WICKER PARK — Big Star's new takeout window opened Wednesday, allowing folks to pick up a taco and check out the newly expanded patio.
Drui Combs and Camille Johnson were enjoying a dinner of pork and fish tacos as well as chips and guacamole on one of the long picnic tables that happens to have a tree growing out if it.
"It's more spacious and it's still communal dining with people that you don't know. If it were warmer out I'd be sharing the table with 20 other people I don't know," Combs said.
Combs, a Rogers Park resident, said that he does not visit Wicker Park too often but when he does, he usually goes to Big Star, at 1531 N. Damen Ave., just south of the CTA Blue Line Damen "L" station.
The relocated takeout window is in a building at 1537 N. Damen Ave. that is being used as a private commissary kitchen for One Off Hospitality, the restaurant group behind Big Star, The Publican and other hot Chicago restaurants. Dove's Luncheonette will also be using the kitchen.
Alisa Hauser discussed the renovation plans on DNAinfo Radio:
Dove's, which will be like a "sister" to Big Star, is set to open soon and serve up retro jams and Mexican-inspired Soul food "morning, noon and night."
The new to-go window has replaced another window on the south side of Big Star, closer to the neighborhood's namesake park. The menu remains the same and alcohol is not served at the window.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, some locals ate lunch on the new patio.
"It's much better. There, it feels like you are in a parking lot and here the kids are corralled," said Carrie Chilton, a Wicker Park resident who said she visits Big Star frequently and prefers the takeout window to the restaurant.
Work on the new patio kicked off in June. The outdoor space features cobble pavers and trees growing inside the center of wooden tables made from black locust lumber.
Landscape designer Julie deLeon designed the patio. Her Ukrainian Village-based firm Groundwork also designed container plantings for Lula and Nightwood.
"My job was to lend the right materials that married well to their restaurant and provided durability for a long lasting exterior space with high traffic," deLeon previously said.
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