We Speak Dining & Drinks

Gibsons Tavern Brings Two Restaurants Under One Roof to Fulton Market

Published

4 days ago

November 11, 2026

Steak frites at a Chicago style steakhouse. Photo by Sarah Stierch, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Chicago knows the Gibsons name for big steaks and old school hospitality, and now the group is giving the city two ways to have that experience in a single room. Gibsons Tavern is scheduled to open on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, in Fulton Market, and the 15,000 square foot space is built as a tavern and a formal steakhouse living side by side.

The restaurant stands at 925 W. Fulton Market, at the corner of Sangamon Street, and it comes from the team behind Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, Hugo’s Frog Bar and Gibsons Italia. A preview on November 6 showed cathedral vaulted ceilings and interiors inspired by the turn of the century, with a large bar area flowing into more formal dining rooms and private rooms that hold from about 10 guests to events of 150.

The split personality is the whole point. The Tavern Bar runs daily lunch and dinner plus weekend brunch, with an all day menu of burgers, sandwiches, fresh fish, signature steaks and cocktails inspired by the Prohibition era. The Dining Room is the dressier half, open Tuesday through Saturday, built around prime steaks, seafood and tableside service. Caviar, a Caesar salad prepared at the table, Steak Diane, Bananas Foster and Cherries Jubilee are all part of that script, and the group worked with Chicago chef Rick Tramonto on dishes that bring back the rituals of classic upscale dining.

Executive Chef Kyle Kazniak leads the kitchen across both menus. Dishes shown at the preview included foie gras with French toast, an elevated chicken pot pie, and steak tips made from filet medallions with Asian mushrooms and a teriyaki marinade, alongside familiar Gibsons favorites. The wine list promises approachable bottles next to premium reserves.

Fulton Market already counts Girl & the Goat, Swift & Sons, Au Cheval and The Publican among its dining rooms. Gibsons Tavern arrives with a different wager, that one address can serve the after work crowd, the business lunch and the celebration dinner without asking any of them to compromise.

Red Robin Bets Its Comeback on a Chef With 34 Years at California Pizza Kitchen

Published

4 days ago

November 11, 2026

We Speak Media

A gourmet burger, the dish at the center of the Red Robin menu revamp. Photo by Marshall Astor, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Comebacks in the restaurant business usually start in the kitchen, and Red Robin is making that literal. The burger chain has hired Brian Sullivan as its vice president of culinary and beverage innovation, handing its menu revamp to a chef who spent 34 years shaping the food at California Pizza Kitchen.

Sullivan began at California Pizza Kitchen as a kitchen manager and rose to senior vice president of culinary innovation, where he helped define the chain’s habit of putting global flavors on pizza. He also recently helped launch that chain’s first burger, an experience that translates directly to his new job. He left the pizza company in an executive shakeup late last year.

The hire reunites him with G.J. Hart, Red Robin’s chief executive, who took over in September and previously led California Pizza Kitchen with Sullivan in its kitchen. Hart has since hired a new chief financial officer and chief legal officer as part of a near total rebuild of the leadership team. “I enjoyed working with Brian during my time at California Pizza Kitchen and consider him one of the best culinary minds in the industry,” Hart said in a statement. “Menu quality and innovation is a major component of our comeback plan and Brian and his team are making great progress on menu enhancements we will roll out later this year.”

The early agenda is concrete. Red Robin plans to install flat top grills to improve its burgers, refresh its milkshakes and widen the entree selection across its 510 restaurants. “I am excited to join an iconic brand like Red Robin, known for their wide variety of gourmet burgers, bottomless fries, and creative beverages,” Sullivan said in a statement. “We are going to create an amazing menu and have a lot of fun.”

For a sit down burger chain fighting for relevance, the bet is that a familiar name in the kitchen can make the food worth talking about again.