West Town’s Getting a Greek Cafe with a Rooftop Bar

 Saganaki drizzled with honey and spinach pies made by a chef who served as a private cook to the King of Saudi Arabia are on the menu of a new all-day café, nightclub, and rooftop coming to West Town’s Chicago Avenue strip next month. Six06 Cafe Bar will offer a variety of Greek and Mediterranean classic dishes along with coffee, espresso, wine, and cocktails. It plans to open in mid-January pending final inspections, co-owner Peter Panagakis said during a tour of the 60-seat spot at 1641 W. Chicago Avenue.

Chef Dimitris Dib, who grew up in Greece and currently lives in suburban Bartlett, will helm the kitchen at Six06, which is across the street from Bonhomme Hospitality’s popular Beatnik and the recently expanded Hoosier Mama Pie Company.

“Slowly, with Beatnik and us and everyone else on this street, it’s going to be the next Division [Street] from the looks of it,” said Peter Panagakis of Chicago Avenue.

The 38-year-old Dib describes his all-day menu as “Greek and Mediterranean fusion,” starting with homemade Greek pastries and quiches for breakfast and lunch and dinner options like pork kebobs, wine braised chicken and teriyaki salmon. Desserts include loukoumades, or fried dough, tiramisu, and banana-caramel-crusted pudding.

Prior to joining Six06, Dib cooked on a private yacht owned by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud from 2006–2014 when the king was a prince (he became king in 2015). Dib said most of the Saudi royalty dock their yachts in Greece and that’s how he initially met the future king, as well as other employers such as the Serbia’s minister of defense, whom Dib also worked for when he was living in Greece.

George Panagakis, Peter’s older brother and Six06’s co-owner, said the goal of the zip code-inspired Six06 (no relation to the park system, The 606) is to be a regular hangout. “We want to drop the pretentiousness and concentrate on being friendly and having a warm and inviting vibe,” George Panagakis said.

The 2,300 square-foot restaurant offers 60 seats on the first floor and about 45 on a rooftop patio that will be open in the warmer months. A flat-screen TV will have satellite programming from 28 soccer channels and there will be free WiFi for cafe guests who want to get work done.

“The idea has been in our heads for 15 years. When we stumbled across this new building we knew it was perfect,” said Peter Panagakis.

Alisa Hauser

The cocktail menu is still being devised and a liquor license is pending but George Panagakis says he hopes it will be approved by the time Six06 opens. It will feature a heavy emphasis on Greek wines as well as wines from California and Chile, along with Greek craft beer and local favorites from Revolution brewery.

Caffe Umbria coffee will be brewed using a Greek method that involves bringing the coffee to boil three times in a steel pot filled with sand. The espresso bar will offer Greek style coffee that’s stronger than American coffee and meant to be sipped slowly, as well as a freddo cappuccino, which is espresso topped with frothy milk and served cold over ice.

Peter Paganakis said Chicago Avenue was a top choice for opening a restaurant that will honor their mom Tasia and dad Pete, veteran restaurateurs who died within a few months of each other earlier this year. “We’ve been going to West Fest for years on Chicago Avenue and grew up on DJs Derrick Carter and Mark Farina [who played at West Fest]. Chicago Avenue is very important to us and it’s huge that we’re here,” Peter Panagakis said.

Alisa Hauser

Peter and George Panagakis, along with another brother and sister, continue to operate their parents’ Savoury Restaurant and Pancake Cafe in Bartlett. The brothers will divide their time between running the family eatery in Bartlett and the forthcoming Six06 in Chicago.

To stay updated, visit six06’s Facebook page. Check out the menu below.