Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve O’Brien.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
At its core, the tale of BRGRBELLY is a love story. Bits and pieces of it have been shared in our posts or chatting in the restaurants, or in interviews. But the occasion of our 4 years anniversary has put us in a reflective mood and seems as good a time as any to explain how BRGRBELLY came to be, why we continue to live this dream, and why we hope in our hearts it will never end. Prior to opening BRGRBELLY, I was the “silent” owner of Mike’s American Ale House; a bar located one door east of the original BRGRBELLY on Irving Park Road.
Nicole, then a Chicago Public School teacher, was a local and a regular at Mike’s. It seems she had a penchant for chicken wings, and our Wednesday special of a dozen wings for $1.95 was appointment dining for her and her coworkers. Any given Wednesday she could be found sampling one of the 10 styles of wings we served. I, as a single dad, would spend Wednesdayevening with my son, Connor. Our activities would rarely if ever bring us to the Alehouse, and as a result of this Nicole and I occupied the same general space for years without ever really crossing paths. We knew “of” each other – I knew her name through conversations with her group of friends and other patrons, she knew of me only as the invisible, unseen owner.
As it happens, one Wednesday my son had another obligation, so I went to work out. Post gym, I ambled into Mike’s to have a beer and chat with some customers. One of them introduced me to a stunning lady named Nicole, who joked that she had heard about me, but until now doubted that I existed. We talked for 4 hours that evening, it felt like 10 minutes, and from that day 16 years ago we have never been apart. When we decided to get married and have kids, it became clear that the tavern business and its attendant lifestyle was, not to knock it, not the environment we desired in which to build our family.
We picked up stakes and move out west. West on Irving Park, to be precise, to the small town of Itasca. We bought what turned out to be the Town Founder’s barn, lovingly restored it, and made it our home for 10 years. During this time Nicole decides that she no longer wanted to teach, but instead focus on raising a family, first Myles, and, a few years later, Molly. I went on working in my career, and we will always recall these years fondly, meeting great friends in a great little town. But, and to any of you who have gotten to know her can attest, Nicole possesses (or is possessed by) an energy and enthusiasm that constantly drives her to do and take on more.
Both born and raised Northwest Siders who live, breathe and embrace all thing Chicago, we felt there was a pronounced lack of dining options in the area. We looked at buildings, old restaurants, etc. and by coincidence the building next door to where we met, a shuttered pizza joint, was available. We ended up purchasing the building outright. We pulled all our funds together and were fortunate enough to buy the property without a major mortgage, affording us an opportunity to do what most restaurant owners cannot. Namely, building a project out of passion and not profit, and that is what we set out to do.
Our goal seemed lofty enough to us at the time: to be the best burger joint in Portage Park, and to achieve it in such a way that would not affect our young children or disrupt our family life (thus our weekday 5:00 PM-9:00 PM hours of operation.) Nicole was in her own right a vastly talented and creative cook, having planned and hosted many parties and events in our home, but had never worked in a professional kitchen per see.
I myself was a trained Chef, but as it was necessary that I continue at my job full time in order to ensure our endeavor was successful and could withstand the lean times, we recruited, enticed, and otherwise cajoled my chef friends from around the country to come to town on weekends testing different grinds of meat, baking different types of bread, and drinking copious amounts of beer.
All the while, Nicole was getting a crash course, taught by experts in the field, on how to run a professional kitchen in what we assumed would be a simple 6 table, 8 bar stool Rock and Roll-themed restaurant in a relatively quiet strip of Portage Park. I recall the end of a spirited day of menu testing and brainstorming when Nicole’s uncle Ron Vogel stopped by. His grandfather had owned Vogel Meat Market many years prior. Intrigued by our experiments, he told us a story about a recipe his grandfather had for Hamburger meat wherein he would grind smoked pork belly into his ground beef blend. We decided to give it a whirl, and, lo and behold, the LEADBELLY burger was born. Thank you, Ron!
Him, Her, This, That
Ron is certainly not the only person to whom we owe an immense debt of gratitude for these amazing four years. I hardly know where to begin, but I feel I must mention a few whose influence is felt on BRGRBELLY and in our lives.
Thank you to my brother, Tom O’Brien – In addition to having known each other, well, forever, Tom and I have worked together in various capacities over the years. When he heard we were opening this restaurant, he immediately asked us to let him know anything he could do to help. He came in to lend a hand in the early days and over time took on more and more responsibilities, and now oversees all the operational facets of the business. I truly don’t know what we would have done if he did not offer to lend a hand when he did, or where we would be now.
Thank you Former Alderman Tim Cullerton – Tim was not only a tremendous supporter and resource when we were trying to build our dream in Portage Park. He was also our first customer, Showing up at the door opening day with 10 friends and family members in tow. Tim was and continues to be a great advocate for the community, a consummate professional, and a notoriously great guy. Thank you, Spaceman Joe – (if that is your real name.) Following a string of 5-star reviews on Yelp! Joe was the first to give us one star, saying his fries were not hot enough. Joe went on to give us 3 months before we went out of business. You made us realize that we always have to strive to be better and do more. And, even though you made Nicole cry, thank you, Spaceman!
