WEST LOOP — Several Chicago-based hospitality groups are expanding to the West Loop and Downtown with restaurants serving pizza, pasta and globally inspired coastal cuisine.
Labriola and Pizza Lobo join the Fulton Market dining scene this month, and Mariela, from the team behind Bucktown’s Mirra, is slated to open May 6 in the Loop.
Here are the details on the newcomers:
Labriola Italian Specialties opening April 22 in the West Loop. Credit: Provided
Labriola Italian Specialties Moves Into Kuma’s Corner
Labriola Italian Specialties is opening this month in Fulton Market, filling a space once home to Kuma’s Corner.
The venture by Chicago baker Rich Labriola’s Doughboy Restaurant Group will open April 22 at 852 W. Fulton Market, according to a press release.
There are two Labriola Ristorante locations, one steps off the Magnificent Mile and the other in suburban Oak Brook. Labriola is also behind the popular doughnut chain Stan’s Donuts.
Dishes at Labriola Italian Specialties include spaghetti assassina, a spicy, crispy pasta dish from Bari, Italy, where the spaghetti is pan-fried and cooked like risotto in a spicy tomato broth, according to the release.
The menu also features Labriola’s Sicilian cannoli, housemade pastry shells fried in beef tallow and filled with Italian sheep’s milk ricotta cheese, chocolate chips, candied orange peel and Amarena cherry.
The new Pizza Lobo location now open in the West Loop. Credit: Provided
Pizza Lobo Opens 3rd Location
Heisler Hospitality has opened a third Pizza Lobo in Fulton Market.
Located at 165 N. Morgan St., the dual-level restaurant has a 75-seat island bar on the first floor, a 180-seat dining room on the second floor and a 2,000-square-foot partially covered patio in the back. The space also has a photo booth.
Customers can also order a slice from a walk-up window, which will be open during regular hours 11 a.m.-1 a.m. daily.
Pizza Lobo opened its first location in 2020 in Logan Square before expanding to Andersonville in 2023.
Zubair Mohajir, Rishi Kumar and David Mor of Mariela. Credit: Galdones Photography
Mariela, From Mirra Team, Coming To The Loop
Mariela is set to open May 6 in the heart of the Loop, featuring foods from coastal areas around the world, according to a press release. It’s the latest venture from the chefs behind Mirra in Bucktown, Sarima Cafe in Wicker Park and other restaurants.
The restaurant will be inside the Reliance Building, 1 W. Washington St., and connected to boutique hotel StayPineapple Chicago.
Mirra will offer all-day service, with plans to open at 7 a.m for breakfast and transition to lunch at 11 a.m., before taking a break from 2-4 p.m. Dinner service will run 4-9:30 p.m. alongside a happy hour 4-6 p.m. with $1 oysters.
Seafood-centric dishes will include a seafood arroz negro made with octopus and scallops in a squid ink sofrito and served with uni hot sauce; chili crab agnolotti with king crab, sweet-and-spicy chili sauce and smoked trout roe; tom yum aguachile with poached prawns; and a seafood kebab taco with grilled octopus, seafood chorizo, almond-vanilla macha and fenugreek roti.
The menu also features “global spreads,” a rotating selection of six to eight dips and spreads inspired by mezza traditions from around the world, according to the release.
The restaurant will seat 100 people inside and 20 on a small outdoor patio.
The Avocado & Quinoa Superfood Ensalada from Mendocino Farms. Credit: Instagram
Mendocino Farms
Mendocino Farms, a California-based fast-casual restaurant known for its sandwiches and salads, will open a third storefront in Chicago, this one in Fulton Market.
Mendocino-branded window coverings were seen at 847 W. Fulton Market this week. The company did not respond to an immediate request for comment on an opening date.
Founded in southern California in 2005 by husband-and-wife team Mario Del Pero and Ellen Chen, Mendocino Farms has grown to 75 locations, according to a press release.
The chain’s other Chicago locations are at 508 N. Clark St. in River North and on the ground floor of Willis Tower, 233 S. Wacker Drive.
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