Piccadilly Market Lincoln Park: Cafe, Courtyard & Walk-In Opening at Clark & Fullerton

Piccadilly Market Lincoln Park is open at 444 W. Fullerton Parkway — the Clark and Fullerton corner that used to house Emilio’s Tapas — as a walk-in European-style market, all-day cafe, bar, lounge, and wine shop with an outdoor courtyard called Piccadilly Square. Block Club Chicago reported the roughly 5,200-square-foot room officially opened Thursday, September 10, 2026; Secret Chicago followed on September 13. This is Piccadilly’s second shop after the February 2025 Lincoln Square original at 2559 W. Lawrence Avenue — not a hard-to-book tasting room, but a neighborhood third space built for coffee, sandwiches, wine, and hanging out. Think Lincoln Square scaled up: more square footage, a real outdoor square, chef Mark Mendez’s cafe board, and drinks from Metric Coffee through draft beer and a sommelier-curated bottle wall — walk-in, all day, no reservation app required.

Why Piccadilly Market Lincoln Park feels like a corner worth claiming

Chicago already has plenty of hard-to-book rooms. Piccadilly Market Lincoln Park is interesting because it does the opposite on a high-visibility corner: an all-day, walk-in market-cafe-bar with a chef resume attached, local producers on the shelves, and an outdoor square sized for lingering. Owner Aaron Zacharias — also behind The Northman Beer & Cider Garden and The Bar on Buena — has framed Piccadilly as a community hang: coffee on the way to work, sandwich pickup, a bottle for dinner, a courtyard drink with friends, or a longer lounge sit. Block Club makes the third-space language explicit — treat the place as yours across breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and wine.

Clark and Fullerton is live now. Park and zoo traffic by day, dinner and bar traffic by night. The balcony and courtyard pitch is partly about watching that corner move. Fullerton Red/Brown/Purple is the closest rail; Clark and Fullerton buses make the walk short. Street and garage hunting on the Clark corridor is the parking reality — no dedicated lot in the opening coverage. Watch @piccadillymarket_chi for day-of specials; the brand floated an early-September Piccadilly Square sneak peek before full opening.

The food: Mendez’s cafe board, muffins to Roman pizza

Chef Mark Mendez — former chef-owner of West Loop Spanish wine bar Vera — leads the food program. Block Club’s menu outline is the clearest public list so far: homemade English muffins and breakfast sandwiches; hot and cold sandwiches; house-made focaccia; Roman-style pizza; rotating cheese and charcuterie. Expect morning coffee through late pizza and snack plates — not a tasting menu. Sandwich-of-the-month specials show up on Instagram; check the board for what is pressed that week.

Local partners named in Block Club’s opening coverage include Metric Coffee, Publican Quality Bread, Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Rare Tea Cellar, Katherine Anne Confections, Feed Your Head Vegan, Middle Brow, and Phase Three Brewing. That shelf mix is part of the point: you can buy bread or ice cream to go even if you never sit for a cocktail. The Lincoln Square DNA — European corner-store energy, artisan shelves, sandwiches, coffee — is still here; Lincoln Park just gives it more room to linger.

The drinks: draft wine, courtyard bar, bottle wall

The beverage side is built for a quick stop or a long hang: three wines on draft; five beers or ciders on draft; cocktails; coffee drinks; a sommelier-curated retail wine shop; and an outdoor bar in Piccadilly Square. Nick Smock is the market’s sommelier and Cicerone; Sarah Loberg is Piccadilly’s director and was credited by Zacharias with quarterbacking opening logistics. Phase Three’s Piccadilly Proper English mild — brewed for the market — is the named house beer Block Club highlighted. Middle Brow wines and Metric Coffee round out Zacharias and Mendez’s “local because it tastes better fresh” argument on the record.

Secret Chicago flagged spritzes, craft beers and ciders, and wines in the courtyard bar lane; indoors, the wine aisle reads like a real neighborhood bottle shop attached to a cafe. Piccadilly Square itself is the outdoor courtyard — about 80 outdoor seats with its own bar — named in Block Club’s reporting. When the weather cooperates, that square is the reason you stay past the sandwich.

