The Hello Kitty Cafe Chicago just opened in the Loop on June 26. It’s the world’s largest restaurant location dedicated to the small white cat character who now wears a pink signature bow. Her newest speakeasy-inspired Bow Room offers afternoon tea featuring an Italian beef croissant with mild giardiniera.
There’s no alcohol available, unlike other locations, but the set tea menu also includes a Chicago layered cake with chocolate, strawberry and banana flavors, similar to the South Side favorite Atomic Cake.
Other Chicago-exclusive menu items are more sweet treats and beverages, according to Jill Koch, senior vice president of brand management and marketing at Sanrio, the parent company behind Hello Kitty.
Bow waffles, Koch wrote via email from Asia, are made to order, then topped with powdered sugar and chocolate or strawberry drizzle. The My Melody strawberry tart is named for Hello Kitty’s best friend, a smaller white rabbit character who wears a hood that covers her ears. A push cake pop layers cake with strawberry buttercream frosting. The marshmallow cereal treat is a cousin to the Rice Krispies Treat in strawberries and cream. A Kuromi ube blackberry tart, named for a tough tomboy rabbit character who’s My Melody’s frenemy, highlights the popular purple yam in custard and whipped vanilla diplomat cream.
Chicago-exclusive drinks are a green melon soda float, sparkling berries beverage and an iced apple pie vanilla latte.
Hello Kitty, according to canon, stands as tall as five apples and weighs as heavy as three.
Japanese designer Yuko Shimizu created the character at Sanrio in Tokyo in 1974. The first merchandise item was launched the following year and became a global kawaii, or cute, cultural phenomenon. A Sanrio Gift Gate store could once be found at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg.
A Hello Kitty Cafe food truck made its first stop in the Chicago area at Oakbrook Center mall in Oak Brook in 2016. Sadly, it sold out early, leaving a line of crying kids. One of their three food trucks that crisscross the country returned to Oak Brook this year on June 27, and will stop at Old Orchard mall in Skokie on July 11.
Afternoon tea at the Hello Kitty Cafe Chicago includes 13 food items, six savory and seven sweet, plus one tea or lemonade. Priced at $100 per person, plus a 20% service fee and tax, it’s a minimum party of two. Prepaid reservations are required, but fully refundable if canceled at least 48 hours in advance.
The cost is comparable to other luxury hotel afternoon teas around the city, including the LondonHouse Chicago in the same historic building. The American Girl Teatime, by contrast, is priced at $50 per person further north along the Magnificent Mile.
The top two fan favorites at other Hello Kitty Cafe locations remain the birthday cake and strawberry lemonade, according to Koch. They’re available individually at $18 and $7, respectively.
Six smaller North American cafe locations are in the West with three in California at Universal City, Santa Clara and Irvine; two in Las Vegas and one in Vancouver.
The newest location on Michigan Avenue at Wacker Drive and the Chicago River is marked by an expansive outdoor patio dressed in pink and blue with riverfront skyline views.
“The first thing you’ll notice is the sheer scale,” wrote Koch about the 8,000-square-foot space. “Spanning two levels, every corner of the cafe is thoughtfully designed with immersive Hello Kitty-inspired details that invite guests to explore, connect, and create lasting memories.”
One of her favorite features is the Bow Room, hidden behind a sliding door disguised as a wall. Tucked within the larger cafe, it offers an intimate elevated setting, she added.
No reservations are required or taken at the cafe, except for afternoon tea. Otherwise, it’s first-come, first-served for seating indoors and on the outdoor patio, the latter of which is dog-friendly.
Photo booths can also be found throughout the intensely pink space that’s destined to be documented on social media. Chicago-exclusive merch includes drinkware, a flatware set and more. But notably not the Hello Kitty afternoon tea tableware, including the coveted three-tiered stand that is indeed super cute.
360 N. Michigan Ave., 312-242-3900, hellokittycafe.com
More new openings, in alphabetical order:
Guillotine Bakery
A French trio debuted with hourslong lines, but luckily, no one lost their heads. Guillotine Bakery bid bonjour in the West Town neighborhood on June 17. Baker Vincent Didry, co-founder Alizé Bikard and head baker Vince Le Bec offer traditional butter croissants, sourdough baguettes, pains suisses and more.
1711 W. Chicago Ave., instagram.com/guillotinebakery
Level Sporting Club
The newest woman-owned sports bar dedicated to showing women’s sports also recruited a woman to lead the kitchen team. Level Sporting Club leveled up Wrigleyville on June 4. Founder and former Northwestern University basketball player Clarissa Flores brought in chef and business partner Amanda Barnes, who’s making crab rangoon mozzarella sticks, a blooming fried Level onion with Chicago-style hot dog dipping sauce and a Sloppy Jane.
3343 N. Clark St., levelsportingclub.com
Soul Ramen
Real estate professional and entrepreneur Airian McDuffy has opened a soul food meets ramen restaurant with consulting chefs Rahim Muhammad of Mahari and Lance Watson of Saint Della. Soul Ramen started serving in Bronzeville on June 20. Look for a monthly special ramen, kicking off with a Southern seafood boil, a fried oxtail ramen and a diaspora Palmer drink.
508 E. Pershing Road, 773-966-6039, soulramenchicago.com
In reopening news:
Bunny Hutch: The hot dog stand and mini golf amusement center with the surreal giant rabbit, reopened in Lincolnwood on June 20, with new management, a new menu, new soft-serve ice cream and new halal Vienna Beef skinless franks.
6438 N. Lincoln Ave., Lincolnwood; 847-679-9464; facebook.com/Bunnyhutch.lincolnwood
In closing news:
Jay’s Backyard BBQ: The beloved West Side Chicago-style barbecue restaurant has closed temporarily after a fire tragically destroyed the storefront and neighboring businesses in the Austin neighborhood on Juneteenth. A GoFundMe to help pitmaster and owner Jay Young rebuild has been established with a $13,000 goal.
Do you have notable restaurant news in the Chicago area? Email restaurant critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu at lchu@chicagotribune.com.
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