DOWNTOWN — How about a salad with that cheezborger?
Billy Goat Tavern owner Bill Sianis, son of the famous Chicago eatery's founder Sam Sianis, said a seventh Billy Goat Tavern will open in the city in two to three weeks, with an expanded menu that includes salads.
"We're still waiting for our final inspections and stuff, [but] we're maybe two to three weeks out," he said of the 85-seat restaurant, where signs went up this week.
Although it's just a few blocks away from the original location, Sianis said he was drawn to the spot at 60 E. Lake St. by the prospect of new construction down the block, including a planned 515-foot tower with 432 residential units and nearly 25,000 square feet of retail space at Lake Street and Michigan Avenue that's set to open in March 2016.
"We saw it's an area that's being developed. We have apartments, hotels around us, businesses, so we felt it would be a good spot," he said.
Sianis anticipates more lunch traffic at this location than other nearby Loop taverns, so the menu has been slightly tweaked.
"The bar and grill [will be] the same. We're going to have some salads in there, though, for the lunch crowd," he said. "Everything else — the burgers will be the same. We'll have the same products."
The restaurant originally announced plans to open over the summer on the Billy Goat website. Billy Goat also has locations in Mount Prospect and Washington, D.C.