Beard & Belly was founded in 2015 by chefs Kyle Schrage and Jim Torres. The Longroom, an established and respected craft beer bar and Chicago staple, embarked on an experimental project, building a kitchen space inside their bar, with plans to allow different chefs to operate their business out of that kitchen. Although originally the plan was to have multiple chefs work out of the space, Beard & Belly quickly established themselves among the Longroom's customer base, and became the only chefs to serve at night, 6 days a week. After two and a half successful years at The Longroom, and having built a dedicated fan base, Beard & Belly decided it was time to open its own, stand alone bar and restaurant.

Beard & Belly serves a concentrated menu of slow cooked quality tavern oriented food.  Beard & Belly has competed in and won the award for "Best Grilled Cheese in Chicago", its Mac and Cheese was voted in the top three in the city, and the burger was listed as one of the top 10 in Chicago by TimeOut Chicago Magazine. Beard & Belly was also featured on WGN's Lunch Break afternoon segment, where its unique take on a spicy pickled egg was highlighted.

The menu is consistent yet flexible, with constantly rotating specials to supplement our well established food items, using extremely high quality, fresh ingredients, all made from scratch. https://www.beardandbellychicago.com/menu 

In addition to serving the high quality food that they have become known for, Beard & Belly has formed a partnership with Honeypie Bakery, an iconic establishment in the Bayview neighborhood of Milwaukee. Honeypie is not only well known in Milwaukee, but its incredible pies have been featured in multiple national publications, including Martha Steward Living, O Magazine, Food and Wine, and TimeOut National.  Together Honeypie and Beard & Belly will provide the Edgewater community with a unique dining experience.  A beautiful bar and restaurant space for people to enjoy, a full service and spacious patio during the warmer months, and a walk-up bakery counter serving fresh made fruit and cream pies.