‘The Bear’ Star Lionel Boyce Reveals His Favorite Low-Key Bar in Chicago

This is Location Scout, where GQ asks our favorite actors and directors for insider travel recommendations in places where they shot their last project.

On The Bear, Lionel Boyce plays Marcus, the titular restaurant’s gentle and precise pastry chef. Whereas Carmy, Richie, Syd, and everyone else at The Bear turn yelling into a competitive sport, Marcus is always as even-keeled as they come.

Filming the show means that the LA native (and former Odd Future member) keeps returning to Chicago for a couple months at a time—most recently ahead of The Bear season four.

“We always end up there in the early top of the year, so it’s winter and it’s cold,” Boyce says. “It’s always scary, because we usually go in February and January. We look at the weather, and you see zero degrees and stuff like that and you’re like, Okay, here we go.”

He does get acclimated, though, and over the years he’s been able to find some familiar favorites in the Windy City. Here, as The Bear season four drops, Boyce tips us off to the vintage shop with a curation that gets his stamp of approval, the place that’s fueling his Japanese whisky obsession, and the one (very, very small) place he makes sure to visit every year.

Bavette Steakhouse

Bavette is my favorite steakhouse in Chicago. Chicago is a place known for steaks, and it’s just top of the line. They have a great seafood tower as well. Season one, we would do these cast dinners some Fridays, everyone trying to come together and grab a meal. That was a place we kind of would end up going to. Anytime anyone’s asking for a steakhouse out there, I always recommend that spot because I don’t know if it gets any better than that to me.

Wishbone (For Breakfast)

They have good grits and I feel like that’s a thing you don’t find everywhere—a place that does grits well. So I was very happy about that and the pancakes and French toast. I love a Southern breakfast. It’s just a very homey kind of spot that got popular. They were known for a cornflake French toast, but it was really good and everyone that worked there was super nice.

Green Street Smokehouse

Season one, I befriended some of the people who worked at the building I was staying at and they got me a list of places to go to and that was on there. It’s incredible barbecue, but I always just got the brisket and things like that. This year when I went, I tried the chicken wings, and I’m a person who loves chicken wings. They had a smoked wing with a couple of different sauces. I was like, “Wow, this is 10 out of 10.” And it wasn’t far from where I was staying, so I found myself walking over there more than I should have getting those wings.

Shaw’s Crab House

It’s a good seafood spot. I love king crab—I like it just simple, butter and lemon. But the buffalo shrimp there might be my favorite thing there. Sometimes I’ll just go there in the middle of the day by myself and get those buffalo shrimp and some fries or a salad or something. I was out there with somebody, and they never had it, and they’re like, “oh my God.” They were surprised by how good the shrimp was. I think it’s unexpected and sometimes the fried-breaded ratio to the sauce, sometimes it’s off. It’s a little soggy or there’s not enough sauce. This is a good balance. It’s all there.

Sparrow

Sparrow is just a cool low-key spot. It’s not that big. It’s a place that was easy to go to whenever people on the show were like, “Oh, let’s get a drink.” It’s a place you kind of just end up there. It was always good music anytime I was in there, and you could just sit there, hang out, and feel like you can just be in the cut.