Fulton Market's Biggest Fall Openings Were Years in the Making

In 2009, Jimmy Papadopoulos was a sous chef at a suburban hotel. That year he wrote a detailed business plan for a restaurant he called Black Briar. Through his years at Bohemian House and then Bellemore, he kept the plan, and the name. "That name sounded cool to me, so I carried it with me for years and years," he told Eater Chicago. On Saturday, September 26, Black Briar opened at 201 N. Morgan St.

Seventeen years from business plan to opening is an extreme case. Still, the biggest names arriving in Fulton Market this season mostly come from plans made long ago, and the neighborhood's old buildings help decide when each one actually opens its doors. If you live a few blocks from Randolph or Fulton, that matters more than any single opening date. It explains why some places you've heard about for months are serving dinner now and others are still a "November" on a press release.

Black Briar Opened a Bellemore Reunion on Morgan Street

Papadopoulos runs Black Briar with co-owner Tim Anderson. Eater introduced the pair as two Bellemore alums who thought they were done with restaurants. Bellemore, the Boka Restaurant Group dining room where Papadopoulos was executive chef, closed during the pandemic. Black Briar puts the same chef back in the West Loop under his own name.

What to know before you book:

• The room: 110 seats built around a 20-seat U-shaped bar, with an open kitchen, U-shaped booths, and a lounge and high-top area.
• The menu: snail toast with wild Burgundy snails and savory jus, hamachi crudo, sourdough cavatelli, smoked pork short rib, plus oysters and venison tartare. Black bass with garlic butter clams heads a long seafood list.
• Hours and booking: At opening, Eater listed service from 4 to 10 p.m. daily, with reservations through OpenTable.

With a bar that size, a weeknight walk-in for a seat at the counter is a realistic plan. So far the coverage has been opening-week reporting, so the first real reviews are still to come.

Berenjak Took Five Weeks From Announcement to Charcoal

Berenjak runs on a different timeline because the concept already existed. It's a London Iranian restaurant founded by chef Kian Samyani, and it came to Chicago through a partnership with Soho House and JKS Restaurants. Eater Chicago reported the plan on August 28, and the restaurant opened Friday, October 2, at 113–125 N. Green St.

Berenjak arrived with its menu and format already worked out in London, so the Chicago team could open in about five weeks. Berenjak's own location page describes an intimate dining room with counter seating around an open-fire kitchen.

Chicago Food Magazine's October 21 review covers charcoal-grilled kababs, taftoon and sangak breads, black-chickpea hummus, saffron house rice, and spreads such as Mast o Musir. On the drinks side it mentions an olive-leaf martini and doogh, and the meal ends with tea and cookies. The same review lists hours as Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m., with reservations through Berenjak's website and walk-ins accepted. The Infatuation gave it an 8.2 and praised the food.

Berenjak is closed Sunday and Monday, so plan around those two days.

Pizzeria Gabbo and Susu Are Built for the Hours Between Dinners

The other two fall arrivals change when the neighborhood is busy, not only where you can eat.

Lettuce Entertain You set Pizzeria Gabbo's opening for Thursday, October 22, at 834 W. Fulton Market, Suite 200, with chef partner Andrew Ashmore. It's open for lunch and dinner and serves two styles of pizza, Chicago Thin & Crispy and New York Crispy, with more than 10 pies between them. There are also antipasti, house-made pastas, and soft-serve gelato. In its opening announcement, the group addresses "Fulton Market office dwellers" by name. It pitches 16-inch pies for weekday lunch and a list of more than 20 wines by the glass for after work.

On the Chicago side, the signatures include the Fennel Sausage & Giardiniera and the Chicago Supreme, both cut into squares. On the New York side, the triangle-cut pies include a Tomato Pie, Golden Potato, Lemon & Rosemary, and Spicy Vodka. The dessert to try is the Gabbo-Style Sundae, milk chocolate and roasted pistachio soft serve twisted together and topped with candied orange and honey-pistachio praline.

Susu, at 652 W. Randolph St., has gone in a similar direction. Starting October 17 it added a weekend bakery and pickup service, with pastries developed by chef and partner Alexander Willis alongside owner Paul Alqas, WTTW reported.

These two openings point the same way. A district known for big dinner reservations is adding weekday lunch and weekend mornings. Neither needed years of planning. Lettuce is one of Chicago's most practiced restaurant groups, and Susu added a service inside a space it already runs.

Why the Next Two Are Still Listed as "November"

The two openings still ahead show the slower clock most clearly.

Gibsons Tavern was first announced in 2023. It's going into an 11-story office building at 925 W. Fulton St., with vaulted ceilings, refined tavern fare, Gibsons' signature steaks, and a Prohibition-themed cocktail list, Block Club Chicago reported in August. Gibsons Restaurant Group CEO Steve Lombardo called it "a tribute to the great American tavern" in a statement. Eater's September fall guide still gave only a November target, with no exact day. Three years from announcement to opening month is a long wait for a group that runs the Rush Street original, Gibsons Italia, Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House, LUXBAR, and Quartino.

AMARA is the clearest example of a building setting the pace. In August, Block Club reported that chef and partner Nemanja Milunovic and managing partner Vincent Martin were bringing a mezze-style Balkan menu to the former Gino & Marty's at 844 W. Randolph St., targeting fall. By October 2, the Chicago Reader reported the target had moved to November. The Reader traced the delay partly to the address's location inside the Fulton-Randolph Market District landmark zone. The city's Department of Planning and Development describes that zone as "celebrated for its rare ensemble of manufacturing and warehouse buildings."

Building a modern kitchen inside one of those protected warehouses takes time. Milunovic still doesn't have a kitchen that can handle his pastry work. He's using the extra time to look in Serbia for bakers who already know somun and burek, the Reader reported. "It's a job on its own there," he told the paper. "There are people making burek only."

Milunovic's history with that somun goes back to his pandemic-era ghost kitchen, which was known for oversized sandwiches built on it. His preview dishes for AMARA include a karađorđeva šnicla, a potato knedle with a black truffle béchamel filling, and soğan dolmasi, which are cipollini onions stuffed with lamb and beef. If you want to taste his cooking before AMARA opens, the Reader's Monday Night Foodball pop-up at Thattu is where he previewed the menu.

For both restaurants, "November" means a target month. Opening day comes when the build-out is done.

Your Fulton Market Calendar for the Next Few Weeks

Here's what's on the calendar, in order:

1. Now: Black Briar, Berenjak, and Pizzeria Gabbo are taking reservations, and Susu's weekend bakery runs Saturdays and Sundays.
2. November, no exact date yet: Gibsons Tavern at 925 W. Fulton St. and AMARA at 844 W. Randolph St. are both expected.
3. Saturday, November 14, and Sunday, November 15: The Randolph Street Market Holiday Market comes to 1341 W. Randolph St. Founder Sally Schwartz describes it as vintage and antiques shopping with food, drinks, and entertainment.

The holiday market weekend works well with the new openings. You can browse vintage at the west end of Randolph, then walk east to dinner at Black Briar or Berenjak, both within a few blocks of Green and Morgan.

If you're spending more time out in Fulton Market this fall and starting to wonder how the neighborhood would work as a place to live, Quentin Green and The Green Team are glad to talk through which blocks put you closest to the places you actually go. Let's Connect.