Chef Joel Nickson founded Wishbone at 1800 W. Grand Ave in July 1990 with 23 seats, nine stools, and a half dozen paintings by his mother, Lia Nickson. His “southern reconstruction cooking” — Dixie standards like baked bone-in ham, blackened catfish and Carolina crab cakes, prepared with a minimum of heavy oils, deep frying or added sugar — with its mix-and-match menu of sides such as sauteed spinach, mashed sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese, caught on fast.

A second Wishbone opened in 1992 with 170 seats at 1001 W. Washington, at a time when Chicago's West Loop still seemed uncharted territory. Wishbone was an early part of the neighborhood's turn from commercial district to culinary hot spot. In October 2018, after 27 years on Washington Blvd, Wishbone relocated to 161 N Jefferson Street.

The art on our walls and the poems on our children's menus came from our own family — paintings and illustrations by Lia Nickson, poems by Richard Nickson.

After 36 wonderful years, Wishbone closed its doors on August 28, 2026. Thank you to every guest, neighbor, and friend who shared a table with us.