Portage Park Has a New Kind of Neighborhood Bar: Fork & Coin Is Open — and It's Unlike Anything on the Northwest Side
By Socialhood News · Portage Park ·
Portage Park's dining scene just got one of its most distinctive newcomers in years. Fork & Coin, a self-described "American izakaya" serving elevated pub fare with deep Japanese influences, is open at 3938 N. Central Ave. — and it's already turning heads beyond the neighborhood.
The restaurant held its grand opening at the start of August, according to Block Club Chicago, making it one of the most anticipated local openings of 2026. The concept comes from chef and co-owner Drake Mandrell, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who previously spent five years as a chef instructor at The Chopping Block in Lincoln Square and has helped open restaurants in New York and the Hamptons. Mandrell described Fork & Coin to Block Club Chicago as a sort of "American Izakaya" — a nod to the casual, convivial Japanese tavern tradition — built around familiar comfort food made with unexpected, globally inspired ingredients.
The menu reflects that ambition. According to The Infatuation, which spotlighted Fork & Coin in its October 26 round-up of Chicago's most promising new openings, diners can expect dishes like shaken steak and eggs with kimchi, five spice chicharrones, and pork chop with curry alongside pub staples like burgers and fish and chips. The restaurant is open for dinner and weekend brunch. Beyond the food, Fork & Coin has an unusual wrinkle that fits its name: the restaurant accepts bitcoin as payment. Mandrell got interested in cryptocurrency while living in New York, where he accepted it at his pop-up events, and some nods to the currency are woven into the decor, according to Block Club Chicago.
The location itself carries some neighborhood history. Fork & Coin is housed in the former Bluebird Cafe space at 3938 N. Central Ave., near the intersection of W. Dakin Street — a spot that locals will recognize as a central Portage Park address. The Portage Park Chamber of Commerce was an early supporter, promoting the restaurant on social media before it opened and highlighting its supper club programming and commitment to culinary education as part of its identity.
In fact, community and education were baked into the concept from the start. "Fork & Coin will be the first of its kind here in Chicago. Taking root in the Portage Park neighborhood, our focus is on food, education, community and building a strong local economy," reads the description on the restaurant's own website. That framing — a restaurant as a neighborhood institution, not just a dining destination — echoes what Mandrell told Block Club Chicago about wanting the space to be somewhere neighbors could get to know one another over plates of soy-glazed fried cauliflower and glasses of sake.
For Portage Park, the timing of Fork & Coin's arrival fits a broader pattern of dining investment on the Northwest Side. The neighborhood has seen a string of meaningful openings over the past year — from Portage Park Breakfast Place on Montrose Avenue to the cheesesteak and international market arrivals noted by Block Club Chicago in September — and Fork & Coin adds a genuinely original concept to that mix. An American izakaya that accepts bitcoin, teaches food culture, and hosts supper club nights is not a restaurant that turns up in every neighborhood. That it landed on N. Central Ave. in Portage Park says something real about the confidence restaurateurs are placing in this corner of the Northwest Side right now.
Fork & Coin is open for dinner and weekend brunch at 3938 N. Central Ave. Check the restaurant's website and social channels for current hours, supper club dates, and any upcoming special events as it settles into its first full season.
Have you made it to Fork & Coin yet? What did you order — and did you pay in bitcoin? Share your first impressions with the Socialhood community, and tag a neighbor who needs a new dinner spot this fall.
Sources:
1. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/09/02/fork-and-coin-brings-japanese-style-pub-to-portage-park-and-more-northwest-side-food-news/
2. https://www.theinfatuation.com/chicago/guides/new-chicago-restaurant-openings
3. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/15/fork-and-coin-to-bring-asian-twist-to-pub-fare-in-portage-park/
4. https://whatnow.com/chicago/restaurants/fork-and-coin-to-bring-pub-style-cuisine-and-supper-club-to-portage-park/