Honey Butter Fried Chicken’s Cubano Pop-Up Debuts in the Loop

Honey Butter Fried Chicken is trading honey butter for mustard butter when TriBecca’s Cubano opens today inside Revival Food Hall in the Loop. HBFC’s amassed a huge following over the years, earning a spot on the Eater Chicago 38 thanks to crispy, and yes — skinless — fried chicken served at their Avondale restaurant. Now co-owners and chefs Christine Cikowski and Josh Kulp are pushing their longtime collaborator, Sunday Dinner Club executive sous chef Becca Grothe, into the spotlight. Grothe’s Midwestern-style Cubanos are the porky basis for this food hall pop-up which starts today and lasts through June 29 at Revival.

The Cubano is the star of this stall with mojo-roasted pork and cured ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and chipotle mayo on a ciabatta panino. HBFC diners know about the creamy and sweet butter served as a condiment at the Avondale restaurant. In keeping with that theme, the Cubanos served at Revival come with mustard butter. This is not a traditional Cubano by any stretch of the imagination. Cuban cooking inspired Grothe, who is turning to local Midwestern growers for her ingredients. Kulp is also banking on rum cake doughnuts to be a big seller.

TriBecca replaces BopNGrill, the Korean-style burger spot that ended its three-month residency at Revival on Friday. Fans can still visit BopNGrill locations in Lakeview and Rogers Park. Revival’s vendor lineup already includes Smoque BBQ, HotChocolate, and The Budlong. The latter is the food hall’s fried chicken specialists, so it would be redundant for HBFC to pop up. However, having a few rotating vendors gives restaurant operators a chance to experiment with new ideas. Kulp had said when he and Cikowski tried Grothe’s sandwich year ago that they knew it was special. If the public agrees, perhaps there a chance to see TriBecca in a permanent location in the future. See if TriBecca can generate long lunch lines starting today.

TriBecca’s Cubano, 125 S. Clark Street inside Revival Food Hall, open 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays.