"The city of Chicago decided to give us a massive twist. Lincoln Avenue is being shut down until October, but you know, I'm a martini half-full kind of guy." Marty O'Connor said that in a video for Gunny's Pub. Then he tossed his drink over his shoulder, and the glass broke on an empty Lincoln Avenue.
Gunny's had been getting ready to open for more than a year. It said it would still open September 16 anyway, and WTTW was listing it as a recent opening by September 21. That timing matters for the whole neighborhood. Most of Lincoln Park's new restaurants this year opened while the main street out front was fenced off. The weekend of October 24 and 25 will be the first time the Lincoln and Clark corridor has a full calendar with traffic expected back and all of them open.
Seven weeks without a street
The closure on Lincoln Avenue between Wrightwood and Diversey started August 10. The Chicago Department of Water Management is replacing nearly 3,000 feet of water main and lead service lines on that stretch. Block Club Chicago reported that more than 30 businesses found out about it when they showed up for work that Monday. The Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce said the city gave no advance notice. According to the city, crews hit an underground electric duct right where the new main was supposed to go. The pipe had to move toward the middle of the street, and the city called the work an "emergency change."
The block is a mixed one. It has Batter & Berries, Juno Sushi, Delilah's, Pat's Pizza & Ristorante, Rotofugi, CityHome Vacuums & More and Rose's Lounge, along with dental offices, chiropractors, salons and a medical spa. Pattie Sheehan owns Second Act Cancer Recovery Boutique at 2768 N. Lincoln. She told Block Club that half a dozen patients canceled appointments after construction started. Many of them come by medical transport or get dropped off at the door.
The timeline kept changing. Ald. Timmy Knudsen's 43rd Ward newsletter first gave October 6 as a tentative completion date. Block Club's August report said traffic would return around October 10 on a concrete base, weather permitting. Then on September 25, the Chamber said the city's subcontractor, NPL, expected to take down the road closure that day. Lincoln would reopen to traffic, but most parking would stay unavailable during restoration work. The ward's original notice also lists full-width resurfacing and parkway and sidewalk repairs, so expect some work zones along the curb for a while.
What opened behind the cones
Gunny's Pub is at 2642 N. Lincoln, right in the middle of the closed stretch. It's in the 145-year-old building that used to be Racine Plumbing Bar & Grill. O'Connor and his wife, Mary Nedbalski, told WBEZ that their foot-traffic analysis showed 5,000 to 6,000 fewer visits a week on the block during the closure. They opened anyway.
The pub is named for O'Connor's late hunting dog, and the menu leans into that Midwestern hunter-gatherer idea. Chef Mike McKinnell has cooked at Oceana and Root & Bone in New York and at Dusek's and Mordecai in Chicago. The front room serves bar food and shareables. The back room, under a big skylight, does what McKinnell calls casual fine dining. On the menu:
- Duck-confit poutine, one of the signature shareables
- Stuffed cheese bread, a sourdough pull-apart filled with Hook's yellow and Laubscher white cheddar and topped with crispy duck cracklings
- Italian beef with house-made giardiniera
- Bavette steak with salsa verde and wedge-cut fries
- A smashburger with griddled onion and bacon mayo
McKinnell also hopes to add more game to the seasonal menu over time, possibly quail, venison and, in spring, rabbit.
Down the avenue at 2580 N. Lincoln, Bonhomme Group announced September 18 as the opening date for Lolo y Lola. It's a 22-seat Spanish pintxos and wine bar from founder Daniel Alonso and chef Marcos Campos, right next door to the group's Beatnik Lincoln Park. There are no reservations. Plan on gildas, croquetas, conservas, jamón ibérico, and a list heavy on sherry, vermouth and Spanish and Portuguese wines. By September 21, WTTW was listing both Gunny's and Lolo y Lola as recent Lincoln Park openings.
Clark Street kept moving
Two blocks east, the openings didn't have to compete with a closed street. Muhājir opened in July at 2630 N. Clark St., in a former sushi bar. It's a 44-seat room with a wood-burning grill you can see from the open kitchen. Zubair Mohajir and Jacob Dela Cruz cook food that follows the old spice-route migrations through South Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, North African and Filipino traditions. Think goat biryani, wood-fired focaccia and grilled fish. Bobo, a walk-in-only Filipino cocktail bar where Dela Cruz runs the food, is tucked behind it. Eater's mid-July roundup confirmed both were open.
