Cafeography
Chicago · Lincoln Square & North Center

Cafés in Lincoln Square & North Center

Cafés around the Lincoln statue and Welles Park, Yemeni coffee houses open late on Kedzie Avenue, and bakery counters in North Center and Roscoe Village.

Photo: Tirdad Asemani, Pexels License

Lincoln Square grew up as a German neighborhood, and German businesses such as Merz Apothecary and Lutz Café & Bakery still trade here.1 Its center is the meeting of Lawrence, Western and Lincoln avenues, where a statue of Abraham Lincoln has stood since 1956; a section of the Berlin Wall was installed at the Western Brown Line station in 2008.1

The area reaches south through North Center, which runs from Montrose Avenue down to Diversey Parkway between the Chicago River and Ravenswood Avenue and includes Roscoe Village.2 To the northwest, Kedzie Avenue in Albany Park and North Park has become a strip of Middle Eastern coffee houses.3 Lincoln Avenue between Lawrence and Foster carries the densest run of cafés, from Le Cafe at 4655 to Royal Cafe at 5074.

Local tip: For coffee after dinner, Kedzie Avenue is the place: Qamaria serves until midnight and Shibam until 22:00, while Oromo Cafe and The Perfect Cup, near the square, close at 19:00 and 18:00.

At a glance

53Cafés listed
15With opening hours
06:30Earliest opening
23:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Khepri Cafe, from 06:30 (Mon–Fri 06:30–17:00 · Sat–Sun 07:00–16:00).
  • Closes latest: iCafe, until 23:00 (Daily 11:00–23:00).
  • Most listed streets: North Lincoln Avenue (10), West Lawrence Avenue (6), N Lincoln Ave (6).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (11%), open late (9%), bakery café (8%).

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Coffee chains in Lincoln Square & North Center

Around the square, Welles Park and Lawrence Avenue

Lincoln Avenue north of Lawrence has Oromo Cafe at 4703, open from 07:00 with Wi-Fi, Willow Café and Bistro at 4729, Geraldine’s at 4743 and City Skyline at 4755, which has outdoor seating. A few blocks east, The Perfect Cup at 4700 N. Damen Avenue opens daily 07:00–18:00 with Wi-Fi and tables outside.

Welles Park, 15 acres at Lincoln and Montrose avenues, faces the Conrad Sulzer Regional Library, and the neighborhood’s German-American Fest is one of its annual events.1 Near the park, La Boulangerie & Co at 1945 W. Wilson Avenue opens at 08:00, and Spoken Cafe at 1812 W. Montrose serves 07:00–14:00 from Tuesday to Sunday.

Just west of Western Avenue, Lawrence Avenue has a row of small cafés: Coffee Slasticarna Drina at 2501, Sparta Coffee Shop at 2605, Olympic Club at 2615 and Albert’s Place Turkish Cafe at 2621. Farther up Lincoln Avenue, north of Foster, are Cafe Utjeha at 5350 and Bel-Ami at 5530.

Yemeni coffee houses on Kedzie Avenue

In the year to January 2026, four Middle Eastern cafés opened on a mile of Kedzie Avenue, two of them the first Chicago branches of Yemeni chains from Dearborn, Michigan: Qamaria at 4728 N. Kedzie and Shibam at 5241 N. Kedzie.3 Both serve qishr, a drink of dried coffee-cherry husks brewed with ginger, cinnamon and cardamom that falls between coffee and tea, and roast their beans light.3

Coffee was probably first roasted and brewed in Yemen in the 15th century, and the word mocha comes from the Yemeni port of Mokha.3 Qamaria stays open until midnight and Shibam until 22:00, and both fill up after dark, especially after the fast is broken during Ramadan.3 At Kedzie and Lawrence, Nubar, a Kurdish café at 3200 W. Lawrence Avenue, makes thick Kurdish and Turkish coffee and serves daily 08:00–22:00.3

For an early coffee on the same stretch, Khepri Cafe at 4650 N. Kedzie opens at 06:30 on weekdays and 07:00 at weekends.

North Center and Roscoe Village

From 1904 to 1967 the 76-acre Riverview Park, billed as the largest amusement park in the world, filled the land between Belmont Avenue and Lane Tech, west of Western Avenue; police headquarters, a school and a shopping center stand there now.2 The Brown Line stops at Addison, Irving Park and Montrose.2

Loba Pastry + Coffee, at Lincoln Avenue and Addison Street, has baked since 2015, changes its pastries daily and pours coffee from Little Waves, a roaster in Durham, North Carolina; it closes on Wednesdays.4 Dot’s at 2000 W. Addison Street opens daily 07:00–19:00, The Bakehouse at 2009 W. Roscoe Street 07:00–18:00, and Ritual Coffeehouse at 1821 W. Irving Park Road serves until 22:00.

Sources

  1. Lincoln Square, Chicago, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. North Center, Chicago, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Kedzie Avenue in Albany Park Becomes a Hub for Middle Eastern-Style Cafes, as Four Open Within a Mile in a Year (Daniel Hautzinger, January 16, 2026), WTTW, accessed October 2026
  4. Loba Pastry + Coffee: about, hours and location, Loba Pastry + Coffee, accessed October 2026
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In Lincoln Square & North Center, also browse: Wi-Fi Bakery cafés Outdoor seating Open late Specialty coffee

FAQ

Lincoln Square & North Center cafés: questions

Where are the Yemeni coffee houses in Chicago’s Albany Park and Lincoln Square area?

They are on Kedzie Avenue: Qamaria at 4728 N. Kedzie and Shibam at 5241 N. Kedzie, the first Chicago branches of two Yemeni chains from Dearborn, Michigan. Both serve qishr, a spiced drink of dried coffee-cherry husks, and light-roasted coffee. Qamaria stays open until midnight and Shibam until 22:00.

What is qishr at Yemeni cafés in Chicago?

Qishr is a Yemeni drink made from the dried husks of the coffee cherry, brewed with spices such as ginger, cinnamon and cardamom, and it tastes somewhere between coffee and tea. In Chicago it is served at Qamaria and Shibam on Kedzie Avenue, two Yemeni coffee houses that also roast their beans light.

Which cafés in North Center and Roscoe Village in Chicago open early?

Dot’s at 2000 W. Addison Street opens daily at 07:00 and stays open until 19:00, and The Bakehouse at 2009 W. Roscoe Street also opens at 07:00. Loba Pastry + Coffee, at Lincoln Avenue and Addison Street, serves coffee from Little Waves of Durham, North Carolina, and closes on Wednesdays.

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