Fulton Market Lost Its Food Hall. Its Fall Openings Are Betting on Dinner.

"None of the late-night stuff," Vincent Martin told Block Club Chicago when he described AMARA, the restaurant he's opening at 844 W. Randolph St. "This is full dining-focused, full restaurant, fine dining."

The line sticks because of who's saying it. Martin owns Carbon, the Fulton Market steakhouse and lounge that turns into a nightlife spot once the evening gets going. His second project skips that formula on purpose, and it isn't the only one. Almost every notable opening around Randolph, Morgan, Green and Fulton this fall is a full sit-down dining room. Several of them are moving into spaces where the last concept didn't last. All of this comes nine months after the neighborhood's best-known walk-in, eat-anywhere format shut down.

The food hall closed, and the block kept building

Time Out Market Chicago closed in January 2026 after seven years at 916 W. Fulton Market. Eater Chicago and Block Club gave the last day as Friday, January 23, and the Sun-Times reported a January 29 date. According to Block Club Chicago, the company's CEO tied the decision to reduced, inconsistent foot traffic since the pandemic and the hybrid work that followed. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that he also cited rising operating costs.

The building isn't being kept as a food hall. As of late May, Chicago YIMBY reported that the owner planned to split the two-story structure into multi-tenant retail. No further details had been announced.

Across the street, the same report pointed to The Fulton, a new building with outposts from Equinox and Gibsons. That Gibsons is Gibsons Tavern, and it's about as far from a food hall as a restaurant gets. Block Club says it will sit inside an 11-story office building at 925 W. Fulton, with vaulted ceilings, steaks, seafood, comfort dishes and Prohibition-era cocktails. Eater Chicago puts the space at 14,000 square feet. The restaurant was first announced in 2023, and Block Club's latest reporting has it opening this November.

So one side of Fulton Market is losing a hall built on quick counters and shared tables. The other side is getting one of the city's most traditional steakhouse groups, in a room built for long dinners.

Second tries at familiar addresses

The table shows the pattern. Every address on it is a room you may have walked past for years, and the status column is current as of October 12.

Black Briar is the one to try first, because it's open now. Chef Jimmy Papadopoulos and co-owner Tim Anderson opened it on September 26 in the former Bar Takito space. According to Eater Chicago's roundup of new openings, it's a 110-seat gastropub with an open kitchen, a 20-seat U-shaped bar and an 80-bottle wine list built around American spirits and seasonal ingredients. The menu runs from oysters and hamachi crudo to sourdough cavatelli and a pork short rib that gets brined, smoked, cooked sous vide and finished on the grill.

Two details fit the dinner-first pattern. Eater Chicago's opening story notes that the menu is split into six plainly labeled sections, and that it includes a short kids' menu. A kids' menu at a Fulton Market gastropub tells you who the place expects on a Tuesday. The menu's surprise is the snail toast. Wild Burgundy snails are braised in garlic, butter, shallots and lemon, then served on house sourdough dipped in a bordelaise-style "black magic jus."

AMARA is the next likely opening on Randolph. Chef Nemanja Milunovic has cooked at Aba, Prime & Provisions and River Roast, and was most recently executive chef at Adalina Prime. Block Club Chicago reports that he's building a mezze-style menu around the Balkans and the Mediterranean, with seafood from Croatia and Montenegro, meat-forward dishes from Serbia and Bosnia, and breads and pastries from across the region. He also plans to bring in Levantine dishes like hummus and falafel, which he picked up at Aba. The former Gino & Marty's room has been redone with an earthy green palette, greenery draped across the ceiling and olive-colored seating. No opening date has been announced. As of today, the official site still says "Coming Soon" and asks visitors to sign up for first access to reservations.

The newcomers arrive with track records

Berenjak is an Iranian restaurant from London's JKS Restaurants, and Eater Chicago reports that Chicago is its third partnership with Soho House. It started with a members-only residency at New York's Dumbo House in 2024 and opened at Soho Warehouse in Los Angeles in August 2025. Chicago's location opened October 2 inside Soho House on Green Street. The menu covers black chickpea hummus, kababs, charcoal-grilled prawns and fish stew, along with wines and cocktails that were only available at the U.K. locations until now. You don't need a membership. The same report says that, like the Allis and Fox Bar, Berenjak is fully open to non-members.

Pizzeria Gabbo is Lettuce Entertain You's take on a neighborhood pizzeria, led by Marc Jacobs and Andrew Ashmore. It will serve tavern-style pizza plus a crispier take on New York-style, along with antipasti, pastas and soft-serve gelato. The wine list leans on family-owned Italian wineries, with more than 20 pours by the glass. The room is small for this street, with 60 seats in the dining room and eight at the bar. Lettuce's announcement says it will open for lunch and dinner, with carryout and delivery coming later. Lunch makes it the most weekday-friendly opening on this list. The official site still says "Coming fall 2026" and gives no specific date.

Gibsons Tavern rounds out the group. The original Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse has been on Rush Street since 1989. The group also runs Gibsons Italia, Luxbar and Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House, and the Fulton Market tavern is promising the same steaks, seafood and desserts as the Gold Coast original.

Even the casual openings come with a plan

The fall's two lower-key openings follow the same logic on a smaller scale. Each one does a single, specific thing.

Victory & Vice opened Wednesday, September 9, at 318 N. Carpenter St. It's a sports bar built around a 1,000-square-foot patio, 30 screens and a custom 17-by-10-foot viewing wall. The menu includes a bulgogi cheesesteak and a house pizza puff.

Susu, the steakhouse at 652 W. Randolph St. that mixes Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Asian influences, opens a weekend bakery on Saturday, October 17. It's pre-order and pickup only, through the back entrance. The headline item is a wagyu sujuk breakfast sandwich on hand-rolled sourdough pita. Opening pastries include a chai-spiced Tea Tea Cheesecake, a shakshuka danish and a tahini canelé, plus the occasional mystery item. A Saturday-morning pickup window from a Randolph Street dinner spot is about as neighbor-focused as Fulton Market gets.

The rest of the fall calendar nearby

The new dining rooms are opening alongside a few standing dates and one transit disruption worth planning around:

• West Loop Green City Market runs Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., at 900 W. Monroe St. through November 21, according to the City of Chicago's farmers market schedule.
• Randolph Street Holiday Market comes to 1340 W. Washington St. on November 14–15 and December 12–13. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, per the market's schedule.
• CTA Lake Street Bridge work disrupts service all day, every day, from Tuesday, October 13 through Sunday, October 25. Green Line riders get free shuttle buses between Clinton and Clark/Lake. Pink Line trains stop at Polk and connect to the Blue Line at Racine. Riders headed to or from Ashland, Morgan or Clinton, or anywhere in the West Loop, can transfer to the #9/#X9 Ashland bus near Polk or Racine. Details are on the CTA's service page.

During those two weeks, Green Line trains from the west still stop at Morgan, but anyone coming from the Loop has to ride the shuttle between Clark/Lake and Clinton first. Pink Line riders headed to Morgan need the bus transfer. That covers the trip to Black Briar at 201 N. Morgan and Berenjak on Green Street.

If one of these openings has you thinking about living closer to Morgan and Randolph, The Michael Scavo Group can put together a short list of West Loop apartments within walking distance of the blocks above and tour them with you in a single afternoon. Find Your Apartment and we'll send your list.