Business & Tech

Rooftop Garden Planned to Supply New Dimo's Pizza

The new pizza restaurant plans a green roof and indoor herb garden in hopes of supplementing ingredients at the Bucktown restaurant.

The owner of the upcoming Bucktown restaurant Dimo’s Pizza says his new Six Corners location will have an indoor herb garden and green roof to grow fresh ingredients on site. 

Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau is on track to open the second Dimo’s at 1615 N. Damen Ave. yet in spring, he said. The original location is on Clark Street in Wrigleyville, where last summer, Dimo’s staff grew a fresh outdoor herb garden.

It was a successful move he’s hoping to replicate in Bucktown, with plans to one day turn the entire roof into a green space used to help supply the restaurant.

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“We have a lot of space up on that roof, and one of the things we’re looking to do is have rooftop garden,” Syrkin-Nikolau said. “We actually did an outdoor garden last year… We have a small office that’s just south of our Wrigleyville store, and there was a nice strop of land. We grew things like basil, tomatoes, jalepenos.”

“I think the eventual goal is to cover the entire roof (at the Bucktown location),” he continued. “Then we could source fresh ingredients for a salad bar and pizza.”

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"Profit is one of them, but we also think of the planet and we think of the people, so we feel we’re most successful when we maximize our profit, and better our people and the planet."

The target is to transform the entire roof into a garden in three years.

Syrkin-Nikolau says the new storefront is still on track for a spring opening, so they plan to start the green elements of the space soon. For now, that means creating the indoor herb garden using reclaimed wood from an old bar in Saugatuck, Michigan.

In the end, the hope is to narrow in on certain vegetables and source 100 percent of them from their own garden. It’s all a part of the owner’s “triple bottom line” philosophy.

“We try to do things in respect to the planet,” Syrkin-Nikolau said. “We have a philosophy, the triple bottom line. Traditionally, the bottom line is profit… Profit is one of them, but we also think of the planet and we think of the people, so we feel we’re most successful when we maximize our profit, and better our people and planet. It’s a juggling act between those three.”

The restaurant’s menu is split into different flavors, like classic pizza toppings, Backyard BBQ and Comida Caliente. The massive selection has almost 50 different combos fans can choose from. Pizzas range from about $12 to $28.

News of the green roof is park of Syrkin-Nikolau’s “unveiling process” he told Patch about in February. He says another cool detail he plans to incorporate in the restaurant will be revealed in a month or so, but hint-hint: He says it’s gaining speed in Chicago and pertains to the rooftop gardens. 

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