News Chicago

The People’s Cafe is open on Belmont Avenue in Avondale, serving coffee and pastries from the storefront that previously housed Cultura Cafe. The cafe is a partnership between building owner and People’s Cafe founder Mary Sommers and new operators Nicholas McMillan and Coco Wallace. The menu features coffee from Common …

Piece, a brewery and pizzeria on North Avenue in Wicker Park, has served New Haven-style thin-crust pizza and house-brewed beer since 2001 in a converted former roofing and construction building. The menu includes New Haven-style pizzas, such as the Tomato Pie, the White Clam pie and a classic pepperoni pie, …

Offset BBQ serves slow-smoked barbecue at 1720 N. California Ave. in Humboldt Park, near the California Avenue entrance to the 606 trail. The kitchen smokes chicken, pork, brisket and St. Louis-style ribs over an offset smoker, the style the restaurant is named for, and serves the meats by the pound …

Kameya Ramen & Sushi serves Korean-Japanese fusion fare at 604 W Belmont Ave in Lakeview, pairing Japanese-style ramen and a full sushi roll list with Korean comfort food and rice bowls. The ramen lineup spans chicken katsu, pork belly, shrimp tempura, veggie miso, curry, kimchi, seafood and a creamy cheese …

Cafecito’s South Loop café sits at 26 E Congress Pkwy, near State Street, serving Cuban sandwiches, coffee and Latin American fare. It’s one of several Cafecito locations around Chicago, each built around pressed sandwiches and espresso drinks. The menu centers on the Cubano pressed sandwich — roasted pork, ham, Swiss …

Chicago Health Foods is a health food market and cafe at 22 W. Maple St. in the Gold Coast, carrying vitamins and supplements alongside a made-to-order deli counter. The cafe menu includes black bean burgers, wraps, fresh-squeezed juices and smoothies such as the Bun in the Sun, Knockout and Ultimate …

Craft & Carvery has opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant at 2101 W North Ave in Wicker Park, after a stint inside the now-closed Time Out Market Chicago. The restaurant serves brick-oven pizza, handcrafted sandwiches and a carving station offering meats by the half-pound. The sandwich menu includes a Brisket Melt, a …

Fry N’ Wings has opened a West Loop location at 36 S. Ashland Ave, bringing its Asian-fusion chicken wings to the neighborhood. The restaurant got its start in St. Charles in 2018 and has since added locations in Bolingbrook and Bloomingdale before coming to Chicago. The menu centers on bone-in …

Heritage Outpost serves coffee from the ground-floor lobby of Lawrence House, the renovated 1928 Art Deco building at 1020 W. Lawrence Ave. in Uptown. The counter pours espresso drinks made with Onyx coffee, which Heritage serves exclusively in its cafes, alongside a case of daily pastries. The shop shares the …

Coo Thai Cuisine serves Southern Thai food at 2932 N Broadway in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood, in a small dining room decorated with woven basket art and Thai pottery. The kitchen makes its curry pastes in house using traditional Southern Thai methods with coconut milk, galangal and kaffir lime leaf. …

Lateral Fitness is a boutique personal training gym on the lower level of 314 W. Superior St. in River North. The 11,000-square-foot studio has operated in the space since 2013. The gym pairs clients one-on-one with trainers rather than running group classes, offering personal training, Pilates instruction, physical therapy, massage …

Sapori Napoletani has opened at 8235 W. Irving Park Rd. in Dunning, bringing Neapolitan-style pizza and a full Italian menu to the corner storefront. The restaurant spans two floors with two bars and a rooftop patio. The kitchen runs on two wood-fired ovens for its Neapolitan pizzas, alongside a longer …

Half Sour, an all-day café and cocktail bar, occupies 755 S. Clark St. in Printers Row. On its Instagram account, the business describes itself as a neighborhood bar with cocktails, fine food and brunch. The menu runs from house-baked bagels and matzo ball soup to pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, …

Valedor is a cocktail lounge at 1620 N Milwaukee Ave in Wicker Park, run by Spearhead Hospitality. The concept is built around the Mexican-Japanese community that grew in Mexico City after World War II, and the bar’s name is Spanish for someone who champions or defends a cause. The drink …

