What’s Cooking at The Varsity

Crain’s Chicago Business, July 23, 2026

Chefs Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark will open their latest venture, Alleyway Grill, in The Varsity in Evanston, Illinois. Kim and Clark previously earned a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes, and their Chicago restaurant Parachute garnered a Michelin star. The new restaurant will bring a Midwestern-inspired menu to an historic building that once housed a movie palace. Now featuring architecturally distinctive apartments and ground-floor restaurant and retail space, The Varsity’s transformation earned a Design Evanston Award for excellence in renovation. DMA supported that remodeling effort as a project manager and investor.

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