‘A whirlwind’: Banchet Awards honor The Greggory in South Barrington with ‘best new restaurant’ nomination
Three suburban restaurants were recently nominated in the prestigious Banchet Awards, an annual celebration of culinary excellence in the Chicago area. Named after the late Chef Jean Banchet, suburban restaurants are eligible but not frequently recognized in the only Chicago-based awards ceremony that honors both originality and talent within the region. We’re visiting each of the three suburban eateries before the awards are presented on Jan. 31, 2027.
A South Barrington restaurant that opened last year with a vision of creating a big-city dining and hospitality experience in the suburbs has been recognized with a nomination by Chicago’s most prestigious restaurant awards.
The Greggory in South Barrington is one of four finalists for Best New Restaurant in the annual Banchet Awards.
The Hearth Hospitality Group offering, which opened in March 2025 in the Arboretum of South Barrington, is led by seasoned restaurateurs Gregg Horan, Bill Veremis and executive chef José Sosa, whose collective backgrounds include years spent with the Gibsons Restaurant Group, Rosewood Steakhouse, RL, Polo Bar New York and more.
The Greggory is joined in the category by Chicago restaurants All Well, Creepies and Petite Edith.
“We’re super honored just to be mentioned in the same breath as the other nominees,” Horan said. “This first year has been a whirlwind, just everything we could ask for really.”
The 10,000-square-foot luxuriously adorned restaurant is centered around live-fire cooking in an open-show kitchen. Multiple dining rooms provide intimate settings while the separate spaces still feel interconnected.
Menu offerings range from elevated bar food, such as Wagyu pigs in a blanket and corned beef bites, to sophisticated appetizers, including a charred seafood tower and Wagyu beef tartare and bone marrow. Known for its USDA prime and Wagyu beef, entrees run the gamut from steaks to housemade pastas and fresh fish flown in daily.
The quality and preparation of the steaks landed the restaurant at #33 on a list of the 50 best steak restaurants in North America this year. The Greggory was also named Suburban Restaurant of the Year by the Chicago Tribune (owners of the Daily Herald).
“We’ve found that if we provide top-notch hospitality and make a connection with the customer, provide them with a great value and a high-quality product, they’re going to come,” Horan said. “The accolades are gratifying, but we feel like we’ve got a lot more work to do.”
With those accolades come expectations.
“You have to stay on your ‘A’ game every night. And every single person that comes in, you have to have that focus and make sure that you make whatever event they’re celebrating special,” Horan said. “They may have waited a long time for a reservation, or they may have saved money to come here. And you have to respect that and make sure that you’re aware of that with every table that sits. It can be a little daunting sometimes, for sure.”
With its size, The Greggory is an anomaly in an award category dominated by small bistro-style eateries.
“It’s a testament to chef Jose’s ability to produce super-high-quality food at volume, and also our servers to make the experience feel intimate, even though it’s a big restaurant,” he said. “We have 300 seats plus a bar. I would imagine the other three restaurants nominated altogether don’t have 300 seats.”
While Horan said the restaurant is drawing guests from the city and the farthest reaches of the suburbs, they’re first ambition has always been to be “a cornerstone” in the neighborhood.
They do weekly Chicago Bears watch parties and offer celebratory shots every time the Bears score a touchdown or field goal.
“That first week was a lot of shots,” Horan said. “But things like that are what you have to do in order to be busy full time. You have to become that neighborhood place.”
Now that they’ve found their footing, Hearth Hospitality is considering options for opening another location. Horan said they’re currently in lease negotiations on a spot in Oak Brook.
“I’m very familiar with the Oak Brook market,” said Horan, who spent five years there with Gibsons. “It would be a very exciting place for us to go.”
While the group is keeping one eye on the future, they’re also mindful of how important the present is to getting there.
“We’re just getting started here. We plan on this place being here for the next 20 years,” Horan said. “We can always do better. We’re blown away by all the recognition, but now our next goal is ‘How do we go from No. 33 on that list to top 10? How do we go from best new restaurant to best restaurant.?’”
rwest@dailyherald.com