Three New Restaurants You Won't Want To Miss This Month
By Anthony Todd in Food on Jul 19, 2016 2:28PM
Pleasant House Pub's famous English pies. Photo via Pleasant House Bakery website.
July has been an incredible month for bar and restaurant openings. Here are three of our favorites that you'll want to hit up right now.
Pleasant House Bakery has been a darling of the Chicago food scene for years, and their english-style meat pies, high teas, fresh baked goods and mushy peas have made for many a great meal, especially when paired with a beer at neighboring Maria's. But after years of residing in Bridgeport, Pleasant House has moved on, opening their new location in Pilsen in the old Nightwood space.
They've been open for almost two weeks, and regulars at their old location should look forward to a larger menu, much more seating (their former location was tiny) and regular brunch service, including a full English breakfast complete with homemade pastries. Let's be real for a second: Pleasant House isn't just a restaurant, it's a Chicago institution, a farm, a retailer, a local food promoter and a source of great comfort for many locals, and it's awesome to see their continued success. Plus, the gap they left behind at Maria's will be nicely filled by Kimski, the new Korean-Polish fusion spot.
In an interesting conceptual game of musical chairs, while Pleasant House takes over the old Nightwood space, the former chef of Nighwood, Jason Vincent, finally opens a new spot after a couple of years off. Giant, a tiny new restaurant in Logan Square, has been getting social media raves since it opened at the beginning of July.
The menu, which includes fried uni shooters, thai chili carrots and tagliatelle with "giant meat sauce" looks eclectic and wonderful, and you can bet that we'll be visiting to bring you more information first-hand very soon.
Heisler Hospitality, the team behind Sportsman's Club, Lone Wolf, Revel Room, Pub Royale and Queen Mary, is on a roll. They've opened yet another spot, this time a coffee and liquor bar in Logan Square. Eater Chicago reports that they opened the doors yesterday.
The restaurant is an all-day spot that serves coffee by day (look for Dark Matter) and cocktails by Big Star and Violet Hour vets at night. They've also got a Pisco list, which is unusual for a Chicago bar (Pisco is a Peruvian brandy) and a large selection of cachaca, tequila and mezcal, because apparently Logan Square is becoming the place to drink fancy spirits from Latin America.