Tribune Tower Gets A Restaurant
By Samantha Abernethy in Food on Jan 11, 2012 11:40PM
WGN Radio is moving to the seventh floor of Tribune Tower this year to make way for a new restaurant at the ground floor due to open in spring 2013. That's good news for WGN, since they'll be able to update their equipment. It's bummer that we won't be able to see in their windows anymore, though. But with that broad glass front and revolving door, that's prime real estate to put in a great restaurant in a gorgeous, Gothic landmark.
When we first heard the news we were excited about the prospect of a great bar with dark wood, friendly bartenders with Chicago accents. Maybe it'd be decorated with old Chicago Tribune front pages and memorabilia—the kind of place Royko would hang out, now that tourists have taken over the Billy Goat.
Culturally, though, the restaurant is likely to be more in line with the corny, lowest-common-denominator art of the "Forever Marilyn" statue in Pioneer Court, than it will be with the venerable "World's Greatest Newspaper" the building holds. Bottleneck Management runs several mediocre, overpriced restaurants around the city: Trace in Wrigleyville, The Boundary in Wicker Park, Sweetwater Tavern & Grille on Michigan Avenue downtown, and South Branch Tavern & Grille in the South Loop.
It's also not going to be cozy. It's a 14,000-square-foot, 300-seat restaurant. Throwing that on Michigan Avenue just screams, "Hey tourists! Come stuff your faces with hamburgers." It's a shame to see another "contemporary American" restaurant in such a great spot. Places like Bar Toma and Purple Pig have proven that challenging food can succeed on Michigan Avenue.