The Lincoln Avenue Block That Kept Opening Restaurants While the Street Was Closed

One August morning, Mary Nedbalski, co-owner of the soon-to-open Gunny's Pub, went to work on Lincoln Avenue and found the city had closed the street outside. WBEZ reported that the closure could run into October. Her bar and bistro was set to open September 16.

Gunny's opened anyway. Two doors from Bonhomme Group arrived the same month, also on the closed stretch. So the part of Lincoln Avenue that spent late summer behind cones and fencing now has three new places to eat and drink within about a block of each other. The street has been under construction, and it has also become one of Lincoln Park's busiest few hundred feet for new restaurants this fall.

Why the Street Closed in the First Place

Under Lincoln Avenue between Diversey and Wrightwood was a water main put in during 1889. Block Club Chicago reported that it had broken multiple times. That makes it 137 years old, against a typical service life of 80 to 100 years, according to the city.

The replacement was part of the city's 2026 capital improvement program, and work started back in mid-May. Most of the spring and early summer work didn't require shutting the street. Then crews hit underground utilities that forced the new main into a different alignment. The 43rd Ward's alert said an existing electric duct sat in the planned parking-lane route, which pushed the new main toward the middle of Lincoln. Working in the center of the avenue made traffic unsafe, so the street closed.

Here is how the timeline played out, according to the ward, Block Club and the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce:

1. Mid-May: The water main project begins.
2. July: Earlier phases finish ahead of schedule.
3. August 8: The street closure is approved.
4. August 10: Lincoln closes from Diversey to Wrightwood. The ward's alert gives October 6 as a tentative completion date, depending on weather and materials.
5. August 28: Block Club reports the city's estimate. Lincoln should reopen on a concrete base around October 10, the Lincoln Avenue portion should be done by mid-October, and sidewalk and parkway restoration will follow.
6. September 25: The Chamber says the Department of Water Management's subcontractor, NPL, expects to lift the closure that day.

The job covers about 2,776 feet of new 8-inch main, followed by lead service line replacements and new service connections for properties along the route. The ward listed full-width resurfacing and sidewalk and parkway repairs as part of the scope.

Block Club also reported that more than 30 businesses on the stretch didn't get advance notice of a closure lasting nearly two months. The Chamber asked for weekly meetings with the project's resident engineer and put up signs around the construction zone asking people to keep visiting. Ald. Timmy Knudsen told Block Club that the businesses "will remain open and accessible."

Three Openings Inside the Fence Line

The new places sit between 2576 and 2642 N. Lincoln, all within the closed stretch.

Those are the announced dates. By late September, all three were up and running. WTTW's fall restaurant roundup listed Gunny's and Lolo y Lola among recent Lincoln Park openings. Gunny's website now says "Now Open," and The Infatuation's October openings guide includes Beatnik among September's arrivals.

Gunny's Pub, 2642 N. Lincoln

Gunny's moved into the building that used to house Racine Plumbing Bar & Grill. WBEZ described it as an American bistro with a Midwestern, hunter-gatherer influence, led by head chef Mike McKinnell. The front room serves shareable bar food, and the back room is for casual fine dining. Depending on where you sit, it works for a quick drink or a planned dinner.

The headline on WBEZ's story about the opening carried an owner's line that held up through September: "The road might be closed, but the neighborhood certainly isn't."

Beatnik Lincoln Park, 2576 N. Lincoln

This is the third Beatnik location for Bonhomme Group, which started the concept in West Town. It keeps the Mediterranean-with-global-influences menu and the tropical cocktails. According to Newcity, the Lincoln Park location has 150 seats over three dining rooms, two bars and a private dining room, with its own dinner menu and weekend brunch. It's the biggest of the three by far.

Lolo y Lola, 2580 N. Lincoln

The same group opened a much smaller place next door. Lolo y Lola seats 22 and takes its cues from the neighborhood tabernas of Spain. Its menu is built around conservas, pintxos, tapas and jamón, with Spanish and Portuguese wine, sherry and vermouth to drink. One is a 150-seat restaurant and the other a 22-seat bar, sharing a wall. Between them, that stretch of the 2500 block now covers both a large group dinner and a glass of sherry before dinner somewhere else.

Where the Street Stands Now

The Chamber's September 25 update said NPL expected to lift the closure that day, so Lincoln could reopen to traffic. The same update said parking would stay mostly unavailable while restoration and other construction continued.

"While Lincoln Avenue will reopen to traffic, parking will still be mostly unavailable as they continue restoration and other construction activities." Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce, September 25, 2026

The ward's newsletters from October 2 and October 9 didn't include a revised schedule for the Lincoln Avenue work. No source we found gives a date for parking to come back or for the lead service line work, sidewalk restoration and resurfacing to be finished. Block Club's mid-October target for the Lincoln portion falls right about now, and the curb, parkway and repaving work comes after that.

Cars can probably get through, but don't count on parking anywhere between Diversey and Wrightwood. If you live within walking distance, walk.

The Rest of the Block, Which Never Left

The three newcomers are joining a stretch that stayed open the whole time. The Chamber's list of affected businesses includes Batter & Berries at 2748 N. Lincoln, Delilah's at 2771 N. Lincoln and CityHome Vacuums & More at 2646 N. Lincoln, right next to Gunny's. A little south, Victory Gardens Theater at 2433 N. Lincoln lists a world premiere, The Humanities, as an upcoming production. Check the theater's site for performance dates.

On foot, the stretch now makes an easy evening. Start at the south end with a show at Victory Gardens. Walk north to the 2500 block for pintxos at Lolo y Lola or a full dinner next door at Beatnik. Keep going past Wrightwood for a drink in Gunny's front room, then finish at Delilah's near the Diversey end. Batter & Berries at 2748 covers the morning.

How the Block Fits Lincoln Park's Fall

Elsewhere in the neighborhood, the new openings are mostly daytime places. Piccadilly Market opened around September 10 at 444 W. Fullerton Pkwy., the former Emilio's Tapas space. Block Club describes it as a market, all-day café, bar and wine shop with an 80-seat courtyard. On Halsted, Ezankaya Bann Suan opened a second location at 2453 N. Halsted. It's a Rogers Park Thai restaurant with Japanese influences. On Webster, Paulo Atelier, a café and gelateria, is expected at 1205 W. Webster Ave. "this fall or possibly winter."

Against that list, the Diversey-to-Wrightwood stretch of Lincoln is where most of the neighborhood's new dinner seats ended up this fall, and all of them opened while the street was closed. The next big date on the neighborhood calendar is a few blocks east. ZooLights at Lincoln Park Zoo runs November 20 through January 3, 2027, from 4:30 to 9 p.m.

If you own on or near Lincoln Avenue and want to know how this stretch is shaping up as the restoration work finishes, Your Home Flight can walk you through it block by block. Request a Free Home Valuation or Schedule a Consultation with Nickola Wells whenever you're ready.