Open Streets Dining Returns This Weekend to Lakeview

Outdoor street dining returns this weekend at two Lakeview locations as the city brings back its Open Streets program, its effort that shut down vehicular traffic to make room for restaurants to set up tables and seats. Expanded outdoor patios were a pandemic necessity last spring and summer for restaurants due to fluctuating restrictions on dining capacity and the suspensions of indoor service.

The weekend program starts Friday, May 14 as officials will close traffic on Broadway from Belmont to Wellington avenues and on Sheffield from Belmont to School Street, according to the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce. The program includes 22 restaurants. The closures will run from Friday afternoon through Sunday night the following 10 weekends. More details are available on the chamber’s website.

Other areas across the city, such as West Loop, will also close streets for expanded patios. Check out the Lakeview restaurants participating in the program below.

Dine Out on Broadway Participants

1. Fancy Plants Cafe
2. Little Wok
3. Wilde Bar and Restaurant
4. Dry Hop Brewers
5. Roebuck Pizza
6. Buena Vista
7. Ceres Table
8. Bombay Wraps
9. Chilam Balam
10. The Bagel Restaurant
11. Stella’s Diner
12. Dram Shop
13. Monsignor Murphy’s
14. Flub a Dub Chub’s
15. Yellowtail Sushi
16. Mortar and Pestle
17. Kitchen 17

Dine Out on Sheffield Participants

1. Cheesie’s Pub
2. Figo Wine Bar
3. Trader Todd’s
4. Sheffield’s Bar and Grill
5. Barangaroo Aussie Pies

And in other news...

— Celebrity chef Rick Bayless on June 2 will reopen the main dining room at his Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant Topolobampo, according to a rep. Bayless had offered a pandemic-era “Topolo 2.0” version inside the restaurant’s cookbook library. Reservations are available via Tock.

— Chicagoans in need of COVID-19 vaccines can get their shots from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18 at West Town Bakery (1916 W. Chicago Avenue) and Roots Handmade Pizza (1924 W. Chicago Avenue). The restaurants’ parent company, Fifty/50, has collaborated with Casa Central, Chicago Vaccine Angels, and Humboldt Park health to provide 1,000 free Pfizer vaccines and coordinate second doses. Online registration is preferred but the sites will also accept walk-ins. Fifty/50 has also mandated workers to take the vaccine.

— PiniPico Brazilian Cafe in Old Town will mark its one-year anniversary later this month with $1 Pão de Queijo — a traditional and gluten-free “cheese bread” made with cassava root and fillings like bacon or Nutella — on Saturday, May 22. Ownership will also donate 20 percent of sales to Chicago-based violence prevention non-profit BUILD on Sunday, May 23, according to a rep.

— Neighborhood bar Brigadoon is closed until further notice after a fire broke out last week inside the Jefferson Park watering hole, according to a Facebook post. No one was injured. Ownership also writes on social media that the fire was apparently started by a rat-deterring smoke bomb — an ironic turn of events, as operators say they’ve been fighting with the city for decades over a rodent problem in the area.

— HIV and LGBTQ-advocacy group Test Positive Awareness Network (TPAN) on Sunday, May 16 to Sunday, May 22 will host its Dining Out for Life Chicago fundraiser. The event gives dine-in and takeout patrons a chance to donate directly to the organization by eating at dozens of participating restaurants such as Anteprima, Yoshi’s Cafe, and Le Sud. Like last year, TPAN is not soliciting donations from participating restaurants, which makes support from diners all the more important, according to a rep. More details are available online.