Hot Blocks: Division Street
Updated: November 03, 2009
This trend-setting strip in Wicker Park is a hot spot for Chicago's hip restaurant, nightlife and retail scene. The grittiness that existed only a few years ago is long gone, but the artsy, independent vibe has remained. While just north on Damen Avenue, high-end national chains are creeping into the mix, Division Street remains a bastion of locally owned businesses, with restaurants serving every trendy or ethnic cuisine imaginable and boutique after boutique filled with wares by local designers. Not to mention the nightlife scene, which draws revelers from all over the city. Check out our top picks in this sky's-the-limit 'hood. (Photo: Mana Food Bar by Jasmin Shah.)
On this page:Division Street Restaurants, Division Street Bars, Division Street Shopping & Beauty.
Division Street Restaurants
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Milk & Honey Cafe
Read Reviews1920 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
Serving as the unofficial meet-up spot for the neighborhood, this buzzing cafe is always filled with young families and groups of friends talking over steaming mugs of coffee, bowls of the locally famous granola or thick, in-house roasted beef sandwiches on ciabatta. In the summertime, groups spill out onto the sidewalk patio, while in the cooler months, a fireplace keeps the airy room toasty warm.
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Crust
Read Reviews2056 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
Much has been made of this pizza joint being the city's first certified organic restaurant. There's no doubting its devotion to that mission; 95 percent of its food and products come from organic sources, from the flour in the dough to the house-infused Prairie vodka behind the bar. The reason for our devotion, however, is much more basic: The crisp-crusted pies, loaded with toppings like wild mushrooms, goat cheese and spinach, are simply some of the best in the city.
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Alliance Bakery
Read Reviews1736 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
This Euro-style bakery has been a staple of the 'hood long before the scenesters arrived--just check out the '50s-style neon sign and the original Polish lettering above the awning. An ever-changing window display of eye-popping cakes (Louis Vuitton purse cake, anyone?) only hints at the goodies lining the glass cases within: French macarons, savory stuffed croissants and every ganache-stuffed, tuile-topped confection imaginable.
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Mana Food Bar
Read Reviews1742 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
Any vegetarian who's ever sat at a table with a pack of carnivores, staring down a menu with nothing but salad to choose from will appreciate this contemporary vegetarian small plates restaurant. The emphasis is on flavorful, seasonal veggies--not faux meat--in preparations that even meat-eaters will crave--think sweet potato pancakes topped with pear and golden raisin chutney and creme fraiche. One thing everyone's sure to approve: the sake cocktails.
Division Street Bars
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The Fifty/50
Read Reviews2047 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
This tri-level bar and grill scores big with sports fans while keeping the neighborhood's transformation in mind. Brown-bagged forties and glammed-up bar food set the tone for long afternoons spent keeping tabs on the home teams via a dozen flatscreens.
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Gold Star Bar
Read Reviews1755 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
As slick sushi lounges and high-end boutiques encroach on all sides, this stalwart dive remains a beacon of gritty, cheap-drinking hope for casual neighborhood folks--from bike messengers and musicians to 9-to-5ers. So it's been since Prohibition days, and we have a feeling that every new patron who discovers the jukebox, jammed with classics like Johnny Cash, Tom Waits and MC5, says a silent prayer that it won't change for another 80 years.
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Small Bar
Read Reviews2049 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
This beer-focused watering hole sees an unlikely parade of patrons on any given day. Hard core soccer fans gather to watch English Premiere League games at all hours over burgers and drafts, and beer snobs peer at the 70-strong craft brew list alongside weekend partiers in skimpy outfits and shiny shoes. The most surprising part? Everyone seems to get along just fine and have a grand old time. It's a nightlife miracle!
Division Street Shopping & Beauty
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Ruby Room
Read Reviews1743-45 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
More than a spa, not just a salon, and beyond a yoga studio, this modern, all-encompassing wellness center is a total mind-body retreat. Downstairs in the small day spa, get a Crystalssage which involves placing powerful, harmonizing crystals on the body, in conjunction with massage to achieve deeper stress and tension relief. Get an aura reading or pick up some healing Chinese herbs upstairs. Or, tune out the day-to-day completely with an overnight stay in one of the three comfy guest rooms, which are free of TVs and phones.
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Renegade Handmade
Write a review1924 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
Paw through hip, unique gifts made by independent artists and designers at this compact treasure trove, an offshoot of the twice-yearly designer craft fair of the same name. A front room holds everything from hand-cast silver jewelry and brightly colored skirts with funky appliques to illustrated melamine plates and birdhouses made of reclaimed barn wood. Every inch of the tiny back room is hung with whimsical screen-printed posters by local and national artists.
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Penelope's
Read Reviews1913 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 (map)
Just try to walk by this casual, turquoise-hued boutique--which epitomizes the stylish, dressed-down look seen all over the strip--without stopping in and dropping cash on a pair of Cheap Monday skinny jeans, wear-with-everything Dolce Vita wedges or at least some hand-printed note cards from local paper artists. Not to be outdone, guys make out equally well, with brightly colored Fred Perry track jackets and comfy, essential T-shirts by LA Made.
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