"I'd like to force people to talk to each other." That's how Ryan Reynolds described his new bar on Irving Park Road to Block Club Chicago in August. A few weeks later and a mile south on Roscoe Street, Riley Brown told Eater Chicago she wanted her new café to be "a place where people could hang out and escape all the craziness of the world."
The two owners had never met, and they described nearly the same idea. Taken together, North Center's fall additions are designed for the long visit. A tavern without televisions, a café adding meals in stages and a regional Thai kitchen with a long menu all reward the guest who settles in. On October 31, the season's biggest gathering happens on a single square at Damen and Lincoln.
A Tavern With Nothing on the Walls to Watch
Hindsight Tavern is at 2020 W. Irving Park Road, and its own site gave October 21 as its opening date. It's built around games, and in Block Club's preview Reynolds described a room with no TVs, which is unusual for a bar a short ride from Wrigley Field.
The drinks menu is built for staying, too. Along with cocktails and beer, the tavern planned nonalcoholic and caffeinated options, so a guest who wants to stay through a third round of a board game doesn't have to keep ordering alcohol. Block Club reported starting hours of 4 p.m. to midnight every day except Tuesday, which the owner said could change. Garage-door windows can open the front room onto a patio-like space when the weather allows. That will matter more next spring than this November. Hours at a new bar tend to settle over the first few weeks, so check before a first visit.
A Café That Grew One Meal at a Time
Hindsight is built for the evening. Dewey's Café, at 2036 W. Roscoe St., is built for the daytime, and it opened in deliberate stages. Riley Brown and Hannah Grossman opened on Wednesday, September 2, with coffee, plant-focused food and limited hours. According to Eater, the café started out open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. WTTW's fall restaurant roundup called it a dietary restriction-friendly spot.
Six weeks in, the next stage has arrived. The current Dewey's menu, dated October 14, includes lunch: three sandwiches, salads and fries. Dinner is still to come. At opening, Brown said a couple of dinner nights a week were planned for the following year, which means 2027. Taking that long only makes sense for a café that expects its first customers to become regulars.
Addison Street Gets a Thai Menu Worth Working Through
Ela Thai Kitchen opened in August at 1824 W. Addison St., and WTTW listed it among the season's recent openings in North Center. The kitchen's own site describes its food as Thai street food with Northern and Isan flavors. That regional focus sets it apart from the standard neighborhood pad thai.
The Infatuation points to the boat noodles, chu chee pla and kra pao moo krob. Further down the menu are Lao sausage, Isan sausage, todd mun, larb and nam tok. A menu with that much range rewards a table of four sharing plates more than a quick solo order, which fits the rest of this fall's openings.
What Arrives on Western Avenue in December
The fourth addition hasn't opened yet. Robert Maleski, founder of Milly's Pizza in the Pan, is opening Jake's Place at 4159 N. Western Ave., in the former Armand's Pizzeria space. Block Club reported on October 16 that he's aiming for early December. The pizza will be thin and square-cut, a style Maleski called "the exact opposite" of Milly's. His menu ideas so far include a giardiniera-sausage pie and a chili-crunch-basil pie.
Tavern-cut thin crust is meant to be shared. It's cut into small squares and set in the middle of the table for everyone to pick at. That makes it a natural match for the other new spots. Here is how the four compare this fall:
| Spot | Address | Status | What it's built around |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hindsight Tavern | 2020 W. Irving Park Rd. | Site gave an October 21 opening | Games, no TVs, nonalcoholic and caffeinated options |
| Dewey's Café | 2036 W. Roscoe St. | Open since September 2 | Daytime coffee and plant-focused food, lunch now on the menu |
| Ela Thai Kitchen | 1824 W. Addison St. | Open since August | Northern Thai and Isan dishes |
| Jake's Place | 4159 N. Western Ave. | Targeting early December | Thin, square-cut pizza |
October 31 Puts the Whole Neighborhood on One Square
Two events overlap that Saturday morning at Northcenter Town Square, 4100 N. Damen Ave.
- 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.: The final Northcenter Farmers Market of the 2026 season, with produce, flowers, pastries and handmade goods. The market accepts SNAP/Link with matching vouchers.
- 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: The free Halloween Trick-or-Treat in Northcenter, with trick-or-treating at nearby businesses, hay rides and family photos.
- Noon: Costume contests on the square.
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the two events share the same square. A family can buy the last farm-stand apples of the year and catch the noon costume contest in one trip. Anyone hoping for pastries or flowers should arrive before trick-or-treating starts, when the square is quieter. Everything wraps up by 1 p.m., so the afternoon is still free.
The Northcenter Farmers Market ran from June 13 through October 31 this year, so October 31 is its last day until next season. After that, the next big date on the local calendar is Roscoe Village Winterfest, running from 5:30 p.m. on December 5 to 4 p.m. on December 6. That's the same week Jake's Place is aiming to open.
The Courts at Horner Park Are One Fix From Finished
Public space has a newcomer too. The basketball courts at Horner Park, 2741 W. Montrose Ave., reopened in early October after more than a month of renovation. The project was a partnership between the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Park District, and the Bulls paid for the work in full. Block Club reported that the new playing surface carries Bulls-inspired artwork by Chicago artist Alyssa Low, along with new rims, nets and backboards.
There's one item left. The same report found that most of the rims sit at about 9 feet, against a regulation height of 10. A Bulls spokesman said the team plans to replace the poles and rims in a second stage of work later in October. Peter Schlossman, president of the Horner Park Advisory Council, told Block Club the courts are "definitely well used" and thanked the team for the project. Anyone coming to shoot around before that second stage wraps up may find a crew still working on the hoops.
Whether it's a game night on Irving Park, Saturday morning on the square or something else in North Center, The VC Team is glad to share what we know about the places that make this neighborhood feel like home, including what's opening next on Western Avenue.
