Chicago Avenue Built a Restaurant Row While Its Bridge Was Closed. What Happens When It Reopens?
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Since January, West Town's stretch of Chicago Avenue has picked up a cocktail bar, a Basque tavern, a streetwear shop with a cafe inside, a record store, and a regional Mexican restaurant that's due any week now. All of it opened while the avenue's east end was closed at the Chicago River. CDOT is rebuilding the bridge there, and the city's project page lists Chicago Avenue as fully closed in both directions from Larrabee Street to Peoria Street.
That timing shapes everything below. This year's openings drew their crowds from a street that, for the length of the closure, didn't connect east to River North. CDOT now says construction wraps by the end of 2026, so the row that grew up during the closure will soon be on a reopened avenue with dedicated bus lanes.
The official detour explains a lot about how the street has felt this year. Under CDOT's traffic plan, eastbound drivers turn south on Ashland Avenue, head east on Grand Avenue, and go back north on Orleans Street. Westbound drivers go south on Wells Street, west on Grand, and north on Ashland to get back onto Chicago Avenue. Through-traffic is sent off the avenue at Ashland, which happens to sit in the middle of this year's openings.
The congestion went somewhere else. In May 2026, Block Club Chicago reported that detoured traffic from the closed Chicago/Halsted intersection was adding to severe backups around Goose Island, including delays and unsafe driving near Division and Elston. On Chicago Avenue west of the river, the closure meant a different kind of quiet.
Here's how the row came together in 2026, in the order the businesses opened:
These five fall into two clusters. Gilda and Compa face each other on the 1400 block, east of the Ashland detour turn. Bar Bambi, Onion City Records and Every Now and Then sit in the 1700 and 1800 blocks, west of it. When Block Club covered Bar Bambi's opening, it placed the bar a few doors from Brasero and described it as part of a growing crop of Chicago Avenue bars and restaurants.
Gilda shows most clearly what kind of demand this stretch has been running on. Block Club's coverage noted the tavern had help from crowdfunding, and Eater Chicago called the opening a labor of love shaped by neighborhood community support. The chef-partners are Jeremy Leven, Rafael Esparza and Anthony Baier, and Inés de Haro runs the beverage program. The menu is built around Basque pintxos, with larger plates and cocktails alongside.
Gilda splits its week in two. Eater reports that it takes reservations only from Thursday through Sunday and walk-ins only on Mondays, with pintxos served first come, first served. On a Monday, a neighbor can get in without planning ahead. On a weekend, you'll need a booking.
Across the street, Compa comes from Markus Chwajol, who owned the now-closed Bohemian House, and Six Point Hospitality, the group behind Cobblestone Cafe & Bistro. Chef Horacio Fonseca runs the kitchen. WTTW's fall preview on September 21 called it "another addition to the hot restaurant row along Chicago Avenue" and gave an early-October opening date. A September 24 ChiVibe report described a menu with lobster chile en nogada and a whole al pastor branzino, plus agave-forward cocktails and Latin wines from Adrian Gaytan. The name is Mexican slang for a close friend. That same report said reservations weren't live yet and the opening was still a few weeks away. As of October 10, we haven't found a report confirming that Compa has opened. Check before you walk over.
That puts two chef-driven restaurants facing each other on one block. Both committed to the space during a year when the nearest river crossing to the east was closed.
The 1700 and 1800 blocks lean less toward dinner reservations and more toward a cocktail, a record bin, or a coffee in a clothing store. Bar Bambi fills the drinks slot with a full menu of bar snacks. Onion City Records tested the block as a summer pop-up before committing to a permanent grand opening. Every Now and Then put Josephine's inside the shop, so a clothing store doubles as a cafe stop.
Block Club has described the wider West Town stretch of Chicago Avenue as a bustling independent restaurant scene, with concepts from steakhouses to pasta spots and bakeries. This year's additions are independents too. One is a bartender's first bar, one is a crowdfunded tavern, and one is a record shop that started as a pop-up.
CDOT's scope of work goes beyond a replacement span. The project page lists:
The bridge itself is gone. Chicago YIMBY reported in March 2026 that the Chicago Avenue bridge had been removed and that both Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street were still closed. The latest timeline came from a September 15 meeting that North Branch Works hosted with CDOT. There, the city said the construction phase would be finished by the end of 2026 and that vehicle and truck detours would stay in place until then. CDOT's own page estimates completion in December 2026. That's an estimate, not a reopening date. None of the reporting we found mentions a partial reopening or a firmer date.
The bus matters as much as the cars. As part of its November 2025 congestion measures, CDOT rerouted the westbound #66 Chicago bus around the work zone. Once the project is done, the #66 gets dedicated lanes on the rebuilt section of Chicago Avenue. For Gilda, Compa and Beauty Bar on the 1400 block, that means a direct bus line toward River North they haven't had during their time on this block.
The fall festival weekends are over. St. Helen Carnival filled four days in Ukrainian Village from September 24 to 27. The West Town Chamber's 16th annual West Town Art Walk ran October 2 to 4, with participating galleries and businesses, free walking tours and pedicab rides.
The event that matters most for the avenue's next phase is still ahead. The West Town Chamber of Commerce is holding a public open house on the West Town Strategic Plan on Saturday, October 17, from 1 to 3:30 p.m., at Beauty Bar, 1444 W. Chicago Ave. Beauty Bar is on the 1400 block, a few doors from Gilda and Compa. Residents who want a say in how the corridor plans for a reopened, bus-lane Chicago Avenue can drop by that afternoon.
If you own a home or condo near Chicago Avenue and want to know how the reopened bridge and new bus lanes could figure into a future sale, the Leigh Marcus Team follows these West Town blocks closely. Book a Consultation and we'll go through what's changing on your stretch of the avenue.
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