Get ready, Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares fans: For the first time ever, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is expanding his restaurant empire to Chicago. The restauranteur announced this week that he plans to open a Gordon Ramsay Burger location in River North, taking over a 5,000-square-foot space at the corner of State and Ontario.
The Chicago location, which will be equipped with an island bar and seating for 120, will be the second Gordon Ramsay Burger location in the U.S. (the other, called Flame Burger, is in Las Vegas), though he has also opened pubs and steak restaurants in other cities across the country. In a press release, the famously ornery chef praised Chicago's dining scene, calling it "one of the best food cities in the world."
There are plenty of celebrity burger joints out there—incidentally, Gordon Ramsay Burger is taking over the space formerly occupied by Mark Wahlburg-owned Wahlburgers—but Ramsay is teasing an elevated experience for his new restaurant. Announcing the Chicago expansion via an Instagram video, the Michelin-starred chef rhapsodized about his "delicious, butter-based burgers," which blend different cuts of beef meant to impart a bolder flavor. Specialty items include the Hell’s Kitchen Burger, a signature patty dressed up with with asadero cheese, roasted jalapeños, avocado, roasted tomatoes and house-made jalapeño aioli. Alongside the burgers, you'll also find milkshakes, fries and other high-end fast food dishes, though a full menu hasn't been released yet.
Gordon Ramsay Burger is scheduled to open at in late 2021 or early 2022—in the meantime, take a look through renderings of what the finished space will look like below.
