Pro Wrestler Serves Duck Fat Dough, Stuffed Burgers at Ashland Eatery Debut
By Carrie Frillman

Diners at Lincoln Park’s new The Squared Circle can expect to devour burgers stuffed with peanut butter, deep dish pizza dough made with duck fat and tons of other decadent menu items inspired by pro wrestler Lisa Marie Varon’s guilty pleasures.

Peanut butter-stuffed burger patties, wood-fired clam and bacon pizzas and wrestling memorabilia have joined forces to create a new Lincoln Park restaurant inspired by what owner and pro wrestler Lisa Marie Varon considers to be her vices.

“All of this stuff at the restaurant represents my guilty pleasures,” Varon said Wednesday at a soft opening for The Squared Circle. “People always ask me why pizza, burgers and wrestling. Those are my three favorite things.”

Located at 2418 N. Ashland Ave., the restaurant is parked on a busy corridor in Lincoln Park. Its official grand opening is Thursday. The wood-lined walls are adorned with autographed wrestling memorabilia and there’s enough seating for about 60 people.

Although wrestling fans can rest assured that the sport will be showcased at Varon’s restaurant, she insists other sports will not be neglected. Basketball, football, baseball and hockey will also be shown on a regular basis.

“This is a great move for her,” her cousin, Ryan Madigan, 28, said at Tuesday’s soft opening. “The food is unbelievable and there are millions of sports bars in Chicago but there’s nothing like this.”

Varon said the process for opening Squared Circle—it was first announced in October—went smoothly but it definitely came down to the wire.

“We just got our liquor license this morning,” she joked. “Yesterday, none of these chairs had their backings on.”

The restaurant is the third in Varon’s family, she said, but unlike others owned by her father, this one is all her own.

Her husband, Lee, is her partner in the venture and the brains behind several recipes, including the “fat Elvis” burger which was recently featured on WGN News. The beef patty for the creation is stuffed with peanut butter and banana caramelized ricotta cheese.

“All of our burgers are stuffed,” Varon said. “They’re delicious. They’re all gourmet and all have a different, unique taste to them.”

She’s also serving up crispy fries and several different types of pizza—an extra crispy thin crust, a traditional New York-style and a deep dish with dough made using duck fat.

“It’s decadent,” she said, smiling.

For now, the restaurant will focus on its dine-in customers and will offer carryout. Delivery may come later but Varon says she wants to take “baby steps.”

The 41-year-old competitor, who goes by the ringname “Tara” in TNA Wrestling and formerly, “Victoria” in the WWE. She won the TNA Women’s Knockouts Championship at last year’s biggest TNA pay-per-view event, Bound For Glory.

Varon previously owned a pizza restaurant in Kentucky, she said, and brought several family recipes along with her to Chicago. She also tapped into local businesses to help with branding—Bucktown’s One Hour Tees created the signage, which features a pro wrestling motif and the backdrop of a Chicago flag.

Though she remains active in pro wrestling, Varon says Chicagoans will definitely see her at Squared Circle.

“This is not a pet project for me,” she told the Chicago Tribune when she announced the restaurant. “This is my job. I will continue to travel a couple days a week for wrestling, but I will be in the restaurant several days a week.”