Lollapalooza Weekend Is Now the Super Bowl for Chicago Celebrity Sightings

Lollapalooza has become the Super Bowl of high-profile celebrity sightings in downtown Chicago.

These celebrity “moments” captured on social media aren’t always organic — publicists use whisper networks with lists of favorite restaurants that have experience accommodating high-profile clients and giving them the privacy they need after a late-night gig. Restaurants know that celebrities talk to each other, and to make sure they stay on the A-list themselves, managers and waiters are better at catering to the needs of this exclusive clientele, helping them organize meals — and the occasional stunts — that satisfy the Increase impressions on social media.

Victoria Shapow

Victoria Shapow

Victoria Shapow

The Linda Lindas dined at RPM Seafood.

Still, restaurant employees say they do it for the love of hospitality, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ restaurants have earned a reputation for creating safe spaces for celebrities. Last month it was Drake who sipped at Miru Malört. Two years ago, Dave Matthews ate a family dinner at RPM Seafood celebrating a special anniversary.

During this year’s festival, guests saw Diplo at Oakville at Fulton Market and The Red Hot Chili Peppers at RPM Seafood. Filipino English singer Beabadoobee visited Sushi-San. The meaning of these moments is debatable. The older crowd can be cynical – who are the Linda Lindas and why should I care if they sat by the river at RPM Seafood? The younger crowd may have doubts too – why would I care about Chris Rock at the same stuffy River North spot?

The crowd flocked to Wieners Circle for Ed Sheeran.Wieners Circle

Making sure customers have a good time, even if they’re famous, is the responsibility of the likes of Adam Biolchin, Lettuce’s cultural director. He has worked for Lettuce’s RPM restaurants across the country. He notes that at the Washington, DC location, there is an entrance through a parking garage that leads directly to elevators that take guests to a private dining room. VIPs use this entrance so they won’t be seen (unlike Flea, who preferred to stroll through the main entrance during his band’s Chicago visit).

Biolchin says celebrities gravitate to Chicago: “There are no paparazzi,” he says. “They feel like in Chicago they can loosen up a little bit and be a little bit more themselves.”

And while the temptation might be great for a restaurant to send out a special dish just when a band is sitting down, Biolchin says they always check with a representative about allergies or linger at the table to catch up on the mood inform. The staff does not want to define the experience for the customer. For example, if an NHL player from Europe is present, they may want to sit at the bar and talk to the bartender – they may not have friends or family in Chicago; You are looking for a conversation. “They want to have a social experience and be a normal person for a while,” says Biolchin.

Though Chicago’s largest restaurant company appears to have a monopoly on celebrity dining, it doesn’t have a monopoly on star sightings.

Ed Sheeran’s reps recently arranged an appearance at Wiener’s Circle, the Chicago hot dog stand known for its charming work staff, mostly black women, who insult belligerent customers in Lincoln Park, one of Chicago’s whitest neighborhoods . Unknown to the history of the Lincoln Park landmark, Sheeran sat down behind the counter with Cheyenne Ford and the rest of the Circle staff. Sheeran didn’t take offense, and neither did customers.

“No one wanted to curse him — they were trying to tell him stories,” says Ford, pausing before expressing the raw candor of the hot dog stand’s fans. “A girl told him that she danced to his song during their wedding. We don’t give a fuck, bitch. Get out of here!”

Sheeran’s fans flocked to the room thanks to a social media post that broke online while he was 30 minutes from the restaurant. While organizers initially planned on handing out 100 hot dogs, Sheeran, who was a solid guy, ended up handing out 300 dogs, Ford says.

Despite the general buzz behind Sheeran’s performance, Bon Appetit took aim at Sheeran, Lana Del Rey and other celebrities who posed as restaurant workers for stunts: “In an industry and time when most waiters are overworked and underpaid .” […] It’s a decidedly uncute look to try a bit of hourly work as a reward,” writes Sam Stone.

Still, some restaurants aren’t so cynical and cash in on the free promotion of a celebrity dining moment. Just a week earlier, another music megastar visited black-run Chicago’s Bronzeville Soul. When Beyonce performed at Solider Field for two nights, Jay-Z posed for a photo with restaurant co-owner Mario Coleman after a friend suggested he pay them a visit. Coleman says he couldn’t believe Jay-Z knew exactly what to order and walked out with backs of pounds and short ribs of beef.

Since the visit, Coleman has rebranded these short ribs as “Jigga Man Short Ribs” and has seen a 200 percent increase in sales. Coleman says he grew up listening to Jay Z’s music and prefers his first album, Reasonable Doubt. That’s why he was stunned when he saw his hip-hop hero walk through the door. He also left the interaction with greater respect for Jay-Z as a community activist and entrepreneur, noting that when Jay-Z asked for a photo, he insisted that Coleman come around the counter and pose right next to him to take one To take a photo on which it was worth showing off Instagram.

“Jay-Z got the brief,” says Coleman. “He knew exactly what he was doing and the power he possessed.”

Coleman and his partner Angie Price are first-time restaurant owners who opened their doors in the summer of 2022 with the help of six employees. While Coleman says he’s confident in his food, he knows the world is tough out there and he worries about what will happen to the business after the Jay-Z accident — or if Bronzeville Soul deserves the attention , which Jay-Z gave to him at Restaurant. But unlike some celebrity restaurant sightings, there’s something special about this gig. It wasn’t purely transactional and he hopes he gets a chance to say thank you.

“I just want to look Jay in the face and say, ‘I appreciate who you are and what you do and how you deal with who you are,'” he says.

Sign up for the newsletter

Eater Chicago

Sign up for our newsletter.

5419 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60640