Hawksmoor opens Chicago steakhouse as it eyes key cities in North America
The 16,500sq ft, three-storey restaurant is described as the steakhouse group’s biggest and most ambitious yet and is housed in a building that started life as a cable car powerhouse in 1887 during the heyday of Chicago’s cable car system.
The restaurant, which at one point in the 1990s was also home to Chicago Bulls basketball legend Michael Jordan’s eponymous restaurant, has a main dining room that can host up to 125 diners, with a wraparound bar for additional space for those seeking a cocktail or a small plate.
A second dining room on the first floor has space for an additional 76 guests, plus two private dining rooms on site that can host up to a further 40 people.
The group announced its Chicago restaurant in March last year. It will open tomorrow (27 June).
The Chicago restaurant is Hawksmoor’s second in the US and is described by the company as ‘a key step in its strategy to open world-class restaurants in world-class cities. It follows its debut US site in New York City’s Flatiron district, which opened in 2021, and the launch of a site in Dublin in 2023.
“One of the great joys of our working lives is opening world class restaurants in world class cities, bringing incredible steak, seafood, cocktails and wine to diners across the globe. Chicago is right up there as one of the meat capitals of the world and, like New York City, is home to some of the very best steakhouses,” says Will Beckett, co-founder and CEO of Hawksmoor.
“It has one of the greatest hospitality scenes going, where food and drink is baked into the culture of the city, and for Hawksmoor to be a part of that is incredibly exciting. It has been quite moving for Huw and me to have received such a warm welcome from Chicagoans, and so much support and messages of pride from our peers and guests in the UK and Ireland.”
The Chicago restaurant marks another step in the group’s expansion which is currently focused on North America.
“Over the years we’ve learned to set our sights higher, both in terms of growth and of the integrity with which we want to build our company. We believe Hawksmoor has the capability to be one of the world’s great restaurant brands, and Chicago is an important step as we continue to develop our presence in the United States,” adds Beckett.
“We are just as passionate about the business now as we were when we started out 18 years ago, and we can’t wait to welcome Chicagoans to a restaurant that we hope will become a local institution.”
