Nisi Greek Grill Rosemont: Aegean Steaks, Flaming Saganaki & an October 9 Island Table
Nisi Greek Grill is the Rosemont night you want when the craving is island heat — tableside saganaki catching flame, braised lamb buried under kephalotyri-slick Youvetsi mac and cheese, a whole branzino hitting the table still glistening from the grill. Forte Hospitality’s new Greek room opens October 9, 2026 at 5509 Park Place in Parkway Bank Park, in the former Saltwater Coastal Grill space, and the house site has already flipped the clock from “fall” to a firm Friday.
νησί — nee-SEE — is Greek for island. That is not branding wallpaper. It is the whole pitch: land and sea on one table, Greek wine and cocktails at the bar, and a room built for the moment between a convention session and a show at Allstate Arena or Rosemont Theatre.
Why does Nisi Greek Grill Rosemont feel like an island table you actually want to book?
Because Chicago already knows Forte’s Greek and neighborhood rooms — Ithaki Estiatorio in Greektown, Sapori Trattoria and Butcher & the Bear in Lincoln Park — and Nisi Greek Grill is how that same hospitality team answers the Rosemont dinner problem. You are near the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. You want seafood and steak without a downtown transfer. You want a patio when the weather cooperates and a navy-and-gold room when it does not.
Founder and CEO Kosti Demos has framed the project as Greek spirit with a modern, refined approach that stays warm for the village and for visitors. Partner John Lawson, with more than 25 years in construction and design, helped pull the atmosphere into navy, cream, warm wood, and gold, with Greek stone behind the bar, laurel details, and a wings-inspired photo wall. Chicago Food Magazine and Journal & Topics both carried the same design language in late September and early October coverage: modern steakhouse bones wearing island jewelry.
The scale is real night-out scale. Expect about 150 seats inside, an 80-seat patio for warmer weather, and a semi-private room for up to 60 — corporate dinners, birthdays, the kind of table where the flaming cheese becomes the toast. A back entrance feeds a café-style takeaway lane for coffee, Greek frozen yogurt, desserts, and other grab-and-go pieces while you explore the Entertainment District. Live music and Greek island–inspired celebrations are part of the once-open plan.
That is the feeling you are booking: not a strip-mall gyro counter, not a downtown tasting passport — an island grill with room to linger.
What will you eat and drink at Nisi Greek Grill?
Executive Chef Saul Ramos — also Culinary Director for Sapori and Butcher & the Bear — is cooking elevated Greek with seasonal produce, fresh seafood, and premium steaks. The early menu read from Chicago Food Magazine and Journal & Topics is the kind of board that makes you plan the table before you leave the parking garage.
Starters lean showy on purpose. Tableside flaming saganaki is the first-course theater. Youvetsi mac and cheese folds braised lamb shoulder into a Kefalograviera cheese sauce — comfort with a Greek accent, not a novelty gag. From there the kitchen swings into a Wagyu & Lamb tasting board with three Wagyu cuts plus lamb, beef cheek pasta on pappardelle with Mizithra, and avgolemono risotto finished with a grilled harissa prawn.
The house site’s own plate language matches that ambition: surf-and-turf compositions, whole branzino, beet-cured hamachi, iced oysters, mezze spreads, and gyro plated like a night out rather than a lunch rush. Greek wine and cocktails sit alongside the food; happy-hour timing is still “to be announced,” so treat that as a soft promise and watch the site once doors open.
Dinner hours are posted as 4–9 p.m. on weeknights and 4–10 p.m. on weekends. Validated parking is available in the Parkway Bank Park garage — the practical Rosemont move when you are stacking dinner with a show or a late session at the convention center.
Who is behind Nisi Greek Grill and Forte Hospitality?
Forte Hospitality Group is a Chicago restaurant company led by partners Kosti Demos, John Lawson, and Chef Saul Ramos. The group’s public roster includes Ithaki Estiatorio, Sapori Trattoria, Butcher & the Bear, Sala Chicago, and Ethos Taverna coming soon. Nisi Greek Grill is the first Forte room planted squarely in Rosemont’s entertainment core — a short walk from the convention center and close to Rosemont Theatre and Allstate Arena.
