We asked, you answered—in the first ever LoganSquarist Best of Logan Square awards. Showcasing the best the neighborhood has to offer across 70 different categories, the winners represent your favorites, and Logan’s finest. With more than 177 winners and honorable mention recipients, this year’s businesses, organizations, artists and community members are definitely something to be proud of.
Taking home the most nods this year was Lula Cafe, tying for third in Best Brunch Place and winning Best Place To Take A Date at a restaurant or bar, as well as receiving honorable mentions for Best Fancy Restaurant, Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant and Best Brunch Menu Item with its Breakfast Burrito.
Reno, also received five nods, including winning Best Place To Work While Enjoying a Drink Or Two Winner and getting an honorable mention for Best Budget-Friendly Restaurant, Best Karaoke Venue, Best Pizza and Friendlist Staff at a restaurant or bar.
Check out your winners and honorable mentions. And make sure to stop by to congratulate them.
Businesses + Shops ✶ Arts + Entertainment ✶ Food + Drink ✶ Neighborhood
Businesses + Shops
Best Grocery Store
Winner: Dill Pickle Food Co-op
Honorable mention: Tony’s Finer Foods
Best Thrift Store
Winner: Threads, Etc.
Honorable mention: Village Discount Outlet
Best Bike Shop
Winner: Boulevard Bikes
Honorable mention: The Bike Lane
Best Bookstore
Winner: City Lit Books
Honorable mention: Uncharted Books
Best Clothing Boutique
Winner: Wolfbait & B-Girls
Honorable mention: Meyvn
Best Record Store
Winner: Logan Hardware
Honorable mention: Bric-a-Brac Records & Collectibles
Best Toy Store
Winner: *Play
Honorable mention: Toy De Jour
Best Bank
Winner: Chase
Honorable mention: Liberty Bank for Savings
Best Hair Salon
Winner: Hairitics Dye For Your Beliefs
Honorable mentions: Logan Parlor and Twisted Scissors
Best Business For Pets
Winner: Temple of the Dog & Meow Lounge
Honorable mention: Boulevard Veterinary
Best Community-Focused Business
Winner: Dill Pickle Food Co-op
Honorable mention: Studio Mangiameli
Best Business Owner(s)
Winner: Rosetta Magdalen, Flamenco Chicago
Honorable mention: Nathan Sears, Das Radler
Friendliest Staff not at a restaurant or bar
Winner: Logan Parlor
Honorable mention: Hairitics Dye For Your Beliefs
Arts + Entertainment
Best Music Venue
Winner: Cole’s Bar
Honorable mention: Quenchers Saloon
Best Club
Winner: Slippery Slope
Honorable mention: East Room
Best Place to Dance
Winner: Slippery Slope
Honorable mention: The Whistler
Best Street Festival
Winner: Logan Square Arts Festival (formerly Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival)
Honorable mention: Tour de Fat
Best Art Gallery
Winner: Galerie F
Honorable mention: Beauty & Brawn Art Gallery & Think Space
Best Comedy Night
Winner: Cole’s Bar
Honorable mention: The Logan Theatre
Best Karaoke Venue
Winner: Cafe Mustache
Honorable mentions: Madison Public House and Reno
Best Board Game Selection
Winner: G-Mart Comic Bookstore
Honorable mention: Whirlaway Lounge
Best Local Band
Winner: Space Blood
Honorable mentions: Flesh Panthers, Meatwave, The Polkaholics, Strawberry Jacuzzi and Vamos
Best Musical Artist(s)
Honorable mentions: Aptera Strings, Archer Prewitt, Coleman Brice, Disappears, Johnnie Drake, Lawrence Peters, Mary Spray, Nick Mazzarella, OVEF OW, Sharkula, Show You Suck, Space Blood, the flips, The Screamin’ End, Todays Hits, Tom Burdick, and Tom Musick and Ronnie Kuller
Best Comedian
Winner: Bill Bullock
Honorable mentions: Mike Makings and Puterbaugh Sisters
Best Unique Event
Winner: Tour de Fat
Honorable mention: Logan Square Farmers Market
Food + Drink Spots: Restaurants + Vendors
Best Panaderia
Winner: Panaderia La Central
Honorable mention: La Estrella
Best Sweet Treats Shop
Winner: Bang Bang Pie Shop
Honorable mention: Katherine Anne Confections
Best Fancy Restaurant
Winner: Longman & Eagle
Honorable mention: Lula Cafe
Best Budget-Friendly Restaurant
Winner: L’Patron
Honorable mention: Reno
Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant
Winner: Dunlay’s on the Square
Honorable mention: Lula Cafe and Revolution Brewing
Best Brunch Place
Winner: Lula Cafe
Honorable mention: Longman & Eagle
Best BYOB Venue
Winner: Wasabi
Honorable mention: 90 Miles Cuban Cafe
Best Place to Get Late Night Grub
Winner: Boiler Room
Honorable mention: DAS
Best New Restaurant
Winners: The General and Sink|Swim
Honorable mention: DAS
Menu Choices
Best All-Around Dish
Winner: Plin at Osteria Langhe
Honorable mention: Cauliflower with Lentils from Longman & Eagle
Best Tacos
Winner: L’Patron
Honorable mention: El Cid and Taqueria Moran
Best Cuban Sandwich
Winner: 90 Miles Cuban Cafe
Honorable mention: Tropi Cuba
Best Burger
Winner: Revolution Brewery
