Where Bucktown's New Restaurants Landed in 2026, and What Armitage Is Building for 2027

Under the Western Blue Line station, at 1912 N. Western Ave., Joe Smith hand-stretches dough for thin-crust pies in the room where Oromo Cafe used to be. Less than a block south, JOMON Sushi & Izakaya serves skewers and rolls in the old Wave Sushi and Sake space. About four blocks north, rotisserie chickens turn in the building that was the original Taqueria Chingón.

All three opened between July and late August. All three sit on the stretch of Western Avenue that forms Bucktown's edge with Logan Square, and each one took over a space that had already been a restaurant. That pattern explains Bucktown's dining year. The new places you can actually eat at came fast because their kitchens already existed. The projects closer to the middle of the neighborhood involve rebuilding, and most of them are timed for 2027.

Three Kitchens on Western, Reused

Here is the summer's Western Avenue run, with the previous tenant of each space.

Bucktown Pizza is Smith's first restaurant inside city limits. He has run pizzerias in the Chicago suburbs and along the East Coast, including the Newark, New Jersey, area he comes from. The opening menu is short. It has cheese, Margherita, pepperoni, sausage and garlic white pies, with more planned. Smith told Block Club in July that he was working on a liquor license, and the shop is open noon to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

JOMON comes from the team behind Mammoth Poke, according to WTTW. The menu covers a full sushi list plus izakaya staples like ribeye and pork belly skewers, gyoza and tempura. Rolls include the Haru Rainbow and the Bushido Salmon, and beer, sake and wine are available.

The Building That Stayed in the Family

Chez Poulet shows most clearly how a reused space speeds up an opening. Brothers Oliver and Nicolas Poilevey, partners in Le Bouchon and Obélix, own the 2234 N. Western building. Oliver Poilevey co-owned the original Taqueria Chingón there with Marcos Ascencio until it closed in November 2024 and the building went up for sale. Taqueria Chingón has since reopened in Fulton Market.

The brothers told Block Club they wanted the Bucktown building to stay with a smaller, independent restaurant. They came up with the concept themselves. "When we're in France, rotisserie chicken is one of the things I look forward to eating," Oliver Poilevey said. Eater Chicago reported the opening date as Tuesday, August 25, and Block Club confirmed the restaurant was open the following day.

So a Michelin-recognized taco shop gave way to a French rotisserie and wine spot without the building ever leaving its owners' hands. On a corridor where three dining rooms changed hands in two months, that continuity is part of why this one reopened so smoothly.

Damen and Armitage Added Two Rooms This Year

Inside the neighborhood, the year's openings were fewer but followed the same reuse pattern.

The Origin Restaurant and Lounge, an African fusion restaurant at 2010 W. Armitage Ave., soft-opened April 30 and held its grand opening May 15. It took over the space El Rinconcito Sudamerica left when that restaurant moved to Belmont Cragin in 2025. Restaurant partner Coco Shelton is the operator Block Club names. Eater's June roundup of new openings confirmed the May 15 date.

On Damen, Cafe Gimme opened in late July at 2115 N. Damen Ave. It is an all-day, European-style cafe from husband-and-wife co-owners Courtney and Joe Gryzik.

That makes two new rooms on the interior corridors and three on Western. The bigger difference shows up in the projects still under construction.

The Projects Running Into 2027

Two of the most anticipated additions are in central Bucktown, and both involve rebuilding.

1. Trattoria Lo So, 2044 W. Armitage Ave. Chef Sarah Grueneberg and partners Jaime Canete and Rob Mosher, the team behind the West Loop's Monteverde Restaurant and Pastificio, are turning the former Jack and Ginger's bar into a 120-seat restaurant with a 17-seat bar. Block Club reported in September that the building had been under construction for months. Monteverde executive chef Bailey Sullivan, a 2026 James Beard Award finalist in the Emerging Chef category, is leading the menu. Plans include meats, fish and vegetables cooked on a robata-style grill, dried pastas from Italy's Mancini Pastificio Agricolo, and a "batteria" of barrels for aging balsamic vinegar, like the one at Monteverde. The headline says "this winter," but the stated target is "early 2027."

2. Vienna Beef restaurant and factory store, 2501 N. Damen Ave. The company plans to use part of its former factory for a restaurant and retail store. In an August update, Vienna Beef vice president Tom McGlade said the project is still moving forward, with spring 2027 as the current target. The company acknowledged that earlier timelines had slipped several times.

Trattoria Lo So will sit a short walk from established Bucktown restaurants. Block Club lists Class Act, Pompette, Mirra and Le Bouchon within a few blocks. That ties the two halves of the year together. The Poilevey brothers, who opened Chez Poulet on Western in August, are partners in Le Bouchon, which will soon have a Monteverde-team neighbor near Armitage. Repeat operators with proven restaurants are behind both the fast summer opening and the larger build-out underway now.

Smaller Additions Near Milwaukee and Western

A few non-restaurant changes round out the year near the same corridors.

• The Wag Lab, a small-dog daycare run by Linette Robles at 1655 N. Western Ave., opened in July.
• More Than Fit, at 1852 N. Milwaukee Ave., is trainer Malik Scott's rebrand of Pardner Sports Performance. Block Club reported in April that it was already operating, with a grand opening planned for June 12.
• Friends & Neighbors, a women-owned wine bar from Arin Butzon and Joy Johns at 1861 N. Milwaukee Ave. in the former Red & White storefront, had aimed to open by Labor Day. As of early October, its website lists regular hours as "coming soon." It is already posting public events, including Spooky Movie Bingo, and taking requests for private events.

Western Avenue may also look different in the coming years, though nothing is final yet. A joint CTA and CDOT Bus Priority Corridor Study covers Western from Howard to 79th Street and is looking at options like bus boarding areas and dedicated lanes. Updated designs are expected for public comment in 2027.

Planning a Week Around It

Here is how that plays out on the calendar right now. On a weeknight, Western Avenue has a slice counter, a sushi and izakaya room and a rotisserie chicken spot within roughly four blocks, all of them open since summer. Armitage has The Origin at 2010 W. On Damen, Cafe Gimme at 2115 N. covers mornings and afternoons. Watch the corner at 2044 W. Armitage this winter as construction on Trattoria Lo So moves toward its early 2027 target. The Vienna Beef project at 2501 N. Damen is scheduled after that, in spring 2027.

The restaurants that opened this summer show how much a working kitchen shortens the gap between signing a lease and serving the first plate, and that matters when a building comes up for sale. If you own on one of these blocks and want to know how nearby openings fit into your property's story, The Lowe Group follows Bucktown corner by corner. Let's Connect.