WGN Spotlight Chicago

Enjoy a unique culinary journey with Asian gourmet delights! “2D Restaurant” is the first hand drawn two-dimensional Asian eatery making you feel like you’re walking into a comic book. Kevin Yu and Vanessa Thanh Vu joins us with more.

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Here’s how you can support their GoFundMe.

2d-restaurant.com

WGN Daytime Chicago

From modern Taiwanese fried chicken sandwiches to Japanese mochi desserts, you can discover a world of flavors at 2d Restaurant.

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Founder, Kevin Yu joined us to celebrate National Mochi Day with the restaurant’s famous mochi donuts.

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3155 N. Halsted St

Timeout

Two exciting new additions are headed to Time Out Market Chicago next week!

2d Restaurant and Libanais will be open for business inside the Fulton Market food and cultural hub starting August 19. They join a star-studded lineup of the city’s best restaurants and chefs, including Qing Xiang Yuan Mini, Demera, Urbanbelly, Art Smith’s Sporty Bird and more. Diners will be able to try a variety of sweet and savory offerings from the newcomers, from mochi doughnuts and milk tea to crispy falafel and juicy shawarma. Here’s what to expect.

ABC7 eye witness news

I tried

At 2D restaurant in Lakeview, a family-owned mochi donuts and fried chicken restaurant that opened in 2022, social media also wasn't on owner Kevin Yu's mind.

SEE ALSO: Carmela Wallace, mother of rapper Juice WRLD, opens Homewood Brewing

But, with more than 72,000 followers on Instagram, social media has been a big part of their success.

Renee Koontz, content creator behind Instagram account "Chicago by Ren," posted a video for 2D restaurant that gained millions of views. Koontz charges up to $1,000 per post, depending on the client.

"It really just depends on what the company or the restaurant has for a budget. But, I do try to be flexible because I do want to work with people who need the social media exposure," Koontz said.

Despite the popularity of Yu's 2D restaurant, he still is figuring out how to attract repeat customers.

Chicago Tribune

I tried my best to ignore 2d Restaurant, which opened with long lines and a torrent of social media attention in February.
 

Though I knew it sold pon de ring doughnuts (often referred to as mochi doughnuts) and fried chicken sandwiches, all anyone could discuss was the design, which looked like a Paris-themed coloring book before a kid got the chance to attack it with a crayon. It looked like a gimmick, which would attract a crowd at the beginning for the novelty, before eventually closing when locals lost interest.
 

But months later, it’s clear 2d Restaurant is here to stay. While the design is as stunning and Instagram-ready as you would expect, the fascinating menu is worth trying too........

Interior Design

fresh pick! 2d [$] This Pan-Asian patisserie has a novel design conceit: The interior of the obviously 3D eatery looks like a 2D black-and-white comic (akin to the famous pencil-sketch-animation music video for A-ha's “Take on Me”). The monochrome illusion was created by Vanessa Thanh Vu, 2d's Co-owner and designer, who for six months collaborated with a local artist on the hand-drawn life-size murals. It took Vu another two months to finish drawing on the furniture and flooring. The menu features delicious Phin-style coffee (a French press/drip hybrid that creates aromatic coffee with very low acidity), mochi donuts, and Asian-fusion fried chicken sandwiches. For selfies, hop inside the repurposed French clawfoot tub: You'll look as if you came straight from the page of a Parisian storybook. 3155 N. Halsted Street; 773-360-8484.

EATER CHICAGO

Fortunately for cabin fever-stricken locals, a new cafe now open in Lakeview is transporting patrons into an immersive, comic book-style version of Paris intricately rendered in black-and-white illustrations. 2D Restaurant, the creation of wife-and-husband team Vanessa Thanh Vu and Kevin Yu, has debuted as one of Chicago’s most unusual dining spots, specializing in cups of Vietnamese phin coffee and colorful mochi doughnuts...

nbc chicago

Hand-drawn two-dimensional monochrome imagery covers a new Lakeview restaurant, which is making its mark on social media.

2d Restaurant, located at 3155 N. Halsted St., gave a soft opening on Thursday, whipping up Pon de ring donuts, fried chicken and coffee for Chicagoans.

Hundreds of thousands of people have watched videos of the Parisian-inspired restaurant on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, with several noting it feels like stepping inside a drawing...

wgn9 chicago

CHICAGO — A 2D Restaurant in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, lets visitors step into a two-dimensional café where they’re transported to a hand-drawn city of Paris.

Husband and wife duo Kevin Yu and Vanessa Vu combined their backgrounds in the food industry and interior design for the concept for 2D Restaurant.

Vu first approached Yu with the idea of a black and white restaurant. Yu said he thought that was “too boring”.  Vu then combined the idea with Yu’s interest for comic books and her interest in the Netflix series Emily in Paris. They both fell in love with the concept...

timeout chicago

Ambiance has always an important part of the experience of dining at a restaurant, but it's no longer enough to simply hang some art on the walls and light a few candles in the evening. Thanks to the rise of social media and experiential pop-ups, decor and theming has become just as important as what's coming out of the kitchen—just look at the dazzling curtains and greenery at Alla Vita or the cozy Euro-style café character of GoodFunk.

The recently-opened 2d Restaurant in Lakeview is centered around a unique, comic book-inspired aesthetic, lined with black and white drawings as well as chairs and tables that have been covered in white paint and outlined with bold black accents. Former Kizuki Ramen operator Kevin Yu and his wife Vanessa Yu (an interior designer) were inspired by cafés decorated with intricate drawings that originated in Malaysia a few years ago, eventually spreading to places like Tokyo, Hong Kong and Dubai. In the midst of the pandemic, the pair began thinking about the kinds of experiences that could entice people to sit down in a restaurant...

fox 32 chicago

There's a new restaurant opening in Lakeview on Tuesday. It's called The 2D Restaurant and the owners say it's the first "hand-drawn, monochrome, two-dimensional restaurant" in the United States.

chineseteas 101

2d Restaurant is the brainchild of a dedicated wife-and-husband duo, Vanessa Thanh Vu and Kevin Yu, who spent over two years perfecting every detail of the space. This establishment might appeal to those who value both ambiance and flavorful, varied menu options.
 

Pros

• Unique and interesting ambiance, with detailed artwork that’s photo-worthy.

• Good place to take visitors or for dates due to its aesthetics.

• Mochi donuts taste great, especially the ube flavor.

• Offers vegan and plant-based menu options.

• Friendly staff and efficient service.
   

Cons

• Couldn’t find any.