Beyond Northwestern’s Evanston campus, the streets of the city are lined with an eclectic mix of restaurants, cafes, retail stores and more. With this bustling business community, Evanston attracted dozens of new businesses last year. Here are some notable additions to the city.

Just over a year ago, Ovo Frito Cafe, located at 1936 Maple Ave., opened as a new breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant. The cafe offers American-style food with Latino influence. It’s location on Maple Avenue, close to many off-campus students, makes it a convenient option for students to fuel up on pancakes and eggs before a home football game. Amanecer Breakfast Tacos, located at 512 Main St., is another breakfast concept that opened up a storefront in the fall. While a little further from NU’s campus, the restaurant offers a unique menu of exclusively breakfast tacos. Make sure to hit these new breakfast places in the morning, as both close in the early afternoon.

Two French-inspired restaurants also debuted in Evanston this year. Jilly’s Bistro on 1512 Sherman Ave. replaced Creperie Saint Germain, a beloved crepe restaurant that looked like it belonged on the streets of Paris. Jilly’s Bistro, formerly Z Breakfast Club, serves authentic French food and even features a few crepes on their menu. French Kiss Cafe, located at 517 Dempster St., has a less-traditional menu with a wide variety of options for breakfast. Their menu has everything from fresh smoothies to authentic butter croissants.

Evanston also welcomed a variety of new cuisines for lunch and dinner. Over the summer, the owners of Bat 17 — a well-loved burger restaurant in Evanston — opened Falcon Eddy’s Barbeque at 825 Church St. The new restaurant serves Texas-style barbeque, a technique traditionally used for barbeque in Texas where the meat is cooked on low, indirect heat for a long amount of time. The restaurant also offers a variety of sides, including Granny Apple cole slaw and jalapeno cornbread. Evanston also welcomed a more upscale American restaurant in 2018, Kinship. Located at 625 Davis St., the new establishment serves brunch and dinner every day but Tuesdays. Some interesting menu options include honey butter fries and the moroccan lamb burger.

The growing trend of Hawaiian poke invaded Evanston with the addition of Pono Ono, located at 1630 Chicago Ave., which uses sustainably sourced ingredients in all their dishes. While customers can’t totally personalize their poke bowl, the flavor combinations on the menu can satisfy a variety of tastes. The Evanston restaurant also sells fresh pressed juices.

On the sweeter side, French pastry shop Cafe Coralie opened at 633 Howard St. in December. The cafe is very similar to its sister cafe, Patisserie Coralie on 600 Davis St. While the new cafe may be a trek from the Evanston campus for some students, it could be a nice escape from bustling Evanston. National ice cream and candy chain Kilwins also announced a new location. The storefront will soon open at 1724 Sherman Ave.

Though food is an essential piece to the Evanston business community and the many college students who support it, some new retailers also came to the city over the last year.

Thanks to the new Target location at 1616 Sherman Ave., it’s is just a short walk from campus for students. The store has everything a typical neighborhood Target has, but condensed. Consider it your one-stop shop for everything. Evanston locations for the well-known barbershop chain Floyd’s 99 Barbershop at 1741 Sherman Ave., and wood sign creative studio Board & Brush at 802 Dempster St., also popped up in the city last year.

From food to fitness to fashion, Evanston has it all. With new businesses frequently arriving in the city, there are always new places to explore.

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Twitter: @ceproctor23

Read more from the 2018 Orientation Issue here.