City Dough Preps for September Opening with Walkup Window

Lake View is less than a month away from dining in the old Pompei space again as City Dough preps for a grand opening.

Owner and New Yorker Emanuel Grivas told Eater Chicago he hopes to open the space at 2955 N. Sheffield Ave. by the end of September. City Dough will fill the 5,300-square-foot restaurant with 110 seats and 30-seat bar area.

What’s more is Grivas’ plan to mix the traditional sit-down dining experience with a walkup window for quick service. The window will apparently focus on donuts, coffee and breakfast sandwiches.

Grivas told Eater that part of City Dough will be open a couple weeks before the dining room, where owners plan to have a full bar.

What’s more is the food. In the past the restaurant’s website said it would be a fast-casual Italian-American restaurant and bakery. But Grivas told Eater the dinner menu will be “American bar food.” He added they’ll have “a little of everything.”

The restaurant’s website, which has since been altered, used to outline City Dough’s menu and plans for plenty of baked items.

“Menu items will include focaccia-style pizza, pasta dishes with vegetables, meats and fish, soups and salads,” the website reads. “Additionally, there will be a bakery component. The bakery menu will include tiramisu, ricotta cheesecake, biscotti, danishes and other irresistible sweets. City Dough will have delivery service and catering options.”

Whether or not that continues to be the restaurant’s direction is unclear.

The storefront has been pegged for redevelopment since Pompei shuttered unexpectedly in December. Former owner Ralph Davino said he was “very bitter” about closure, and might one day open a new Pompei in Lake View.

Pompeii Xpress opened on North Broadway last month, but is currently going through the legal system after Davino sued for copyright infringement.