PHOTOS: The Noodle Small Plates & Market Opens

Fans of Wilmette’s The Noodle Café now have a new dining option from owner Rob Garrison.

The Noodle Small Plates & Market, a sister restaurant sharing the namesake of the original, officially opened Wednesday after a soft opening two weeks prior.

Located at 1156 Central Ave., sitting next door to the original café, the new restaurant is essentially three eateries and a store mashed into one.

For some, the spot might serve as an extension of the original restaurant, acting as a place to order appetizers and drinks while waiting for a table to open up next door. Others can treat the space as a dining destination in its own right, ordering multiple small plates in the “Italian tapas wine bar”. A counter service option provides a way to grab a quick, on-the-go bite without ordering ahead of time. Meanwhile, the “market” sells dry pasta, homemade sauces, uncooked garlic bread, cold pans of lasagna and more.

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“I wanted to take classic Noodle foods that people enjoy buying, and just have them available on a grab and go basis,” said Garrison, a Wilmette native who also owns local eatery Depot Nuevo. “But then as our creative minds got excited about the project and got to thinking about it more, we decided to expand into a much larger appetizer and small plates menu.”

The restaurant has been busy since opening, Garrison said. He has been especially pleased to see groups dining in the space’s couch-and-coffee-table adorned “living room area”, hanging out for a couple hours, grabbing a few drinks and ordering multiple plates to share.

The restaurant’s menu includes flatbreads, skewers, charcuterie platters, salads, spreads, smaller snacks, desserts, coffee, craft beer and an extensive wine list that can be ordered by the bottle, by the glass or in flights.