The Peacemaker po'boy, made with fried oysters, roast beef, lettuce, tomato, mayo and pickles at the newly opened Daisy's Po'boy and Tavern in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood on Aug. 25, 2022. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
James Beard award-winning chef Erick Williams opened his newest restaurant on the South Side of Chicago to literal fanfare.
Williams named his New Orleans-inspired sandwich shop in honor of his late maternal great-aunt Daisy, whose husband, Stew, was a man with Louisiana roots, like the traditional sandwich.
It’s the chef’s third restaurant, after his critically acclaimed Virtue, just steps away on 53rd Street, and Mustard Seed Kitchen, a takeout place in the South Loop. The new business took over the former Jolly Pumpkin Pizzeria and Brewery.
Daisy’s offers much more than its many sandwiches.
“It is a po’boy shop that features great fried chicken,” said Williams, chef and owner. “Occasionally it will have live music and it will continually play sports.”
There are multiple origin stories and styles of the sandwich. Daisy’s makes theirs dressed.
“Dressed is mayo, pickles, lettuce and tomato,” said the chef. “And that is what’s commonly served all throughout New Orleans night now.”
The shop lists nine po’boys on the menu, from traditional roast beef and fried shrimp, to one that veers a bit from tradition.
“We’re doing a fried catfish po’boy that has remoulade and slaw that’s not really traditional,” Williams said. “But I’m a city boy who loves good fried catfish with slaw, because I like the acid.”
The alligator po’boy, however, has been delayed.
“There’s a shortage of alligator,” the chef said. “We had enough to test, but we didn’t have enough to sell.”
They’re sourcing the alligator, along with as much of their seafood as possible, from the Gulf region.
Meanwhile, they’re making their own hot sausage in-house, and fried green tomatoes offer a vegetarian option.
“The demographic around us wanted a vegetarian option,” Williams said. “It’s difficult to do a vegan option, because then we’d have to change the mayo, which changes the experience completely.”
The po’boy experience arguably starts with the bread. Daisy’s imports the French-inspired roll from the historic Leidenheimer Baking Co. in New Orleans.
“We don’t touch the Leidenheimer bread, because it is a very specific thing,” said the chef.
For the muffuletta, though, Daisy’s bakes their own focaccia, before slicing and stuffing the round bread with meat, cheese and a decidedly Chicago-style condiment.
“It’s mortadella, mozzarella, salami, provolone and giardiniera, with or without olives,” Williams said. “It’s just a delicious way to eat a warm, cold cut sandwich.”
At the newly opened Daisy's Po'boy and Tavern in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, the muffuletta sandwich is seen on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The menu also features seafood gumbo, housemade boudin balls, house-baked biscuits and what Louisianans affectionately call New Orleans water.
“It’s the local term for Abita,” said the chef about the beer brewed in Louisiana. The full bar offers beer, wine and cocktails. “Our hurricane is a force to be reckoned with, but I wouldn’t tell anybody to shy away from our frozen, spicy strawberry margarita, that has legitimately got some kick,” he added.
For dessert, they also make a banana bourbon pecan toffee cake and ice cream in-house.
“There’s definitely culture in the space,” Williams said. “The culture of New Orleans is colorful, up-tempo, vibrant and high-spirited.”
The banana bourbon pecan toffee cake on the dessert menu at Daisy’s Po’boy and Tavern. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
It is a no-fuss restaurant, he added. You walk in and order at the counter. Staff will bring food and drinks to your table, take additional orders then as needed and clear your table.
“It’s not a special occasion place,” said the chef. “Unless you have nostalgia around this kind of experience. Some of us didn’t go to a fine-dining restaurant to propose. Some of us proposed at our favorite po’boy shop, maybe because that’s where we met.”
Maybe a restaurant that’s a celebration of Daisy, married to Stew for 49 years, is a special occasion enough.
