Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich are signing a lease today on a 60,000-square-foot space on Ohio Street in Chicago for their next Eataly outpost. According to The New York Times, this second US location of the Italian-imported mega-market will open in September 2013 and cost about $20 million. Expect, among other things, a sausage-centric restaurant, "in homage to the Eastern European tradition of sausage in Chicago." Rumors about the new location have been circulating for months now.
Oscar Farinetti, who opened the first Eataly in Turin and is a partner in the American branches, says he hopes to open two or three locations a year, which seems like a good idea since Eataly's gross revenues for its first year in New York were $70 million and revenues for the second year are predicted to be around $85 Million. Bastianich confirmed to The Times that the next Eatalys will open in Los Angeles and Istanbul.
· Eataly Coming to Chicago [NYT]
· All Coverage of Eataly [Eater Chicago]
· All Coverage of Eataly [~ENY~]
[Photo: Raphael Brion / Eater.com]