Noble Square Chicago Avenue Restaurants: A Winter Guide

"Sometimes things come to an end not by choice, but by circumstance," Flo Cafe & Bar wrote when it announced its closing, as reported by Block Club Chicago. The Southwestern restaurant at 1434 W. Chicago Ave. has served the neighborhood for more than 25 years. Its building has been sold, and its last day of service is Sunday, Dec. 20.

Counting from the last weekend of October, that leaves eight weekends. Across the street and a few doors down, two newer restaurants have opened or are about to: Gilda opened in July, and Compa is still marked "coming soon." By the end of the year, the 1400 block of West Chicago Avenue along Noble Square's southern edge will run on a different clock than it has for a quarter century. The brunch anchor leaves, the evening tables arrive, and the morning routine moves a few blocks west across Ashland.

Eight Weekends of Flo

Block Club called Flo West Town's "beloved brunch spot." Its owners thanked the neighborhood "for making us a part of the great community for over 25 years" and told regulars to "come share one last drink with the Flomies." They have not said whether Flo will reopen somewhere else.

So the practical point is the date. If a Flo brunch is part of how your household does weekends, you have eight weekends left once this one starts, and the final one is Dec. 19–20.

The Restaurant Neighbors Paid to Open

Gilda, at 1421 W. Chicago Ave., opened Thursday, July 23. It is a Basque pintxos tavern from chefs Jeremy Leven, Rafael Esparza and Anthony Baier, with Inés de Haro running the bar. How it got open matters as much as the menu. Block Club reported that the team was denied a federal Small Business Administration loan in the spring. They then raised about $20,000 by selling "compañero cards," which customers redeem later as dining discounts. Leven told Eater Chicago that as many as 40 compañeros helped close the gap. "We had to adjust quickly and luckily the community stepped up for us," he said.

That funding model explains the one night of the week built for people who live nearby. De Haro told Eater that Mondays are walk-in only, with a wait list, "so that people from the neighborhood after work can come home, walk their dog, then come over to this third space to decompress at the end of their day." Block Club described Monday as a weekly "industry night" when the chefs test dishes that may later join the permanent menu. Monday is also the only night with no reservation required. In the hours Eater listed at opening, Gilda served 5 to 11 p.m. Monday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and took reservations only from Thursday through Sunday, with a 9:30 p.m. last seating. Leven said in opening week that reservations already ran "all the way up into October." Check the restaurant's current hours before you go, since they were set in July.

Leven's suggested order is a gilda skewer, a matrimonio anchovy toast and the cod croquettes. Bar seats also get a first-come burger that is not on the menu. Esparza's favorite is the lamb albondigas over rice, and Leven estimated that 75 to 80 percent of the wine list comes from Spain.

Compa, Still Behind Paper

Compa is the third piece of the block, at 1424 W. Chicago Ave. It comes from Six Point Hospitality and restaurateur Markus Chwajol, whose group also runs Cobblestone in North Center. Eater's fall 2026 preview gave an "early October" target. It named Adrian Gaytan and Horacio Fonseca as key players and described regional Mexican cooking: lobster chile en nogada, al pastor branzino, and lamb mole with hand-pressed tortillas, plus an agave-heavy bar. As of Oct. 19, Compa's own site still said "Coming Soon." Treat those dishes as a preview, and expect an opening date to be posted before any hours are.

Here is how the block stands going into November:

Where the Morning Goes

With Flo gone, the long-running daytime table on this block leaves too. The new daytime option in the area opened this summer three blocks west, past Ashland. Guillotine Bakery opened June 17 at 1711 W. Chicago Ave., in the former Rhona Hoffman gallery space. Owners Vincent Didry and Alizé Bikard and head baker Vince Le Bec, who come from different parts of France, import French flour and butter for baguettes, sourdough, croissants and kouign-amanns. They pour Sparrow Coffee and serve a few sandwiches at lunch. The owners set it up as a place to sit and work as well as to pick something up. From the dining room you can watch the bakers through an open kitchen designed with the local firm Siren Betty, and some menu items rotate by season.

On Ashland, the neighborhood's own pizza counter has settled in. Milly's Pizza In The Pan moved from Uptown to 925 N. Ashland Ave., and Block Club's January roundup described the move as complete. The shop took over a space that once held a Pizza Metro. Owner Robert Maleski told Eater Chicago that the bigger kitchen and better oven would let Milly's double daily output from 60 pizzas to 120. Milly's has expanded since, with a Lakeview location announced for 3409 N. Broadway. The Ashland shop is the one in Noble Square.

Put together, the daytime meal is shifting west across Ashland, the evening is concentrating on the 1400 block, and Gilda's Mondays are the one night on that block set aside for walk-in neighbors.

A Winter Built Around the Handoff

Here's a calendar for the season, in date order:

1. Any Monday from now on: Walk in to Gilda after work and put your name on the wait list. It's the one night that doesn't require planning a week ahead, and it's when the kitchen tests new dishes.
2. Weekend mornings through December: Get pastries and a Sparrow latte at Guillotine. On the weekends you can still make it, finish the morning with brunch at Flo.
3. Through Dec. 13: Eckhart Park's fall program session runs from Sept. 8 to Dec. 13, with offerings such as adult basketball and youth basketball skills, so sign-ups for the next session are the thing to watch after that. The park's Advisory Council started a volunteer-run farmers market this June and says it is one of only three volunteer-led farmers markets in the state. Proceeds go back into park programming.
4. Sat., Dec. 19: The Salt Shed's indoor 93XRT Winter Jam features Ratboys with Friko and Florry, and doors open at 7 p.m. It's also Flo's last Saturday.
5. Sun., Dec. 20: Flo's final day of service.
6. Dec. 30 and 31: Greensky Bluegrass plays two nights indoors at the Salt Shed, with a two-day pass available.
7. Fri., Jan. 15: The Roots play the Salt Shed's indoor room. By then, Compa may have posted an opening date.

The Salt Shed's calendar is a live listing, so confirm dates on the venue's site before you buy tickets.

The building at 1434 W. Chicago Ave. is the open question on the block this winter. If you're a Noble Square homeowner wondering what changes like these mean for your own corner of the neighborhood, Dwell Wisely Group follows these storefronts closely and is glad to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll share what we're seeing on Chicago Avenue.