Susu Chicago: Morning Bakery & Breakfast Sandwich Land on Randolph October 5

Susu Chicago is about to flip the lights on Randolph Street before the dinner rush even thinks about starting — a daytime bakery and breakfast service from the West Loop steakhouse that already owns the evening. Beginning Monday, October 5, 2026, the room at 652 W. Randolph Street opens Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for pastries, coffee, and a breakfast sandwich that smells like maple even before you taste the fenugreek in the sausage. If you have been waiting for a reason to walk into that carved-wood dining room with daylight still on the sidewalk, this is it.

This is not a tutorial about how to book a table. It is the morning you should want — warm pita pulled fresh, pistachio honey on a bear claw, Sparrow Coffee in a ceramic cup, and a West Loop stretch that has too often left the early hours to office coffee alone.

What is Susu Chicago launching on October 5?

Susu Chicago is turning its MediterrAsian steakhouse into a daytime bakery and café starting Monday, October 5. Chicago Food Magazine reported the news on September 24: breakfast, pastries, and coffee from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., six days a week. Owner Paul Alqas put it plainly — the West Loop already has an incredible dinner scene, and the team saw a gap earlier in the day on Randolph. Executive chef and partner Alexander Willis is writing the morning menu with French pastry technique, Middle Eastern flavor, and a Midwestern nostalgia that shows up in soft bread and American cheese without apologizing for either.

The evening restaurant stays what it is: steaks, sake, late energy in the former Grace space. The daytime hours are a second personality in the same address — approachable, pastry-forward, built for people who work nearby and weekend walk-ins who want a real breakfast sandwich, not a hotel lobby plate.

Why does the Susu Chicago breakfast sandwich feel worth planning around?

The centerpiece is Willis’s Wagyu sujuk breakfast sandwich, and it is designed to hit like a classic first and surprise you second. Housemade Wagyu beef sujuk sausage meets French scrambled eggs, American cheese, red shatta aioli, and green chermoula, all on a hand-rolled sourdough pita baked fresh daily. Willis has called that bread “Wonder Bread meets pita” — soft enough for comfort, sturdy enough to hold the stack. He chose sujuk because fenugreek throws a maple-like aroma that plays with breakfast flavors instead of fighting them.

You can almost taste the bite: creamy egg, melty cheese, spice that wakes you up without shouting, herb oil cutting through the richness. A vegetarian falafel hash brown sandwich is in the works for anyone skipping the sausage. Susu has already been testing the sandwich at Saturday morning pop-ups — including one on September 26 — so October 5 is less a cold open and more the day the pop-up grows into a real morning house.

What pastries will Susu Chicago bake for daytime?

Expect a rotating case of six to eight pastries, sweet and savory, with French technique carrying flavors Willis grew up with. The opening lineup includes:

• A baklava bear claw filled with pistachio praline and finished with orange-spiced honey
• A savory shakshuka Danish with spiced tomato, jammy egg, Kalamata olives, and French feta
• Everything ka’ak, the Lebanese sesame bread that sits next to a bagel in spirit
• Croissants and kouign-amann
• A recurring tahini chocolate chip cookie meant to stick around as a staple

Willis has talked about canelés with Aleppo chili and apricot as part of the rotating set, the kind of pastry that makes you order one “for the table” and then keep it for yourself. The bakery is the creative outlet he wanted alongside the steakhouse — French pastry bones, personal Levantine flavor, nothing that feels like a hotel brunch buffet.

What should you drink at Susu Chicago in the morning?

The daytime beverage program leans on Sparrow Coffee for espresso drinks and traditional coffee, then branches into flavored lattes, an espresso tonic, a blue matcha latte built for the photo and the palate, and rotating specialty drinks including chai plays. It is the kind of counter where you can grab a cookie and a cortado on a Tuesday, or sit with a matcha and a shakshuka Danish while Randolph wakes up around you. Think steam on the espresso machine, sesame from the ka’ak still warm, citrus from the orange honey cutting through pistachio sweetness — a morning that feels as considered as the dinner tasting without asking you to dress for it.