Honorable mention: Parts & Labor
Best Pizza
Winner: Dante’s Pizzeria
Honorable mention: Reno
Best Brunch Menu Item
Winners: Jam Restaurant‘s French Toast, Longman & Eagle‘s Chicken & Waffles and Das Radler‘s Donuts
Honorable mention: Lula Cafe‘s Breakfast Burrito
Bars + Clubs
Best All-Around Bar
Winner: Scofflaw
Honorable mention: Quenchers Saloon
Best Dive Bar
Winner: Cole’s
Honorable mentions: Two Way Lounge and Whirlaway Lounge
Best Place For A Shot Of Malort
Winner: Quenchers Saloon
Honorable mention: Scofflaw
Cocktails + Drinks
Best Craft Cocktails
Winner: Billy Sunday
Honorable mention: Scofflaw
Best Beer Selection
Winner: Revolution Brewery
Honorable mention: Quenchers Saloon
Best Wine List
Winner: Webster’s Wine Bar
Honorable mention: Table, Donkey & Stick
Best Margarita
Winner: El Cid Mexican Restaurant
Honorable mentions: Masa Azul and Parson’s Chicken & Fish
Best Bloody Mary
Winner: Dunlay’s on the Square
Honorable mention: Longman & Eagle
Best Cup Of Coffee
Winner: Gaslight Coffee Roasters
Honorable mention: Intelligentsia Coffee
Best Espresso-Based Coffee Drink
Winner: Intelligentsia Coffee
Honorable mention: Gaslight Coffee Roasters
Ambiance + Atmosphere
Best Place To Take A Date at a restaurant or bar
Winner: Lula Cafe
Honorable mention: Das Radler
Friendliest Staff at a restaurant or bar
Winner: Das Radler
Honorable mention: Reno
Best Patio
Winner: Parson’s Chicken & Fish
Honorable mention: El Cid Mexican Restaurant
Best Place To Work While Enjoying a Drink Or Two
Winner: Reno
Honorable mention: Cafe Mustache
Best Place to Have A Drink With Your Dog
Winner: Parson’s Chicken & Fish
Honorable mention: Dunlay’s On the Square
Neighborhood
Best Running Path
Winner: The 606
Honorable mention: Palmer Square Park
Best Park
Winner: Palmer Square Park
Honorable mention: Unity Park
Best Park for Athletes
Winner: Palmer Square Park
Honorable mention: The 606
Best Place to Work Out
Winner: XSport Fitness
Honorable mention: Logan Square Fitness
Best Hidden Neighborhood Gem
Winner: Palmer Square Park
Honorable mention: Comfort Station
Best Wedding Venue
Winner: Greenhouse Loft
Honorable mention: Stan Mansion
Best Place to Make New Friends/Meet New People
Winner: Logan Square Farmers Market
Honorable mentions: Logan Arcade and Cole’s
Best Family Activity
Winner: Logan Square Farmers Market
Honorable mention: The 606
Best Place to Take a Date not at a restaurant or bar
Winner: Logan Theatre
Honorable mention: The 606
Best Community Group
Winner: I AM Logan Square
Honorable mention: Unity Park Advisory Council
Most Active CAPS Group
Winner: Beat 1421
Honorable mentions: Beat 1422 and Beat 1431
Best Community Member
Winner: Alex Huebner, owner, Weegee’s Lounge
Honorable mentions: Andrew Schneider, Logan Square Preseration; Paul Levin, Logan Square Chamber of Commerce; Robert Castillo, Unity Park Advisory Council; Rosetta Magdalen, Flamenco Chicago LLC; and Rosita de la Rosa, Logan Square Neighborhood Association
Best Government Official
Winner: Will Guzzardi
Honorable mentions: Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and Joe Moreno
Best Alderman
Winners: Joe Moreno – 1st Ward and Scott Waguespack – 32nd Ward
Honorable mention: Carlos Ramirez-Rosa – 35th Ward
Best Neighborhood News Source
Winner: LoganSquarist
Honorable mention: DNAInfo Logan Square
Great article! But why no mention of local live theater? The Charnel House, Theater Y, Death & Pretzels are all in the area and could use a shout out!
Naming yourself as a winner is a little tacky don’t you think? Did you pick the best of or did your readers vote on it? It seems like you write about the same businesses over and over again. Many of the winners on this list had an article written about them. This list should really be titled, our favorites not best of.
This is one of the worst best of lists I have seen in a long time. How did you pick the best of? Did you have readers vote? I also want to mention that naming yourself in a best of list is a little tacky. Btw, the Logansquarist always features the same businesses over and over again. A couple of the best of winners have had articles written about them.
The Best of List was created by neighbor submissions through a survey hosted on our site for over a month. Readers voted for every category and the votes were tallied based on those submissions. Unlike other Best of, we didn’t preselect who was qualified per category. As for Best Neighborhood Resource–again, this was a category requested by a reader–so we added it at the last minute. We got a number of votes, including those DNAInfo, list servs and a Facebook group. Our Best of was strictly determined by Reader votes. So much so that we added the Honorable Mention addition to share the love for other businesses and organizations.