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Oak and Char Team Plan Three-Restaurant Concept in Former Vapiano

By Paul Biasco | January 14, 2015 6:04am
 Art Mendoza and MBL Hospitality are planning a three-restaurant concept for the former Vapiano on Clark Street.
Art Mendoza and MBL Hospitality are planning a three-restaurant concept for the former Vapiano on Clark Street.
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DNAinfo/Paul Biasco

LINCOLN PARK — The restaurant group behind Oak+Char has big plans to transform the former Vapiano restaurant on Clark Street into a three-restaurant concept.

The empty space left by Vapiano at 2577 N. Clark St. provides a unique opportunity as it features three separate areas with three separate entryways under one roof.

Restaurant veteran Art Mendoza, who also helped open Roka Akor, is in the final stages of taking over the lease on the 6,000-square-foot space, but is already dreaming up the concept.

Part of the new restaurant will likely include include a bagel and sandwich by day and pizza by night concept, which will take up about 1,600 square feet, according to Mendoza.

"It will stay open late night and compete with the Weiner Circle across the street," Mendoza said.

Down the center of the restaurant will be a smaller full-service restaurant with 80 to 100 seats serving American cuisine. The restaurant group plans to use a charcoal oven as the showpiece of the main restaurant, which Mendoza described as "casual and affordable."

Where the bar at Vapiano was will likely feature its own entity with a small plate-type restaurant with seating along the bar.

Mendoza and MBL Hospitality group plan to sandblast the brick facade of the building to make three separate appearances.

"It's kind of creating three different businesses under one roof," Mendoza said.

There will also be a microbrewery on site, brewing "very, very" small batches.

The currently unnamed restaurant is shooting for a late May or June opening.

Vapiano closed its Lincoln Park location abruptly in July and stated the restaurant would be focusing on Downtown locations.

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