The Purple Pig Restaurant in Chicago

Chicago’s Loudest Argument for Sharing Everything

Three words hold this place together — cheese, swine and wine — and one assumption: nobody at the table needs a plate of their own. Small plates land the moment they are ready, the room is loud on purpose, and the last bite of pork shoulder becomes a negotiation. On a stretch of the Magnificent Mile built for shopping, it is the most dependable reason to sit down.

The Concept · The Story

The Purple Pig opened at the very end of December 2009, a partnership between Jimmy Bannos Jr., Spiaggia founding chef Tony Mantuano and restaurateur Scott Harris. Bon Appétit put it among America’s ten best new restaurants of 2010, Michelin has handed it a Bib Gourmand since 2011, and Bannos Jr. won a James Beard Rising Star Chef award in 2014. A 2019 move brought a roomier home of roughly 110 seats; Bannos Jr. stepped away in October 2024 to build a Greek place with his father, and in 2025 Mantuano took over the food with executive chef Efrain Medrano, on a cautious brief — push the menu, don’t rewrite it.

What to Order

The menu runs as snacks, smears, vegetables, cured meats and cheeses, seafood, pasta and meat — really an instruction to order across all seven. Two dishes survived every change of chef: the Crispy Pig’s Ear, fried with kale and pickled peppers under a soft egg, and the Milk Braised Berkshire Shoulder, cooked until a knife becomes optional. From the smears take Roasted Bone Marrow with bacon-onion jam or Whipped Feta with honey, chili oil and candied pine nuts; Salt-Roasted Beets with goat cheese and pistachio butter convert declared beet-haters. Dessert has one correct answer — the Sicilian Iris, a fried brioche sphere of ricotta and chocolate, on the menu since opening night and served over twenty thousand times in eleven years.

The Space

The dining room is long, bright and hard-surfaced, and the open kitchen is audible from most seats — the team calls the volume louder than average and means it kindly. Seating splits two ways: booked tables, and a bar and chef’s counter that run first-come-first-served and turn over fastest. The security desk that has long greeted guests at the door is due to give way to another small bar with seating.

Good to Know

Do I need a reservation? For a prime evening slot, yes — books open three months ahead and the best times go within a couple of weeks.

Can I just walk in? Yes: an afternoon arrival ahead of the dinner rush usually means a short wait, later evenings closer to an hour.

Anything for vegetarians? Despite the name, plenty — the smears, the vegetable section and most of the pasta are meat-free.

How loud is it? Loud. A room for celebrating and eating with your hands, not for quiet business talk.

Which days are easiest? Tuesday and Wednesday hold the most last-minute availability; weekends fill first.

Opening hours