Latest news with #BocadilloMarket
Eater
01-08-2025
- Business
- Eater
Inside West Town's New Spanish Cafe, Now Open, Along Grand Avenue
James Martin feels his Bocadillo Market can do for Spanish food what heavyweights like Tempesta Market, Bari, and D'Amato's have done for Italian street eats along Grand Avenue. Martin and his wife Jessica Neal have relocated their cafe to West Town, bringing Spanish sandwiches, croquetas, and new items like empanadas to a new home. The new location opened this morning at 1117 W. Grand Avenue. Neal, who holds a background in marketing and design, helped transform the former Gemma Foods storefront into an inviting spot where customers can relax while sipping espresso. Martin and his crew have brought back the same drink menu (which features Metric Coffee). Highlights include a mini & basil latte and an horchata chai. While the coffee program didn't receive enough attention in Lincoln Park, where Bocadillo debuted in 2021, it was Martin's food that earned the restaurant accolades, including a spot on Bon Appétit's Best New Restaurants of the Year. The menu celebrates Northern Africa's influence on Spanish cuisine and Martin's background as a D.C. native raised by Southern parents. James Martin and Jessica Neal An Horchata latte Eggplant Melt Patatas Bravas Paella is a highlight, and that will return when evening dinner service kicks off in September. Martin has big dinner plans, but he feels his sandwiches deserve a bigger audience. They're filled with imported meats and in between crusty baguettes (barra de pan) imported from Spain. The bread arrives parbaked and frozen; Martin says the bread's texture gives his sandwiches an authentic Spanish edge. The sandwiches are personal for Martin as he wants to keep quality food accessible to working-class customers. He speaks fondly of his father, who was a construction worker. The menu will adjust seasonally, and other items will come and go. For example, the empanadas are currently stuffed with onion, peppers, meat, and tuna. Walk through the space below. Bocadillo Market is now open. Bocadillo Market, 1117 W. Grand Avenue, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday; Dinner service starts in September from Friday through Sunday. Bocadillo Market also stocks Spanish goods like Vichy Catalan sparkling water. Don't sleep on the sweets here. The coffee is by Metric. Squash Blossom & Sobrasada
Eater
21-05-2025
- Business
- Eater
Acclaimed Spanish Restaurant Bocadillo Market Finds a New Home in West Town
Bocadillo Market, the Lincoln Park Spanish restaurant that closed in December, has found a new home in West Town along Grand Avenue, near an already impressive assortment of Italian American sandwich makers like Tempesta Market and Bari. Chef James Martin will bring a touch of Spain to the corridor when he and his wife, Jessica Neal, take over the Gemma Foods storefront. The new location is more personal for Martin. He talks about growing up in the D.C. area. His father worked in construction. West Town can attract more blue-collar workers compared to Lincoln Park, a neighborhood near DePaul University and filled with customers with college degrees. Martin wants to make sure he can serve customers like teachers and police officers regularly, keeping menu items under $20. 'That's the heart of our communities, and those folks eat out quite a bit for lunch,' Martin says. 'That's some of the things we missed in Lincoln Park.' Bocadillo 2.0 will open in phases, hopefully debuting in early July if not before. It's an evolution of Lincoln Park's daytime menu, headlined by sandwiches and augmented by coffee and pastries. Though the new location, 1117 W. Grand Avenue, won't offer regular dinner service — takeout and delivery will be a focus — that doesn't mean customers won't see an occasional pop-up. Martin says Sunday suppers, meals that would require reservations, would play a big role. The Lincoln Park location of Bocadillo Market opened in 2021 near Clark and Fullerton, and Martin — who's worked for José Andrés, North Pond, and A10 — treated Chicago to a different side of Spanish cuisine, one that blended Moorish and even Lowcountry influences. Bites featured serrano jamón or crisp calamari, often mounted between slices of pan de cristál. Think of the bread as a Spanish version of focaccia. During nightly dinner service, Martin would break out dishes like paella. Martin and Neal pumped plenty of energy and resources into creating a Spanish oasis in Lincoln Park, creating a comfy back patio and curating a supply of imported wines and other packaged goods in front. For example, it's one of the rare spots in Chicago to find Vichy Catalan, the Spanish sparkling water. The restaurant caught the attention of the James Beard Foundation, as Martin was named as a semifinalist for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2024 and a 2022 Best New Restaurant in Bon Appétit . When they closed, Martin says he wanted to feed more people and to ensure his menu could be affordable. He also wanted to change lifestyles: 'It's fun, but at the end of the day, for me, I don't want to be at the restaurant at 1 o'clock in the morning or midnight.' On the accessible front, he points to West Town's vast array of Italian restaurants like Bari, D'Amato's Bakery, PIZZ'AMICI, Elina's, and Oggi Trattoria. Chicago has Spanish restaurants, like Bazaar by José Andrés or Boqueria in Fulton Market. But construction workers, like Martin's dad, aren't going to regularly patronize those establishments. He wants to make those customers feel welcome: 'It's really important to me,' Martin says. Bocadillo Market , 1117 W. Grand Avenue, planned for an early July opening Sign up for our newsletter.
