John's Food and Wine

"John’s Food And Wine feels like a neighborhood bistro had a child with a fast-casual wine bar. The resulting part counter-service, part-virtual tab restaurant with great seasonal American food is a welcome addition to Lincoln Park. It’s an unexpected service model for a place with $44 (fantastic but small) bowls of lumache with shaved truffles. But we’re willing to endure a little confusion for well-made plates of “elevated” fish sticks—fried branzino gussied up with kimchi ketchup and celery root slaw—and ramekins full of not-too-sweet butterscotch pudding." - sam faye, adrian kane, john ringor, veda kilaru

"John’s Food and Wine is part of an explosion of Lincoln Park restaurants aiming to reinvigorate the neighborhood’s dining scene. John’s opened in 2023 and unleashed a counter service model that its owners say helps pay their kitchen workers more versus traditional fine dining. Now they’ve unleashed a new tasting menu hoping to give their staff a bigger stage to shine while serving fancier ingredients and allowing patrons, for the first time, to make reservations. Don’t sleep on the martinis and the restaurant’s bar program." - Ashok Selvam

"Renowned for its great food, although the service may not be to everyone’s liking." - Ashok Selvam

"A small, humble, and under-the-radar restaurant offering great cooking." - Michael He

"After a year in Lincoln Park, the pedigreed chefs behind John’s Food and Wine have a good feel for the neighborhood. Chefs Adam McFarland and Tom Rogers took over the Nookies Too space to bring fine dining into a former diner that witnessed four decades of late-night antics. While many owners would be content to ride the wave of success, McFarland says they’re determined to compete with Chicago’s best restaurants. On Friday, November 22, John’s will, for the first time, start taking reservations for its new tasting menu. A la carte walk-ins will remain. John’s hits the sweet spot of a neighborhood restaurant that makes a diverse clientele, from families to groups of thirtysomethings, happy without shallow pandering. McFarland and Rogers — with the help of their fathers, both named John — remodeled the space and debuted a unique service model that doesn’t rely on tips to subsidize staff wages. Diners order and pay at the counter. If they want additional drinks, they use a QR code to order or talk to a wandering staff member. A 20 percent service surcharge goes toward hourly workers. “I believe in restaurant reform,” McFarland says. “You know, how long have restaurants been operating in our country? For quite some time, there hasn’t been too much reform — I mean, you look at our health care system, it’s changed over the years, with on-demand [telemedicine] and a thirst for something better.” Early on, the service confounded some critics. However, the Tribune’s Louisa Kung Liu Chu spelled out McFarland and Rogers’ reasonings in a three-and-a-half-star review. Higher pay has allowed John’s to grow its staff to 27 employees. The kitchen at John’s is filled with cooks from lauded restaurants all over the country, from three-Michelin-starred Quince in San Francisco to Avondale’s Warlord. They left their previous jobs for higher wages at John’s, McFarland says — the lowest-paid cook makes an annual salary of about $60,000: “I can’t remember the last time somebody called out sick,” McFarland says. “Tom and I never dreamed that we would have the talents of people that we do, but I guess that kind of goes along with paying people more than anyone else,” he adds. With less turnover, John’s staff has gelled and it will let loose a new $175 per-person tasting menu — an eight-course feast “proudly” without supplements. Beverage pairings are optional. Initially, John’s will serve its reservation-only tasting menu at a communal table at the front of the restaurant. The rest of the restaurant will remain a la carte. Eventually, ownership wants to offer the tasting menu to the entire dining room. In the interim, McFarland says reservations give diners, especially those living in other parts of the city, more of an opportunity to try John’s food versus taking their chances on a busy weekend night. Courses include a doughnut stuffed with Pleasant Ridge cheese, lamb fat toffee, and a dollop of Osetra caviar. The team’s working on a squash beurre blanc cooked down and reduced to solids and mounted with butter. Rogers is excited to be fun and playful with high-end ingredients. “The soul and the heart of John’s is still going to be seasonal American food — what we do best and what we love,” he says. “But it’s about creating a really fun menu.” McFarland adds: “We still will hang our hat on radicchio here. We’ll still hang our hat on a celery and apple salad, a beet salad — things that sound pedestrian that we try to make special.” The two chefs worked together at Gramercy Tavern in New York, which serves casual and tasting menus in separate parts of the restaurant. McFarland openly acknowledges the influence: “We’re trying to create the best environment for our staff because the happier they are, the more trickles down to our guests,” he says. “It’s very Danny Meyer and we bought that hook, line, and sinker.” Chicago’s John Kessler has tasting menu fatigue, but McFarland and Rogers say the offering provides more financial stability for their workers as diners have to prepay via Tock. McFarland also says John’s will be immune to any common complaints about tasting menu restaurants. Customers have flexibility with a la carte and genuinely believe workers are happier. Ownership is: “We’re having the time of our lives,” McFarland says. McFarland and Rogers trust their staff, but they’ve been in the weeds, on the floor running drinks, clearing tables, and talking with customers. They welcome the chance to talk with other restaurant owners and share insight about their service model, one they hope can help build a healthy future for the industry. “To use an analogy in sports, I think we’re running an offense that nobody knows how to run,” McFarland says. “And I think in the offseason, we’re gonna have a lot of coaches coming by to ask how we do it.”" - Ashok Selvam