Who is behind Susu Chicago’s daytime menu?

Alexander Willis leads the kitchen as executive chef and partner. His résumé includes Michelin-starred Chicago kitchens such as Moody Tongue, Dusek’s, and Moto, but the bakery is the personal project he has wanted for years — inspired, he has said, by Genie Kwon’s pastry work at Kasama and that same model of a destination dinner restaurant that also feeds the neighborhood by day. Paul Alqas owns Susu and framed the morning hours as a chance to create a completely different experience that still feels true to the restaurant. Managing partner Chase Meyer, who worked with Alqas on Medi in Lincoln Park, is part of the ownership team that opened Susu on February 27, 2026.

The daytime concept spent nearly two years in development. The team even considered alley pop-ups behind the restaurant before deciding guests should walk through the front door into the room itself. The six-day schedule is intentional — Willis wants Susu to become the reliable morning spot for West Loop workers, residents, and weekend visitors, not a one-off brunch stunt.

What does the Susu Chicago room feel like before dinner?

Walk in and the carved wood, leather banquettes, and warm amber light still set the tone — the same hand-carved details and Won Kim mural work that define the dinner experience, just earlier, with pastry cases and coffee replacing the late-night rise. Daytime service means you get that room without needing a special-occasion reservation mindset. Sit with a sandwich, take a kouign-amann to go, linger over espresso under those slim table lights before they feel like dinner candles. The private dining room and Kan Zaman tasting stay evening stories; mornings are for the bakery, the sandwich, and the kind of casual ritual that turns a restaurant into a neighborhood habit — the place you point a visiting friend toward when they ask where to get a real breakfast near Fulton Market.

How do you visit Susu Chicago for daytime service?

Susu Chicago daytime and bakery hours begin Monday, October 5, 2026, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday, at 652 W. Randolph Street in the West Loop / Fulton Market. Follow @susu.chicago and susuchicago.com for menu updates as the pastry case rotates. Evening dinner reservations continue through OpenTable — the morning program is its own rhythm, built for walk-in coffee, breakfast, and pastry more than a formal booking dance.

Bookmark the public channels:

• Instagram: instagram.com/susu.chicago
• Website: susuchicago.com
• Address: 652 W. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60661

Why is Susu Chicago’s daytime launch worth getting excited about?

Because Randolph between the river and the Kennedy has long been a dinner corridor — Oriole, Sepia, the memory of Grace — and weekday mornings have been thin. Susu Chicago is filling that gap with a chef who treats pastry as seriously as steak, a sandwich built on housemade Wagyu sujuk, and a pastry case that puts baklava and kouign-amann on the same tray. It is the Kasama-style double life done with Levantine spice and Midwestern soft bread: dinner destination by night, your coffee-and-pastry place by day. Mark October 5. Bring an appetite for fenugreek that smells like maple and a pistachio bear claw that drips orange honey.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does Susu Chicago start daytime bakery service?

Susu Chicago launches daytime service and bakery on Monday, October 5, 2026, serving breakfast, pastries, and coffee 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday, at 652 W. Randolph Street.

What is on the Susu Chicago breakfast sandwich?

The signature sandwich layers housemade Wagyu beef sujuk, French scrambled eggs, American cheese, red shatta aioli, and green chermoula on a hand-rolled sourdough pita. A falafel hash brown vegetarian version is in development.

Which pastries will Susu Chicago offer at opening?

Opening pastries include a baklava bear claw with pistachio praline and orange-spiced honey, a shakshuka Danish, everything ka’ak, croissants, kouign-amann, and a recurring tahini chocolate chip cookie, with six to eight items rotating regularly.

Who is the chef behind Susu Chicago’s daytime menu?

Executive chef and partner Alexander Willis created the daytime and bakery menu. Owner Paul Alqas announced the morning hours as a new daytime experience for Randolph Street.

Does Susu Chicago still serve dinner after the bakery launch?

Yes. Daytime bakery and breakfast run in the morning and early afternoon; the MediterrAsian steakhouse dinner program continues in the evening. Check susuchicago.com and OpenTable for dinner hours and reservations.