Wicker Park

Red Door 2118 N. Damen Ave. 773-697-7221 The wooden communal tables on this spacious sideyard patio makes it feel like one big picnic, complete with seasonal shared plates, bacon jam-slathered burgers and spiked snow cones. Tocco 1266 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-687-8895 At this sleek restaurant serving contemporary Italian fare, two massive garage doors open up to a brickfloored patio that's the closest thing you'll find to a piazza in Wicker Park. The Anthem 1725 W. Division St. 773-697-4804 Don't worry mega-fans, even sitting outside you can still see the massive TVs in this...

EAT Reopening Centro Ristorante 6 W. Hubbard St. 312-988-7775 Step back to the future as Rosebud Restaurants revives this '90s supper club featuring its signature neoclassic Italian dishes - in shareable portions - such as double-stuffed ricotta ravioli ($17) and several veal and chicken entrees ($18-$24), which can be prepared vesuvio-, velasco-, oreganato- or cacciatore-style, plus a late night menu. 11 a.m.-2 a.m. 'Night' and 'Day' Menus Grass Fed 1721 N. Damen Ave. 773-342-6000 Spring has sprung in Wicker Park with new menus featuring large and small seasonal plates...

Look out hipsters--Wicker Park might be hitting the mainstream. (Or maybe it already has.) To the dismay of fixie-riders and flannel-wearers everywhere, Forbes recently published a list of the 20 hippest neighborhoods in America, totally selling out all of the coolest places to live, and Wicker Park landed at No. 4. Attempting the completely antithetical process of quantifying what it means to be "hipster-friendly," Forbes considered several different...

Giordano's has officially joined the food truck frenzy. Known for its deep-dish pizza (and spokesman Derrick Rose of the Bulls), Giordano's announced it will be previewing its first-ever food truck by Memorial Day weekend. The 28-foot-long, 12.5-foot-wide truck will be equipped with state-of-the-art conventional ovens and refrigerators, which hold up to 400 pizzas, according to Jessica Wenson, Giordano's manager of media and community affairs. Although the menu will be simplified, offering only personal-size stuffed pizzas in four options--cheese, pepperoni, sausage and spinach--along with salad and soft...

Susan Stursberg, the co-owner and familiar face behind Gold Star's bar, died of liver and pancreatic cancer Monday morning. She was 45. Stursberg took on the role of bartender at the popular Wicker Park dive in 1990, when her mother bought the bar. “She loved working here, loved being here,” said her mother, Mary Anne Reid Stursberg.  “Even when she was sick, she said she wished she were working.” Stursberg was diagnosed earlier this...

Thursday August 30th 6-8 PM Cans (1640 N. Damen) Coors Light on deck. A lot of it. Show up. Have a brew. America wins.   RSVP HERE. BOOM. SHAKA. LAKA.

Grab a book and your laptop and get ready for a day-long cafe-hop. You may be craving decaf by the last stop, but you'll have successfully toured the neighborhood's best beaneries. Start your morning at Buzz: Killer Espresso (1644 N. Damen Ave. 773-366-8377), which serves its own house-roasted coffee made with beans from lesser-known producers. Next, walk over to The Wormhole (1462 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-661-2468), where you can grab a pastry and latte and plop down next to your choice of '70s and '80s kitsch (movies posters, Star Wars toys and yes, that's a DeLorean)

Corned beef hash on a brunch menu probably doesn't raise any eyebrows. But how about a fried plantain, black bean and hominy hash? Or spicy chickpea, yogurt and kale hash? These global twists on the starchy breakfast staple are the focus at the appropriately named Hash restaurant, which opened March 20 on Western Avenue near the border of Wicker Park and Humboldt Park. "If I just did American hashes, it would really be quite boring," said owner Maggie McCoy, who  ran the now-closed Bagel on Damen.

It's not impossible to find a taqueria and an antique shop on the same street. But how about in the same storefront? That's what husband-and-wife team Rick and Ashley Ortiz are envisioning with Antique Taco, a new restaurant/retail hybrid slated for a May opening at 1360 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park. “I tell people it's like a taco stand meets farmers market meets Anthropologie … while drinking a canned beer,” said Ashley. The two met while working together on events at Soldier Field, he as executive sous chef and she in...

Trenchermen 2039 W. North Ave. 773-661-1540 Chefs (and brothers) Mike and Patrick Sheerin left their posts at acclaimed restaurants -- Blackbird and The Signature Room, respectively - to jam out together cooking seasonal, globally influenced American fare at their own restaurant in a unique space that was formerly bathhouse. Danny's 1951 W. Dickens Ave. 773-489-6457 It may look like just another house from the outside, but inside, this music-fueled bar can turn into one of the biggest dance parties in the neighborhood.

