Illinois diners have already said goodbye to several treasured local restaurants this year, and another long-running favorite is preparing for its final service. Flo Cafe & Bar, a fixture on Chicago Avenue in West Town, will close on December 20, 2026, ending a 27-year run.
The restaurant opened in 1999 and built its identity around traditional Southwestern cooking, especially the flavors of New Mexico. In a city crowded with brunch choices, Flo gave diners something unmistakably its own: green and red chiles, hearty breakfast plates and an easygoing room that felt lively during the day and intimate after dark.
A little New Mexico in Chicago
Flo’s Southwestern character was more than a theme. Early owners Renee and Rodney Carswell met at the University of New Mexico, and the restaurant became known for using chiles sourced from the state. When Chicago public television’s Check, Please! visited in 2004, the show highlighted Flo’s folk-art-filled café, New Mexican cooking and peppers brought in directly from a New Mexico farmer.
Leonard Sanchez and Amy Laria bought the business in 2011 and carried that identity forward. A second Flo briefly opened in Lakeview in 2015, but the original West Town restaurant remained the heart of the operation—the place generations of regulars associated with long breakfasts, casual dinners and nights at the bar.
Why regulars kept coming back
Flo became a brunch destination without settling for a generic brunch menu. Diners came for huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, green chile stew, chicken enchiladas and sopapillas, along with more playful specials such as cereal-crusted French toast. The restaurant’s homemade sauces and chile-forward dishes offered a taste of New Mexico that was difficult to find elsewhere in Chicago.
The food mattered, but so did the welcome. Coffee for people waiting on a table, friendly bartenders, a colorful dining room and a relaxed neighborhood pace helped turn repeat visits into rituals. Flo could host a family breakfast, a midweek lunch or an evening drink without losing the unpretentious character that made it feel familiar.
The closure is tied to the sale of the historic building at 1434 W. Chicago Avenue, not to a loss of affection for the restaurant. In its farewell announcement, the team thanked customers for filling the space with meals, laughter and milestones. It also hinted that diners could see Flo again, although no new location or reopening plan has been announced.
Until December 20, regulars still have time for one more plate and one more round. When the doors finally close, West Town will lose more than a brunch stop; it will lose a restaurant that spent nearly three decades translating New Mexican warmth into a distinctly Chicago neighborhood tradition.
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