The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group has announced they have served over 60,000 meals to those in need over the past 10 weeks. Also, The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group is thrilled to reveal their June 3 outdoor patio reopening plans for eight of their 20 restaurants (Utopian Tailgate, all three Roots Handmade Pizza locations, West Town Bakery & Diner, Homestead On The Roof, The Fifty/50, and VU Rooftop Lounge).
The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group Reopening Plan Update
The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group will reopen eight of its 20 restaurants for outdoor patio service on June 3. All restaurants will meet and exceed all of the city, state, and federal safety and hygiene guidelines. Inside table seating next to windows for their restaurants that meet the city’s guidelines will be allowed.
All the restaurants will open at 11am on weekdays and at 10am on weekends for brunch service with two exceptions. West Town Bakery & Diner that will open at 8am every day, and VU Rooftop Lounge will open at 4pm weekdays and 11am on weekends. All food and beverage menus at all locations will be viewed thru QR codes posted on each table.
Reservations for all restaurants (with a maximum table capacity of six guests) are encouraged. Entrance to Utopian Tailgate will only be allowed via reservations – no walk-ins are allowed – and the maximum time limit for table seating at Utopian Tailgate is two hours.
All three Roots Handmade Pizza locations will continue delivery and carryout service as well.
The West Town “Compound” – Roots Handmade Pizza, West Town Bakery & Diner, and Homestead On The Roof – reopening plan
Roots Handmade Pizza (1924 W Chicago Ave) will open with expanded outdoor patio service with full food and beverage programs. West Town Bakery & Diner (1916 W Chicago Ave) will be open for outdoor patio dining service with a revamped food menu along with counter service for coffee, pastries, and grab-and-go sandwiches.
Homestead On The Roof (located directly above Roots) will be open for rooftop table service for West Town Bakery & Diner food and beverages in the morning until the early afternoon. In the late afternoon and evening, Homestead will serve Roots food and The Berkshire Room craft cocktails with custom housemade ice from The Sixth.
The Second City Old Town Reopening Plan
Utopian Tailgate (1608 N Wells St) will open its 7,000 square foot outdoor rooftop patio with many additional tables for its guests. The food menu will be a blend of Utopian Tailgate favorites and Roots offerings. Full beverage service will be available. Guests will be able to play Utopian Tailgate custom mini table games while seated at their own tables.
Reservations for all restaurants (with a maximum table capacity of six guests) are encouraged. Entrance to Utopian Tailgate will only be allowed via reservations – no walk-ins are allowed – and the maximum time limit for table seating at Utopian Tailgate is two hours.
The Roots Old Town location (1610 N Wells St) will open with expanded outdoor patio service with full food and beverage programs.
Reopening Plans for three other Fifty/50 Restaurant Group locations
* The Fifty/50 sports bar (2047 W Division St) will open with expanded outdoor patio service and a revamped food and beverage program. Food carryout and delivery will resume on June 3 as well.
* The Roots Lincoln Square location (2200 W Lawrence Ave) will open with expanded outdoor patio service with full food and beverage programs.
* VU Rooftop Lounge (133 E Cermak Rd) will open both its rooftop patios for service with revamped food and beverage programs.
Still Closed The remaining 12 concepts of The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group are still closed at this time. They are Apogee, Portsmith, Leviathan, Steadfast, 90th Meridian, West Town Bakery & Tap in Wrigleyville, West Town Bakery in River North, The Berkshire Room, The Sixth, Bodega, Bunny Slope, and 1959 Kitchen & Bar inside The Second City.
The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group Charities Update
On March 17, The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group had to furlough/not seasonally re-hire about 590 of 650 employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced them to close 17 of their 20 restaurants and cocktail bars. The group quickly pivoted, and their charitable partnerships over the past 10 weeks have allowed The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group to produce over 60,000 meals to those in need.
About 45,000 of those 60,000+ meals for those in need have been produced for food drives at The Fifty/50 sports bar and West Town Bakery & Diner. On March 25, The Fifty/50 sports bar launched an initiative to feed anyone in need funded by an anonymous Chicago tech CEO and online donations. On March 31, The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group took over producing free meals and grocery essentials for all restaurant industry workers in need at West Town Bakery & Diner in a partnership with The LEE Initiative, Chef Edward Lee, and Maker's Mark.