Zacharias, Mendez, and the Lincoln Park expansion

Aaron Zacharias owns Piccadilly and the hospitality group behind The Northman and The Bar on Buena. He grew up in Lakeview and talks about Piccadilly as a place neighbors choose across the whole day. Mark Mendez runs food. Sarah Loberg (director) and Nick Smock (sommelier / Cicerone) are the named operators behind the floor and glass list in Block Club’s piece. Lincoln Square (2559 W. Lawrence) is the prototype since February 2025. Lincoln Park is the expansion cut — larger footprint, a named outdoor square, more explicit lounge and balcony language, and Mendez’s cafe menu written for a busier tourist-and-neighbor corner. Overlapping partners mean the pantry DNA should feel familiar even when the room does not.

A short practical aside

Walk in — no public reservation product is part of the opening story. Decide your lane: coffee and sandwich; market grocery run; wine shop bottle; lounge cocktail; Piccadilly Square outdoor bar. Secret Chicago described the Lincoln Park shop as open daily from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. — the most specific public hour claim in the opening coverage — but the brand’s main website still foregrounds Lincoln Square hours, so confirm on @piccadillymarket_chi or at the door before you plan a late courtyard drink or an early muffin run. Website: piccadillymkt.com — as of mid-September 2026 the homepage still leads with Lincoln Square, so treat Instagram and the door as the live Lincoln Park signals. Lincoln Park contact details are still thinner than the Lawrence Avenue page — do not assume the Square phone is the Fullerton host line. That visit note is useful. It is not why you go. You go for Mendez’s muffins and focaccia, Smock’s bottle wall, and a courtyard glass while Clark and Fullerton keeps moving.

Who Piccadilly Market Lincoln Park is for

This is for neighbors and visitors who want an all-day third space on a loud corner — laptop hours, sandwich runs, courtyard wine, a bottle to take home. It is probably not the move if you need a reservation sport, a tasting-menu night, or a quiet private room. The useful frame is access without theater: 444 W. Fullerton; open September 10, 2026; Zacharias, Mendez, Loberg, and Smock; English muffins and breakfast sandwiches, focaccia and Roman pizza, draft wine and beer, Metric coffee, and Piccadilly Square when the weather cooperates.

A few practical notes

• Where: 444 W. Fullerton Pkwy · Clark & Fullerton · Lincoln Park (former Emilio’s Tapas)
• Opened: Thu Sep 10, 2026 (Block Club Sep 11; Secret Chicago Sep 13)
• Size: ~5,200 sq ft + Piccadilly Square (~80 outdoor seats + outdoor bar)
• Food: Mark Mendez — muffins, sandwiches, focaccia, Roman pizza, cheese/charcuterie
• Drinks: draft wine/beer · cocktails · Metric Coffee · sommelier bottle shop
• Hours note: Secret Chicago daily 8 a.m.–11 p.m. — confirm IG/door
• Visit: walk-in · @piccadillymarket_chi · piccadillymkt.com
• Team: Aaron Zacharias · Mark Mendez · Sarah Loberg · Nick Smock

Piccadilly Market Lincoln Park FAQ

When did Piccadilly Market Lincoln Park open?

Thursday, September 10, 2026, per Block Club Chicago’s September 11 report. Secret Chicago covered the location as open on September 13, 2026.

Where is Piccadilly Market Lincoln Park?

444 W. Fullerton Parkway at Clark and Fullerton in Lincoln Park, in the former Emilio’s Tapas space.

Is it a reservation restaurant?

No. Opening coverage frames it as a walk-in market, cafe, bar, lounge, and courtyard — a neighborhood third space, not a ticketed tasting room.

Who owns it?

Aaron Zacharias, who also owns The Northman Beer & Cider Garden and The Bar on Buena. Chef Mark Mendez leads the food program; Sarah Loberg is director; Nick Smock is sommelier and Cicerone.

What is Piccadilly Square?

The outdoor courtyard at the Lincoln Park location — about 80 seats with an outdoor bar — named Piccadilly Square in Block Club’s reporting.

What are the hours?

Secret Chicago listed daily hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Confirm on Instagram or in person, because the main Piccadilly website still emphasizes Lincoln Square hours.

What local partners does it work with?

Publicly named partners in Block Club’s opening story include Metric Coffee, Publican Quality Bread, Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Rare Tea Cellar, Katherine Anne Confections, Feed Your Head Vegan, Middle Brow, and Phase Three Brewing (Piccadilly Proper English mild).

Piccadilly Market Lincoln Park is the Clark-and-Fullerton third space that finally gives the Lincoln Square idea a courtyard and a chef cafe board — muffins in the morning, Roman pizza later, a bottle wall when you want to linger, and Piccadilly Square when the evening air cooperates. Walk in. Pick a lane. Stay as long as the corner feels good.