Just opened: Stephanie Izard’s Little Goat Diner move among 7 new restaurants in Chicago and the suburbs
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This little goat moved to a new neighborhood in Chicago.
Stephanie Izard just reopened Little Goat Diner in Lakeview on April 18.
If you’re out of the loop, the chef moved her destination diner from the West Loop on Randolph Street, where it originally opened about 10 years ago, to the leafy green streets of the Southport Corridor.
Izard and her Boka Restaurant Group partners transformed the historic Southport Lanes. The former bowling alley’s owners announced in 2021 it was not reopening after the early pandemic shutdown. The diner is the third and final piece of the transformation, joining GG’s Chicken Shop by chef Lee Wolen of Boka restaurant, and Japanese restaurant Itoko by chef Gene Kato of Momotaro, which opened in February and March, respectively.
So why the move?
“I love the West Loop,” said Izard, who is also chef and partner at Girl & The Goat, Duck Duck Goat and Cabra at The Hoxton hotel. “And I’m still there with all of my other restaurants. But we decided to take a little leap and go up to Southport Corridor.”
It’s a bit of a homecoming.
“I actually lived in this neighborhood when I first moved to Chicago 20-something years ago,” said the chef, who grew up on the East Coast. “So it’s fun to be back. I think the neighborhood has gone through so many changes.”
Among the changes, a U.S. men’s soccer coach bought a mansion nearby for $2.6 million in 2019. A former Blackhawks player sold another nearby mansion for $3.1 million in 2021.
“There are so many families, I’ve already noticed in the last couple of days since we opened, going out and talking to folks in the dining room,” Izard said. “It’s very neighborhoody, for lack of a better word to describe it, which I love.”
The new Little Goat Diner rivals a Wes Anderson film in its attention to colorful and fantastical detail, a departure from other diners set in an imagined 1950s as with Ed Debevic’s.
“It’s definitely got a grooviness to it, almost like you walked back into the ’70s,” the chef said. “Walking into this one actually fits the name now. At the original, I would always joke it’s called Little Goat, but it’s actually supersized goat, because it was ginormous. So we put it into a much cozier space.”
There are only 40 seats indoors, but an outdoor sidewalk patio doubles seating to about 80.
“We can run with a smaller team,” Izard said. “And give a lot of attention to each table, so it still feels bustling and fun.”
You might find little hidden goats in the space: A goat on the second hand of the neon-encircled clock, hanging photos of old Chicago with hidden goats within.
A big neon goat can also be found on one of the mirrors when you walk in.
“It’s just nostalgic,” Izard said. “I think it brings back some childhood playfulness.”
The chef unpacked a few of the diner fan favorites that also made the move.
“This Little Piggy is one of our breakfast sandwiches, definitely a fork-and-knife situation,” she said. “I put it on the menu at Little Goat after traveling to China when we were researching for Duck Duck Goat. We had these Sichuan pork wontons every morning when we were in Chengdu, and that sauce inspired me to make this Sichuan maple syrup.”
The syrup goes over a scallion cheddar biscuit holding a sunny fried egg, Sichuan-inspired pork sausage and hoisin mayo.
“And we have our bloody mary that was always a house favorite, on the weekend especially,” she added.
They mix their take on the classic cocktail with Ceres vodka by Chicago Distilling Co., kimchi and a smoky hot sauce.
“We also brought some of our Sugargoat favorites,” Izard said. (The bakery, which shared Little Goat’s West Loop space, doesn’t have its own location at the moment.) “So some of our favorite cookies, and the spiced pecan brown butter cookie is my favorite.”
In addition to muffins and scones, they just started making a cinna-monkey bread, a cross between cinnamon rolls and the sticky pull-apart bread.
“And then we have a big soft-serve program here,” the chef said. “That’s kind of the highlight.”
They’ll open a walk-up window as soon as the glass gets delivered, when weather permits.
“Right now we have two different flavors: strawberry, which is dairy-free, and our vanilla,” she said.
