Fat Rice Is Opening A Bakery And Cocktail Bar This Month
By Mae Rice in Food on Jul 1, 2016 3:07PM
Logan Square's Fat Rice (2957 W. Diversey Ave.) is poised to open an in-house bakery and a cocktail bar next door to its wildly-acclaimed dining room. The bakery opens Wednesday, and the cocktail bar, The Ladies' Room, opens, July 8.
Sample bakery dishes include a Portuguese egg tart; a bao-influenced Chicago hot dog bun; and a sweet and savory Rice Krispie treat-ish rice crisp, with touches of nori and caramel, according to the Tribune. (That rice crisp has been a staple at Fat Rice for a while; Chicago Mag called it "an inspired creation" back in 2013.) The bakery will be open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends.
The hours are a bit deceptive, though. By night, it will turn into a dining room with a stand-up bar for groups larger than six, Eater reports—which means Fat Rice's long standing rule against parties of more than six is finally over. Groups of six or more have to have a reservation, though, while all other parties can walk in.
As for the 16-seat The Ladies' Room, it will be inspired by old school Macau casinos, according to the Tribune. However, it'll also draw at least a touch of inspiration from Chicago—the bar will make its own Malort.
Fat Rice has had plans to expand since 2015, and it's no wonder. Since basically the day it opened, the Asian-fusion restaurant been a hit with foodies nationwide: Bon Appetit named it one of the best restaurants in the country in 2013, the year it opened; and Fat Rice's chef, Abe Conlon, was a finalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Great Lakes this year.