photo: courtesy standard market grill
A branchlet to the original branch attached to Standard Market (333 E. Ogden Ave., 630-366-7030) in Westmont, the second Standard Market Grill (444 W. Fullerton Pkwy., no phone available) is scheduled to open in mid-August at the high-visibility location that housed an Emilio’s Tapas and a Zapatista. Although the Lincoln Park instantiation won’t have an attached grocery, the one in the suburbs will provide food for both restaurants.
“All of our breads are being prepared at the market in Westmont,” says Brian Wright, the corporate chef. “All meat and seafood are butchered daily, hamburgers ground, juices freshly squeezed daily, and they’re being brought into Lincoln Park.”
The right-angled space divides into a barcentric leg and a fast-casual leg, where waiters will deliver orders placed at the counter, refill drinks, and manage tables. A Cobb salad with sushi-grade tuna, a gamut of burgers, and a several-cheeses grilled cheese with bacon exemplify the menu. “We also do a 24-hour marinated hanger steak that will rival any steak at any steak house in the city,” Wright says.
Beverages include 16 Midwestern craft beers on tap and a cabernet called Pioneer produced exclusively for the Standards in collaboration with the vineyard Barra of Mendocino.
Wright says a third restaurant and a second market are in the works for Naperville, E.T.A. spring 2014. Sounds like they’re setting Standards all over.