ByEmily WickwireTribune reporter
Logan Square bar-crawlers, you're in luck.
Russ Grant (East Room, Parts and Labor, Boiler Room) and Laura Piper (One North Kitchen) announced plans to open a mac 'n' cheese-only restaurant (2354 N. Milwaukee Ave.) in Logan Square next month.
The fast-casual joint, which does not yet have a name, will be in the same building as Grant's low-key bar, East Room.
"We just wanted to do a place that's close to where all the kids are," said Piper, who will serve as the eatery's new chef. "Something near a bunch of bars that's quick-serve where you can grab something to eat between the bars."
The idea to create a joint that served only the cheesy comfort food originated at Piper's restaurant, One North Kitchen, where her spruced-up takes on mac 'n' cheese are popular among customers.
"Right now, we have a jalapeno-bacon and buffalo chicken (mac 'n' cheese)," Piper said. "As we tossed around ideas for a quick-serve restaurant, Russ came over here and he loved it."
The menu will be entirely mac 'n' cheese, and will use "very simple, very straightforward, high-quality ingredients." At first the restaurant will serve just regular mac 'n' cheese and buffalo chicken mac 'n' cheese, though Piper said customers can upgrade either one with bacon or add hot sauce.
As for why mac 'n' cheese, "It's just one of those things that makes you feel better," she said. "If you grew up in this country, you grew up on mac 'n' cheese of some kind."
The restaurant is slated to open mid- to late-April.
Twitter @ewickwire
Copyright © 2015, Chicago Tribune