Not long after they began dating, the now-married couple Artur Wnorowski and Gosia Pieniazek realized their stuffed cabbages clashed. “Gosia is from the north of Poland, where it’s only meat, and I’m from the south, where it’s half meat, half rice,” says Wnorowski. Adds Pieniazek, with a laugh: “When I made it, he was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Years later, at Pierogi Kitchen, the first of the three Polish restaurants they own, the couple serve a version they can both agree on: one with pork and chuck, rice, and a topping of tomato sauce.

It wasn’t right away, though, that they fully embraced their heritage cuisine. They had met at a Polish hip-hop festival (yes, that’s a thing) in Chicago in 2007. Two years later, they opened Lokal, where they served European comfort food. “We weren’t presenting it as Polish,” Wnorowski recalls. “Maybe we weren’t ready, maybe Chicago wasn’t ready.” Still, a Polish-influenced pierogi Benedict was a hit on the brunch menu.

Chicago was certainly ready for barbecue, though, so the couple opened Earl’s BBQ in Jefferson Park in 2016, Ella’s BBQ in Lincoln Park in 2019, and Firewood BBQ in Bucktown in 2023. Once again it was a pierogi — a smoked brisket one they served as a special — that drew notice. “Everyone was intrigued,” Wnorowski recalls. “One day, Gosia said, ‘Let’s do a pierogi restaurant.’ As we grew as business owners, going back to our roots made sense.”

Last year, they turned Firewood into Pierogi Kitchen, where they serve the brisket version along with classic potato and cheese, sauerkraut and mushroom, and sweet cheese ones. You’ll also find homey staples like zurek (sour rye soup), potato pancakes, and breaded pork loin, as well as Polish dishware, music, beer, and spirits. But this is not your babcia’s restaurant. “Polish places in Chicago were historically meant for hardworking Polish families, like 20 pierogi for $2.99,” Wnorowski says. “You wouldn’t hang out or drink beer and have fun on a Friday night.”

You can do that at Pierogi Kitchen and the two other Polish places the couple subsequently opened. At Wurst Behavior, their sausage-and-beer spot in Albany Park, they showcase the kielbasa and other sausages Wnorowski learned to make on his grandfather’s farm. At Spoko, which took over the Ella’s space, they serve maczanka (pulled meat sandwiches dipped in bone broth), ’80s-era gofry waffles with whipped cream and powdered sugar, and zapiekanka (a.k.a. Polish pizza). “The restaurants and nightclubs in Poland are open pretty much all night, so you’d leave the club at 5 a.m. and get a zapi,” says Wnorowski, who upgrades the Communist-era open-faced baguette with toppings like beets, goat cheese, mushrooms, and candied walnuts.

Retro foods in general might be making a comeback, but Wnorowski also notes, “What’s trending is being true to your core as a restaurateur. Whether it’s Balkan, Ethiopian, or Polish, people are responding to it because they’re getting that authentic experience.”