Thank you George Karzas – George may be the most knowledgeable person I know in the restaurant industry and has given me plenty of solid guidance over the past 4 years. George was also one of the first to lend legitimacy to our burger joint by collaborating with us on a mash-up featuring our burger topped with Gale Street Inn’s legendary ribs, with the proceeds donated to Jefferson Park’s own Gift Theatre.
Thank you to Joe and Melissa Basilone – I met Joe and Melissa well before opening BRGRBELLY at a 38th ward chamber meeting, and I knew right away that these two amazing people were all about making Portage Park a better place to live, work, and be for everyone. If you haven’t been to Perkolator, or Thrift and Thrive, or Sputnik, please stop in, and you will immediately know what I am talking about. Thank you Haydee Caldero – I recall Nicole saying that her only dream was to be featured in “Check Please!” Almost one year to the day of our opening, we were sitting on a beach when the phone call came that they would like to feature us on the show. Nicole cried for a while that day and may have thrown up.
But the build-up, the filming, the waiting, and the first airing where such fun, electric times that we will always remember with fondness. Thank you, Rich Synoski – Hands down the best Handyman on the Northwest Side of Chicago. Rich is our go-to guy for any problems we have in the restaurants and is there at a moment’s notice. He has been an integral part of the design and build out of all of our concepts, and there is no one we owe a bigger thank you to than him. He has been an immeasurable asset to our business, as well as a great personal friend of ours. Thank you to all of our Business and organizational neighbors and co-conspirators through the years – the staffs at Community Tavern, Fooda, The Gift Theatre, Portage Grounds, Percolator,Fischman’s Bottle Shop, Harrington’s Deli, Hagen’s Fish Market, Pete’s Pizza #2, Eli’s Cheesecake, Gale Street Inn, Illinois Nails, The Thatch, Tea’se Tea Shoppe, and many more.
Thank you to all our tireless advocates in the media and on the interwebs. Your support and unhinged enthusiasm for our offerings has brought a lot of new hungry people through our doors. Matt Linder, James VanOsdol, Dave Miska, Jeff Mauro, Patty Vasquez, Nick DiGilio, Lauren O’Neill, and many more. We are fortunate to count you and yours among our extended family. This thank you also goes out to all of you who will tell any urbanite within earshot, literally or through social media, that they have to try this little burger joint way out on Irving Park, somewhere past Kedzie, where it’s mostly farmland and unpaved roads.
Better an “Oops” than a “What if.” We have certainly had our share of “Oops” moments throughout our 4 years in business, but, in many ways, we would never have known what we could achieve without them. We have been presented time and again with the opportunity to expand dramatically into a franchise burger concept, a move we have resisted because it feels more right to keep this a relatively simple family-run business. We have expanded over the years from the original BRGRBELLY on Irving Park, to what now included Tipsy Cow Cantina, Molly and Myles Ice Cream, 5 BRGRBELLY Food Hall concepts in downtown Chicago.
With growth, more “Oops” moments are sure to follow, so we keep our head up and do our best to deliver amazing food and experiences to our customers each and every day. I can only hope that we have lived up to that in your eyes because without all of you we wouldn’t’ be here, 4 years along, having the opportunity to express our gratitude again. This is our love story to Chicago, to the mighty Northwest Side, to our community and extended family. Thank you for being part of it, you are the reason we are still on this journey.
Has it been a smooth road?
In the restaurant industry there is never a smooth road… When we originally opened our intent was to open a small 6 table hamburger joint for the Portage Park neighborhood and it grew into this thing that was much larger than ourselves, it was originally called Leadbelly and we were paying himage to the late folk/blues singer we loved…
With the success of that restaurant we had the fortune to open our second location and when we did this the Leadbelly estate felt they were owed royalties on our business and we had to change our name even though we own the rights to Leadbelly Inc…. This truly had a negative impact on our business as people were confused about if the place changed management, what happened, the brans we built with the awards we won were all in peril… But we worked through it, because that is what you have to do and we are still here and going strong… We have since expanded to 5 food hall concepts, a gourmet ice cream shop, Tipsy Cow Cantina (Live Music Venue) and off course the orginal Brgrbelly
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Brgrbelly – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a burger joint… it is that simple we are known for having the best burgers in Chicago. We have won many awards for our burgers including Battle of the Burger 2015, Top 5 burgers Zagat, Top 13 burgers in America Thrillist, Top 25 burgers in America, Men’s Journal Magazine… We have been featured on Check Please! Chicago’s Best and we continue to just be a really great burger joint with our homemade bread, in-house ground meat with smoked pork belly and fresh wholesome ingredients
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I was born and raised on the NW side of Chicago and that is why I opened my restaurants here… My wife and I always say that our restaurants are a project of passion and not profit and that is why they have been successful… The down side of Chicago is crime has gotten worse on the NW side and the taxes are just out of control.. From the soda tax, bag tax, walking taxes, sitting taxes… If you do something there is a tax for it and that is disappointing because Chicago is the greatest, most friendly Big City in the World
Pricing:
- Burgers range from $7.95-$10.95
- Gourmet Fries $1.95-$3.95
- Beers- $3.00- $6.96
Contact Info:
- Address: 5739 West Irving Park Road
Chicago, IL 606034 - Website: www.brgrbellyrestaurant@gmail.com
- Phone: 3122837880
- Email: steve.obrien@fooda.com
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
