River North Is on Fire: Gingie's Live-Flame Kitchen and Akiro's Nikkei Hand Rolls Put the Neighborhood Back on Every Foodie's Map

By Socialhood News · Il/Chicago/Near North · April 10, 2026

Near North neighbors, your dining scene just leveled up — twice. Two standout newcomers have landed in River North this spring, and together they signal that this neighborhood remains one of Chicago's most exciting culinary addresses.

First, Boka Restaurant Group has opened Gingie at 707 N. Wells St., replacing its former GT Prime steakhouse with something genuinely thrilling. The 150-seat restaurant is helmed by chef Brian Lockwood — a veteran of Eleven Madison Park, The NoMad, and El Celler de Can Roca — who also served as consulting chef on Hulu's hit series *The Bear*. The menu is built around live-fire cooking and Japanese-inflected flavors, with showstoppers like ember-roasted oysters with garlic and lime, rotisserie chicken with yuzu yogurt and sansho pepper, and creative handrolls alongside a full pasta program. The interior, designed by Anna Filatov, features a custom mural by artist Emily Parkinson paying homage to legendary Chicago restaurants past and present — a love letter to the city baked right into the walls.

Meanwhile, just down the street at 546 N. Wells St., River North now has its very own Akiro — the first U.S. outpost of the Madrid-born Nikkei hand roll bar that earned acclaim as Spain's first of its kind. Launched in partnership with Éxodo Hospitality Group, the team behind local favorites Matilda and Clandestino, Akiro brings refined nigiri and hand rolls crafted with Japanese seaweed, fresh fish, and rice to a neighborhood that clearly can't stop winning. Have you been to Gingie or Akiro yet? Tell us what you ordered in the Socialhood comments!

Sources:
1. https://www.nrn.com/independent-restaurants/boka-restaurant-group-opens-gingie-in-chicago
2. https://www.modernluxury.com/new-best-restaurants-in-chicago/
3. https://www.theinfatuation.com/chicago/guides/new-chicago-restaurant-openings