Cava, Van Leeuwen, Mendocino Farms to join Willis Tower food-hall tenant lineup
Story Highlights Willis Tower's Catalog food hall adds three new restaurants to its lineup.
Mendocino Farms and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream will make their debut in the Chicago market.
Willis Tower's appraised value has declined to $1.03 billion.
Several new restaurants will be moving into the Willis Tower later this year, adding to the offerings at one of downtown's premier food halls.
Catalog at Willis Tower — a 300,000 square-foot, five-story dining, retail and entertainment offering that opened at the base of the tower in 2022 — will be adding three eateries to its lineup. Cava, a Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant, signed the largest of the three recent leases.
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'When we designed Catalog, our intention was to curate an array of offerings unique to the Loop neighborhood,' said Morgan Monroe, vice president of leasing for Perform Properties, in a statement. Perform, a Blackstone Inc. company, handles leasing and management for Willis Tower, which is owned by Blackstone.
Cava, which will occupy 3,156 square feet at Chicago's tallest tower, is expected to open in late 2025. Elsewhere in Chicago, the fast-casual restaurant has a location in Wicker Park.
The two other eateries — Mendocino Farms and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream — are making their debut in the Chicago market with the Willis Tower leases.
"Breaking into the Midwest with Chicago as our first stop just feels right," said Ben Van Leeuwen, CEO and co-founder of Van Leeuwen, in a statement.
The New York City ice cream parlor's first Chicago scoop shop will be a 1,712-square-foot space at Catalog, and it's expected to open later this summer.
Mendocino Farms, a California-based sandwich and salad restaurant, will likewise be making its introduction to Chicago with its 3,012-square-foot space, which is expected to open in October. Mendocino Farms' technology at its first Chicago outfit will include its first kiosk-supported concept, providing a stop-and-go option for downtown workers.
Still struggling compared to most other major U.S. cities, foot traffic at Chicago office buildings was down 44.3% in April 2025 compared to April 2019. Office landlords have been looking for new ways to bring tenants back, including through amenity offerings like retail and restaurants.
A recent appraisal of Willis Tower found the value of the iconic tower has substantially declined. Its new appraised value of $1.03 billion, according to Morningstar, is a 42% drop from the tower's last appraisal in 2018, when it was appraised at $1.78 billion during a loan refinancing. Blackstone paid $1.3 billion for Willis Tower in 2015.
In 2022, Blackstone completed a $500 million investment at Willis Tower, which included the addition of Catalog.
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