Featured Friday: Logan Square small business Tour
Good Afternoon Readers! I hope you had a fantastic week and are enjoying your Friday. The holiday weekend has approached us so I hope you have your red, white, and blue plans filled with BBQs and your loved ones. We will be flying home to visit our family for the holiday and enjoying our hometown for a week before we embark on our journey to Seattle. In case you missed last week's Feature we covered the amazing Revival Food Hall, which housed delicious restaurants offering every flavor of food you could imagine. For this week's Feature, we decided to showcase how much small businesses affect a neighborhood and what that means to us.
One of the first things that caught Birdi and I’s attention about our new neighborhood in Logan Square was how many local and small business establishments were located on every corner. Wherever you looked there was a mom-and-pop breakfast diner, a fun-themed bar, unique coffee shops, authentic restaurants, and a plethora of boutiques that could leave you wandering from establishment to establishment all year long. After spending a whole month in this amazing neighborhood, I felt it was important to highlight this area as a whole and applaud all of the businesses for what they do. Below are 9 of our favorite establishments that we had the pleasure of visiting and loved supporting over these past few weeks. This is also a perfect little tour guide if you are looking to do something different in the Chicago area. If you have any Logan Square or Chicago Recommendations please send them our way so that they can be included in our Ultimate Chicago Tour Guide. Without further ado, let's Feature these fantastic businesses.
1.New Wave- One of our favorite ways to start our Chicago adventure days is to sample all of the neighborhood local coffee shops. Each offering something unique but all having quality taste and service. This shop has become one of our staples and we have enjoyed trying all of their blends and coffee arts.
2. Felt- This incredibly cute boutique store, that we stumbled into one day while roaming the streets, offers all things in women’s fashion. This boutique along with over a handful of dozens of other stores has helped dub Logan Square as the next up-and-coming shopping destination in Chicago. They offer a small town emerging talent from the area but also offer its residents some high-end established designers.
3. Crap Pad- My mouth is watering just thinking about this business. Hands down one of my favorite food experiences was the local Crap Pad restaurants which offer its customers all things seafood. This establishment is the seafood bag style eating and I created a cajun blend of crab and lobsters that I devoured. They also offer a wide range of food and drink menus, and awesome happy hour deals all week long.
4. Tula Yoga Studio- One thing that I am constantly looking for when settling into a new community is different physical activities to partake in while your neighbors and this yoga studio fit that for me. The diverse and knowledgeable classes kept me coming back and I enjoyed being able to meet other locals uniquely.
5. Pretty Cool Ice Cream- By far one of the closest shops to us, being ten feet from our home, we have been able to indulge time and time again in this decadent ice cream shop. The aesthetic pink building homes some of the most customizable and delicious ice cream bars I have ever had. Their extensive flavor menu is enough to feel astonished, some of which they offer include goat cheese black raspberry swirl, Kyoto Cold brew, and peanut butter potato chip.
6. The Logan Theatre- Just like every classical and iconic community, Logan Square has its very own local theatre. The beautiful and lit-up theatre offers all of the current showings while having a wonderful concessions area. Grab your favorite snack, movie popcorn, and even an alcoholic drink before you get seated for your motion picture.
7. Webster’s Wine Bar- I have learned quite quickly that every neighborhood that I live in needs to have a Wine Bar and Webster's defiantly set a high bar. This classy and cozy establishment offers an extensive wine list for all vino lovers and I enjoyed grabbing a glass here on the weekends. Their entire aesthetic, attention to detail, and wonderful knowledge of wine extended my passion for wine while in this community.
8. Fruit Paradise- This fun-colored building immediately caught our attention when we were walking around one evening and were intrigued enough to try the acai location the following morning. Let me start by saying that the amazing flavor and freshness of the ingredients blew me away. Their diverse menu has something for all flavor palettes and I honestly could eat their bowls every single morning.
9. Chicago Diner- I had to include this listing in our top 9 favorite establishments in Logan Square. This classic diner has been meat-free since 83’ twisting the classic diner for all vegetarians. I enjoyed seeing a local diner adhere to a new diet but with classic diner dishes and I loved eating here on my meat-free days.
There you have it ladies and gentlemen our top 9 must-visit establishments while you are in the area. This is just the tip of the iceberg as to what this community offers and there were so many other establishments I could have included on this list. Let us know some of your favorite spots and we might even offer a second Logan Square guide. Until then, thanks as always everybody for reading and following along our journey. We have had such an absolute blast exploring this amazing neighborhood and want to thank the community for being so enjoyable. I hope you all have an amazing weekend and enjoy the holiday. We will see you next week.
Stay Safe and Happy Travels.
OnBrand