David Burke’s Former Steakhouse is Closing Inside The James Hotel

After 11 years, the steakhouse inside The James Hotel — the restaurant that once employed celebrity chef David Burke — is closing. Primehouse will serve its last dry-aged steak on Saturday, December 9 in River North. The James is shuttering the steakhouse to make room for a new restaurant at 616 N. Rush Street, according to spokeswoman.

The restaurant opened in 2005 as David Burke’s Primehouse and Burke brought in a fancy salt-aging program for the restaurant’s steaks. The lunchtime burger, where the buns and condiments were all made in the kitchen, also attracted loyal fans. Burke exited the restaurant in 2014, after a break with the restaurant’s operators. That company (which owns the rights to use Burke’s name on restaurants) kept the restaurant’s name until earlier this year. That’s when a licensing agreement between Craveable Hospitality Group and The James expired. The hotel, in February, opted to change the restaurant’s name to Primehouse and continued the dry-aging program. Primehouse remained one of Eater Chicago’s Essential Steakhouses.

While The James finalizes a more-permanent replacement, they’ll continue to serve food in the space with a new all-day menu for hotel guests and locals, according to the spokeswoman. Instead of opening a new steakhouse, Primehouse’s replacement will try something new, and the rep said they’ll soon unveil details.

The space also was home to Burke’s Bacon Bar, a sandwich shop that opened in 2013. Burke’s name also graced a suburban restaurant near Woodfield Mall. That restaurant closed in 2016 after two years in Schaumburg. The chef can now be found in Washington, D.C. where he may or may not have seen the president eat a steak with ketchup at BLT Prime inside the Trump International Hotel.