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Eaters will be able to order Portillo’s food directly through Google
As third-party food delivery companies continue to make news, iconic Chicago street food chain Portillo’s will be one of the first restaurants in the Windy City to give eaters the option of ordering its food directly through Google. The chain announced via a news release that its partnering with Olo — a well-funded online and mobile ordering platform for restaurants that includes Danny Meyer as a backer — to allow customers to order its food through Google searches, maps, and Google Assistant. Crain’s has more about what this news could mean for Grubhub and other third-party delivery companies.
Now an “It” pop-up bar is coming to Chicago
The parade of pop culture pop-up bars in Chicago marches forward, this time through the Stephen King classic It. Replay Lincoln Park will open it on October 11 for the Halloween season, redesigning its space to look like the town of Derry, Maine, plus offer specialty cocktails, a funhouse, karaoke, and more.
Rick Bayless writing new play about his restaurant experience
Noted thespian/chef Rick Bayless is working on a new play that’s a farce about his restaurant experience. Bayless, known for his acting and dancing in the play Cascabel, tells the Tribune that his first playwriting experience is inspired by online reviews, health inspections, influencers, and the 1970s British sitcom Fawlty Towers. The show is slated to run in 2020-21 at the Windy City Playhouse with a set that will look like a “chaotic” restaurant.
One of the fall’s most anticipated new restaurants to have a preview brunch tomorrow
And finally, tomorrow eaters can taste some of the dishes from one of the season’s most anticipated new restaurants before it opens. Gaijin, the new Paul Virant spot that’s also the first okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake) restaurant in Chicago, will have a preview brunch on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Publican Quality Meats, offering mochi donuts, Japanese pickles, customizable pork okonomiyaki, and Moody Tongue-brewed Gaijin beer, while supplies last. The restaurant is slated to open in the West Loop very soon.
