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A bittersweet moment is coming soon for fans of Daisies, Logan Square’s popular haven for excellent Midwestern cooking and expertly made pasta, as owner Joe Frillman prepares to close its original location ahead of a hotly anticipated move to spacious new digs just a few blocks away. Frillman will hold its last service on Sunday, March 5 at 2523 N. Milwaukee Avenue, he announced on Instagram.
“This place has meant so much to so many — myself more than I can find the words for,” he writes. “While this chapter closes, HOLY EFFING HELL are we excited to open this next one... We can’t wait to show you what we have been working on.”
Founded in 2017, Daisies had already established itself as a family-friendly neighborhood destination when the pandemic arrived in Chicago. Like many of his peers locally and nationally, Frillman converted the restaurant into a gourmet weekend market offering fresh pasta and sauces, produce, dry goods, and more. Much to the team’s surprise, the formula proved popular enough to sustain a full-time market, but at 1,600 square feet, there simply wasn’t enough space for both a restaurant and retail. “We kind of created a monster,” Frillman said last year.
Frillman and his investors found a new location where the restaurant could grow and thrive: a 5,500-square-foot space with 110 seats at 2375 N. Milwaukee Avenue. The opening date is in flux with the restaurant waiting for city inspections.
Workers gutted the building, which previously housed shuttered German beer hall the Radler, and added an espresso bar, pastry counter, grab-and-go area, and 30-seat private dining room. Frillman has also lured decorated pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky away from her position at Swift & Sons in Fulton Market and made her head pastry chef and a partner at his Radicle Food Group. “I think she’s probably one of the best pastry chefs in the city,” Frillman said in December. “We think it’s a huge asset in what we want to do and grow in the future.”
After it closes, the original Daisies will also undergo a remodel to transform it into a full-time grocery store and farmstand with goods from vendors including Frillman Farms, Catalpa Grove Farm, and Mick Klug Farm. The team originally intended for a Memorial Day debut, but as Chicago officials dawdle with inspections (plus a mayoral election on Tuesday which could cause further chaos), the opening date is in flux.
Whenever the original location reopens, Frillman plans to bring back lunch service and its signature sumptuous sandwiches and more.
Reservations for lunch and dinner through Sunday, March 5 are available via Tock. Stay tuned for more details and news of the new Dasies’ opening date.
