Roux, a Southern Diner, Now Open in Hyde Park

Roux (1055 E. 55th St., Chicago, IL 60615) is now open and features a coffee shop and full restaurant with a Southern diner-inspired menu from Consulting Chef Charlie McKenna. McKenna is also founder/chef of Lillie’s Q and LQ Chicken Shack. Roux is located next to Seven Ten Social, a new bowling alley and cocktail bar that opened in October 2021.

“We wanted to bring the students, healthcare workers, and residents of Hyde Park a fun and relaxed experience with great quality food,” Founder Steve Soble says. “Roux can be both where you get your daily coffee and where you go to sit down for some good Southern-style cooking.”

Menu

McKenna designed the menu around Southern diner comfort food and all-day breakfast classics, with a little nod to New Orleans coffee shops. The menu includes:

• Pastries like Beignets with loads of powdered sugar ($5), Biscuits with whipped butter and hot honey ($6), and a cream cheese-frosted Cinnamon Roll ($6)
• Breakfast like Fried Green Tomato Tartine with pimento cheese, fried egg, and bacon on brioche toast ($12); Brisket Hash with potatoes, two eggs, and Crystal hot sauce hollandaise ($15), and the “Classic” with two eggs any style and choice of bacon or sausage, grits or breakfast potatoes, and sourdough toast or biscuit ($13)
• Stone-ground heirloom Grits ($5), customizable as “covered” in cheese (+$2), “chunked” with thick-but bacon (+$3), “country” topped with sausage gravy (+$3), “cracked” with an egg any style (+$2), “capped” with mushrooms (+$3), and/or “smothered” with caramelized onions (+$2)
• All-Day Supper like Fried Catfish with crinkle-cut fries and slaw ($19); Chicken Fried Steak white gravy, whipped potatoes, and green beans ($15); Patty Melt, a wagyu burger topped with caramelized onion and American cheese ($12); Cold Fried Chicken Salad with candied pecans, bourbon cranberries, and Manchego ($15); and Hot Chicken and Waffle with whipped butter and syrup ($17)

Beverages include espresso drinks and coffee (a custom blend from Sparrow Coffee), sodas, and juice. Roux also offers the brunch cocktails Classic Bloody Mary with housemade mix, Belvedere vodka, and garnishes of celery, olives, and pickle ($11) and a Bubbly Mimosa of Prosecco topped with fresh orange juice ($11), along with a small selection of craft beer and wine. 

Roux is open Tuesday-Sunday 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m., closed Monday. Dinner hours coming soon.