.
Miles Tavern
The Maxwells Trading team is bringing a tavern with an outdoor patio to West Fulton, with three-time James Beard finalist Erling Wu-Bower attached and a liquor license application already filed under the name Miles Tavern.
Shemroon Kabab House
Fire-grilled koobideh skewers and saffron rice make the trip in from Park Ridge, where Asrin and Mehdi's Persian kabab house built a following fast and is now taking its grill to a double storefront on Chicago Avenue in Ukrainian Village.
Tini Bar
A martini poured from a tube hanging off the ceiling, served at a red-tiled, T-shaped bar under a disco-ball-lit red entry room: LIA Tavern chef Justin Vaiciunas is opening a 30-seat retro cocktail den beneath his River North tavern-pizza spot.
L&M Fine Foods
The deli with the biscuit egg sandwich Eater ranked among Chicago's best is headed south: L&M Fine Foods, named for Lincoln and Montrose, is adding a shop on Jefferson near Lou Mitchell's.
Just opened
Redhot Ranch
Redhot Ranch's crispy-edged, cash-only double cheeseburger, which Time Out calls arguably the best deal in town, now sizzles in a Downers Grove strip mall on Ogden Ave until midnight.
Sweet Moon Café and Bakery
Layered honey cakes that started in a home kitchen with more than 2,000 customers now come out of a storefront by the Wilmette Metra, as Ravenswood's Sweet Moon opens its second cafe on the North Shore.
Atelier Shang
Soup dumplings filled with crab roe are the early standout at Atelier Shang on Damen, the third spot from the Shang Noodle family, where you can follow the xiao long bao with shrimp toast, crispy pork noodle soup and fruit-forward cocktails built on Taiwanese…
My Fair Sweets Bakery & Cafe
An Atlanta cake shop that has made sweets for Usher, T.I. and Young Jeezy now sits in Cedar Lake's old Boz's Hot Dogs stand, selling over-the-top milkshakes, custom cakes and a banana pudding early visitors are already singling out.
Hindsight Community Tavern
No TVs anywhere — just a lending library of board games running from chess to the Viking war game Hnefatafl, and a bar pouring beer, wine, THC-infused and caffeine cocktails inside a former florist shop two blocks from the Irving Park Brown Line.
Naani's Cafe
Buffalo Grove resident Taran Singh brings his Naperville Mall of India counter home to The Clove, with a fast-casual pan-Indian menu where he says every dish is authentic to its home region, served at a patio-fronted spot next to Sushi Grove.
Potluc
Jamaican meat patties, oxtails and braised greens go up to Potluc's North Avenue rooftop, the choir loft of the reservation-only spot Garfield Park native Mary Proietti calls her church.
Kermess
Aerialists, burlesque and cabaret under a century-old Belgian mirror tent 14 floors above Randolph Street: Kermess moves into the old Teatro ZinZanni tent with cocktails and food alongside the show.
New restaurant leads in Chicago: filed in the last 30 days
The earliest signals: liquor applications and new food, building, and sign permits, often months before any press. Names of filings from the last two weeks, plus every address and record, are for subscribers.
| Filed | Stage | Where | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 6 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | E•••••• 8•• |
| Nov 6 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | S•••••• B•••••• & |
| Nov 4 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | L•• S•• C•••• |
| Nov 3 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | M•••• K•••••• C••• |
| Oct 31 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | A•••••• A•• C••• |
| Oct 28 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | P•••••• C•••••• |
| Oct 27 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | M••••• W••• A•••••• |
| Oct 27 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | O••••• |
| Oct 27 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | H••• F••• |
| Oct 27 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | H••• F••• D••••• |
| Oct 27 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | M•••••• S••••• C••• |
| Oct 24 | Liquor application Tavern | Chicago | Door 24 |
| Oct 23 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | Our Mutual City Coffee Company |
| Oct 21 | Liquor application Consumption On Premises - Incidental Activity | Chicago | 6112 Hospitality |
This month's leads include West Loop, Crown Point (courthouse square), River North, Pilsen, Andersonville, Humboldt Park, Uptown, Little Village, North Center, Austin, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Edgewater, West Loop / Fulton Market.
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Every lead with its address, county, and the record it came from, every Sunday. For teams that sell to new restaurants: Food distributors · POS & payments · Beer, wine & spirits · Insurance · Kitchen services · Equipment & build-out · Staffing & hiring · Linen & uniforms · Marketing & signage · Accounting & payroll · Commercial real estate & finance · Pest control & cleaning.
Questions
How do you find new restaurants in Chicago before they open?
We read the public record every day: state liquor license applications (often months before opening), county health and city building permits (weeks before), local press, and a daily web sweep. Duplicates are merged and the substantive leads are researched against the venue's own site and press.
How many new restaurants are opening in Chicago?
In the 30 days to Nov 9, we logged 187 new restaurant and bar leads across Chicagoland: 18 liquor license applications, 119 new food, building, and sign permits, and 46 researched openings. Not every filing becomes a restaurant, which is why the researched openings are listed separately.
Can I get addresses and a spreadsheet?
Yes. Opening Soon PRO subscribers get every Chicagoland lead with address, county, the record it came from, and a CSV for their CRM, every Sunday. Try it free for a week.
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