Briny Swine, the South Carolina restaurant that serves low country southern classics, is expanding to Chicago’s Park West, located at 2577 N. Clark St.
The new 200-seat restaurant will specialize in oyster roasts and pig pickings and is expected to open in early 2023. Owner Brandon and Katherine Rushing originally opened the first location in Edisto Beach, South Carolina, and decided on Chicago for the company’s second location after falling in love with the city after visiting a friend who lived there. Now the couple is ready to feed Lincoln Park with delicious southern classics, such as whole hog barbecue, brisket, shrimp, blue crab, and plenty of oysters.
“We got really lucky,” Brandon tells Eater Chicago. “One of our oyster purveyors who grows and harvests them for us — about 600 yards from our Edisto Beach restaurant — is going to be able to ship up oysters to Chicago every day of the week when we need them. So we’re going to have fresh Edisto oysters. You’ll want to eat our oysters every day of your life. “It’s literally my favorite thing in the world. I would eat my weight in them. I like the barbecue roasted oysters myself.”
The new restaurant will move into a space that has been vacant for many years, except when it’s the occasional Spirit Halloween store. In the past, the building has served as home for the HopCat beer bar, Vapiano, and Blockbuster Video. The South Carolina couple will have ten times the amount of space in its Chicago location compared to the original Edisto Beach site. Popular restaurant interior designer Siren Betty will help transform the space into a popular eatery at the corner of Clark and Wrightwood.
With so much space, the Rushings plan to add more menu items, including South Carolina barbecue staple, hash and rice. In addition to dinner platters, the restaurant will have low country grit puppies with pepper jelly and smoked brisket with pimento cheese. If that wasn’t enough, the restaurant will have a craft beer and cocktail program backed by a strong bourbon program. Finally, the space will have room for ping-pong and foosball tables, so customers will have plenty to do.
“Chicago’s a city of absolutely amazing restaurants,” Brandon adds. “It’s really exciting for us that we get to be a part of this tight-knit food and beverage community. Everybody knows each other. We’re just excited to get together and get to be a part of the community.”
