Come 2026, Avec, one of Chicago's most acclaimed restaurants, will open its first suburban spot inside a former boxing gym in Highwood.

The restaurant, from the James Beard award-winning group One Off Hospitality behind popular spots The Publican and Big Star, is slated to open at 250 Waukegan Ave. in the spring of 2026, the group confirmed to NBC Chicago in a release.

Earlier this week, rumors of the popular Mediterranean restaurant coming to the North Shore swirled after a flyer for an upcoming Highwood Design Week event surfaced .

“After years of building our presence across Chicago’s neighborhoods, we are thrilled to continue our expansion into the suburbs with the opening of avec Highwood,” Donnie Madia, Partner & Restaurateur, One Off Hospitality said in the release. “Chicago’s

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