Today we’d like to introduce you to Howard Davis.
Howard, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Bar Roma opened in December of 2016. We were inspired by The Meatball Shoppe in NYC so we wanted to do different kinds of meatballs with authentic Roman Italian food. We all love Italy and the food and we felt Roman food should be our focus because Bar Roma is located in a neighborhood of Chicago, a large urban city like Rome.
Our chef Fred Ramos is part Italian and has cooked Italian food for most of his career at some of Chicago’s best Italian restaurants. We also wanted to have an extensive Italian wine program and craft cocktails with an Italian twist. The customer response since Bar Roma opened has been terrific and Bar Roma continues to get excellent online reviews for its food, wines and drinks, service and decor. Bar Roma is a casual restaurant with moderate prices.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Generally, opening last year was challenging as any new restaurant opening is, but the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago where we are located welcomed Bar Roma with open arms, Business has been good since opening, and the feedback from customers is almost always very positive. Bar Roma did go through a few manager changes in the 1st year but each manager we had was excellent and provided a good transition to the next one. The food was very good to start and has gotten better over the year.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We focus on doing restaurants that serve authentic ethnic food, so if we open an Italian restaurant, we want the food to be authentic Italian, not fusion and not American versions. We also strive to be casual but with high standards of service and cuisine. We want customers to feel relaxed and comfortable and to know we are using only the freshest ingredients. We make virtually everything in-house, including the handmade pasta. And we want an active bar scene with great dining as well.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in a Northwest suburb of Chicago. I became a trial lawyer and businessman. I have always loved food and restaurants and in 1991, I and my partners opened Vivo restaurant on West Randolph Street in Chicago. It was a Southern Italian restaurant. Then we opened Marche and Red lIght in 1993 and 1996, a French Brasserie and pan Asian restaurant.
All of this ushered in the development of the West Loop which now is home to many great restaurants. We also opened restaurants in the South Loop area and pioneered the development of that neighborhood with Gioco, Northern Italian, Opera, Chinese restaurant and Saiko, a sushi restaurant.
Our focus always was great authentic ethnic food, with a fun vibrant bar scene. We wanted to offer Chicagoans a chance to feel like they were visiting a foreign country when they dined at our restaurants.
Contact Info:
- Email: lauri degiacomo lauri@edibleinkpr.com
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