Running on The 606

The pancakes are the best argument for coming and one of the best in the city. Fresh organic ingredients, cooked correctly, light and fluffy without exception. The steak and eggs and the Benedicts both hold up. The biscuits and gravy are a regular order for good reason. Nothing has come back bad across many visits. Drip coffee is diner coffee — embrace it. Weekends bring a short wait. Worth every minute of it.

Bucktown multi-roaster coffee shop founded in 2020 as a pandemic-era coffee cart by Raoul Adwan, who drew on Bolivian roots and childhood coffee memories to build a neighborhood fixture. Bright, light interior with bold murals. Baristas are well trained and the drinks are consistently good. Near the 606 Bucktown entrance. The coffee to grab before you walk the neighborhood on a nice day.

Bucktown outpost of the Lincoln Park Ukrainian coffee shop with what might be the best croissants in Chicago. Baked in house daily. Pistachio and strawberry are the standouts, but the cinnamon roll has its own claim to greatness. Beans roasted in Ukraine and shipped over. Coffee is solid, not the star. Walk-up window for grab and go. Note: this rating is based on the Lincoln Park location — haven't personally visited Bucktown yet.

Beautiful all-day cafe right at the 606 trail onramp on the Wicker Park/Bucktown border. Big windows, great natural light, large exterior mural, open park next door. Ipsento roasts their own coffee and the execution has been consistently over-extracted and too hot across multiple visits, which the space deserves better than. Pastries are fine. Cocktails available in the evening. Good spot if the vibe is what you're after.

The place that confirmed Bucktown was the right neighborhood. Chef's Special is American Chinese done well, with a retro dark room built around a 1970s bar, happy hour lines out the door every night, and a menu that rarely misses. Order the dan dan noodles, the rolled noodles, the walnut shrimp, and the egg rolls. Don't sleep on the homemade Chinese mustard. Gluten-free friendly and genuinely prepared to help.