The Wicker Park neighborhood has public basketball courts, a baseball diamond and has recently increased bike parking. But thus far, fans of bocce, a European lawn game, haven't had designated public courts on which to play. That could change this summer. Justin Arnett-Graham, who works at L2O , and Alex Gara, beverage director at Hot Chocolate , are behind a grassroots push to add two bocce courts at 1944 W. Crystal St. in an empty lot adjacent to an alley. "We've always believed that hospitality should not be contained within the walls of your establishment,"...

Go outside this summer, and you'll have a hard time not running into some street festival, wading through seas of sweaty people and sticky food. This is especially true in Wicker Park, where the creatively named Wicker Park Fest is now the third festival in the last couple weeks from the area to reveal its music lineup. Neither the Green Fest nor the Do-Division Fest disappointed with their lineups, and the Wicker Park Fest has upped its ante in a similar way, nabbing veteran rocker Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and...

Takito Kitchen 2013 W. Division St.  773-687-9620 Rating:  !!!! (out of four)  Already hot Since opening about a month ago in the former Sabor Saveur space in Ukrainian Village, Takito Kitchen has tried to shine in an already taco-saturated neighborhood. Setting the casual-but-stylish restaurant apart is chef David Dworshak, formerly of Carnivale, and an intriguing cocktail list of tequila- and rum-based concoctions that are as colorful as the spray-painted mural on the rear wall.

Not to be outdone by neighboring 'hoods Bucktown and Wicker Park, Logan Square now will have its own beer festival as well. The Logan Square Beer Fest , set for Sept. 21 at Logan Square Auditorium , is a new event that organizers Dave Watts and Marcus Osacky said will spotlight 20 breweries, most from the Midwest. "We're looking for each brewery to bring one of their regular seasonal beers and a specialty beer like a collaboration or cask-conditioned or barrel-aged beer, something you could only get at this fest," Watts said.

The Chicago International Movies & Music Festival, CIMMfest No. 5 , the annual four-day showcase celebrating the inseparable connection between music and movies, will feature international film premieres, live concerts, visually stunning DJ/VJ sets, lively Q&A's, daring live score performances, exhibits, and more, in 15 venues centered around Chicago's Wicker Park and Logan Square neighborhoods, Thursday, April 18 - Sunday, April 21, 2013...

From established bars such as The Map Room and Small Bar to newcomers Fatpour Tap Works and Bangers & Lace , Wicker Park and Bucktown are home to more than their fare share of craft beer-focused watering holes. Those bars and more than a dozen others will join forces with neighborhood breweries Piece , Moonshine and Pipeworks for a new beer festival called Tap, scheduled for Saturday, May 4 at Dolphin . From 1 to 5 p.m., attendees can redeem ten drink tickets (included with the price of admission)

Rapid Transit Bike Shop owner Justyna Frank had to check the date Monday to make sure it wasn'tApril Fool's Day. When she realized it wasn't, and that an article posted online since January has featured a photo of her Wicker Park bike shop along with a motorist bashing cyclists, she said she was shocked. "It was sort of too perfect. My husband and I were scratching our head. Is it somebody playing a joke on us?" she said of the post on the site, which asks motorists on the street to comment on their vehicles.

Milk & Honey Cafe 1920 W. Division St. 773-395-9434 This corner cafe serves breakfast during the week with extended hours on the weekend. Place your order for buttermilk granola pancakes or casserole-style huevos rancheros at the counter and hang out at a table until it's ready. Birchwood Kitchen 2211 W. North Ave. 773-276-2100 During the week, this cute BYOB cafe excels with seriously tasty sandwiches, and the same applies to its hearty breakfast sammies served on the weekends, including a killer croque madame (and a vegetarian version as...

Humboldt Park once again is ground zero for an epic clash between two factions, but the police won't be called in to keep the peace this time. Now that the city's two Puerto Rican parades - the one at Grant Park and the one in Humboldt Park - have combined , the merger is creating a greater divide on Division Street than the one between North siders and South siders. On one end, you have the traditionalists, mostly old-timers who think the older Puerto Rican Day Parade should stay at Grant Park.

If you've ever waited for your turn to play Duck Hunt at Emporium Arcade Bar or stood on line at Big Star craving a fish taco, you know that some popular Wicker Park bars could use a little extra space. Luckily, some of them are poised to expand. The Smoke Daddy , a veteran Division Street barbecue joint known for its slow cooking and house-made sauces, has constructed an addition to their storefront that adds about 65 new seats. The expansion, which will be unveiled at a grand opening party April 18,...