Then on September 10, Piccadilly Market opened at 444 W. Fullerton Pkwy., the longtime home of Emilio's Tapas. The 5,200-square-foot space packs in a sandwich café, a coffee bar, a sommelier-curated wine shop, a bar and lounge, and an 80-person courtyard called Piccadilly Square. Chef Mark Mendez, formerly of Vera in the West Loop, makes English muffins, focaccia and Roman-style pizza in-house. The shelves are stocked from Chicago producers, including Metric Coffee, Publican Quality Bread, Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Rare Tea Cellar and Katherine Anne Confections. Phase Three Brewing makes a beer just for the market.
Ezankaya Bann Suan, at 2453 N. Halsted, rounds out the season. It's the second location of a Rogers Park spot that WTTW describes as Thai with a Japanese touch. The Lincoln Park menu includes sushi alongside Thai tabletop barbecue and hot pot from Thailand's Isaan region.
Before you walk over
A few of these places post schedules that don't agree with each other, so check before you go.
| Spot | Address | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Gunny's Pub | 2642 N. Lincoln Ave. | Lunch and dinner; front bar menu, bistro dining room in back |
| Lolo y Lola | 2580 N. Lincoln Ave. | No reservations; posted hours Tue–Thu 3–11 p.m., Fri–Sat 3 p.m.–midnight, Sun 3–10 p.m., closed Mon |
| Muhājir | 2630 N. Clark St. | Its website lists Tue–Sat, 5–10 p.m.; Eater's opening listing said Wed–Sun |
| Bobo | Behind Muhājir | Walk-in only; its website shows both a Tue–Sat and a Wed–Sun schedule, 5 p.m.–midnight |
| Piccadilly Market | 444 W. Fullerton Pkwy. | All day: coffee, sandwiches, wine shop, bar, courtyard |
| Ezankaya Bann Suan | 2453 N. Halsted St. | Posted hours daily 11 a.m.–10 p.m. |
With traffic back, parking is the main hassle on Lincoln. The Chamber's September 25 update said most spaces would stay unavailable while restoration continues. The Clark Street and Fullerton spots are an easy walk from the same corner.
The weekend that tests the whole corridor
The Chamber held Lincoln Park Uncorked, its wine stroll along Lincoln from Diversey to Webster, on September 17. That was during the closure. Its next corridor event is Spooktacular, and it will be the first one held after the expected reopening. It covers both streets with the new openings. On Saturday, October 24, from 1 to 4 p.m., trick-or-treating runs along Lincoln Avenue from Diversey to Webster, right through the stretch that was closed. On Sunday, October 25, same hours, it moves to Clark Street from Armitage to Diversey and Diversey from Lakeview to Orchard. More than 40 businesses hand out treats each day.
The park's institutions are running Halloween events around the same weekend, so it's easy to make a full afternoon of it:
- Lincoln Park Conservatory's BOO-tanical Bash, Wednesday, October 14, 6 to 8 p.m.: pumpkin painting, scavenger hunts, tarot and scary stories.
- Conservatory After Dark with Meadowlark, October 22, 6 to 10 p.m.: a 21+ night with cocktail stations and music.
- Zoo Brews: Howls and Growls at Lincoln Park Zoo, October 23 and 24, 6:30 to 10 p.m., for ages 21 and up.
- BOO-seum Bash at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Sunday, October 25, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It wraps up just before Clark Street's trick-or-treating starts.
The zoo's free Fall Fest runs through November 1. Green City Market's Saturday outdoor markets at 1817 N. Clark St. continue through November 21. ZooLights runs November 20 through January 3, 2027, and public tickets go on sale October 6.
Still on the way
One more opening is still pending. Paulo Atelier, a European-style café from the couple behind Paulo Gelato & Chocolate in West Town, plans to open at 1205 W. Webster Ave. with pastries, viennoiseries, gelato and hot chocolate. WTTW reported in September that it's expected "this fall or possibly winter," so there's no firm date yet. On Lincoln, the curb work is the last piece of the water-main project. Until the sidewalks and parkways are restored, plan on walking in from a side street for dinner at Gunny's.
Lincoln Avenue spent most of this fall closed off. When that happens, small details like how easily you can get to a storefront, how the block looks, and how quickly it fills back up start to show in what nearby homes are worth. If you live near this stretch and you're wondering where your home stands as the street recovers, Julie Latsko can walk through it with you. Get a free home valuation and design consultation.
