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Weaving through the vast space of a long-shuttered warehouse at 2033 W. North, Chop Shop & 1st Ward reveals a different side of its concept with every twist and turn. Up front is a butcher shop open from 9 AM to 8 PM, serving sandwiches and coffee and selling house-made Italian sausage and meats like porchetta; in the refrigerator case are jars of pickled vegetables and the house giardiniera. The butchery part is no cheffy affectation; one of the partners is Mario Minelli, as in Minelli Bros., a venerable Italian market in Niles that started not too far from the Chop Shop site in the 1950s; the meatball recipe is touted as coming from his grandmother. For Minelli, it’s definitely a return of the family business to its roots, even if it’s a noticeably different version of the family business.
- Michael Gebert
- The second-floor dining room
So the space, or the series of spaces, offers plenty of flexibility for events—but does it make sense as a whole, Park West with sausage by the pound? Will the parts merge seamlessly when crowds fill the space? That’s the question for when Chop Shop opens, most likely next week.