About 15,000 of those 60,000+ meals for those in need have come from partnerships with about 20 other charities and organizations. One high-profile partnership started on April 9 with Chef Lamar Moore and world-renowned chef/humanitarian Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen that produced hundreds of meals each week out of the Roots Handmade Pizza location in Old Town to feed frontline hospital workers and underserved community centers. This partnership was World Central Kitchen’s first initiative in Chicago to feed those in need.
The free meals for restaurant industry workers at West Town Bakery & Diner via The LEE Initiative, Chef Edward Lee, and Maker's Mark will end on Sunday, May 31. As restaurants moved toward reopening around the country, the team at The LEE Initiative decided it was important to help fix the food supply chain. Phase 2 of The LEE Initiative’s response to the COVID 19 Crisis is the Restaurant Reboot Relief Program will help reset the food supply chain for sustainable farmers and the restaurants that are committed to buying from them -- including The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group. The LEE Initiative’s Phase 2 will be made possible by generous support from partners like Maker’s Mark as well as private donations.
The free meals from The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group that feed anyone in need– funded by an anonymous Chicago tech CEO and online donations – is shifting focus as well. Those meals will cease being served out of The Fifty/50 sports bar after June 2. However, the program will continue in different parts of the city.
On June 3, The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group will begin distributing free meals to those in need outside of the fourth Roots Handmade Pizza location (744 S Dearborn St) in the South Loop which is slated for a July opening. After a still to be determined timeframe, the free meals being distributed outside the South Loop Roots location will move to daily rotating drops in underserved Chicago neighborhoods to help feed those in need.
“We’re grateful, honored, and privileged to have produced over 60,000 meals to help feed those in need,” The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group co-owners Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner said. “Charitable outreach has always been a pillar of our restaurant group's philosophy, and it will be more important to us now than ever as we move forward. We are also thrilled to safely start serving our guests next week which will allow us to bring back to work even more of our amazing staff.”
The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group has announced they have served over 60,000 meals to those in need over the past 10 weeks. Also, The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group is thrilled to reveal their June 3 outdoor patio reopening plans for eight of their 20 restaurants (Utopian Tailgate, all three Roots Handmade Pizza locations, West Town Bakery & Diner, Homestead On The Roof, The Fifty/50, and VU Rooftop Lounge).
The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group Reopening Plan Update
The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group will reopen eight of its 20 restaurants for outdoor patio service on June 3. All restaurants will meet and exceed all of the city, state, and federal safety and hygiene guidelines. Inside table seating next to windows for their restaurants that meet the city’s guidelines will be allowed.
All the restaurants will open at 11am on weekdays and at 10am on weekends for brunch service with two exceptions. West Town Bakery & Diner that will open at 8am every day, and VU Rooftop Lounge will open at 4pm weekdays and 11am on weekends. All food and beverage menus at all locations will be viewed thru QR codes posted on each table.
Reservations for all restaurants (with a maximum table capacity of six guests) are encouraged. Entrance to Utopian Tailgate will only be allowed via reservations – no walk-ins are allowed – and the maximum time limit for table seating at Utopian Tailgate is two hours.
All three Roots Handmade Pizza locations will continue delivery and carryout service as well.
The West Town “Compound” – Roots Handmade Pizza, West Town Bakery & Diner, and Homestead On The Roof – reopening plan
Roots Handmade Pizza (1924 W Chicago Ave) will open with expanded outdoor patio service with full food and beverage programs. West Town Bakery & Diner (1916 W Chicago Ave) will be open for outdoor patio dining service with a revamped food menu along with counter service for coffee, pastries, and grab-and-go sandwiches.
Homestead On The Roof (located directly above Roots) will be open for rooftop table service for West Town Bakery & Diner food and beverages in the morning until the early afternoon. In the late afternoon and evening, Homestead will serve Roots food and The Berkshire Room craft cocktails with custom housemade ice from The Sixth.
