The Bento Box Returns After Fire – and the Pandemic – Closed Bucktown Restaurant

Countless restaurants have been destroyed since the pandemic began in March 2020, and the Bento Box was believed to be among those destroyed when Rick Spiros’ Asian restaurant in Bucktown shut down. But complications from COVID were just one of the Bento Box’s problems. A fire just days before Gov. JB Pritzker ordered restaurants to close their dining rooms to curb the spread of the disease left fans feeling like they’d never be able to taste Spiros’ famous spring rolls or Singapore red curry noodles again.

Spiros, a Greek-American, has a penchant for international cuisines and cooks a variety of different dishes. After his restaurant closed, he refocused on catering and his private chef business. The latter became popular as diners stayed away from restaurants during COVID. He began working at Trogo Kitchen & Market in Logan Square, the restaurant and cafe space in the Green Exchange, a building overlooking the Diversey exit of the northbound Kennedy Expressway. Trogo was one of the locations where crews filmed kitchen scenes for the pilot episode of The bearHe became friends with owners Lolita Sereleas and Cian O’Mahony and is the executive chef at the establishment. Legendary Chicago chef Jimmy Bannos, of Heaven on Seven fame, has also been making gumbo drops at the restaurant as he prepares to open a new restaurant in suburban Skokie.

While hosting pop-ups, Spiros was greeted by Bento Box regulars who weren’t exactly shy about their praise for the old restaurant. Their enthusiasm hit him “like a bolt of lightning” and prompted him to make a comeback.

“I had no idea how much people loved the restaurant and how much they missed it,” says Spiros.

And so, starting Wednesday, August 7, the Bento Box is back, open Wednesday through Friday at Trogo. That gives Spiros the ability to continue his private chef business, and Trogo the ability to adjust the program should a rare opportunity arise (say, Jeremy Allen White and company want to shoot more scenes). To start, there will be a table setting—around 6 p.m. Reservations can be made until about 6:30 p.m.; Spiros doesn’t mind if everyone is served at once. It’s a three-course, prix fixe meal: spring rolls, mussels in green curry, and Singapore noodles with red chili and chicken. Takeout and delivery are also available a la carte. Spiros would like to add a lemongrass crème brûlée for dessert at some point.

The last four years without daily restaurant operations have been restorative for Spiros. As they worked through the aftermath of the fire, it became clear he couldn’t return to Bento Box’s original Bucktown location, 2246 W. Armitage Avenue. It didn’t feel right to try to reopen the restaurant. He didn’t even have the proper equipment, like his beloved flattop, that he was used to. “It got to the point where I just didn’t know if I wanted to do this right now,” Spiros says.

The Bento Box

The world of restaurants has changed since Bento Box opened in 2010. It’s not the first time he’s been asked, but what is a white person doing cooking Korean, Chinese, Indian and Japanese food? Spiros says many of his customers are Indian and Korean, and he always welcomes praise from those groups, especially the elderly. One reason for his success is that he respects origins: “I won’t put sesame oil in something where it doesn’t belong,” Spiros says. “We’re not a fusion restaurant.”

“To be honest, I think that’s part of what makes this country so great,” he adds. “We can have all these different cultures here and people can have an interpretation of it.”

Spiros compares his efforts to a cover band, saying that even if one band plays another group’s song “note for note,” there will be differences: “There’s still something different in the way Led Zeppelin plays stairway to Heaven or how someone else does it.”

He’s also here to offer something different. In a dive bar with a large menu, there might not be anyone who can make handmade noodles. Making noodles is a labor-intensive affair and not cheap – a serving of noodles at Bento Box costs more than $20. In the past, some have questioned Bento Box’s prices. Spiros recalls a customer complaining that he could buy similar food “for a fraction of the price” further down the street. But then he came back with an apology and was pleased with Bento Box’s quality.

“The guy came back and said he was wrong,” Spiros says.

Bento Box at Trogo Kitchen & Marketat the Green Exchange, 2545 W. Diversey Avenue, open Wednesday through Saturday from 6 p.m., reservations possible via OpenTableTakeaway and delivery also available.