Pacific Standard Time

"If New York is the sibling that we were forced to share a room with growing up, then California is the cousin we only see during the holidays. And we’re pretty fascinated by its lifestyle of sunshine, organic vegan bone broth, and float therapy meditation - even if we don’t always relate. California is a big, complicated state, and occasionally has earthquakes no one seems to worry about. It’s unpredictable, but also a lot of fun. The same goes for Pacific Standard Time, a California-inspired restaurant in River North. This restaurant is huge, loud, and always busy. There are so many seating sections it’s like eating in a furniture store, and the combination of wood and tile floors, tall windows, and high ceilings make the whole space sound like a mall food court in December. In other words, don’t come here for a quiet date night. But if you’re with a group who likes sharing a bunch of tasty food, you won’t mind the Water Tower Place acoustics. photo credit: Sandy Noto We’re not exactly sure what qualifies as “California-inspired food,” but if Pacific Standard is any indication, it’s not just kale and avocados-as-nature’s-mayonnaise. That said, this restaurant does serve some very enjoyable vegetables, along with a broad range of other dishes. Broccoli is too often the menu equivalent of Ambien, but this one is made interesting with a tasty cashew, mushroom, and onion puree. There’s excellent puffy pita cooked in a wood-fired oven, which comes with things like eggplant and roasted peppers (one of our favorite things to eat here). That same oven also makes the pizza, which has a perfectly charred and chewy crust, and comes with a side of housemade ranch - an unexpectedly Midwestern touch that shows how well our California relative understands us. But like when that cousin casually mentions at Thanksgiving they’re leaving tech to become a beekeeper, some dishes at Pacific Standard Time are confusing. There’s an oily hummus and marinated tuna dish that doesn’t work at all, no matter how much you like those two things separately. The corn salad’s combination of roasted corn, apricot, peanuts, and stracciatella cheese tastes OK, but the peanuts take over the whole thing. Despite these misses, we appreciate that Pacific Standard’s food is never boring - even though we don’t always get where it’s coming from. You wouldn’t go to California without first checking the weather, or binge-watching Shark Week just in case you have to go surfing. But no matter what, any place with that much sunshine is going to be a spot you want to check out. And we think you should do the same for Pacific Standard Time. Maybe just schedule some time in the float tank before you get there. Food Rundown photo credit: Sandy Noto Wood Roasted Broccoli This is a fantastic vegetable starter. The broccoli has mushrooms, onions and cashews, and a flavorful puree made with those things to tie it all together. photo credit: Sandy Noto Roasted Corn Salad This seasonal dish is a good representation of what you can expect here. Roasted corn, peaches, stracciatella cheese, and peanuts are tossed in a fresno vinaigrette. The peanuts aren’t ruining the party, but they don’t belong there either. Plus, they’re pretty hard to chase around with your fork. Eggplant The roasted eggplant and red peppers are topped with basil on a bed of a creamy cheese. It comes with puffy pita bread that looks like a balloon, and you’ll want to sleep on it so you never have to be apart. In other words, order extra. photo credit: Sandy Noto Tuna and Hummus We’re not sold on this combination of hummus, marinated tuna, green chickpeas, urfa pepper, and mint. The dish as a whole is very oily, and while individually the tuna and hummus taste fine, together they don’t work. But it does come with the pita, so all is not lost. Again, order extra. photo credit: Sandy Noto Margherita Pizza They have three pizzas on the menu, and you need to get at least one when you’re here. The crust is perfect, the sauce is flavorful, and it comes with ranch. We’re sold. Mushroom pizza What makes this mushroom pizza stand out from the 1,763 other ones we’ve eaten in our lifetime is the addition of a spicy seafood sauce (a.k.a. xo sauce). It almost edges out ranch, but not quite. photo credit: Sandy Noto Ricotta Dumplings Four small dumplings come in some parmesan broth with different vegetables, depending on the season (like corn or peas). It’s tasty, but at $15 it’s not quite worth the price. photo credit: Sandy Noto Pappardelle This is another skippable pasta. The pappardelle is thin and fragile, and comes with a turkey bolognese that belongs in a Lean Cuisine. Chicken Wings As we mentioned, there’s a large bar in the center of the restaurant. And these fried chicken wings coated in a sweet fish sauce are the ideal thing to order if you’re sitting there by yourself. But probably not while having a business dinner, unless you want to risk ruining important documents and/or your entire future with your sticky sauce hands. photo credit: Sandy Noto Roasted Skirt Steak Medium rare skirt steak, with roasted shishito peppers and fried polenta with a hot yellow pepper paste. It’s spicy and delicious. Roasted Black Cod The fish comes with mushrooms and jalapeno in a fennel puree. The cod is cooked perfectly, and jalapenos adds a welcome amount of heat. Burnt Olive Oil Cake You should absolutely get dessert here, and it should be the olive oil cake. It’s dense and crispy on the edges, and topped with peaches, lemon curd, and a creme fraiche ice cream. It reminds us of a very non-boring pound cake, and we’re pretty sure that frying stuff and then putting ice cream on it is 100% Midwest." - Adrian Kane

"Pacific Standard Time, one of Eater’s Best New Restaurants in 2018, was the first project from Tilden and Wu-Bower’s Underscore Hospitality. It opened to positive reviews but closed during the pandemic." - Ashok Selvam

"Avec has also seen recent changes. Most notably, One Off opened a second location in River North with a rooftop bar, rebranding its former Pacific Standard Time restaurant in early 2021." - Samantha Nelson

"COVID-19 update: Temporarily closed. Pacific Standard Time reminds us of some of our favorite restaurants in L.A. (Botanica, Gjusta, we're looking at you), and it’s clear that chef Erling Wu-Bower took cues from coastal California, both in menu, open kitchen, and modern, light-filled space. Drawing from Mexican, Italian, and Mediterranean flavors, you can expect plates of oven roasted asparagus marinated in black garlic molasses, trout in a fennel-mushroom broth, and margherita pizza with pistachio pesto from a wood-burning oven. For dessert, the huckleberry sundae and the sunflower cotton cake with strawberry syrup are winners. And since it's Chicago, a city that does happy hour particularly well, grabbing cocktails (we go for the rhubarb spritzes) at the bar is a popular way to kick off a visit. Photos: Brian Willette"

"River North: Pacific Standard Time, the wildly popular California-cool spot that was named Restaurant of the Year in 2018 by Eater Chicago, is permanently closed. Leadership at its ownership group, One Off Hospitality (Publican, Blackbird), have announced plans to use the breezy River North space for a second location of Avec, its influential Mediterranean restaurant and wine bar on Randolph Street." - Naomi Waxman