Gourmet Burger Fits the Niche at Marie's Cafe

When Dean Kochert started looking for a place to open a restaurant of his own, he ruled out being an Italian beef or hot dog kind of place.

“There are plenty of those already,” he said.

Kochert decided on quick casual, a concept he was familiar with after working for years at the Italian Village and Panera.

The result was Marie’s Café and Catering at 3660 W. 111^th St. in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community, which opened on May 7.

“I’ve worked for a number of fast casual restaurants,” he said. “Marie’s is similar to Corner Bakery or Panera.”

“Our niche is gourmet burgers,” Kochert said. “We have six signature burgers and a BYO burger, all served on a unique butter egg bun; toasted.”

Marie’s also has assorted fresh pastries in the morning, breakfast sandwiches, eight kinds of salads, specialty sandwiches and three Panini sandwiches. For a complete list of menu items, visit Marie’s Café and Catering.

Kochert and his wife and co-owner, Allison, live in Oak Lawn and wanted to open their café in the village.

“We tried to locate in Oak Lawn,” he said. “We looked and looked and couldn’t find a location that worked.”

They settled on a space owned by that formerly was a Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream shop.

“It’s a good space,” Kochert said. “It seats 55 and is across the street from Mount Greenwood Park, so we get a lot people in from the neighborhood or after they visit the park.”

Kochert said Marie’s has a great stereo system that plays Frank Sinatra music in the morning, easy rock like the Eagles and Bruce Springsteen in the afternoon and dinner music like Natalie Cole in the evenings.

Marie’s is open from Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For information, call 773-840-3344 or visit Marie’s Facebook page.