Honey Butter Fried Chicken to Unveil New Pop-Up Concept at Revival Food Hall

Before Revival Food Hall opened in August 2016 in the Loop, management boasted about the deep bench of vendors they had to take over any one of its 15 stalls. In 2018, they’ll finally dip into that pool. Graze Kitchenette, which served burgers and smoothie bowls, is moving at the end of December to another part of the food hall. From January through March, Revival will replace Graze with BopNGrill, the Korean burger spot with two North Side locations. After those three months, the team behind Honey Butter Fried Chicken will take over that stall through June and unveil a new pop-up restaurant — sans fried chicken — called TriBecca’s Cubano.

It’s the launch of Revival’s pop-up series, giving restaurateurs the exposure of serving thousands of Loop customers every week. It’s quite an opportunity to be part of the food hall vendor lineup that includes Smoque BBQ, HotChocolate, and Furious Spoon. Revival is a member of the Eater Chicago 38 and owned by 16” on Center, the company behind Dusek’s Board & Beer in Pilsen, Longman & Eagle in Logan Square, The Empty Bottle bar/music venue in Ukrainian Village, and more. Revival’s success has led to plans for other Chicago food halls with property owners hoping to emulate the formula.

Chef Sarah Jordan, of Johnny’s Grill fame, was involved with Graze during the opening. The stall offered a similar burger that was served at Jordan’s now-shuttered Logan Square diner. Johnny’s closed in November. Jordan is no longer involved with Graze, but Graze owner Mason Edelson will continue to serve Graze’s smoothie bowls at Revival, selling items at Harvest Juicery’s stall.

Courtesy of BopNGrill

BopNGrill has locations in Rogers Park and Lakeview. Their Korean-inspired burgers caught the wrath of the large Umami Burger chain, which sued BopNGrill over a trademark. They will serve burgers, plates, and kimchi fries and be at Revival from January 2 through March 30.

While Honey Butter Fried Chicken’s Josh Kulp and Christine Cikowski have a strong following in Avondale, they won’t serve fried chicken at Revival. There’s no need to compete with The Budlong which already serves food hall customers Nashville hot chicken. Instead, TriBecca’s Cubano will feature items from Becca Grothe, the restaurant’s namesake. She’s Kulp and Cikowski’s executive sous chef for their Sunday Dinner Club. TriBecca will serve Cubanos with mojo-roasted pork and cured ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and chipotle mayo on a ciabatta panino with mustard butter; at least unique butter makes its way downtown. TriBecca will be at Revival from April 2 through June 29.

Revival will announce more pop-up vendors for the space at a future date, according to a spokeswoman.