Chicago Restaurant Highlight: Lolo y Lola

Bonhomme Group Introduces Lolo y Lola, a Little Spanish Pintxos Bar in Lincoln Park

From Bonhomme Group, the 22-seat taberna draws inspiration from the neighborhood bars of Spain

Photo credit: Bonhomme Group

Bonhomme Group announces the opening of Lolo y Lola, a little Spanish pintxos bar from founder and creative director Daniel Alonso, opening Friday, September 18 at 2580 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.

With just 12 dining room seats and 10 seats at the bar, Lolo y Lola takes inspiration from the neighborhood tabernas Alonso and Chef Marcos Campos return to across Spain: small, spirited places built around good food, good wine and the simple ritual of gathering.

For Alonso, whose Bonhomme Group spans Chicago and Spain, Lolo y Lola is a particularly personal expression of the cultural exchange that has long shaped his work. Bonhomme and Casa Beatnik Hotels, with a portfolio of hotels, restaurants, cocktail bars and nightlife destinations across Chicago and Spain. Lolo y Lola distills that connection into the group’s most intimate setting yet.

The menu celebrates the traditions of Spanish bar culture through conservas, dishes con pan, pintxos and tapas, alongside wines from our favorite producers across Spain and Portugal, sherry, vermouth and ice-cold Estrella Galicia on tap.

“Some of our favorite places in Spain are the smallest and simplest—the neighborhood bars you return to again and again for something delicious, a cold beer or a glass of wine, and the pleasure of being there. Lolo y Lola is our love letter to those places.”

The menu begins with conservas including Mejillones Escabeche, house-pickled mussels served with potato chips; Gilda Matrimonio, inspired by San Sebastián’s iconic skewer with anchovy, boquerón, olives and piparra peppers; and Anchoa con Mantequilla, brown anchovies with herb butter, radishes and sourdough. The Con Pan! section includes Coca de Jamón Ibérico with heirloom tomato conserva, Cinco Jotas jamón and aged Manchego; Pepito de Ternera with Wagyu beef, smoked Idiazabal and shishito pepper; Bocadillo de Pulpo with Galician octopus, Tetilla cheese and pimentón aioli; and Bikini de Sobrasada with pork chorizo spread, Mahón cheese, vermouth-caramelized onions and honey.

Pintxos and tapas range from Ostras Escabeche with Albariño escabeche and Ensaladilla de Bogavante
with lobster and shellfish mayo to Patatas Bravas Marineras with garlic shrimp, Champiñones al Ajillo with smoked Idiazabal, Buñuelos de Bacalao, Croquetas de Pollo and a runny Tortilla de Patata with cider-braised txistorra.

Conceived by Alonso and Maison Bonhomme, the compact, chalkboard-driven space captures the cramped, convivial energy of a neighborhood Spanish taberna. With nearly half of its 22 seats positioned at the bar, Lolo y Lola embraces the casual, social style of eating and drinking at the heart of Spanish bar culture.

Lolo y Lola opens alongside Beatnik Lincoln Park, Bonhomme Group’s newest Beatnik location next door at 2576 N. Lincoln Ave. While connected by the group’s approach to hospitality and design, Lolo y Lola is an entirely distinct experience rooted in the food, wine and bar culture of Spain.