Lincoln Avenue trip?

I've always heard that Lincoln Avenue was home to several outstanding butchers, delis and other ethnic shops. Is that still the case? Can someone recommend good starting point? I would prefer to walk from store to store, but I'm not sure if that's practical. Thank you.

A considerable stretch of Lincoln Avenue WAS home to many butchers, delis and ethnic, mostly German, shops 35 to 40 years ago. Unfortunately, most are long gone. The stretch from about 4600 to 4800 north in Lincoln Square does still qualify even though most of the food-oriented places are not very ethnic and is quite walkable. The Western Avenue Brown Line stop is in the middle of this stretch. Lincoln Avenue from around 3000 to 5200 north has a lot of restaurants of various types, but the types of establishments requested are pretty scarce over most of the range. Highlighted names are linked to web sites for the businesses referenced.

Farther south in Lakeview Dinkels Bakery at 3329 North Lincoln and Paulina Market at 3501 North Lincoln are within reasonable walks of each other and can be easily accessed from the Paulina Brown Line stop at about 3400 north Lincoln.

The Half Acre Beer Company at 4257 North Lincoln in North Center is pretty new but interesting. They have a small tasting room.

Much of Lincoln Square was heavily German until the mid 1960s when parts became quite Greek. Most of the younger Greeks moved to the suburbs in the 1980s. There has been a fair Serbian component for years with Bosnians and Bulgarians coming more recently. For a short period a fair number of Hispanics arrived, but their numbers appear to be dwindling. The biggest influx in the last decade or two has been Yuppies. This diversity is reflected in many businesses. The Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce site gives a pretty good overview. Note that many businesses are not members of the Chamber and so the membership list, while a good start, is far from comprehensive.

A sample of more or less food related stores between 4600 and 4800 north includes Fine Wine Brokers, Lincoln Quality Meat Market, Gene's Sausage and Delicatessen and The Chopping Block. Just off Lincoln on Leland (4700 north) are Provenance Food and Wine and a Thai grocery store that goes back to the 1970s.

Going off Lincoln on Lawrence for a few blocks in either direction offers more opportunities.

I drove through the area yesterday to get a general sense of the area. Gene's Sausage Shop, Lincoln Quality Meats and Chicago Brauhas are right by one another. Paulina Meat Market looks a bit too far to walk from the other three. I think a nice day trip could be developed around a few places.

I suspected my impressions about Lincon Avenue were a bit dated.