5215 S. Harper Ave., 773-675-8767, daisyspoboychicago.com
Union Station commuters have a new destination offering Italian-inspired Neapolitan pizza, handmade pasta and craft cocktails. Canal Street Market and Eatery opened at the BMO Tower in the West Loop on Aug. 25. Chef Forster Sorensen (previously with Hogsalt, The Publican and Wyler Road) and beverage director Laine Peterson (Chikatana, The Robey) oversee an expansive restaurant menu featuring a white pizza with truffles and wild mushrooms; a chamomile panna cotta with fennel and an anise cookie; and the cocktail perhaps perfect for the return to commuting, an espresso martini with vodka and chocolate. Do note they’re only open weekdays for lunch and dinner, but the building does have a Pedway connecting it to the station.
314 S. Canal St., 312-967-6060, canalstreetchicago.com
A coffee shop not focused on coffee? Coffee, Hip-Hop & Mental Health, which says it truly serves the community, celebrates its grand opening in Lakeview on Sept. 7. Founder Christopher LeMark soft opened the cafe in its own space last month, but in fact there is coffee, including espresso made with a machine donated by the historic Italian manufacturer Rancilio, all with a goal to normalize therapy.
1051 W. Belmont Ave., 312-320-5846, instagram.com/chhamh6453cafe
A Jordanian chain specializing in American cheeseburgers with more than 50 locations in 13 countries on four continents has opened its first restaurant in Chicago. Firefly Burger marked its grand opening in Lincoln Park on Aug. 19. You’ll find a Backfire burger served with a pipette of their spicy chile Lava sauce, a Bucharest crispy fried chicken sandwich, plus a cheese station for a cheese injection at the restaurant with zabiha halal meat.
2412 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-729-7182, fireflyburgers.us
The great deli revival has a new destination in a historic suburb. Fritzi’s Delicatessen opened in Oak Park on Aug. 24. Restaurant veteran Pauly Stern named the Jewish-style deli for his father, whose nickname was Fritzi. Stern makes a 14-day brined corned beef, a cold-smoked pastrami and even a corned tofu Reuben. You can order dim sum style, as in marking off a menu card. That’s not the only thing that’s Chinese-inspired; there’s a jianbing on the menu.
113 N. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park; 708-613-4760; fritzisdeli.com
A new Black woman-owned restaurant on the South Side opened with a ribbon-cutting on Saturday. Let’s Eat To Live, the second restaurant by Carmella Coq’mard-Muhammad, owner of popular sister shop The Foodie’s Spot, celebrated with a community tasting in Woodlawn on Sept. 3. You can dine on charcoal-grilled or buttermilk-fried chicken, bean pies and Haitian rum cake, plus vegetables from the restaurant’s own community garden.
621 E. 67th St., 773-966-6549
One of the most highly anticipated restaurants finally opened in one of the hottest new restaurant neighborhoods in Chicago. Loaf Lounge, a little bread-focused, all-day cafe by chefs and spouses Sarah Mispagel-Lustbader and Ben Lustbader, debuted in Avondale on Aug. 20. You’ll find a spicy capicola and fig mostarda breakfast sandwich, a BLT on house-baked jalapeño cheddar bread — one of eight rotating loaves available whole — and The Bear chocolate cake, as seen on the hit streaming series best known for its Italian beef, made by Mispagel-Lustbader as the show’s pastry consultant.
2934 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-904-7852, loafloungechicago.com
The James Beard award-winning pastry chef and cookie cookbook author is back. Mindy’s Bakery, by Mindy Segal (who closed her restaurant HotChocolate during the pandemic), opened in Bucktown on July 30. Look for a changing menu with signature rustic garlic challah bagels, Klug Farm grape bialys, plus macaroni and cheese.
1623 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-489-1747, mindysbakery.com
Mini Mott has evolved beyond a burger shop, but they still have the burger. Second Generation, an American and Asian restaurant by chef Edward Kim and his partners at Mott Street, quietly reopened the space in Logan Square on Aug. 2. The new menu features a midnight pasta with anchovy breadcrumbs and an onsen egg, kalbi steak frites and, yes, the Mott burger.
3057 W. Logan Blvd., eatsecondgen.com
Know of a Chicago-area restaurant or bar that’s new and notable? Email food critic Louisa Chu at lchu@chicagotribune.com.
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