Nashville-style hot chicken, jerk chicken and fried-catfish sandwiches are coming to Mariano’s grocery stores. Rouxster’s Cookhouse, Mariano’s latest in-store restaurant concept, opens Thursday at the chain’s Park Ridge location (1900 S. Cumberland Ave.).
This will be the second Rouxster’s Cookhouse; the first opened in Mariano’s Bronzeville location (3857 S. Martin Luther King Drive) last month, and more are planned. The chef behind the concept is John Meyer, owner of BJ’s Market & Bakery (8734 S. Stony Island Ave.), and partners Herb Henderson and Stephen Martin.
“The store at Monroe and Halsted (40 S. Halsted St.) will be the third location,” Meyer said, “and there are plans to open up in more stores.”
The Rouxster’s spaces are tiny — about 150 square feet, Meyer estimates. “A very small footprint,” he said, “but very efficient. Being in a grocery store is very interesting; I’m still learning.”
In addition to sandwiches, Rouxster’s offers turkey chili, chicken gumbo, collard greens and smoked-gouda mac and cheese. Desserts include banana pudding (a huge seller at BJ’s Market), bread pudding and sweet potato pie.
“One advantage of a grocery-store location is that, though Rouxster’s closes at 8 p.m., Mariano’s is open until 10 p.m.” Meyer said. “People can still get desserts during our non-open hours.”
Twitter @PhilVettel
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