LINCOLN SQUARE — Two restaurants, a bar, a bakery and a coffee shop have recently opened in Lincoln Square, North Center and Ravenswood.
The openings come on the heels of longtime favorite Spoon Thai closing for good after serving customers in Lincoln Square for about 20 years.
Customer Deb Doetzer dropped by Spoon Thai on its last day Tuesday to pick up a take-out order, sad that after two decades, the restaurant would be no more.
“I love this neighborhood but every time I come back to it, it’s different,” Doetzer said. “It breaks my heart, but it’s the end of an era.”
Spoon Thai joins the Chicago Brauhaus, which ended its 52-year run in 2017, and The Grafton Pub and Grill, which closed in 2022, as Lincoln Square touchstones that are no longer in business. The beloved Café Selmarie is set to close at the end of April.
Here are five recently opened (or soon to open) restaurants.
Lincoln Square
The Getaway
4530 N. Lincoln Ave.
773-654-1302
4 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday-Friday
4 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday
The Getaway opened Tuesday in what was formerly The Grafton Pub and Grill. The new venture comes from lifelong friends David Halpern and Ross Dimun. Halpern’s Four Entertainment Group is behind bars including aliveOne in Lincoln Park, Central Park Bar in Avondale, Easy Bar in Wicker Park, Estelle’s in Wicker Park, Remedy in Bucktown and The Owl in Logan Square.
The new bar features a signature cocktail menu and robust beer list, happy hour and occasional live music and DJ sets in the bar’s newly renovated interior. There are no plans for food at this point. Read more here.
Laganini Chicago
4768 N. Lincoln Ave.
773-991-3962
4-11 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday
4 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday
Laganini Chicago blends European and American cuisine from husband-and-wife owners Marko Kocic and Ana Teodorvic, who took over the former Bourbon Cafe last year. Laganini opened Saturday.
Some of the dishes include ćevapi, which features one pound of grilled minced beef served with diced onions, sour cream and homemade bread; cabbage rolls stuffed with minced beef, rice and onion and served with creamy mustard and homemade bread; and spicy meatballs with onions, mozzarella cheese, paprika and bacon, served alongside ajvar dip, crinkle fries and homemade bread.
“We also have a full bar, and I want to have one of the best cocktail list in the neighborhood,” Kocic said. “And hopefully with more sun soon, so we’ll have our outdoor patio expand.”
Some of the cocktails include the Bounty, a vanilla vodka, Kahlua and Baileys Amaretto concoction with hazelnut syrup, coconut puree and whipped cream; and the Ladies Dream, a vodka cocktail served with watermelon, schnapps, peach schnapps and fresh lime.
North Center
Backlot Coffee
2424 W. Montrose Ave.
773-654-1506
6:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday
7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
Evanston-based Backlot Coffee’s newest location is on the border between Lincoln Square and North Center, a short walk from Waters Elementary, Welles Park and Horner Park. This is Backlot’s second Chicago location; it opened in Old Irving Park in 2017.
“Two summers ago we joined the Horner Park farmers market and that was such a great introduction to the community and the neighborhood,” said co-founder Isaac Bloom.
Bloom and his wife also moved to the area about two years ago. When he saw the vacancy next to Rev. Billy’s Chop Shop, he realized it would make a great spot for a coffee shop, he said.
“It’s going to be a similar menu to our other Chicago shop, but we’ve added a few fun things. We’re going to have draft lattes, a big draft menu and house sodas,” Bloom said.
The new shop won’t have a full kitchen but it will have an oven for heating quiche and croissants, Bloom said.
“And we’re still partnering with two of our favorite partners, pHlour from Uptown and Do-Rite Donuts, while slowly ramping up our food selections by providing a little bit of housemade stuff coming from our Evanston kitchen,” he said.
Neighbors can drop by for their caffeine fix now, and the grand opening is Friday. Customers who pick up a bag of Backlot’s Flying Squirrel whole-bean house blend have a chance to win one small hot coffee every day for a year.
“We’ve created Backlot ‘golden tickets’ that we’re hiding in our retail bags of Flying Squirrel. And if you purchase a bag of Flying Squirrel with a golden ticket, it’s good for one year of free coffee,” Bloom said. “We’re putting 25 of those tickets in 200 bags of Flying Squirrel, so the odds are in your favor.”
Limited quantities of free tumblers will also be given away during Friday’s grand opening, he said.
Ravenswood
Bayan Ko Diner
1820 W. Montrose Ave.
773-698-6373
Opening April or May
Chef Lawrence Letrero and his wife and co-owner Raquel Quadreny are renovating the former Glenn’s Diner into an offshoot of Bayan Ko, their restaurant mixing Filipino and Cuban cuisine.
Glenn’s Diner closed in 2022 after 17 years in the neighborhood. On Tuesday, Letrero was overseeing construction on the interior of the restaurant, which is set to open in May or sooner, he said.
“My wife’s Cuban, and I’m Filipino. And that’s unique on its own because I don’t really know too many restaurants that are both,” he said. “We’ll be a cute diner open six days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.”
The couple opened the Bayan Ko at 1810 W. Montrose Ave. in 2018 and transitioned the restaurant into a prix-fixe, reservation-only dining experience in February, according to Eater.
Del Sur Bakery
4639 N. Damen Ave.
Opening In Fall
Del Sur Bakery will bring Filipino-by-way-of-Midwest pastries to Ravenswood when it opens this fall at the former Brew Camp, which closed in 2017.
Owner Justin Lerias has run pop-ups in Lincoln Square under the Del Sur name. Side Practice Coffee owner Francis Almeda is helping him expand into a new storefront, according to WTTW.
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