When the principals behind the Cornerstone Restaurant Group, which has overseen every Michael Jordan Restaurant since 1993, sat down to plan their newest outpost in Oak Brook, they found themselves day dreaming about days gone by—about MJ and the 1990s in particular.

Remember those? All those game-winning pull-up jumpers. Fadeaways that seemed to start in one zip code and end in another. Gravity-defying dunks from the free-throw line. All those great Bulls teams. The six championships rings. Tickertape parades year after year.

If you were a Bulls fan, die-hard or casual, it was the best of times.

Would it be possible, they wondered, to build a sleek, contemporary dining experience that not only pleased the palate but unearthed old memories? Could a restaurant, if only for a couple precious hours, rekindle some sense of the joy and excitement that we all felt during Jordan’s heyday during the 1990s?

“We talked a lot about nostalgia and the power of emotions,” says Cornerstone Brand Operations Manager Josh Zadikoff. “Jordan means different things to different people these days, but his brand is still so powerful.”

To begin, the Cornerstone team had to look for creative ways to infuse Michael Jordan’s persona—not only his personality and passions but also his current interests—into the restaurant itself. Food seemed like a good place to start.

Executive Chef Craig Couper is old enough to have witnessed Michael Jordan’s ascent as it was unfolding. The 1985 dunk contest. The childhood frenzy over anyone who had a pair of Air Jordans on the playground. Jordan scoring 63 points against the Celtics in 1986. The all-out parquet wars versus Detroit. The good teams—and then the great teams—that lead to all those championships.

Having worked at Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse since 2011, Couper also knows more than just about anyone outside MJ’s inner circle about what No. 23 likes to eat. Exporting some of those signature dishes from the steakhouse to Oak Brook was nothing less than a prerequisite for success.

Take Couper’s famous maple-glazed double-cut bacon appetizer. MJ loves it so much that he frequently asks the restaurant to send the same ingredients Couper uses at the restaurant out to him whenever he has a craving. That bacon had to be in Oak Brook. So did many of the steaks, which are caramelized with Couper’s signature glaze of beef fat with brown butter and Worcestershire sauce. And then there’s the garlic bread—some of the richest slices of toast in the city—which get ladled tableside with a creamy blue-cheese fondue.

There’s something, as Couper will tell you, about being able to eat the very same dishes that Michael Jordan orders that has a special appeal to everyday diners. But Couper also started thinking about how those glorious MJ-lead teams brought people together—families and flocks of friends—during the 1990s.

Thus Cornerstone began thinking of Michael Jordan’s Restaurant in more casual terms. So
instead of positioning itself strictly as a steakhouse, MJ’s Oak Brook will be the first MJ restaurant that will also focus on wallet-friendly American bistro fare as well. Think of it as a hybrid, a place designed to cater not only to sophisticated Saturday night steak celebrations but also weekend lunches, after-work business stops and post-shopping respites.

Instead of serving the steaks a la carte, each order will come with a choice of a half dozen sides that run the gamut from hand-cut Kennebec fries and Israeli couscous to salads and broccolini. The raw bar options are particularly impressive, including a nuanced yuzu-drenched tuna poke with lilts of jalapeno spice and a knockout Baja-inspired shrimp cocktail redolent with avocados, orange notes and chipotle. But in a nod to family style celebrations, the restaurant in Oak Brook will allow guests to sample three different raw bar selections on a single sharing platter.

Anyone who wants to order a steak will find plenty of choices, including a 45-day dry-aged Delmonico sluiced in a ginger-balsamic jus, but Couper’s new Americana options will delight as well. Couper wanted to make the new options pull from Chicago influences. So guests will be able to order a 16-inch-softball-sized Wagyu meatball, stuffed full of sweet scraps of basil. There will be cheeseburgers and a buttermilk-soaked pork chop sandwich on brioche. Plenty of salads. And seasonal fish options, including a particularly summer-worth Chilean sea bass entrée served over a sweet corn maque choux that redefines “creamed corn.”

“I told my sous chefs that our goal was to keep things real,” says Couper. “No smoke and mirrors. We wanted to source the best ingredients and let them speak for themselves. Things had to be so good that people would want to share.”

If Michael Jordan’s steakhouses is reflective of Michael Jordan’s retirement years—a sophisticated environment with sophisticated food that celebrated the finer things in life—then Oak Brook will feel slightly more casual and loose, a place built for families and spinning yarns about the “good old days.”

The idea, says Zadikoff, was to make people remember, almost on a subliminal level, the energy and excitement of Michael Jordan’s years with the Bulls. There was no desire to create a “sports bar” environment. No Jordan jerseys hanging from the rafters. No need for SportsCenter bleating from every room, and yet the defining elements of the room had to be basketball-related.

Subtle touches could speak volumes. Around the main bar, guests might notice basketball flooring. The color of the restaurant’s banquettes will mimic the colors of fresh basketball leather. And more than 100 snapshots of Jordan—curated from photographer Bill Smith’s personal collection—will be instant conversation starters.

There’s nostalgia galore in those pictures. Michael Jordan in full-blown competitive mode. Trash-talking moments. Game winning shots. Images of MJ seemingly gliding on air. Jordan mixing it up with fans and celebrities.

But it’s the little touches that Zadikoff says will likely bring people back for return visits. The restaurant’s central bar will whip up classic cocktails, including a killer pear-flavored gin mix topped with black walnut bitters, and pour wine inspired by Michael Jordan’s own tastes, including his appreciation for Pinot Noirs from Oregon and Burgundy.

There will be everyday wines by the glass and celebratory selections, including special Barrel 23 wine from Domaine Serene and even vintage bottles sourced from Michael Jordan’s own cellar by general manager Myron Markewycz.

‘The amazing thing about Michael Jordan is that he represents different things to different people,” says Zadikoff. “To this day, when people see Michael Jordan in person or they think about the NBA in the 1990s, they just feel good. We wanted to find a way to bring back those memories and make sure to preserve them here in Oak Brook.”

Michael Jordan’s Restaurant will open at 1225 West 22nd Street in Oak Brook on July 17. For more information, visit michaeljordansrestaurant.com.