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New Rick Bayless Restaurant In West Loop? Rumor Has It Celebrity Chef Is Expanding His Empire

Is Rick Bayless Expanding His Resto Empire? All Signs Point To..
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NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 21: Chef Rick Bayless prepares at Cooking Light's Light Up The Night, presented by Citi, a celebration of haute and healthy cuisine and Cooking Light's 25th anniversary, bringing together celebrity chefs and master mixologists from around the country at the High Line on September 21, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Cooking Light)

According to multiple reports, celebrity chef Rick Bayless is looking to expand his booming restaurant empire in Chicago by opening a new venture in a quickly-gentrifying corner of the West Loop.

Bayless is currently negotiating a lease at an 8,000-square-foot space at 900 W. Randolph St., sources told Chicago Real Estate Daily, not far from where Google Inc. will be moving its Chicago headquarters in 2016 and where a number of other high-profile Chicago chefs including Grant Achatz and Stephanie Izard have already set up shop.

The restaurant, sources told CRED, is expected to serve up the Mexican cuisine Bayless is best known for.

The Fulton Market/West Loop area is indeed a hot spot for local restauranteurs, Danny Spitz, vice president of Baum Realty Group in Chicago, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

"The West Loop is out of control for restaurants, everyone wants to be in there right now," Spitz told the paper, noting the area's lower rents.

As Eater notes, if the reports are true, the as-yet-untitled eatery would mark Bayless' first new restaurant in Chicago since XOCO opened in 2009.

In addition to XOCO, Bayless also owns Topolobampo and Frontera Grill, plus a number of Frontera Fresco and Tortas Frontera quick serve eateries, three of which are located inside the O'Hare airport, as comedian and torta connoisseur Aziz Ansari is well aware.

Before You Go

Celebrity Chefs On Chicago's Culinary Scene
Anne Burrell(01 of18)
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"Chicago is a great food town. I always look forward to visiting."
Anne Burrell's Picks(02 of18)
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"Belly Q(pictured), Palace Grill, Sabatinos, The Purple Pig, Nightwood and Slurping Turtle." (credit:Belly Q/Facebook)
Marcus Samuelsson(03 of18)
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"When I think about Chicago, I think of Charlie Trotter first and what he did for the scene. Here is a guy, making exquisite French cuisine in the middle of America. I think the young chefs coming up in Chicago now, echo his spirit. They are constantly preserving tradition yet putting their own American spin to it."
Marcus Samuelsson's Picks(04 of18)
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"I can't wait to check out Stephanie Izard's Girl and the Goat(pictured), and of course, I have to stop by and say hello to my friend Grant Achatz." (credit:Girl and the Goat/Facebook)
Mike Isabella(05 of18)
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"I think it’s an amazing culinary scene with a lot of great chefs and different types of restaurants from causal to fine dining. It's one of the top culinary scenes in the U.S. I go to Chicago at least once a year just to dine."
Mike Isabella's Picks(06 of18)
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"Alinea(pictured) and something more causal like The Purple Pig." (credit:Alinea/Facebook)
Aaron Sanchez(07 of18)
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"I think it’s one of the best in the country, with some of the most talented chefs. It’s gone beyond just the meat and potatoes kind of food; they’ve expanded."
Aaron Sanchez's Picks(08 of18)
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"I always hit up The Publican, The Purple Pig(pictured) and Blackbird while I’m in Chicago." (credit:The Purple Pig/Facebook)
Homaro Cantu(09 of18)
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"I think we are doing some exciting things."
Homaro Cantu's Picks(10 of18)
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"I live here, but Bread & Wine is my favorite place right now." (credit:Bread & Wine/Facebook)
Rick Bayless(11 of18)
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"Chicago is THE place to be—we are truly a food city. The city is now more than ever the one to watch for cutting edge cuisine."
Rick Bayless's Picks(12 of18)
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"I’ll most likely be hopping around my own restaurants – Frontera Grill(pictured) and Topolobampo." (credit:Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vxla/7885561572/sizes/l/in/photostream/" target="_blank" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name="vxla" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="5be21681e4b0aeaf24c5f38a" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vxla/7885561572/sizes/l/in/photostream/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="6" data-vars-position-in-unit="12">vxla</a>)
Maneet Chauhan(13 of18)
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"It’s a dynamic and very exciting culinary scene with an amazing mixture of cutting edge and traditional culinary styles. Personally, I have always felt that the culinary fraternity in Chicago is very supportive!"
Maneet Chauhan's Picks(14 of18)
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"Chicago’s culinary scene has really gotten exciting. So I plan on hitting as many restaurants as possible during the few days that I am in town."Ed. Note: May we suggest, Maneet, Longman and Eagle?" (credit:Longman & Eagle/Facebook)
Brian Malarkey(15 of18)
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"I'd love to open a restaurant in Chicago. It's one of the top food cities in the country. So many talented chefs are coming from here. I experienced some amazing food from Chicago chefs on The Taste." (credit:Brian Malarkey/Facebook)
Brian Malarkey's Picks(16 of18)
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"I'll be visiting my Top Chef Miami buddy Dale Levitski at Sprout. Amazing chef and self-taught! Brunch at Nellcote(pictured). I love Balthazar in NYC and from what I have heard this could be the Chicago version. No visit to Chicago is complete without a stop to one of Rick Bayless's places." (credit:Nellcote/Facebook)
Robert Irvine(17 of18)
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"Great culinary scene, growing every year with new chefs joining the ranks!" (credit:Robert Irvine/Facebook)
Robert Irvine's Picks(18 of18)
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"Any local spot."Ed. Note: May we suggest Fat Rice? (credit:Fat Rice)
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