RiNo’s Walnut Room renovation complete; The Who’s Simon Townsend performs on May 3

The Walnut Room has completed an expansion and renovation of the kitchen at its River North location, 3131 Walnut St.

The six-week project doubled the size of The Walnut Room’s original kitchen, providing much-needed space to accommodate upgraded equipment, including two new pizza ovens.

“These changes will allow us to run our food operations more efficiently and provide better quality food to our patrons,” said John Burr, owner of The Walnut Room.

The larger kitchen will make it easier for Chef Jonah Munson to eventually expand the restaurant’s menu, which features an array of pizzas, sandwiches and salads. Music fans may also notice that The Walnut Room’s concert hall also includes a new bar, since the last one was removed to make way for the new kitchen. The music venue still has capacity for 180 people for concerts and can host up to 65 for seated events, such as rehearsal dinners or private receptions.

While concerts were suspended during the construction, the venue has resumed its regular slate of shows, which includes Simon Townsend of The Who on Saturday, May 3.