A Cheez-It sundae tops housemade vanilla and strawberry swirl soft-serve ice cream with chocolate-covered Cheez-Its and a Nesquik crumble, made with the powdered chocolate drink mix imported from Mexico, which has tamarind.
Unlike some celebrity chefs, Izard still cooks, and names her own favorites.
“I was just making one of my new favorites that’s on the menu,” she said about the chile crunch chicken and dumplings, a dish married with pozole, the Mexican hominy stew. “It’s got tasty sesame cheddar dumplings floating in broth, cooked with brown butter and all these different spices on the chicken.”
The chef tops it all with avocado, radishes, chile lime crunch and an egg.
It’s far from the diner food she had growing up with her mom, but her son can still order his favorite dish.
“Ernie is all about pancakes,” Izard said. “We’ve always been big Cubs fans, and Ernie is named partially after our dog Bert, but also Ernie Banks.”
The Cubs baseball legend played at Wrigley Field, less than a mile from the diner.
The chef once offered goat chili in an attempt to break the goat-related curse during the year the Cubs won the World Series in 2016.
“We’ll come up with some fun things to do, maybe some game-day specials,” she said. “Now you got my brain going, and this is what I’m going to think about all day.”
Little Goat Diner, 3325 N. Southport Ave., 773-819-7673, littlegoatchicago.com
More notable new restaurants, listed in alphabetical order:
Batter & Berries
The long-awaited suburban outpost of the uber-popular Lincoln Park breakfast spot opened in Olympia Fields in April. Founded in 2012 by Craig and Tanya Richardson, Batter & Berries specializes in French toast flights and brunch favorites like omelets, chicken and sweet potato waffles, and sandwiches. 3462 Vollmer Road, Olympia Fields; 773-248-7710; batterandberries.com
Kimski 2.0
Reopening this month after hosting a series of pop-ups in the Kimski restaurant space, Kimski returns with chef Won Kim, who will be serving up a new menu at the Korean-Polish restaurant in Bridgeport with garlic chili cucumbers, potato and cheese pierogies, chap chae noodles, fried chicken and cheesy beef sandwiches and a Korean barbecue platter. 954-960 W. 31st St., 773-823-7336, instagram.com/kimskichicago
Lagunitas TapRoom & Beer Sanctuary
The California-based brewery recently reopened a 300,000-square-foot brewery and taproom in North Lawndale. Guests can sample Chicago-only brews, enjoy games like oversize Jenga, listen to live bands, watch sports on TV or shop in the gift store of the eclectically outfitted space. The kitchen menu features a Slagel Farms burger and shepherd’s pie, mussels, aguachile and fish tacos. 2607 W. 17th St., 312-767-9678, lagunitas.com/taproom/chicago
Pizza Matta
Chef Jason Vincent and the team behind Giant and Chef’s Special Cocktail Bar opened this Logan Square takeout pizza restaurant. Build-your-own pizzas, large salads and the Midwest classic Superman ice cream are on the menu, and plans for delivery orders are in the works. 3211 W. Armitage Ave., 773-661-6521, pizzamattachicago.com
Thattu
Chef Margaret Pak and Vinod Kalathil opened this a full-service restaurant in Avondale, serving a lunch menu of southwest Indian coastal cuisine, including a fried chicken sandwich, Kadala curry, coriander chicken and appam, with plans to expand the menu to dinner soon. Thattu was lauded as a pop-up by the James Beard Awards when it operated out of Politan Row food hall. 2601 W. Fletcher St., 773-754-0199, thattu.com
The Pearl Club
This cocktail bar opened in West Town in April at the corners of Milwaukee, Halsted and Grand, in what was formerly Emmit’s Irish Pub. With swanky lux decor, it’s inspired by London and New York City cocktail lounges and serves classic cocktails and creations by Paolo Acuña, and bar bites such as crunchy chicken nuggets and steak tartare. 495 N. Milwaukee Ave., 312-602-0304, pearlclubchicago.com
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