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Windy City Magazine
Discover Chicagoland and the Businesses That Drive It
North Side

Lincoln Square & Ravenswood

Lincoln Square is the North Side community area between Montrose and Foster, from the river east to Ravenswood Avenue, and the name also means the commercial strip on Lincoln Avenue between Leland and Lawrence, marked by green metal archways, according to WTTW. Ravenswood, Ravenswood Manor, Bowmanville and Budlong Woods are the smaller neighborhoods inside the same community area. The hub is part of the North Side group.

Swiss, German and English farmers settled the area in the mid-1800s, and the German identity stuck: the sausage shop, the apothecary and the beer halls on Lincoln Avenue still trade on it. Giddings Plaza, the small square just off Lincoln, hosts summer concerts and the Apple Fest, and the Old Town School of Folk Music, founded in 1957, moved to Lincoln Avenue in 1998 and now teaches around 6,600 students. Welles Park at Montrose and Western has the gazebo, pool and ballfields, and Winnemac Park sits north of Foster. East of the Brown Line, the Ravenswood industrial corridor along the Metra tracks became Malt Row, a run of more than ten breweries, a distillery and a winery between Montrose and Foster, per the Ravenswood Community Council.

Housing and prices

Housing is Chicago bungalows on the blocks west of Western, brick two-flats and three-flats on the streets between Lincoln and Damen, courtyard buildings near the L, and condo conversions and new construction near the Western and Damen stops. Construction dates run from the 1900s to the present. Prices typically range from about $300,000 for a two-bedroom condo to $1.2 million for a rebuilt bungalow or a large single-family house in Ravenswood Manor. These are broad editorial estimates as of September 2026, not appraisals. Family buyers drive the market, and the blocks near Waters and Coonley elementary schools carry a premium.

Getting around

The Brown Line stops at Western, Damen, Montrose and Rockwell, with Western the stop for the Lincoln Avenue strip. Metra’s Union Pacific North line stops at Ravenswood station at Lawrence and Ravenswood, a 15-minute ride to Ogilvie. Buses: the 49 Western, 50 Damen, 78 Montrose, 81 Lawrence and 92 Foster, plus the 11 Lincoln on weekdays. The Kennedy Expressway is reached by Lawrence, Montrose or Foster on the neighborhood’s west side. Divvy docks are common near the L stops. Parking is easier than closer to the lake, with metered spaces on Lincoln and Western and residential permit zones on some blocks near the stations.

Where to eat, drink and shop

Coffee and cake come from https://windycitymagazine.com/business/lutz-cafe-and-pastry-shop/ on Montrose, a German bakery that has run since 1948 with a garden out back. Pizza is https://windycitymagazine.com/business/spacca-napoli-pizzeria/ on Sunnyside, a wood-fired Neapolitan room a block from the Montrose Brown Line stop.

Malt Row is the reason a lot of people visit. https://windycitymagazine.com/business/dovetail-brewery/ on Belle Plaine brews Czech and German lagers, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/begyle-brewing/ around the corner on Cuyler pours in a taproom with a walk-up window, and https://windycitymagazine.com/business/demo-brewing-company/ on Berteau is the newest of the three, opened in 2024. Farther north in Bowmanville, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/half-acre-beer-company/ on Balmoral is the biggest taproom in the corridor with a full kitchen, and https://windycitymagazine.com/business/spiteful-brewing/ a few doors down keeps a hop-heavy tap list.

Businesses in Lincoln Square & Ravenswood

Directory listings in Lincoln Square and Ravenswood, in alphabetical order.

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