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Every place in The best restaurants and bars in Wicker Park and Bucktown, pinned where it actually is. Tap a marker to see which one it is.
Six corners and north
The crossing of Milwaukee, North and Damen is the center of Wicker Park; Bucktown runs north of it. Between them: a brunch line, taverns, cocktail bars and an elevated trail for walking it all off.
Where to eat
Irazu
Family-run since 1990, Chicago's Costa Rican standby: casados, gallo pinto, plantains and the oatmeal shake, best on the big patio.
Club Lucky
A 1940s-style supper club on a Bucktown corner since 1990: deep leather booths, family-style platters of calamari and pasta, and a stiff martini. Lunch Wednesday to Friday. The patio opens in summer, and the holiday decorations go up in winter.
Taxim
Regional Greek cooking in a Byzantine-style Wicker Park room: small plates to share, a gyro made with duck and rolled in Pontian bread, and a rooftop garden in warm months. Dinner from 5.
The Bongo Room
Pancakes are the point at this Wicker Park original, around since 1993: seasonal stacks like pumpkin with maple cream or ube with blueberry, and a towering chocolate French toast. Weekdays from 8:30, weekends from 9, until 2. The breakfast burrito and croissant sandwich have been on the menu since day one.
Mirra
Rishi Kumar's Bucktown restaurant, a Michelin Bib Gourmand, fuses Indian and Mexican cooking. Weekend brunch (10:30 to 2) turns vada pav into a breakfast sandwich and puts tinga masala on huevos rancheros. Order the café de olla.
Redhot Ranch
Jeff Greenfield and Barry Nemerow started by the White Sox ballpark in 2005 to bring back the Depression dog: sport peppers, onion, relish and mustard on a natural-casing frank, fries tucked in. The smashed double cheeseburger, added in 2013, now has as many fans. Open until midnight.
Pompette
An all-day Bucktown café and wine bar whose name is French slang for tipsy, on the old Izakaya Mita corner. Its double smashburger, available only at lunch and on weekend mornings, made Eater's list of the city's best. Happy hour, 3 to 6, is at the bar only.
Big Star
One Off's Damen Avenue taqueria and whiskey bar, whose patio is one of Wicker Park's summer crowds; Paul Kahan's al pastor tacos come on house tortillas. Get the panza taco too.
Where to drink
Map Room
A self-described travelers' tavern in Bucktown with a deep beer list, maps on every wall and beer-education classes. An easy day-drinking spot; ask the bartender to pick. Look for the Beer of the Month.
Queen Mary Tavern
Heisler's British-maritime tavern, a 1970s bar left untouched for decades and brought back on Division: navy-strength gin and rum drinks, punch, and oysters cheap on Sunday and Monday. The martini arrives with a sidecar of more on crushed ice. The covered, heated patio is open all year, and dogs are welcome there.
Truce
A Bucktown spot pouring coffee in the morning and cocktails after dark, with Midwestern snacks and a well-considered drinks list. Cocktails are served all day.
Bordel
A Paris-flavored speakeasy and cabaret upstairs on Division since 2014: creative cocktails and porrons, with burlesque, jazz, flamenco and sword-swallowing onstage, 21 and over. Check the night's show, and eat downstairs at Mama Delia first.
The Up Room at The Robey
The top-floor bar at The Robey, above Wicker Park's six-corner intersection, with seats inside and out and the widest skyline view on the Northwest Side.
Chef's Special Cocktail Bar
The Giant team's Bucktown bar and Chinese-American kitchen: walnut shrimp, Mongolian beef and egg rolls with tropical drinks. Loud and fun; groups of 7 to 12 get a set menu. Happy hour daily 5 to 6.
Lilac Tiger
Wazwan chef Zubair Mohajir's Wicker Park bar for South Asian street food and inventive cocktails: vada pav, fried rice with duck and spicy chicken nuggets. Happy hour Tuesday to Sunday, 5 to 7.
Coffee and bakeries
Ipsento 606
Roasting in-house since 2006, right off the 606 trail: the signature latte blends coconut milk and honey with a hit of cayenne, mini doughnuts are made each morning, and cocktails come out in the evening.
The Wormhole Coffee
A Wicker Park coffee shop with a DeLorean hanging overhead and '80s toys everywhere; laptop-friendly and open 7 to 9 daily. Try a house drink like the Honey Bear latte.
Margie's Candies
Family-owned since 1921, with chocolates still dipped in-house and sundaes big enough to share, hot fudge on the side. The Bucktown original keeps its old booths; a second shop is in Ravenswood.
Things to do
The 606 (Bloomingdale Trail)
Wicker ParkEssentials listAn old elevated rail line turned 2.7-mile trail linking Bucktown, Wicker Park, Humboldt Park and Logan Square. Ramps sit at most cross streets; walk or bike it late afternoon in fall.
Getting there
Take the Blue Line to Damen, which surfaces at the six-corner crossing of Milwaukee, North and Damen.
Common questions
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