Having a tough time keeping up with all the new dining options? Welcome to the Opening Report, a curated roundup of recent restaurant openings big and small across Chicago.
Did we miss a spot? Drop a note at the tipline or email chicago@eater.com, and we’ll consider it for the next update.
GOLD COAST — Bar veteran Peter Vestinos (Bisous, Sparrow) is back with Double Fun, a ‘70s Hollywood-themed corner bar. Opening Wednesday, November 19, the spot channels a Southern California mood with frozen cocktails like a Freezer Door Martini and a Frozen Coconut Mudslide, a lineup of highballs, and classics such as a pisco punch and a passion fruit mai tai. Expect snacks including cheese balls, local chips, and Thai-spiced peanuts from Motorshucker, music curated by Uncanned, and sidewalk seating to debut in spring. 2 W. Elm Street.
LAKEVIEW — Nashville hot chicken favorite Hot Chi Chicken & Cones has officially landed in Lakeview. The new location brings the brand’s fiery wings, hot honey butter chicken sandwiches, and Middle Eastern–tinged hits like the “Popeye’s Ain’t Sh!t” sandwich to the North Side, along with Lakeview-exclusive dishes such as the Dirty Mac, a mac and cheese piled with hot chicken, Alabama white sauce, and Hot Chi’s signature seasoning. The restaurant also plans to host comedy nights, music performances, and even chicken-eating contests. 953 W. Belmont Avenue.
WICKER PARK — Vajra is pivoting once again, this time adding a coffee shop inside its former dining room as the Indian restaurant shifts to takeout-only service. The new cafe partners with Sparrow Coffee on an espresso menu and pastries, with plans to eventually introduce house-made sweets and potential brunch offerings from chef Min Thapa. The space — once home to Vajra’s bar — will offer Wi-Fi for remote work, part of the restaurant’s effort to build a neighborhood-focused operation. 2039 W. North Avenue.
WICKER PARK, STREETERVILLE — British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat continues its rapid Chicago expansion with two new locations in Wicker Park and Streeterville. The Wicker Park outpost brings the brand’s signature lineup of drinking chocolates, specialty coffee, and pastries to a high-traffic stretch of Damen Avenue, along with shelves of its cacao treats and gifts. The Mag Mile flagship goes bigger with a Wall of Chocolate with more than 100 recipes, 18 varieties of drinking chocolate, and a liquid chocolate tap for drizzling molten chocolate over soft serve or baked goods from Publican Bakery. 1617 N. Damen Avenue, 830 N. Michigan Avenue.