Flo Cafe & Bar at 1434 W. Chicago Ave. has served Southwestern comfort food in West Town for more than 25 years. Its last day of service is planned for Dec. 20. The restaurant announced the closure on Instagram in October, saying its building has been sold. WhatNow Chicago reported the same sale and the same final date the next day.
Dec. 20 is a Sunday. Counting from Saturday, Nov. 14, that leaves six Saturdays and six Sundays, or twelve weekend mornings, for the sopapillas and New Mexico Hatch chiles that Block Club Chicago calls Flo's signatures. Those same six weekends also carry Chicago Avenue's holiday market dates, Ukrainian Village's benefit season and the West Town Chamber's shopping kickoff. The calendar is crowded, and Flo's countdown sets the deadline.
Twelve Mornings, and Most of Them Already Have Company
Flo's official site lists Saturday hours of 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is closed Monday and opens at 11 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. The site says brunch is served Tuesday through Sunday, but the special brunch menu is a weekend menu, and that is where the Triple Berry-Zabaione French Toast, the Lobo Skillet and the Flo Burrito appear. The Sunday close at 3 p.m. means the final service on Dec. 20 is a daytime meal, not a late night.
Here is how the remaining weekends line up with what else is on the calendar along and near Chicago Avenue.
| Weekend | Also on the calendar nearby |
|---|---|
| Nov. 14–15 | Handmade Market at The Empty Bottle, Sat. noon–4 p.m.; Black Raven documentary premiere, Sat. 4 p.m., 2249 W. Superior St. |
| Nov. 21–22 | Ukrainian National Museum Annual Benefit Gala, Sat., 2249 W. Superior St. |
| Nov. 28–29 | Thanksgiving weekend; no listed Chicago Avenue events |
| Dec. 5–6 | It's a Wonderful West Town Sip & Shop, Sat. noon–5 p.m.; Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America Holiday Benefit Evening, Sat. 6 p.m., UIMA |
| Dec. 12–13 | Handmade Market at The Empty Bottle, Sat. noon–4 p.m. |
| Dec. 19–20 | Flo's final weekend; last service Sun. Dec. 20 |
Three of those Saturdays have events that start at noon or later. A 9 a.m. brunch at Flo fits ahead of every one of them. The Sundays are wide open, and that matters more for Dec. 20 than for any other date on the list.
The Saturdays That Pair Best
Nov. 14 is the fullest Saturday of the month. The Handmade Market sets up inside The Empty Bottle at 1035 N. Western Ave. from noon to 4 p.m. At 4 p.m., the Ukrainian Chicago community calendar lists the premiere of the documentary Black Raven at 2249 W. Superior St., home of the Ukrainian National Museum. Brunch at Flo, the market in the early afternoon, then the film is a single west-moving line through the neighborhood.
Dec. 5 opens West Town's official holiday shopping stretch. The West Town Chamber's It's a Wonderful West Town runs Dec. 5 through Dec. 24 and kicks off with a Sip & Shop from noon to 5 p.m. The Chamber promises carolers, sips, treats and deals across the neighborhood, with more details still to come. That evening at 6 p.m., the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America Holiday Benefit Evening is listed at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 W. Chicago Ave.
Dec. 12 brings the Handmade Market back to The Empty Bottle for its December date, again from noon to 4 p.m. It is the last Saturday market before Flo's final weekend, which makes it the natural slot for anyone who wants a brunch-and-gifts morning without competing with the closing-weekend crowd.
The Ukrainian Chicago calendar asks readers to confirm times and locations with each organizer before heading out, and that applies to all three of its listings above.
West of Ashland, the Newer Rooms Fill the Gaps
Flo sits at the east end of this stretch. Head west along Chicago Avenue and the 2026 openings line the same blocks the holiday events use. On a weekend when Flo is the anchor, they fill the hours before and after it.
- Guillotine Bakery, 1711 W. Chicago Ave. Eater Chicago's October list of the best new restaurants describes a "French-ish" bakery selling crisp baguettes, Brie sandwiches and sugar-coated kouign amann. Eater adds that it tends to draw a line, has booths facing a glass-enclosed baking room, and has set a four-per-person limit on pastries. The limit does not apply to sandwiches and breads. A baguette from here and a holiday gift from the Handmade Market make one errand.
- Surge Billiards and Sway Golf, 1734 W. Chicago Ave. Across the street from Guillotine, Block Club Chicago reported that it opened in August with pool tables, golf simulators, cocktails and coffee. Weekday happy hour runs 4 to 7 p.m. with half-price pool and drink specials. It gives out-of-town holiday guests something to do on a weeknight, when Flo opens for dinner at 11 a.m. and runs late.
- Josephine's, inside Every Now and Then, 1843 W. Chicago Ave. Joe Freshgoods' store opened in July with a cafe inside. In its July report, Block Club Chicago listed Metric Coffee, espresso, matcha, peach iced tea, house lemonade and pastries, with hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Those weekend hours fit right in between a morning at Flo and the 4 p.m. Black Raven screening on Superior.
- Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 W. Chicago Ave. UIMA is the western bookend and hosts the Dec. 5 benefit evening.
On Chicago's address grid, 1434 to 2320 W. Chicago Ave. is a little over a mile. On any of these Saturdays, a single walk west covers the whole route, from a 25-year-old dining room to a bakery that opened this year.
If you've been following West Town's restaurant growth, this is a different story from the one on Grand Avenue. There, experienced operators were choosing a new street for their next projects. On Chicago Avenue this season, the new places and the long-running ones share the same few blocks for the same few weeks.
Dec. 20 Falls on a Sunday, and Sundays End at 3
Flo's closing note, quoted by Block Club Chicago, thanked West Town "for making us a part of the great community for over 25 years" and ended with an invitation: "Until then come share one last drink with the Flomies!"
Under the posted Sunday hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the last service is a six-hour window. Saturday, Dec. 19, runs from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., which makes it the longer of the two final days for anyone who wants that last drink in the evening. Both days come after the last Handmade Market and the Sip & Shop, so the final weekend has nothing else on the listed calendar competing with it.
For a weekend brunch before the 20th, the Saturdays above already have a plan built around them. The Sundays from Nov. 15 through Dec. 13 are the quieter mornings, and the Lobo Skillet and Flo Burrito are on the weekend menu at every one of them.
West Town's storefronts are changing on the same blocks where Stephanie works. If you'd like to talk through what a closing like Flo's or a newcomer like Guillotine means for your part of Chicago Avenue, Stephanie Turner is glad to share her read over coffee at Josephine's. Book a Consultation.
