Revival Food Hall brings neighborhood favorites to Loop
CHICAGO (WLS) -- You've seen plenty of food courts downtown, but the Hungry Hound says you've never seen anything quite like the "Revival Food Hall."
It's a "greatest hits" from some of the neighborhoods, having been curated by a restaurant group with deep roots in the city.
Tired of the usual fast food chains? Apparently plenty of Loop office workers were, because the Revival Food Hall has been packed since day one. The reason? It's actually a dozen good reasons.
Starting your days with pastries by Hot Chocolate's Mindy Segal isn't a bad idea, neither is a cold-pressed juice from Harvest Juicery or a breakfast taco from Antique Taco (make it pork or crispy fish later at lunch). There are a dozen good reasons to stop by the former Chicago Public Schools headquarters, because each stall is unique.
"We wanted people doing the best thing that they did and to bring a really good example from the neighborhood places that they had in the outlying neighborhoods," said Bruce Finkelman, one of the organizers of the food hall.
How about a meaty sandwich from Danke? Or a thick BLT with a milkshake from the Fat Shallot - which morphed from a food truck into a spot here. Farmer's Fridge has vending machines around town, they also offer farm-fresh salads. Next door, the massively popular Aloha Poke, with its salmon or tuna bowls, and around the corner, Irving Park's Smoque - which is smoking in the building, offering up its legendary brisket, but now, also turkey that's not to be missed.
Graze does two-fisted cheeseburgers while The Budlong brings incomparable Nashville hot chicken. Brown Bag Seafood has plentiful bowls (the salmon is noteworthy) while Union Squared does Detroit-style pizza with a caramelized cheese crust. Furious Spoon satisfies a ramen fix, with its homemade noodles, but for dessert, you'll want to save room for Black Dog Gelato. The most surprising thing is that all of these vendors made it a priority to get a spot downtown.
"Breaking down some of those barriers to entry so people could have an opportunity to just come down here and cook and showcase some of the wonderful talent that's in the neighborhoods that surround the city," said Finkelman.
Revival Food Hall
125 S. Clark St.
