The Dearborn restaurant in the Loop plans to open a new location at Terminal 5 of O’Hare Airport in the first half of 2024.
The local, female-owned “urban American tavern” will offer sit-down service and sell food and coffee to go, the Chicago Department of Aviation announced Monday.
This is the first expansion of the Dearborn from its downtown spot at 145 N. Dearborn St., which was opened in 2016 by Irish immigrant sisters Amy and Clodagh Lawless. Their brother, Billy Lawless Jr., owns Loop restaurants Gage and Acanto.
The sisters hope to keep the spirit of the original restaurant at the new location.
“Our brand is extremely important to us. We want to make sure it mirrors the Dearborn” downtown, Amy Lawless told the Sun-Times.
The menu, pared-down from the original restaurant, will include such classics as fried chicken, fish and chips, the Dearborn burger, shrimp and grits, and salads, Lawless said.
The airport restaurant will be owned and operated by Chicago Hospitality Partners, which operates other concessions at city airports. Restaurant staff will be trained by the Dearborn’s chef, Lawless said.
The Lawless sisters plan to continue operating their downtown location, Amy Lawless said.
The Dearborn is expected to create more than 50 concessions jobs and 20 construction jobs, according to a Department of Aviation news release.
The restaurant is part of Terminal 5’s $1.3 billion overhaul that added 10 gates earlier this year. Delta Air Lines moved to Terminal 5 from Terminal 2 in October.
Amy Lawless said she finds it ironic that she and her Irish-born sister will be representing Chicago dining at O’Hare’s international terminal, which greets scores of international visitors daily.
“We go home to Ireland through that terminal,” Lawless said. “It’ll be a huge honor for us.”
