When Lisa Santos opened Southport Grocery and Cafe at 3552 N. Southport Ave. in 2003, it served lunch and dinner and no breakfast. As she told Block Club Chicago, servers kept a notebook of what customers asked for, and one request came up after every shift. She held out until a customer ordered two plates of the bread-pudding pancakes and finished both.
Twenty-three years later, Santos has decided to close the restaurant at the end of 2026. No final day of service has been announced. "End of the year" sounds like plenty of time, but much of what made this place a neighborhood institution runs out well before then. Several of those dates also land on the same weeks as the Southport Corridor's busiest holiday stretch.
The Closing Date Is the Last Deadline, Not the First
Here is the calendar from early November on, with the cafe's own dates next to the corridor events that share those weeks.
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 13, 7 p.m. | Secret Supper, listed as sold out | Southport Grocery |
| Fri., Nov. 20 to Thu., Dec. 31 | Christkindlmarket Wrigleyville, free admission | Gallagher Way, 3635 N. Clark St. |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Thanksgiving catering order deadline; the store's post also prints Nov. 23 | Southport Grocery |
| Sun., Nov. 22, 6 to 7:30 p.m. | West Lakeview Tree Lighting | Lincoln and Wellington |
| Wed., Nov. 25, before 3 p.m. | Thanksgiving catering pickup | Southport Grocery |
| Fri., Dec. 4, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. | Southport Holiday Cocktail Crawl | Southport Corridor |
| Dec. 5 to 24 | Music Box Christmas Sing-A-Long & Double Feature | 3733 N. Southport Ave. |
| Dec. 5 to 6 | Roscoe Village Winterfest | Roscoe Village |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 6 to 7 p.m. | Menorah Lighting Ceremony | Lincoln and Marshfield |
| End of 2026 | Southport Grocery & Cafe closes | 3552 N. Southport Ave. |
One of the cafe's best-known offerings is already partly gone. The Secret Supper on Friday, Nov. 13 was listed as out of stock in late October. Santos told CBS News Chicago there would be two more suppers, one in November and one in December. The December date hasn't been posted yet. If you want one more of these dinners, watch the store's site closely through November.
Thanksgiving Has the Firmest Cutoff
After the November supper, Thanksgiving is the next firm cutoff on the cafe's final calendar, more than a month before the closing. Southport Grocery's catering post lists a dinner for two that includes:
- Sliced local turkey and gravy
- Red-potato mash
- Challah stuffing
- Cranberry-apple slaw
- Green-bean casserole
- Honey-garlic carrots
- Mini pumpkin pie
You can also order turkey, sides, salads, starters, bakery items and cranberry-grape sauce à la carte. Orders go through the cafe's Toast catering menu.
The post gives two different deadlines. It says Sunday, November 22nd in one place and "Sunday Nov 23rd" in another. On this year's calendar, Sunday is Nov. 22, so plan on that date and call the store at 773-665-0100 to confirm. Pickup is Wednesday, Nov. 25, before 3 p.m.
The deadline also falls on the night of the West Lakeview Tree Lighting at Lincoln and Wellington, 6 to 7:30 p.m. The Lakeview Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce lists carolers, goody bags and a visitor from the North Pole. You could place the order in the afternoon and head to the lighting that evening.
The Menu Is Looking Backward on Purpose
Santos is closing out with a look back. She told CBS News Chicago that several retired dishes customers kept asking for are coming back:
- Apple-stuffed French toast, already back
- The grown-up Pop-Tart, already back
- The Ding Dong cake, already back; Block Club describes it as the cafe's version of a Hostess Ding Dong
- Chicken and grits, which she said would return soon
These dishes come from the same listening habit as the servers' notebook. For two decades the cafe added what its regulars asked for. Two years after it opened, WTTW's "Check, Please!" featured it, and staff tracked when the episode would re-air so they could prepare for the crowds that followed. That attention helped Santos expand to the building's second floor, where the bakery operated. The canning and preserves line started during the financial crisis, when she wanted to keep the shelves stocked without shipping products in from elsewhere. It now makes more than 40 items and employs a full-time preservationist.
December Puts the Cafe Inside the Corridor's Busiest Weekend
According to Block Club, the cafe will keep selling Christmas cookies, gift baskets and its regular retail goods until it closes. Those items work differently from the Thanksgiving dinner. The Christmas cookies come in 16-ounce boxes and 7-ounce cylinders, and they're store pickup only. In late October the product page showed them as out of stock. Last December the store sold them in-store while supplies lasted. For gift baskets, the store takes custom and large orders by phone at 773-665-0100. Baskets can be picked up, delivered locally or shipped. No 2026 holiday cutoff has been posted, so ask when you call.
The first weekend of December is when the cafe's last weeks and the corridor's calendar overlap most:
- Friday, Dec. 4, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Southport Holiday Cocktail Crawl brings cocktail samples to shops, restaurants and bars along the corridor, along with carolers and photos with Santa. The Chamber hasn't named participating businesses or a starting point yet.
- Saturday, Dec. 5. The Music Box Theatre's 43rd annual Christmas Sing-A-Long & Double Feature opens and runs through Dec. 24. Each screening starts with a 25-minute preshow, including a cartoon and carols led by Santa with organist Dennis Scott, followed by "It's a Wonderful Life," "White Christmas" or both. Online tickets went on sale to the general public on Oct. 26, and the box office started selling on Oct. 29. The theater is a few blocks north of the cafe on the same street.
- Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5 to 6. Roscoe Village Winterfest, organized by Roscoe Village Neighbors, runs from 5:30 p.m. Saturday to 4 p.m. Sunday.
- Sunday, Dec. 6, 6 to 7 p.m. The Menorah Lighting Ceremony takes place at Lincoln and Marshfield. The Chamber points readers to Lakeview SSA 27 for details.
If you want something outside the corridor in late November, Christkindlmarket Wrigleyville opens Nov. 20 at Gallagher Way and runs through Dec. 31. Admission is free, and 28 local and international vendors are expected.
What Moves Into 3552 N. Southport Is Partly Southport Grocery
Dollop Coffee Co., the Chicago-based roaster and cafe operator, is opening a new concept in the space. Block Club and CBS call it Dollop Finer Diner, while Southport Corridor News shortens it to Dollop Diner.
The partnership isn't new. Santos began working with Dollop a little over four years ago to expand its wholesale pastry operation. She told Block Club what the new restaurant means for her team:
"I have people that have worked for me for 18 years. They all have jobs at the new concept. They all have a soft landing."
Santos will keep a small stake in Dollop Finer Diner and help with consulting and taste-testing. She also keeps ownership of the Southport Grocery name and recipes, though she said her next chapter won't include another brick-and-mortar restaurant. Dollop hasn't announced an opening date, menu or hours for the Southport location, and the hours at its Andersonville location don't necessarily apply here. Whenever Dollop Finer Diner opens at 3552 N. Southport, the staff who served those pancakes have jobs waiting there.
We'd be glad to compare holiday calendars with you this season. If any of these holiday weeks get you thinking about where your next home in Lake View might be, The VC Team is happy to talk it through over coffee, wherever the coffee comes from.
