Tour Sugar Factory, Opening Today To Serve Sweet Nostalgia in River North

Maybe a Kardashian will show

by Ashok Selvam@Shokdiesel Nov 11, 2016, 9:54am CST

Photography by Marc Much

The Sugar Factory opens today in downtown Chicago.

Ashok Selvam is the editor of Eater Chicago and a native Chicagoan armed with more than two decades of award-winning journalism. Now covering the world of restaurants and food, his nut graphs are super nutty.

Maybe it’s just because it’s a Friday, but River North is about to get a little sweeter as the Sugar Factory American Brasserie, the popular celebrity dessert bar/restaurant/dentists’ nightmare, opens their Chicago location today. They’ve taken over the Seasons 52 using the same formula that’s drawn out celebrities like Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian and others to locations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Miami. Standing among those metropolises, Sugar Factory in 2014 opened in suburban Rosemont, near O’Hare International Airport.

The Chicago location, close to both Hubbard Street and Michigan Avenue, takes up 9,000 square feet with a 200-seat main dining room. Bachelorette parties will find a private event space, and there’s a cafe, too. The decor relies heavily on nostalgia, using a vintage ice cream parlor aesthetic. No, there aren’t Member Berries on the menu, but visitors will find many of those candies they ingested as a child. Many of those ingredients are used in boozy cocktails such as the sour apple lolly martini. That comes complete with a Pop Rocks rim.

Their signature item is a 24-scoop ice cream sundae named after King Kong. But diners will find pizza and burgers if they want a meal.

Check out the photos below. Sugar Factory opens this afternoon.

Sugar Factory, 55 E. Grand Ave., (312) 946-2002, open 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to midnight on weekends.