Popular New Orleans Food Hall Confirms Plans for Chicago’s West Loop

It’s official: the owners of St. Roch Market, a popular New Orleans food hall, are bringing the concept to Chicago’s West Loop. Caught in a legal battle with the city of New Orleans over the use of the St. Roch name, the Chicago food hall will be called Politan Row and should open in May inside the same building that houses McDonald’s corporate headquarters at 111 N. Aberdeen Street in the West Loop.

The food hall was teased in April. They’ve also revealed a trio of vendors. Floriole, the Lincoln Park bakery, will bring Sandra Holl’s award-winning pastries and breads to the hall. Chris Reed, of the catering company Rice Table, will fuse Indonesian and Cajun food using the name Bumbu Roux. LaShuk Street Food, a Wicker Park Israeli restaurant will also have a stall. LaShuk’s Yusi Alhadif and company serve fresh hummus and more. Politan Row Chicago should have 12 tenants in all.

The space will also include a bar (Bar Politan) and a German-style beer garden (Perle), according to Forbes. There will also be a bar inside a matte-black shipping container, according to a news release. Sophie Burton is overseeing the drinks for all the company’s projects. She’s worked at Big Star, Dove’s Luncheonette, and Cindy’s.

Will Donaldson is co-founder of Bayou Secret, which was the former parent company of St. Roch Market. He’s now formed a new company called Politan Group for existing and future projects. He told Forbes the he feels his food halls (the company has a location in Miami using the St. Roch name; they also plan to open a Houston food hall using the Politan Row name due to the ongoing litigation) have more interesting architecture compared to rival upscale food courts. West Loop and neighboring Fulton Market should have plenty of food hall competition including Chicago’s French Market and the upcoming Time Out Market.