Mott St Chicago

What Mott St Chicago does

Mott St Chicago is a single-location, independent Asian American restaurant operating in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood at 1401 N. Ashland Ave. Founded in 2014 by Executive Chef/Partner Edward Kim alongside Partners Nate Chung, Vicki Kim, and Jenny Kim, the concept draws on Asian night-market inspiration and Kim's Korean-American background to deliver a feast-style menu that pairs eastern cooking techniques with Chicago ingredients. The restaurant operates a unified dining room offering dinner seven days a week and weekend brunch, with an open pantry kitchen and a bar program featuring seasonal cocktails, sake, biodynamic wines, and spirit-free options. The menu spans appetizers/sides ($14–$21), mains ($22–$38), desserts ($12), and cocktails ($13–$20), with the Mott Burger sold until 7PM and signature items like Fire Chicken and Steak Kalbi anchoring the upper price points.

The business operates a direct-to-consumer model with three distribution channels: dine-in at the Wicker Park location, online ordering via Toast Tab for takeout, and OpenTable for reservations. Catering is offered as an ancillary service with 48-hour advance notice for private events and parties. The company employs approximately 13 staff across front-of-house (hosts, servers, bartenders) and back-of-house (cooks, dishwashers, runners) roles, with two Chef de Cuisine roles and a General Manager overseeing operations. The marketing mix is light: organic social (Instagram and Facebook @eatmottst), email newsletter, and an event-driven programming calendar that includes Lunar New Year, Chicago Restaurant Week, Japanese Whisky & Tacos tasting, and community partnerships (e.g., AAPI Food Crawl, Kitchen Possible Empowering Menus Fundraiser).

Mott St is privately held, has no disclosed institutional funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no patented technology. The revenue model is per-dish/per-cover pricing with no subscription, license, or contract-based elements. The company has built a credible regional brand through sustained press coverage (Michelin Bib Gourmand, Bon Appetit 2014 Best New Restaurants nominee, Thrillist Chicago's #1 Burger, Chicago Magazine, TimeOut Chicago, Food & Wine), but it has not expanded beyond the single Wicker Park location in over a decade. The technology footprint is limited to standard restaurant tooling (Toast Tab, OpenTable, and a basic website), with no app, no API, and no disclosed AI or data capabilities.

Name

Mott St Chicago

Legal name

Mott St

Website

https://mottstreetchicago.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mott St Chicago is a single-location, independent Asian American restaurant in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Founded in 2014 by Chef Edward Kim, it serves feast-style dinner and weekend brunch to dine-in guests, with catering and event programming as ancillary channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Full-Service Restaurant

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHAFACAD

Ethnic & Regional Cuisine Restaurants

Travel & Hospitality/Foodservice & Beverage (Restaurants, Cafes, Bars)/Full-Service Restaurants (Casual & Fine Dining)

SECONDARYTHAFACAC

Family-Style Restaurants

Travel & Hospitality/Foodservice & Beverage (Restaurants, Cafes, Bars)/Full-Service Restaurants (Casual & Fine Dining)

Keywords

• Asian American restaurant
• Feast-style dining
• Korean-American cuisine
• Private event catering
• Craft cocktail bar

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Dine-in food and beverage sales: Revenue from serving food and beverages to dine-in customers at the restaurant. Customers pay per menu item for appetizers, mains, desserts, and drinks.
2. Catering and event services: Revenue from catering private parties and events with advance notice. Catering menu available for order with 48 hours advance notice required.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mott St Chicago operates a full-service Asian American restaurant in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood, serving dinner seven days a week, weekend brunch, and offering off-site catering for private events. The menu draws on Asian night markets and Chef Edward Kim's Korean-American heritage, featuring shared plates, mains, and a beverage program of seasonal cocktails, sake, wine, and spirit-free options.

