What started as a pop-up concept selling traditional bagels and sandwiches in Evanston is now blossoming into a third and fourth business for a trio of north suburban friends who wanted to expand the Jewish food scene on the North Shore.
Friends and co-founders Eric Kogan, Jack DeMar and Kiki Eliopoulos began their joint culinary venture with Picnic in Evanston and continued it with the opening of the full-service diner Mensch’s Deli in downtown Evanston last year. Now the group has opened a second Picnic restaurant in downtown Glencoe, and aims to open a second Mensch’s Deli at the same building by early June.
The soon to be opened Mensch’s Deli at 668 Vernon Ave, Glencoe, will have all the chopped liver, chicken soup, latkes, bagels, matzo ball soup, house-brined meats, smoked fish, corned beef and pastrami that the original Mensch’s Deli has in Evanston, according to Kogan. Previously, the corned beef sandwich from Mensch’s Deli was listed on the Chicago Tribune’s Top 30 corned beef sandwiches in the Chicago area.
“We try to make everything in house,” Kogan said. “Our motto is, if we can make it better than we can source it, then we will do so.”
“We take a lot of pride and joy into taking these traditional recipes and add some of our family twists and make it our own,” he said.
After Mensch’s opened in Evanston, Kogan said they got immediate feedback from customers asking them to open further north and further west.
“We took a trip out to New York, visited probably 15 to 16 delis over a couple of days… And we thought that that very traditional New York style Jewish deli/diner was missing from Chicago,” Kogan said.
“There are a handful in the suburbs and in the city. Manny’s, I think, is a good one, Max and Benny’s (too), but in the mid-century 1900’s, there was a big boom of delis when Eastern European immigrants came over,” Kogan said.
“But as children of immigrants became doctors and lawyers, these delis started to close down,” Kogan continued. “So we though it was important for us to bring this back, because it’s delicious food, but it’s also a great place to get together over a sandwich.”
“This is my first time working in my professional capacity (for Mensch’s), but it’s food that I’ve been around my whole life,” he said.
While food at the Mensch’s in Evanston location isn’t kosher because pork products are sold there, Kogan said the Glencoe Mensch’s will be kosher in style, with the caveat that the food is not blessed by a rabbi.
Fast casual eatery Picnic serves salads and grain bowls, similar to restaurant chain Sweetgreen, DeMar said. DeMar, a fourth generation restaurant owner, is also the owner of Pono Ono Poke in Evanston.
“I decided to open that (Picnic) up in Evanston, and it was a big hit with the students at Northwestern and the office community. And the more we grew our customer base, the more I hear from people in the north and west suburbs saying, ‘You got to come out here,’” DeMar said.
Along with the entrees sold at Picnic and Mensch’s, Kogan and DeMar are counting on Eliopoulos for her baked goods sold at both restaurants, which are recipes are of her own.
At Picnic, the lemon tart and a chocolate chip cookie are available. At Mensch’s, both locations have coffee cake, chocolate chip banana bread, and babka, which can be prepared in a French toast fashion, and black and white cookies planned to come to both locations.
The restaurant hours for the Glencoe location of Picnic are Monday though Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Mensch’s planned to be open for breakfast and lunch seven days a week with hours yet to be determined.
