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'Royal Grocer & Co' In Bucktown Aims To Please The Neighborhood Crowd

By Alisa Hauser | July 11, 2017 9:54am | Updated on July 11, 2017 12:32pm
 Royal Grocer & Co. at 2118 N. Damen Ave.
Royal Grocer & Co.
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BUCKTOWN — If everything goes as planned, Bucktown's Royal Grocer & Co. could open by the end of this month. And, like its predecessor Red Door, the owners say the dinner and weekend brunch spot will strive to be a neighborhood hangout with a big, dog-friendly patio.

There is no actual grocer in the 80-seat restaurant — with room for 100 more on an outdoor patio. But the name refers to the 1920s when the storefront at the northwest corner of Damen and Charleston avenues was home to the Royal Blue grocer, which was part of a small neighborhood grocery chain.

"We wanted to use Blue in the name but there is another place with the same name," co-owner Michael Hartman said. 

Along with co-owners Dave Wiemke and Clint Meranda, Hartman painted the front door blue, replacing Red Door's distinctive bright red door.

The patio was expanded and made wider and its outdoor bar was moved from the back to the front of the patio.

"We knew the patio was important to the neighborhood. If it's not broke, don't fix it," said Hartman, who is also the owner of Stocks and Blondes Bar & Grill in the Loop and Las Reinas in Lakeview.

Located at 2118 N. Damen Ave., the restaurant is on the first floor of a large vintage apartment building that features a distinctive turret. Royal Grocer's mission statement ends with a directive: "Savor what time we have together. Eat. Drink. Enjoy!"

Royal Grocer & Co's menu was devised by chef Rob Shaner, who was most recently at Homestead on the Roof in West Town.

Shaner said he and sous chef Maureen Neer will focus on seasonal ingredients and French-influenced dishes. The vegetable-focused menu will change week to week and sometimes even daily, depending on what's available from a roster of farms such as Genesis, Werp, Iron Creek and Nichols.

A radish pasta using radishes as the noodles, boiled and cooked like a noodle, is one dish that Shaner mentioned.

"Though we are vegetable focused, it's not exclusively vegetarian. I still cook with animal fat. I want people to feel good when they leave and not stuffed," Shaner said.

There will also be two meats and a fish dish on the menu — fried Green Circle chicken, a salt marsh lamb that has a milder and more briny flavor to offset the meat's naturally gamey texture, and a Spanish mackerel.

The 39-year-old Shaner said he made the leap from Homestead on the Roof to Royal Grocer & Co. because he was seeking more independence and a chance to be more creative with styles and ingredients.

A fruit and cheese parfait using fromage blanc cheese, a fresh French cheese that is similar to yogurt, will be on the weekend brunch menu, which Shaner said is still being finalized.

To wash everything down, Royal Grocer & Co. will sell beer from local breweries such as Pipeworks, Half Acre, Revolution, Spiteful and Three Floyd's. A rotating can selection will be available at the patio's bar.

Drinks will be "seasonally-inspired craft cocktails" and a weekly draft cocktail special, Hartman said.

As an added summer perk: there are three slushie machines initially planning to hold a pisco punch or pisco sour, frozen Irish coffee and margaritas.

Once open in late July, Royal Grocer & Co's hours will be 4 p.m.- 2 a.m. Tues-Friday (dinner from 5 -11 p.m.); and 10 a.m. - 3 a.m. Saturday and Sunday (Brunch from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.; dinner from 5-11 p.m.). Closed Monday. Ph: 773-904-7805.

Royal Grocer & Co. Inside and outside. [Michael Hartman]

Co-owners Dave Wiemke, Michael Hartman and Clint Meranda on the dog-friendly patio.

Royal Grocer & Co. at 2118 N. Damen Ave. [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]