The eggs and grains, one of Bardo’s most popular dishes, will remain available on the bar menu. Kristen Wile/UP

Bardo Restaurant, known for its inventive small plates, is now a tasting menu restaurant. After a brief closure, the restaurant kicked off service last weekend offering diners three-course, five-course, seven-course, and 12-course experiences. The prices range from $35 for a three-course menu up to $150 for the 12-course chef’s tasting menu.

When it opened in 2018, Bardo had one of the most innovative styles of cooking in the city. With its transition to a full tasting menu concept, the restaurant — owned by Jayson Whiteside and chef Mike Noll — pushes that reputation even further. 

“Mike wanted to go a little more Chicago when we first opened,” Whitehead says. “We talked about it and talked about it, but thought we would come in a little less aggressive and a little more approachable.”

Now that he and Noll have built up what he calls a trust and comfort level with guests, they’re ready to take steps toward what Noll had envisioned early on. Expect the same focus on well-sourced ingredients on a menu that changes frequently and a new style of plating.

“You understand what Mike’s thought process looks like on a plate now, so let’s take it the next step and let’s see what that looks like and see how it gets received,” he says. 

The walls are covered in graffiti. Photo courtesy.

While this was part of the Bardo vision early on, Whitehead says the changes they’ve had to make because of the Covid-19 pandemic has led them to change their style of dining now. The 6-foot spacing requirement between tables means the restaurant’s small dining room seats even fewer people, allowing them to focus more on each one.

The changes come after the group’s second restaurant, Vana, opened its doors following construction and pandemic delays.

“The fact that we were able to open Vana kind of took some of the pressure off Bardo in a sense,” Whitehead says. “It gave us a little more freedom to be able to do something like this and, you know, take a little more risk with having another restaurant open that’s so far doing well.”

Wine pairings and dessert are available as add-ons. Bardo’s new menu also comes with a fresh look: the dining room walls have been graffitied.

For those who, like us, love the eggs and grains, that and a few other dishes will be available a la carte at the bar. Read our original review of Bardo here.