Susu will add a daytime bakery and cafe to its West Loop steakhouse beginning Monday, October 5. The new service will run six days a week, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., with breakfast sandwiches, rotating pastries, and specialty coffee. It gives the restaurant a daytime schedule alongside its existing evening operation.
The daytime concept has reportedly been nearly two years in the making, according to Chicago Food Magazine, which reports that the Susu team initially considered running bakery pop-ups through the restaurant's rear alley before deciding to open the main dining room itself to morning guests instead. Owner Paul Alqas said the West Loop presented an opportunity for an earlier-day dining concept, per the same outlet. Susu is aiming its new morning hours at neighborhood workers, residents, and weekend visitors, the magazine reports.
The signature breakfast item is a wagyu sujuk sandwich served on hand-rolled sourdough pita with French scrambled eggs, American cheese, red shatta aioli, and green chermoula, according to Chicago Food Magazine. Executive Chef and partner Alexander Willis said the sandwich is meant to feel familiar while reflecting flavors from his upbringing, the magazine reports. A falafel hash brown sandwich is also planned for vegetarian diners.
A Chef Drawing on Michelin Kitchens and Family Roots
Willis built his résumé in the kitchens of Michelin-starred Chicago restaurants Moody Tongue and Dusek's Board & Beer, as well as Moto in Chicago and Hog & Hominy in Tennessee, according to WTTW Chicago. He draws on his Lebanese family heritage to shape the sweet and savory baked goods now filling Susu's cases, the station reports. Willis has said the daytime menu combines French pastry technique with flavors that carry personal meaning for him, according to Chicago Food Magazine.
The rotating pastry selection will include six to eight items. Chicago Food Magazine reports that the lineup includes a baklava bear claw with pistachio praline and orange-spiced honey, as well as everything ka'ak, croissants, kouign-amann, and a tahini chocolate chip cookie. WTTW reports that other offerings include a shakshuka danish with spiced tomato sauce, egg, olives, and feta, plus canelés made with Aleppo chili and apricot.
Coffee From a Roaster That Supplies Half the City's Michelin Kitchens
The morning beverage program leans on Sparrow Coffee, a Chicago-based roaster that supplies custom blends to more than half of the city's Michelin-starred restaurants, according to WTTW. Founded in 2012 by Chris Chacko, Sparrow operates a roastery in the Fulton Market neighborhood, the station reports. Susu's cafe menu will pair those roasts with traditional espresso drinks, flavored lattes, an espresso tonic, and a blue matcha latte, alongside rotating specialty beverages, according to Chicago Food Magazine.
Susu owner Alqas and managing partner Chase Meyer previously worked together on Medi, a Mediterranean restaurant and lounge in Lincoln Park, according to Modern Luxury. The pair partnered with Willis to reimagine a global steakhouse concept when Susu first opened in the West Loop, the outlet reports. Susu debuted on February 27, 2026, as a MediterrAsian fine-dining steakhouse blending Lebanese, Assyrian, Mediterranean, and Asian traditions, according to Time Out Chicago, with an evening menu that includes Wagyu confit marble potatoes, tabbouleh Caesar salad, and potato borek topped with labne and caviar.
Following Kasama's Model in a Space Once Home to Grace
For Susu, daytime service is also an operational experiment: the restaurant is taking inspiration from Kasama, where a daytime bakery and cafe operate alongside an evening fine-dining tasting menu, according to WTTW. Kasama, opened by chefs Genie Kwon and Tim Flores, has become a prominent example of that dual-service approach.
Susu’s address sits in a stretch of Randolph Street where daytime options have been more limited than evening destinations, WTTW reports. The 6,000-square-foot space has also seen several restaurant concepts: it previously housed Grace, chef Curtis Duffy’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant, which closed in December 2017, followed by Yūgen and Aikana, according to WhatNow.
Earlier Restaurants at 652 W. Randolph
The address’s restaurant timeline continued after Grace: Yūgen, a modern Japanese tasting-menu restaurant, opened in the former Grace space on November 20, 2018, according to Eater Chicago. In February 2022, the outlet reported that Aikana took over the space previously occupied by Yūgen and Grace, opening with a Latin American-inspired menu. The available reporting establishes these opening and occupancy milestones but does not give closure dates for Yūgen or Aikana.
Beyond the new morning hours, Susu has continued building out its evening program. In April 2026, the restaurant debuted Kan Zaman, a 12-seat private dining room serving an 11-course tasting menu paired with wines and sakes, according to Time Out Chicago. Willis, a Level One Certified Sake Professional, curates the sake pairings for that private tasting menu, the outlet reports — a contrast to the grab-and-go pastry case that will now greet guests each weekday morning starting October 5th.