Weston’s Coffee & Tap Co. is a neighborhood café at 4872 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Jefferson Park, directly across from the Jefferson Park Transit Center, focused on espresso, coffee, tea and sandwiches. The café pours Metropolis Coffee through espresso drinks, lattes and cold brew, alongside fresh pastries and breakfast items. …

Salad House, at 3176 N Broadway in Lake View, serves build-your-own salads, wraps and grain bowls, with more than 40 toppings available to mix and match. The shop also offers a set menu of signature bowls and salads for anyone who’d rather skip the customizing. Signature options include the Classic …

Riccardo Enoteca has been serving Northern Italian fare on Clark Street in Lincoln Park, directly across the street from its sister restaurant Riccardo Trattoria. Run by chef Riccardo Michi and his wife Veronica, the enoteca takes a more casual approach than the trattoria, built around antipasti, salads, pasta, pizza, and …

Pizza Friendly Pizza serves thick, Sicilian-style pizza by the slice and whole pie from an alley space at 1039 N. Western Ave. in Ukrainian Village, next door to the Empty Bottle. The spot has been part of the neighborhood’s pizza scene since 2020, with an indoor dining room added in …

Pizza Lobo serves New York-style pizza from a renovated former 7-Eleven at 5457 N. Clark St., at the corner of Clark Street and Catalpa Avenue in Andersonville. The dough is three-day fermented sourdough, giving the pies a thin, foldable crust, and pizza is available whole or by the slice. The …

Phodega, at 1924 W. Division St. in Wicker Park, bills itself as an “Asian American noodle and snack shop.” The counter-service spot pairs bowls of Vietnamese pho with a corner-store section stocked with packaged snacks and drinks, a format the owners have run on Division Street since 2019. The menu …

Parlor Pizza Bar operates its River North location at 405 N. Dearborn St., occupying 9,000 square feet on the ground floor of the 20 W. Kinzie office tower. It’s one of three Chicago locations for the wood-fired pizza concept, alongside restaurants in the West Loop and Wicker Park. Parlor Pizza …

Osaka Sushi & Fresh Fruit Smoothies operates at 400 S Michigan Ave in the Loop, at Van Buren Street. The counter-service restaurant offers sushi, ramen and smoothies for eat-in, pickup, delivery and catering. The menu includes rolls such as California, Rainbow, Dragon, Crispy Shrimp and Hawaii, along with sashimi combos, …

Forever Yogurt runs a self-serve frozen yogurt shop at 5309 N Clark St in Andersonville. The shop is one of eight Illinois locations of the Chicago-based chain, which also has stores in Lakeview, Logan Square, Niles, Norridge, Homewood, La Grange and St. Charles. The format is self-serve: customers take a …

Doña Naty’s Tacos serves Mexican street food at 1815 W Chicago Ave in West Town, with dine-in, pickup, delivery and BYOB seating, according to the restaurant’s website. The taco menu covers asada, al pastor, pollo, lengua, chorizo, tripas, lomo, pescado, camarón and a vegetarian option. Tortas range from cubana and …

NoodleBird serves Asian-inspired street food from a storefront at 2957 W Diversey Ave in Logan Square, where diners order at the counter and can watch the kitchen at work. The fast-casual restaurant has operated at the Diversey Avenue address since 2021, when it replaced the former Fat Rice, drawing on …

Meddle Coffee Bar, the West Loop cafe from Chicago-based Dark Matter Coffee, serves specialty coffee and espresso drinks at 601 W. Jackson Blvd., a few blocks from Union Station. The shop was Dark Matter’s first downtown location, built around what the company calls a “Psychedelegance” design — purple swirling floors, …

Galleria Marchetti, the special-events venue at 825 W. Erie St. in West Town, continues to host weddings and private celebrations in its garden-set spaces. The Marchetti family’s hospitality history in Chicago dates to 1924, when Giuseppe Marchetti opened the Como Inn restaurant. In the mid-1990s, Joe Marchetti converted the Erie …

Lucia’s Gourmet Italian Cuisine has been serving Wicker Park from the corner of North Avenue and Honore Street for more than two decades, combining a walk-up deli counter with a sit-down dining room in the same storefront under the green “Lucia’s” awnings. The deli side serves made-to-order hot and cold …