How Being on ‘The Bear’ Affects Chicago Restaurants

One evening last August, I headed to my local dumpling spot — a sibling-owned, neighborhood BYOB restaurant locally known for its impossibly cool interior and excellent fresh dumplings. To my surprise, the hostess informed me they were full for the night. 

The night? It was 6 p.m. Impossible, I thought. Then I remembered not even two weeks prior, they had appeared in Season 2, Episode 3 of The Bear — a 10-second cameo in which chef de cuisine Sydney, played by Ayo Edebiri, samples Lao Peng You’s signature dumplings. My favorite Chinese noodle spot was suddenly the rest of the city of Chicago’s Friday night plans and no longer just my own. 

And this isn’t the only case. Rain or shine, a line of over 50 people still forms outside Kasama, Sydney’s first stop on her romp around Chicago as she draws inspiration and the West Side’s — and my — favorite breakfast spot, owned by 2022 F&W Best New Chefs Tim Flores and Genie Kwon. Season 3 brought cameras into the kitchen of my neighborhood Italian restaurant with the city’s best tiramisu (shhh, keep that one a secret), and the list goes on.

For the Chicago resident, a new season of The Bear raises the question: Which restaurants will make their way onto the latest season? Will my neighborhood pasta shop join the ranks? (Answer: Yes) How about my sourdough hookup? (Again: Yes.) 

The Bear, I love you, but you’re making it hard to dine at my favorite restaurants.

Ask any Chicago chef; a cameo on The Bear is the hottest ticket in town. To be included alongside the likes of some of the city’s most notable, talked about, highest-praised chefs is an honor. 

But to be spotlighted in The Bear means you had to be doing something right long before. From Michelin-starred legacies to casual beef counters, the restaurants on The Bear surely run the gamut, but they all have one thing in common. They’re community cornerstones with unwavering neighborhood support. Only now is the support getting bigger on an international level with millions of viewers. 

When Sarah Mispagel-Lustbdander received an Instagram DM about a new Chicago restaurant industry show that needed a high-end pastry chef, she agreed to contribute. She and her husband had plans to open a new restaurant the following year, and she could use the extra cash. She could not have predicted that her chocolate cake recipe would gain national attention. And eventually, land on the cover of Food & Wine. 

A few weeks after the premiere date, a friend sent her a TikTok of a woman begging to know, “Where on earth can I find the cake from The Bear?” The account had a few million followers.  

With each new season, Mispagel-Lustbader’s now-open restaurant, Loaf Lounge, receives a new wave of interest. She knows that this is usually a challenge for restaurants once they open. 

“People talk about you when you’re new,” she says. “We’re no longer eligible for ‘best new this,’ ‘best new that.’ Being featured in The Bear is great for us when there’s no story anymore.” 

Initially, Mispagel-Lustbader had no intention of selling the cake at her cafe until a friend suggested it. Just this past week, she had over 20 orders for whole cakes, and that doesn’t account for the individual slices. 

She recalls a moment when she had learned her cake was to be the cover shot of Food & Wine’s March 2023 issue when F&W’s associate editorial director Chandra Ram brought her a copy of the magazine to her restaurant before it hit stands. 

“I lost my mind,” she says. “I had no idea it was going to be a cover.”

Before their Season 2 cameo, brothers and co-owners Daniel and Eric Wat of Lao Peng You considered their restaurant a cold-weather one. They just opened an outdoor patio to accommodate more customers, and they credit much of this expansion to The Bear.

“We serve hot soup. The Bear kind of turned us into an all-year-round restaurant,” says Daniel.

The Wat brothers had been approached for television before but turned down every opportunity. Admittedly, they were apprehensive about their part in The Bear at first. Were they going to be represented in a way they liked? Ultimately, however, they connected with the storyline — two brothers doing restaurant stuff. And even though they don’t appear in the new season, they are once again seeing an influx of customers, too. 

“It’s been such a unique experience,” says Daniel. “We’re so lucky to hit different growth spurts.  Making us widely known nationally is just such a special thing for us. Being included in any list with the Publican, Mr. Beef, Kasama — all the restaurants that were on it, we just feel blessed and so grateful.”

And while the handmade pasta from Wicker Park’s beloved Tortello made an appearance in Season 2, it wasn’t until their inclusion in the restaurant cameo early in Season 3 that owners and husband and wife Dario Monni and Jill Gray began to see the show’s true impact. 

After over three hours of filming, they expected to see non-identifiable close-up shots of them making pasta. Instead, they saw a walkthrough featuring Jill at the cash register and Dario on the pass — the last take of the day.

“We found out when everyone else found out,” says Gray. “We were in Italy, and we woke up to a million text messages from family and friends.”

It’s been just a few weeks since the Season 3 premiere, and Tortello’s average weekly new Instagram followers have tripled, and the coverage doesn’t come from just the show. Social media is saturated with The Bear content. Listicles are published each day touting which of the restaurants are must-visits. Instagram influencers are sampling the featured dishes. You can even purchase tickets for a The Bear-inspired Chicago food tour.

While Monni and Gray are grateful for the new customers and attention, their true joy lies in the community’s support. “The thing that meant the most to us was watching so many of our regulars post it and be like, ‘That’s my place,’” says Gray. “To see so many people feel some piece of ownership here, that’s the dream, you know, we want this to feel like everyone’s place.”

“That’s the power,” Monni agrees. “One of the reasons why I chose Chicago is because of the neighborhood. There is something special about this city and the strong power of neighbors. Small business is what makes this city special.”

So what is it about The Bear that has had such a grip on viewers in Chicago or elsewhere? Well for one, it doesn’t sugarcoat the industry. And two, it’s so deeply Chicago. 

“It’s a hard industry. Everything is expensive and exhausting, and we’re all kind of poised to fail,” Mispagel-Lustbader says. “Being featured in the show doesn’t mean you’re winning, but the moments are really treasured. They see us as an industry and a city.”“It’s shown a realness, I suppose,” says Daniel. “Chicago feels like a very real city, not the biggest, not the smallest, but a hard-working city. It’s a city of broad shoulders, and so is this industry.” As a viewer, it’s exciting to spot your neighborhood places, but it’s the same for the Chicago chef community. Mispagel-Lustbader says it’s thrilling to see her friends get their own recognition. 

“We all get really excited for each other, too,” she says. “We’re excited to see who they used, who has a cameo, whose food they made.” 

So, Season 4, what will you bring? Will suddenly the line for my go-to almond croissant be almost too long to bear? I only kid. Keep the love coming.