Eater Inside

Inside Gemini, The Remodeled and Brighter Ex-Bistro in Lincoln Park

Check out the new bar and more changes starting Wednesday

by Ashok Selvam@Shokdiesel Apr 17, 2017, 11:15am CDT

Photography by Nick Fochtman

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.

Gemini Bistro fans have patiently waited as the restaurant remained closed for four months while workers remodeled the space. Their loyalty will be rewarded on Wednesday when the Lincoln Park restaurant welcomes diners back to the space that now has a shorter name. Gemini (read the menu here) hopes to renew the excitement inside 2075 N. Lincoln Ave., to give locals the same feelings they had when Ryan O’Donnell and Pauly Graves opened their restaurant nearly eight years ago.

The new space is much brighter and the team is trying to inject more of a bar element. Look for a new U-shaped bar with a marble top. The old space featured dark woods, and it looked more like a traditional dining room. Other additions inside the 92-seat restaurant include tan leather booths and banquettes. They’ve enlisted 555 International for the design, and they’ve taken a few cues from another of their projects. Coda Di Volpe is the Italian restaurant O’Donnell owns in Lakeview alongside Billy Lawless (The Gage, The Dawson, Beacon Tavern). But Gemini isn’t going full bar; diners won’t find communal tables. However, they will occasionally host live music.

Gemini will eventually add weekend brunch, and there’s also sidewalk seating. Former chef Jason Paskewitz (The Blanchard, Ocean Cut Chicago) helped put Gemini Bistro on the Michelin Bib Gourmand map in 2013-14. Now, chef Miguel Ortiz (Rustic House, Maple & Ash) is in charge. Will the renovations and a new menu work to rejuvenate the restaurant? Check out the photos below and visit Gemini starting on Wednesday.