Power & Money

Billion Dollar Deals, Over Easy, at Yolk in River North

Photo: courtesy Yolk

How does a certain kind of place become the place for a certain kind of thing? In Hollywood Morton’s is where studio executives and big agents go to talk big deals over steak. In Chicago the Counsellor’s Row coffeeshop was the place if you needed to leave your alderman something in a brown paper bag, until it had a bug problem (the FBI kind). And now Crain’s reports on the reputation that one location of the local breakfast chain Yolk, in River North at 747 N. Wells, has among the tech startup and venture capital communities. “It’s not in the Loop, which is too stodgy and bankerish, and there’s always parking on the street,” says one tech investor in explaining why it’s a low pressure setting for informal talks, the VC-meets-startup equivalent of “It’s Just Lunch!” Besides power breakfasters like Groupon’s Andrew Mason, it also draws power, period— Mayor Emanuel stops in for oatmeal regularly. There’s an obviously similarity to Silicon Valley’s legendary Buck’s meetup spot, though one guest points out a distinctively Chicago difference: “You don’t see cops at Buck’s.” [Chicago Business]

Billion Dollar Deals, Over Easy, at Yolk in River North