Siete Azul, a new Mexican seafood restaurant, opened Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. It takes over the space The Chicago Diner left behind when it closed its Logan Square location in December. The diner’s original Lakeview restaurant stayed open.
Owner Luis Zendejas turned 25 two days before the opening, according to Chicago Food Magazine. He graduated from DePaul University in 2023 with a finance degree and was headed for a career in that field. Then his father got hurt, and Zendejas stepped in to help at the family restaurant.
“Obviously, I would never hope for my dad to break his foot, but I’m glad it happened because I found my calling because of it,” he told Eater Chicago.
That restaurant is Las Islas Marias, the Mexican seafood spot his parents, Bernardo and Blanca Zendejas, opened in Wheeling in 2010. Zendejas became an equal partner there in 2022, and he and his parents self-financed Siete Azul with savings from the business, Chicago Food Magazine reported.
The new restaurant also borrows from the old one. “Siete” comes from siete mares, the seafood soup served at Las Islas Marias, while “azul” nods to the ocean. Eater Chicago reported that the concept also reflects the places he and his parents have lived, including a town near Santa Cruz, California. His parents are from Michoacán, Mexico, and he grew up in the Chicago suburbs, according to Block Club Chicago.
“Everything is a mix of some life experiences or memories of mine with cuisines and dishes that I’ve come to admire in Chicago, California, and Mexico,” Zendejas told Eater Chicago.
What’s on the menu at Siete Azul
The opening menu has 16 dishes, and seafood leads the way. Look for ceviche de camarón with shrimp, cucumber and fresh lime, butter-sauteed scallops over poblano sauce and huachinango zarandeado, a slowly grilled whole red snapper with guajillo-tomato sauce.
Steak, chicken and pork get their turn too. The carne asada frites pair grilled skirt steak with chimichurri and house sweet potato fries, a nod to an ingredient Zendejas told Eater Chicago is popular in Michoacán.
“I want Siete Azul to surprise people with how upscale Mexican food can be but also with how comforting seafood can be,” he told the outlet.
Inside the 70-seat space
Chicago firm 555 Design handled the interior, which seats 60 at tables and 10 at the bar. Chicago Food Magazine lists lime-washed brick walls, wooden banquettes with blue upholstery and custom tin wall sconces among the details. The bright blue and yellow exterior makes the former diner hard to miss.
What’s next for Siete Azul
The drinks are still on the way. Siete Azul is BYOB for now, with a $10 fee per six-pack of beer or seltzer and $10 per bottle of wine. Hard liquor isn’t allowed. A full bar with specialty cocktails, beer and wine is expected to launch in mid-November, according to the restaurant’s website.
Siete Azul is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday and Thursday and from 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It’s closed Wednesdays.
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