When soaring rents chased us out of our cozy third-floor walkup in Logan Square, my wife and I migrated a mile northwest up Milwaukee Avenue—away from pricier options like Logan Square and Wicker Park—and found a new home in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. Now, 10 years later, Avondale is buzzing.
On an evening stroll down Milwaukee Avenue we hear music and laughter spilling from the bars, cafes and restaurants. Formerly vacant storefronts are filling up with record shops and bookstores, breweries and bakeries, thrift stores and boutiques—not only along Milwaukee Avenue, but also on Belmont and Diversey Avenues, all the way from Pulaski Road to the west to the North Branch of the Chicago River to the east. A vibrant community arts scene is attracting attention from across the city. The energy and optimism are electric.
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Walk down one of Avondale’s side streets—away from the main commercial drags—and you’ll feel a different, more laid-back energy. Block to block, it’s real, authentic Chicago communities: backyard barbecues and front porch hangs; quinceañeras and first communions; families in brick two flats living next door to artists and young professionals, laying down roots in a neighborhood with more affordable housing options but, increasingly, many of the same amenities as its trendier counterparts to the south.
The charm of Avondale lies in the neighborhood’s delicate balance between what’s trendy and new and the authentic “old” Chicago. It’s a livable, proudly working-class neighborhood filled with old-school grit and charm, but with a lot of cool new stuff popping up on every corner.
Here are some of the many things I’ve grown to love about Avondale over the past 10 years.
The Diversity
Avondale is still the neighborhood “where Eastern Europe meets Latin America,” and on that same stroll down Milwaukee Avenue in the evening it’s not unusual to hear three or four different languages being spoken. Old Polish strongholds like Kurowski's Sausage Shop (2976 N Milwaukee Ave) coexist alongside thriving Latino businesses and organizations like the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (3000 N Elbridge Ave), which occupies a former Chicago firehouse, and for which the City Council just approved an ambitious expansion into a collection of neighboring buildings.
The Food
Avondale’s rich ethnic diversity is also reflected in its lively restaurant scene. There are too many outstanding taquerias and Latin restaurants to name, but I’ll highlight my go-to: Taqueria Mazamitla (3610 W Belmont Ave). And I can enthusiastically recommend the empanadas from Argentine/Italian favorite La Nonna (3400 N Lawndale St), also famous for their choripán, a popular Argentine street food sandwich featuring grilled chorizo on crusty bread.
As a fan of schnitzel and Polish beer, I’d be remiss not to mention Staropolska Restaurant (3030 N Milwaukee Ave), a longtime neighborhood stalwart for the pierogi and potato pancake crowd.
Anelya (3472 N Elston Ave) has been winning rave reviews for its modern take on old-world Ukrainian cuisine since it opened in 2024. Johnny Clark and Beverly Kim, the husband-and-wife chef duo that opened Anelya (named after Clark’s Ukrainian grandmother) are also responsible for Parachute HiFi (3500 N Elston Ave) just up the street. A Korean-American “listening bar” and restaurant emphasizing a relaxed, musical vibe, Parachute HiFi reserves most of its space for walk-ins and has won a devoted following.
Warlord (3198 N Milwaukee Ave) is the hot spot for fine dining in Avondale. Since they’re only open Friday through Monday and don’t take reservations, there’s usually a line of people queued up down the block. But the wait (sometimes hours-long) is worth it for their ever-changing menu of meat and veg cooked on a live fire and served until 1am.
The Nightlife
There’s no shortage of spots for a night out in Avondale. One of the most popular Polish nightclubs in the U.S. in the ’70s and ’80s, the Podlasie Club (2918 N Central Park Ave) has reinvented itself as one of the city’s hottest spots for electronic music. Next door, Central Park Bar (2924 N Central Park Ave) is a popular happy hour hangout, featuring half-price drinks Monday through Friday from 4 to 7pm, plus a generous outdoor space with picnic tables, a fire pit and regular food truck pop-ups. Avondale Bowl (3118 N Milwaukee Ave), a Wes Anderson-esque bowling alley with eight lanes, also boasts a sneaky good cocktail bar and allows customers to enjoy food from outside.
If I want to hit a dive bar for a couple of cheap, low-key drinks, Avondale has that covered too. At Reed’s Local (3017 W Belmont Ave) the daily special is a can of Hamm’s and a shot of Old Crow for $4 (cash only). Teddy Bear Lounge (3513 N Pulaski Rd) is a great place for a game of pool while rock & roll plays on the jukebox. And if belting out “Paradise City” beneath the disco lights is on my late night bingo card, Alice’s Lounge (3556 W Belmont Ave) has become one of the hottest spots in the city for karaoke.
For live music shows in Avondale, Sleeping Village (3734 W Belmont Ave) is my go-to. They host an eclectic range of bands and electronic acts with a strong emphasis on underground and experimental music, which suits the neighborhood. They also have a full bar with a rotating selection of beer and cider, cocktails and a cute outdoor garden.
The Arts
The mural on the east side of Sleeping Village by Chicago artist Mac Blackout—a striking, 100-foot-long psychedelic, black-and-white tribute to music—adds to Avondale’s rich collection of street art. But Avondale’s arts scene is about more than just the murals. A rich artists’ community has taken root in the neighborhood.
The Art Colony and Music Factory (2630 W Fletcher St) is a community of interconnected studio spaces rented to artists, musicians and other creatives, and it has become a hub for live music events, open studio evenings and literary readings. The Art Colony’s Avondalia Art Show—taking place October 3 and 4—is a free event that will feature the work of more than 20 Avondale artists and offer in-studio visits with resident artists.
Uprising Theater and Cafe (2905 N Milwaukee Ave), an innovative arts and performance nonprofit that looks to “give voice to people of Palestine and others who are marginalized,” just opened its doors in July and is planning its first production this fall.
The Access
If you want to journey beyond the neighborhood, Avondale is also a great home base when exploring the rest of Chicago. The neighborhood is serviced by two CTA Blue Line stops (Addison and Belmont), so it’s easy to travel downtown, to the airport or to those other hipster hot spots: Logan Square and Wicker Park. Bus lines along Diversey, Belmont and Addison Avenues make it easy to travel east to west and connect with the Red and Brown Line trains for even greater access. And Avondale’s proximity to the I-90 expressway gives us yet another option to get around the city or out to the suburbs.