Product overview

Mott St Chicago is a single-location Asian American restaurant serving vibrant feast-style dining in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. The restaurant operates as a unified dining establishment offering dinner service, weekend brunch, and catering services. The menu takes inspiration from Asian night markets and Korean-American cuisine, featuring umami-laden dishes prepared with eastern cooking techniques and Chicago ingredients. The bar program is well-lauded, offering seasonal cocktails, sake, wines, and spirit-free options.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dinner Service Asian American feast-style dinner menu featuring vegetables and sides, meats, seafood, and desserts prepared with Korean-American and Asian cooking techniques. Served seven days a week for dine-in customers at the Wicker Park restaurant.
• Weekend Brunch Service Weekend brunch menu offering sharables, sides, and main dishes including Benedict options, pancakes, and specialty items like KBBQ Jackfruit Skillet. Available Saturday and Sunday mornings.
• Catering Services Off-site catering for parties and events with customizable feast menus available with 48 hours advance notice. Catering menu ordered via PDF and Google Form.
• Beverage Program Beverage offerings including seasonal cocktails, beer and cider, biodynamic and organic wines, sake selections, and spirit-free options. Available at the restaurant bar alongside dine-in service.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• IN GOOD SPIRITSminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 6 May 2025IN GOOD SPIRITS provides non-alcoholic beverage pairing for Mott St's Sober Supper Club event, featuring a family-style ssam feast. This partnership crafts non-alcoholic beverages for the event.
• Kitchen PossibleminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 September 2024Mott St partners with Kitchen Possible's 5th annual Empowering Menus Fundraiser. During September, $1 from every Mott Burger sold is donated to support free cooking classes for kids across Chicago. This is a charitable community initiative supporting youth cooking education.
• AAPI Food Crawl PartnersminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 May 2024Mott St co-hosts the first annual AAPI Food Crawl with neighboring AAPI-owned businesses: Phodega, Mano, Sando Street, and Sugoi Sweets. The self-guided food crawl celebrates AAPI Heritage Month along Ashland Avenue in Wicker Park/Bucktown. Customers collect stamps from participating locations for a raffle prize.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pacific Standard Time: Erling Wu-Bower and Josh Tilden (one of Mott St's chef-partner alumni's peer group) operate a small chef-driven Logan Square restaurant with similar Bib Gourmand ambitions and Asian-inflected menu.
• Parachute: Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark's Avondale restaurant is the closest direct peer: Korean-American/Asian-inspired tasting-style menu, chef-driven independent concept in Chicago, Bib Gourmand recognition, similar press profile to Mott St.
• A10: Yushan Yang's Asian American small-plates restaurant in Chicago shares Mott St's Asian American identity, counter-style/intimate format, and chef-driven positioning within the same city and dining scene.
• Kumiko: Julia Momose's West Loop Japanese-inspired cocktail and tasting-menu bar shares Mott St's Bib Gourmand award and emphasis on a tightly curated beverage program (including non-alcoholic offerings) paired with Asian flavors.
• Elske: David and Anna Posey's West Loop restaurant is a comparable chef-driven independent with Bib Gourmand/Michelin recognition, intimate scale, and an A-line/Alinea-alum pedigree similar to Edward Kim's profile.
• Mako: B.K. Park's Japanese kappo-style omakase in West Loop is a similarly small, chef-led Asian concept in Chicago that has earned Michelin and Bib Gourmand recognition—directly comparable on scale and category prestige.
• Wherewithall: Erling Wu-Bower's Avondale restaurant is a chef-driven independent in Chicago with a Bib Gourmand, similar intimate scale, and comparable seasonal small-plates program, though less Asian-focused.

Broad incumbents

• Boka Restaurant Group: Chicago fine-dining group behind Boka, Alinea, Next, and Avondale Tap operates multiple Michelin-recognized concepts. Relevant as a scaling blueprint for an independent chef-driven concept looking to institutionalize.
• Sunda: Lettuce Entertain You's pan-Asian River North concept competes for the same Asian-fusion dinner guest and corporate-event spend in Chicago that Mott St targets.
• Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises: The largest Chicago-based independent restaurant group with ~100+ concepts including Asian-leaning venues like Sunda and Sushi-san. Relevant as the dominant scaled operator in the same Chicago Asian-dining category.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/eatmottst
• Instagraminstagram.com/eatmottst
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mott-st-chicago

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mott St Chicago