Gibson's Owner Serving Up Another Eatery

CHICAGO-The operator of Gibson’s Steakhouse as well as the Tavern on Rush is going for a restaurant monopoly on his Gold Coast block. Steven Lombardo is proposing a two-story, 6,787-sf family-oriented restaurant at 18-20 E. Bellevue Pl., where “comfort food” would dominate the menu.

Lombardo’s newest restaurant would replace a three-story building on the 2,980-sf site in the hot Rush Street entertainment district. Department of planning and development officials note the proposed building is about one-third the size Lombardo would be allowed to build under the city’s existing B4-5 zoning.

The fare would be less pricey than the menu at Lombardo’s popular Gibson’s Steakhouse at 1028 N. Rush St., and attire would likely be more casual. However, Lombardo is unsure when he would break ground on the project, as well as start serving comfort food in the Gold Coast neighborhood.

“We’re still working on it,” Lombardo tells GlobeSt.com. “We’re taking it one step at a time.”

Cost of the project is expected to be in the neighborhood of $1.4 million.