The Second City Old Town Reopening Plan
Utopian Tailgate (1608 N Wells St) will open its 7,000 square foot outdoor rooftop patio with many additional tables for its guests. The food menu will be a blend of Utopian Tailgate favorites and Roots offerings. Full beverage service will be available. Guests will be able to play Utopian Tailgate custom mini table games while seated at their own tables.
Reservations for all restaurants (with a maximum table capacity of six guests) are encouraged. Entrance to Utopian Tailgate will only be allowed via reservations – no walk-ins are allowed – and the maximum time limit for table seating at Utopian Tailgate is two hours.
The Roots Old Town location (1610 N Wells St) will open with expanded outdoor patio service with full food and beverage programs.
Reopening Plans for three other Fifty/50 Restaurant Group locations
* The Fifty/50 sports bar (2047 W Division St) will open with expanded outdoor patio service and a revamped food and beverage program. Food carryout and delivery will resume on June 3 as well.
* The Roots Lincoln Square location (2200 W Lawrence Ave) will open with expanded outdoor patio service with full food and beverage programs.
* VU Rooftop Lounge (133 E Cermak Rd) will open both its rooftop patios for service with revamped food and beverage programs.
Still Closed
The remaining 12 concepts of The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group are still closed at this time. They are Apogee, Portsmith, Leviathan, Steadfast, 90th Meridian, West Town Bakery & Tap in Wrigleyville, West Town Bakery in River North, The Berkshire Room, The Sixth, Bodega, Bunny Slope, and 1959 Kitchen & Bar inside The Second City.
The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group Charities Update
On March 17, The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group had to furlough/not seasonally re-hire about 590 of 650 employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced them to close 17 of their 20 restaurants and cocktail bars. The group quickly pivoted, and their charitable partnerships over the past 10 weeks have allowed The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group to produce over 60,000 meals to those in need.
About 45,000 of those 60,000+ meals for those in need have been produced for food drives at The Fifty/50 sports bar and West Town Bakery & Diner. On March 25, The Fifty/50 sports bar launched an initiative to feed anyone in need funded by an anonymous Chicago tech CEO and online donations. On March 31, The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group took over producing free meals and grocery essentials for all restaurant industry workers in need at West Town Bakery & Diner in a partnership with The LEE Initiative, Chef Edward Lee, and Maker's Mark.
About 15,000 of those 60,000+ meals for those in need have come from partnerships with about 20 other charities and organizations. One high-profile partnership started on April 9 with Chef Lamar Moore and world-renowned chef/humanitarian Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen that produced hundreds of meals each week out of the Roots Handmade Pizza location in Old Town to feed frontline hospital workers and underserved community centers. This partnership was World Central Kitchen’s first initiative in Chicago to feed those in need.
The free meals for restaurant industry workers at West Town Bakery & Diner via The LEE Initiative, Chef Edward Lee, and Maker's Mark will end on Sunday, May 31. As restaurants moved toward reopening around the country, the team at The LEE Initiative decided it was important to help fix the food supply chain. Phase 2 of The LEE Initiative’s response to the COVID 19 Crisis is the Restaurant Reboot Relief Program will help reset the food supply chain for sustainable farmers and the restaurants that are committed to buying from them -- including The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group. The LEE Initiative’s Phase 2 will be made possible by generous support from partners like Maker’s Mark as well as private donations.
The free meals from The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group that feed anyone in need– funded by an anonymous Chicago tech CEO and online donations – is shifting focus as well. Those meals will cease being served out of The Fifty/50 sports bar after June 2. However, the program will continue in different parts of the city.
On June 3, The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group will begin distributing free meals to those in need outside of the fourth Roots Handmade Pizza location (744 S Dearborn St) in the South Loop which is slated for a July opening. After a still to be determined timeframe, the free meals being distributed outside the South Loop Roots location will move to daily rotating drops in underserved Chicago neighborhoods to help feed those in need.
“We’re grateful, honored, and privileged to have produced over 60,000 meals to help feed those in need,” The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group co-owners Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner said. “Charitable outreach has always been a pillar of our restaurant group's philosophy, and it will be more important to us now than ever as we move forward. We are also thrilled to safely start serving our guests next week which will allow us to bring back to work even more of our amazing staff.”
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