New restaurants: Australian-Mexican fare, seafood and steak
Monica Eng | Axios Chicago (March 12, 2025)
Bar Sol, in the sunny former Riva spot on Navy Pier, is reopening this month as Bar Sol Mariscos with Latin American seafood from the owners of Beat Kitchen and Subterranean.
What to expect: Fan favorites like the whole fried red snapper in a garlic sauce and new complex South American ceviches from chef Victor Avelar's recent training with celebrated Peruvian chefs Aristoteles Breña and Telly Garcia.
The intrigue: At 23 years old, Avelar is one of Chicago's youngest executive chefs.
- "I don't like to tell people my age because they might think I'm not capable," he tells Axios, "but I've been in kitchens since I was 5."
- The northsider is an Amundsen grad whose plans to finish culinary school were scuttled by the pandemic.
New steak, seafood and Australian-Mexican food hits Chicago
Guzman Y Gomez is like Chipotle with fries, coffee and breakfast.
Axios Chicago
