Chicago, Meet Your New Iranian Obsession: London’s Berenjak Is Bringing Tehran-Style Feasting to Fulton Market
Chicago’s dining scene is about to get a smoky, saffron-scented new arrival. London-born Iranian restaurant Berenjak is opening inside Soho House Chicago in Fulton Market, bringing charcoal-grilled kababs, family-style Persian dishes, crisp bread, and cocktails with a distinctly playful edge to the city.
The restaurant is poised to become Berenjak’s second public U.S. location, following its Los Angeles outpost at Soho Warehouse. And while it is located inside the members-oriented Soho House Chicago at 113–125 N. Green St., diners do not need a membership to get in on the feast.
From a Tehran Memory to Chicago’s West Loop
Chef Kian Samyani founded Berenjak in London in 2018, drawing on childhood memories of Iran. The restaurant takes its name from the small rice snacks often sold in Tehran kabab houses, and its menu draws directly from the bustling, grill-centered dining culture Samyani remembers from time spent around his grandfather’s neighborhood in the Iranian capital.
One especially vivid memory shaped the concept: a kabab shop two doors down from Samyani’s grandfather’s Tehran home. That personal starting point matters because Berenjak is not presenting Iranian cooking as a distant culinary curiosity; it is building a restaurant around the generous, shared meals and charcoal-kissed flavors that shaped the chef’s earliest food experiences.
The Chicago opening will be Berenjak’s 12th location worldwide and its fourth restaurant partnership with Soho House, according to Block Club Chicago. The brand already operates in London and has expanded internationally, including locations or partnerships in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, New York and Los Angeles.
Berenjak also arrives with an established global reputation. Its original London restaurant earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition during its first year, a distinction generally awarded to restaurants the Michelin Guide considers especially good value. The restaurant has since built a following for taking the straightforward pleasures of Iranian kabab houses, hot coals, grilled meat, bread, herbs, pickles, and dishes made for passing around the table, and presenting them in a polished, high-energy setting.
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Kababs, Stews and Bread Built for Sharing
The centerpiece of Berenjak’s Chicago menu will be Iranian kebabi cooking, with charcoal grills doing much of the heavy lifting. Diners can expect skewers of beef, chicken, and lamb, plus deeply seasoned mazeh plates and large-format dishes meant to be shared rather than ordered as isolated, eat-and-run entrées.
The menu is also expected to include lamb khoresht, a Persian-style stew, along with baskets of crisp bread designed to be used as part of the meal. Eater Chicago describes Berenjak’s approach as one centered on charcoal-grilled meat skewers, “cauldrons” of lamb khoresht and platters of spiced mezze, giving diners several ways to experience Iranian flavors beyond the familiar restaurant shorthand of simply ordering a kebab.
That is an important distinction. Persian food is often reduced in casual conversation to rice and grilled meats, but the dining style Berenjak is bringing to Fulton Market is broader: smoky proteins, herb-driven accompaniments, tangy pickles, spice-forward small plates and bread that moves from side dish to essential utensil. The experience is designed to unfold across the table, not just on a single plate.
Chicago Food Magazine described the restaurant’s format as “a shared, family-style dining experience rooted in the flavors and traditions of Persian cooking.” The outlet also reported that the menu will include traditional drinks such as sharbats and doogh, offering guests a chance to explore beverages connected to Iranian food traditions alongside the restaurant’s food menu.
For a city that already takes grilling seriously, from neighborhood patio cookouts to steakhouse dinners and the enduring pull of a late-night meal, Berenjak’s cooking has a good chance of landing with immediate appeal. The format is comforting even if the ingredients or flavor combinations may be new to some diners: grilled meat, warm bread, bold sauces, savory sides, and plenty of dishes made to be passed, sampled, and discussed.
A Persian Dinner With a Cocktail Plot Twist
Berenjak Chicago will not simply replicate its London dining rooms. The new restaurant will have an expanded wine list and cocktails previously available only at Berenjak’s United Kingdom locations, according to reports citing the restaurant’s release.
Among the drinks reported for Chicago is the Olive Leaf Martini, a savory cocktail made with gin distilled using real olive leaves. The restaurant will also serve the Phel Phel Margarita, described as a Persian-leaning version of Soho House’s Picante, made with house-made syrup and torshi salt. Torshi is a category of pickled vegetables common in Iranian and neighboring cuisines, and the cocktail’s use of torshi salt signals the bright, briny twist that can make a drink especially compelling alongside richly grilled food.
Other reporting has mentioned a bubbly watermelon cocktail, adding another more refreshing option to the beverage program. The drinks give Berenjak a little extra range: Guests can go all-in on Persian-inspired shared plates, while the bar offers an entry point for diners who may be trying the cuisine for the first time.
Berenjak is expected to operate as a dinner-only restaurant, though final hours had not been announced in early September. Reservations were scheduled to open in mid-September, according to Soho House, and the restaurant has also said it will accept walk-ins.
The bigger story is simple: Chicago is gaining a restaurant that treats Iranian cooking as a vibrant night out, not a food lesson. Berenjak’s arrival promises hot charcoal, deeply satisfying dishes, a table full of bread, and a cocktail list with enough personality to keep the conversation going long after the last skewer disappears.
