(Above) Tortoise Club on the February 25 episode of Chicago P.D. This view is from the front of the restaurant, looking toward a private dining area in the back. In the scene, an undercover Chicago police officer named Antonio (seated at far right) goes to the restaurant to discuss a robbery scheme. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

19-Mar-15 – When Chicago P.D. was scouting for a swanky restaurant to play the part of a swanky restaurant owned by criminals, it was Tortoise Club that got the callback.

The River North restaurant has appeared as a location on network television three times in less than a year and a half.

On February 25, Tortoise Club was the setting for a scene for NBC’s Chicago P.D. The show filmed there on January 29. In the episode that aired, What Puts You on That Ledge, Tortoise Club is referred to by its real name.

Tortoise Club has appeared in Empire, a series on the Fox network. The new show filmed there on November 19, 2014.

(Above) Camera equipment on sidewalk in front of Tortoise Club.

On October 15 and October 16, 2013, NBC’s Chicago Fire, of which Chicago P.D. is a spin-off, filmed at Tortoise Club. Next door, the fourth floor of The Museum of Broadcast Communications was used for wardrobe, food services, and production staging.

WTTW’s restaurant review show, Check, Please!, taped at Tortoise Club and interviewed owner Keene Addington for a segment that aired on January 17, 2014. 190 North, a lifestyle news program on WLS-TV, was at the restaurant for a segment that aired on March 18, 2013.

A spokesperson for Tortoise Club says the restaurant has also appeared in promos for local stations and talk shows.