Chicago Restaurateur Expands his Empire and Opens First Suburban Location in Glenwood

What does it take to open seven restaurants in under four years? Ask restaurateur Jovanis Bouargoub, 37, and he’s quick to answer: a passion for pleasing people and a love of barbecue. French born Bouargoub is the owner of several gourmet southern comfort food, barbecue and whiskey-centric restaurants, called Porkchop, as well as the steakhouse, Chop.

With all of his locations in Chicago, Bouargoub’s newest Porkchop opened this month in the suburb of Glenwood. The official Grand Opening Celebration of the new Porkchop Restaurant in Glenwood (located at 100 Nugent Street) is on Friday, January 29th beginning at 7:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public and includes an evening of LIVE music, complimentary appetizers, samplings from the menu and $5 beers and shots! Phone number for more information is 708-757-9333.

“When my customers come up to me at one of my restaurants and they smile and say how much they enjoyed their meal, nothing makes me happier,” said Bouargoub, who holds a degree in hospitality from Paris’s prestigious Le Cordon Bleu. Bouargoub moved to the states - specifically to Maryland - in 2001, and worked as a busboy and server. He said he “fell in love” with American barbecue the first time he ever tasted it. In 2004, he moved to Chicago and spent several years as a real estate broker, before opening his first Porkchop in the West Loop in 2011.

“I love managing and operating the restaurants, and making sure we do exceed our customer’s expectations every day,” he said. “It’s not easy, but opening new restaurants is one of my favorite things to do.” Porkchop, which Bouargoub describes as “a mashup of the French lust for living in the moment and the quirkiness of rural counterculture (aka joi de vivre),” serves lunch and dinner daily and brunch on weekends. Menu items include a variety of barbeque dishes with a twist such as fried ribs, rib tips, brisket burgers, pulled pork, along with Southern comfort foods such as fried chicken, chicken and waffles, gumbo, shrimp po boys and fried cornmeal crusted catfish.

The restaurants also feature an integrative bar program featuring over 100 of the world’s top whiskeys. Chop, features grass-fed, locally sourced burgers, seafood and steak dishes with a modern twist, including the classic T-bone and Steak Poutine. “It’s a gourmet meal with the focus being on the meat,” Bouargoub said. Bouargoub said his plans for Porkchop are pretty ambitious, and that he plans to continue opening more restaurants. “We quietly opened our doors in Glenwood just ten days ago,” said Bouargoub.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and we’re looking forward to our official grand opening on January 29th.” Bougargoub’s Porkchop restaurants are located at 941 W. Randolph in the West Loop, 1516 E. Harper Court in Hyde Park, 555 S. Dearborn in the South Loop, 29 E. Adams in the Central Loop and also at Navy Pier and now in the suburb of Glenwood. His Porkchop Express (grab and go concept catering to the lunch crowd) is at the Adams and Dearborn locations. Chop is located at 1017 S. Delano Court in Roosevelt Collection Mall on the Near South Side.

To learn more, visit: www.chicagoporkchop.com and www.chopchicago.com.

About Porkchop

Porkchop is a restaurant and bar that dishes out an urban interpretation of a Southern backwoods experience. It is an unapologetically unpretentious neighborhood party spot serving gourmet Southern comfort food and BBQ, and featuring an innovative bar program with some of the world’s top whiskeys. Porkchop serves brunch, lunch, dinner and late-night on Randolph Street, and provides service for all three meal periods and late into the evening at its Hyde Park location. The music is edgy and eclectic; live music is a steady feature in Hyde Park. Porkchop offers daily drink and food specials and features a sidewalk patio in the summer.