The Uptown Theatre on Broadway, a few doors south of 4832 N. Broadway. Photo: Marc Heiden - User: (WT-shared) Gorilla Jones at wts wikivoyage / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Uptown’s stretch of Broadway north of Lawrence Avenue has a new dinner option. Marigold Restaurant, a modern Indian restaurant, has opened at 4832 N. Broadway.
The menu draws on dishes from across India rather than a single regional tradition, a contrast with the many Chicago Indian restaurants that lean heavily on North Indian standards. The restaurant serves dinner every night except Monday.
A busy block
Marigold’s address puts it in the heart of Uptown’s entertainment district. The block sits just north of the Uptown Theatre, the 1925 Balaban and Katz movie palace that has been closed since 1981, and steps from the Green Mill, the jazz club that has operated in the same building since 1935. The Aragon Ballroom and the Riviera Theatre are within a few minutes’ walk, and both draw large concert crowds on weekend nights.
That traffic is part of the bet. Restaurants near the Lawrence and Wilson Red Line stations can catch diners before and after shows, though the area still has plenty of vacant storefronts and some blocks go quiet on weeknights.
Joining the neighborhood
The restaurant has moved quickly to join local business circles. Marigold is among a group of businesses that signed on this fall with Business Partners, the Chamber for Uptown, alongside theaters, insurance agencies and real estate offices.
New restaurants on Broadway also face the familiar challenges of the area: limited parking, a long lakefront winter and heavy competition from Argyle Street’s Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants a few blocks north. Marigold is betting that a more polished Indian menu will set it apart.
Diners can find the restaurant’s hours and menu on its website. Reservations are taken by phone.
Linh Tran-Whitaker covers Argyle Street, dining and community life.
