Ballyhoo Hospitality is planning another restaurant for Winnetka, continuing the Chicago-based restaurant group’s expansion into the North Shore.
The upcoming restaurant will be the anchor tenant in a development called One Winnetka that is set to break ground this spring along Elm Street and Lincoln Avenue. The development from Murphy Real Estate Services will include residential, retail and dining options.
Ballyhoo’s restaurant will go in the corner spot, said Ryan O’Donnell, CEO of the restaurant group. The group is still developing the concept and name of the restaurant, which is set to open in about two years. O’Donnell is leaning toward a Mediterranean menu, with live fire cooking, seafood, salads, dips and more.
The restaurant will be located just across the Metra tracks from Ballyhoo’s French restaurant, Pomeroy, which opened in 2021.
“We love the community, and we think there’s opportunity to give the community more,” said O’Donnell, who lives in neighboring Wilmette. “The cuisine and the direction we’re going with, the concept will complement Pomeroy very well.”
When complete, the new 6,700-square-foot restaurant will seat about 200 people inside and 40 people outside. That’s bigger than Pomeroy, which seats about 180, O’Donnell said.
Ballyhoo opened its first restaurant, Gemini, in 2009 in Lincoln Park. The group focused on Chicago for the next decade. After the COVID pandemic hit, it began opening restaurants in the North Shore, starting with Sophia Steak in Wilmette. Now, half the group’s locations are in the suburbs.
In a way, the suburbs have become Chicago’s hot new dining spot over the past half decade. As COVID-19 forced people to work remotely, they also began dining out near home. The trend continued as restrictions lifted and a hybrid workweek became the norm. Instead of grabbing a drink after leaving their downtown office, people seek refreshment nearby after a day working from home.
Pre-pandemic, Chicago restaurant groups hesitated to open suburban locations because weekdays were so slow. That concern no longer exists. Though many workers have returned to downtown offices, Loop restaurants report Mondays and Fridays remain slow. That means strong business at suburban restaurants.
Ballyhoo is continuing its focus on the suburbs but is still opening restaurants in the city, too. It opened Petit Pomeroy — a miniature version of Pomeroy in Winnetka — in September in River North. It is set to open its third Sophia Steak location next month, just downstairs from Petit Pomeroy.
The new Sophia Steak location will mark Ballyhoo’s 11th restaurant. Also teed up to open this year are Jackman & Co., an American gastropub set to open early summer in Glenview, and Ballyhoo’s third location of Italian American spot DeNucci’s in Hindsdale late summer or early fall. Zenzi Den, a casual restaurant with Japanese influences, is also set to open in Glenview late this year.
Ballyhoo is also planning its first foray outside of Illinois. It is partnering with a European group on an Italian restaurant at a development in Juno Beach, Fla., that is set to open in 2026. Then, it’s on to the One Winnetka restaurant.
“We’re excited for Ballyhoo to join the One Winnetka development and bring a new, elevated dining experience to this thriving community,” John T. Murphy, CEO of Murphy Real Estate Services, said in a news release.