Ramos’s dual role matters for the plate. He is not a guest-chef cameo; he is the culinary director already running Forte’s Lincoln Park kitchens, now writing a Greek grill menu for a 150-seat room with patio overflow. Demos’s public comments emphasize tradition without stiffness — the exact balance a suburb entertainment-district restaurant needs if it wants regulars, not only one-night conventioneers.
Mayor Brad Stephens welcomed the project as another restaurant for residents, convention attendees, and visitors inside Parkway Bank Park’s growing collection of venues. That civic framing is useful context for why this address matters, but the food story is still Ramos’s board and Lawson’s room.
When does Nisi Greek Grill open, and how do you get a table?
October 9, 2026, per the official site — a hard date after weeks of “this October” press. Journal & Topics published the village announcement on October 2; Chicago Food Magazine carried the menu and design detail on September 28. Hoodline noted an earlier window that floated end-of-September chatter from the mayor’s office; treat the house site’s October 9 as the live plan.
Reservations are live on OpenTable for Nisi Greek Grill in Rosemont. Press copy also pointed diners to SevenRooms; follow whatever link the house site is highlighting the week you book. Contact the restaurant at info@nisigreekgrill.com or (847) 233-0077. Follow @nisigreekgrill as the social channel fills in once the room is open.
Practical first-week move: book a weeknight if you want a quieter first look, or aim early on a weekend if you are stacking dinner with a show. The patio will be the warmer-weather prize; the navy dining room is the year-round one.
What does the Nisi Greek Grill room feel like for a planned night out?
Walk in expecting Greek-inspired details without costume theater — gold finishes against navy and cream, warm wood underfoot, stone at the bar, laurel motifs, and that wings photo wall Lawson’s team leaned into. The room is sized for groups: 150 inside means you can actually get a table for six without treating it like a scarcity sport on day one, while the semi-private room gives celebrations a door they can close.
Then the sensory cues take over. Saganaki flame. Cheese pull on the Youvetsi mac. Char on the Wagyu board. Lemon and egg richness on the avgolemono risotto under a harissa prawn. Branzino skin shatter. Oysters iced and ready. If you are coming from a convention floor or an arena seats, this is the dinner that resets the night — island flavors, steakhouse scale, Rosemont logistics that do not punish you for not being downtown.
For dessert or a second pass, the café takeaway lane is the soft landing: Greek frozen yogurt, coffee, sweets you can carry while you keep walking the Entertainment District.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Nisi Greek Grill Rosemont open?
Nisi Greek Grill opens October 9, 2026, at 5509 Park Place in Rosemont’s Parkway Bank Park, according to the official restaurant website.
Where is Nisi Greek Grill located?
5509 Park Place, Rosemont, Illinois 60018, in the former Saltwater Coastal Grill space inside Parkway Bank Park Entertainment District, near the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont Theatre, and Allstate Arena.
How do I make a reservation at Nisi Greek Grill?
Book on OpenTable (Nisi Greek Grill Rosemont). Check nisigreekgrill.com for the live booking button the week you go; press coverage has also mentioned SevenRooms.
Who owns Nisi Greek Grill?
Forte Hospitality Group — partners Kosti Demos, John Lawson, and Chef Saul Ramos — the Chicago group behind Ithaki Estiatorio, Sapori Trattoria, and Butcher & the Bear.
What should I order at Nisi Greek Grill?
Early menu highlights include tableside flaming saganaki, Youvetsi mac and cheese with braised lamb and Kefalograviera, a Wagyu & Lamb tasting board, beef cheek pasta with Mizithra, and avgolemono risotto with a grilled harissa prawn, plus seafood and steak plates the house site is already showing.
What are the hours at Nisi Greek Grill?
Dinner is planned 4–9 p.m. weeknights and 4–10 p.m. weekends. Happy hour times are still to be announced on the house site.
Sources
- Nisi Greek Grill official site — October 9 open date, address, hours, contact, OpenTable link
- Chicago Food Magazine, Sept 28, 2026 — menu, design, capacity, Forte quotes
- Journal & Topics, Oct 2, 2026 — village announcement, chef, menu highlights
- Hoodline, Sept 29, 2026 — Saltwater Coastal Grill replacement context
