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A yellow neon sign.
The new Daisies is ready to open.
Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago

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Inside The New Daisies, Giving Logan Square More of What It Loves

After more than a year of waiting, Joe Frillman’s new restaurant is open for dinner

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.

Refreshes or updates are very much in vogue for Chicago restaurants. This goes beyond adding ramps to the spring menu. These changes are supposedly more dramatic with lots of construction — perhaps a move to a new location — and plenty of patience waiting for the city to approve permits. This is the stuff that young cooks dream of while attending culinary school.

Joe Frillman and his team at Daisies were determined to make their new location, near the intersection of Fullerton and Milwaukee, feel like their original space. The mission was to maintain the warmth without sacrificing too much of the Midwestern modesty that diners love. Frillman’s brother, Tim, runs a farm in Michigan, and that’s become part of the engine for the restaurant, known for fresh pasta and creative comfort food in a laid-back environment.

It took a year and a half to finish construction on the 2300 block of Milwaukee Avenue. The space had a few tenants before the pandemic struck, most diners know the space as the Radler, a German restaurant. Those owners supposedly found a 120-year-old mural underneath scraped-off paint on a wall. That might be more myth than fact, but it does give the space some gravitas.

Rachel Crowl of Chicago-based architecture and design firm FC Studio helped rework the space’s layout with new lighting, finishes, and millwork. With 5,500 square feet, the restaurant is larger than the original without feeling too unfamiliar. There’s a private dining space and a chef’s counter, and they’ll be serving specialty cocktails in the space at the new comfy bar. A “We’re Back Daiquiri” is made with rum and raspberry. And there are creative uses of veggies in a margarita made with fermented mushrooms and a mushroom sour (a non-boozy drink).

A modern dining room.
New lighting and millwork are some of the improvements.
A four-seat chef’s table.
There’s a chef’s table.
A modern bar.
The larger bar will give bartenders more room to showcase their skills.

Beyond the space, Leigh Omilinsky has brought new energy to Daisies with her desserts. But in addition to pastries, Omilinsky brings operational know-how as a partner with the newly formed restaurant group, having worked at Boka Group’s restaurants like Swift & Son. They’ll reopen the original location later this year with a focus on lunch and space for produce from local farms like Mick Klug, Spence, and Catalpa Grove.

A new menu feature includes an omakase-like $60-per-person option. The kitchen crew will create a coursed-out meal comprised of “dishes we would eat if came to diner here.” The menu also includes nine pasta dishes, including pierogi and mussels served with “the Champagne of beers.” Lamb shank for two and salmon collars are some highlights from the protein section. Desserts include bites that can be assembled into a sweet closing-tasting menu. There are also desserts like cinnamon roll monkey bread and chocolate bumpy cake.

While debuting with dinner — there’s already a lot of buzz from friends and family about a beef tongue appetizer — Daisies will also be open during the day. The team will pour coffee from La Colombe and Omilinsky will put together creative pastries. Folks who shopped Daisies’ Sunday market, one of their pandemic pivots, will know what to expect.

A yellow neon sign that says Daisies.
The entrance to the coffee shop.
A coffee counter with shelving.
The coffees shop will launch in April and is near a cannabis dispensary.

It’s a coincidence, not a strategy, but Daisies is more or less opening a bakery next to Ascend Cannabis Dispensary. Even with an expanded dinner, by stoner stereotypes, it’ll have a built-in audience. Take a walk through the space below.

Daisies, 2375 N. Milwaukee Avenue, open at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, weekend brunch and daytime pastry counter and coffees service to lunch in early April. Reservations via Tock. The original location, 2523 N Milwaukee, to relaunch as a grocer and lunch spot later this year.

A brick building with arch shaped windows.
Ownership won’t say how much it cost to renovated the space, but it did take more than a year.
An exposed brick wall with a row of tables.
The exposed brick was kept in some places.
A large dining room with a lot of wood tables and black chairs.
It’s much roomier than the original.
A few booths are scattered around.
A row of benches and wooden tables and black chairs in a restaurant dining room.
Leading to the back of the restaurant.
A chef’s table with four seats.
Note the library above the chef’s table.
A bar area.
The bar area is broken out.
Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago
A sleek and modern bar.
No doubt that produce will be a big part of the beverage menu.
A modern restaurant room with exposed brick walls.
A look from the back of the restaurant.

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