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The Bristol
- 2152 North Damen Avenue
- Chicago, IL 60647
- American
- 773-862-5555
- Website
The Bristol offers a seasonal Midwestern menu with Mediterranean roots. The diverse menu includes bar snacks, daily specials, and rotating chalkboard specials of salumi, charcuterie and other sustainable foodstuffs. Besides being an English port city, a "bristol" is also defined as a place where friends and neighbors meet. The latter is the intent of the folks at The Bristol. The team behind the restaurant looks to make this spot both a regular stop for locals and a destination where those who hanker for simple, rustic cuisine with world-class beers and wines can relax and make merry.
This Bucktown eatery and bar is the fruit of a collaboration between three veterans of the Chicago restaurant scene: Partner John Ross (longtime General Manager at one sixtyblue and his own restaurant, Sage, in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa); Partner and General Manager Phillip Walters (N9NE Steakhouse and Miramar); and Partner and Executive Chef Chris Pandel (formerly celebrity chef Rick Tramonto's right–hand man at Tru and Osteria Via Stato and Corporate Chef for the Cenitare Restaurant Group, and a veteran of Cafe Boulud in New York City).
The Bristol is an eatery and bar with fare that is straightforward, but also on point when it comes to the technique and the attitude behind it. "Like any chef worth his or her salt in Chicago today, we're serving organic and locally grown food as much as humanly possible," says Pandel, who notes he'll take the time and sweat in carrying out labor–intensive procedures like processing whole animals and carefully sourcing every last ingredient.
Those ingredients create shareable plates of vegetables, fish and shellfish, meats and more. To pair, The Bristol offers a special drinks menu with classic (such as the fresh fruit Pisco Sour with pisco, seasonal fresh fruit, fresh lemon sour, egg white and bitters) and cutting-edge contemporary beverages (such as the Koi Pond with Patrón Silver, VeeV Açai, white grape juice and ginger ale). A worldly wine list and a selection of artisanal beers also are available.
The restaurant's intimate brick–and–chalkboard dining room displays a rotating art exhibit. Seating includes comfy banquettes upholstered in distressed tan faux leather, sleek silver naval chairs, and eight metal seats wrapped in chocolate–brown leather that pull up to the concrete–top, Brazilian cherry wood bar. Edison bulbs dangle at different lengths from light boxes above it all. Bathrooms also display art and feature handmade pinewood sinks with silver faucets. Open Fridays and Saturdays, the upstairs bar mimics that of the lower level.
