"We're looking to provide a third space for the neighborhood here on Central Street," Ethan James told the Evanston RoundTable this summer, standing inside a corner storefront that had been dark for close to five years.
That corner is now Tallgrass Corner Bar. Down the street, the old Ten Mile House is now The Spot, and it runs a late-night program. At the far west end of Central, Canal Shores Golf Club opened a heated patio bar and grill. Together these three openings change how Saturday, Nov. 14 plays out. The Central Street Holiday Stroll & Tree Lighting officially runs until 6 p.m. This is the first year a good part of the street keeps serving for hours after that.
The Prairie Joe's corner, back in use
Tallgrass sits at 1921 Central St., in the space Prairie Joe's left when it closed in 2021. The opening took a while. Managing partners Ethan James and AJ Heindel signed the lease in March 2025 and started the buildout that May. That puts more than a year between the signature and the first pour.
Both partners grew up in Evanston. Heindel was head sommelier at Oceanique. James started at the former Rose's Wheat-Free Bakery at 17 and most recently ran the taproom at Temperance Beer Company. Heindel calls it "a friendly neighborhood bar or an upscale dive bar," and the menu backs that up. The bar has six draft lines for local craft beer, which could rotate through Begyle, Half Acre and Revolution. Cans include Evanston's own Sketchbook Brewing Co. alongside PBR. Most of the food comes from chefs John and Rosemary Reed at Skokie Provisions.
The hours matter most for this post. The Central Street Evanston business association lists Tallgrass as open Tuesday through Saturday, 4 p.m. to midnight. On stroll day, Tallgrass opens an hour before the tree lighting and keeps going six hours after the event ends.
1700 Central now has a late shift
At the east end of the stroll blocks, The Spot took over the Ten Mile House space at 1700 Central St. Co-owners Fred Gale and Otto Ade serve Danny's tavern-style pizza alongside Italian comfort food, pastas, sandwiches and cocktails, according to The Daily Northwestern. It has been serving since mid-June.
Its schedule has gotten longer since then. When the RoundTable reviewed The Spot in early summer, weeknight service started at 5 p.m. and weekends ran only in the evening. The Spot's own site now lists these hours:
- Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: 4 to 11 p.m.
- Tuesday: closed
- Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to midnight
- Sunday: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Kitchen: closes one hour before the doors
On Friday, Oct. 2, the restaurant held a grand opening for "The Spot After Dark," with DJ Corey Bless playing from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. The association billed it as "late night on Central." That was a one-night party, and the regular Saturday close is still midnight. Still, it shows a restaurant at the head of the shopping blocks that plans to be open well past dinner.
The stroll starts at 11 a.m. and The Spot opens at 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays, so it is open for nearly all of the event, from lunch to a pizza after the lights come on.
The west end, on a golf patio
The third opening sits outside the stroll blocks but on the same street. The Fringe opened Sept. 23 on the patio at The Evans at Canal Shores Golf Club, 1030 Central St. It is open Wednesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. According to the Evanston RoundTable, Canal Shores first planned a snack stand. It then brought in Madden Restaurant Concepts, the Wilmette company behind The Lawn at Wilmette Golf Club, to run a full bar and grill.
The menu is short. Breakfast sandwiches, burgers, brats and deli sandwiches run $9 to $10, and there's beer, wine and cocktails. Overhead heaters keep the bar and patio usable as it gets colder. The course itself is busier too. Canal Shores logged a record 26,000 rounds in 2025, and executive director Bill Sullivan expects 28,000 to 30,000 for 2026.
One caution for Nov. 14. Sullivan told the RoundTable he expects The Fringe to be open seasonally, from April to November, without naming a final day. A mid-November Saturday falls inside that window but near its end, so check before planning a morning breakfast sandwich there.
Nov. 14, hour by hour
The association lists the stroll for Saturday, Nov. 14, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The day includes shopping and dining specials, free trolley rides, pop-up entertainment and holiday festivities, with the tree lighting in Independence Park at 5 p.m. The 1700 through 2200 blocks of Central host the event. Here's how the day lines up with the three new openings:
- 8 a.m. The Fringe opens at Canal Shores, if it is still in season.
- 11 a.m. The stroll begins on Central.
- 11:30 a.m. The Spot opens at 1700 Central.
- 4 p.m. Tallgrass opens at 1921 Central.
- 5 p.m. Tree lighting in Independence Park.
- 6 p.m. The stroll officially ends.
- 8 p.m. The Fringe closes for the night.
- 11 p.m. The Spot's kitchen closes.
- Midnight. The Spot and Tallgrass close.
The 5 p.m. tree lighting is now roughly the midpoint of the evening. Between 4 and 6 p.m., all three openings are serving while the stroll is still on. After 6, Tallgrass and The Spot keep going for six more hours.
Two details are still open. The association hasn't published a list of participating businesses or a trolley route. Its event page at centralstreetevanston.com is the place to watch for both as the date gets closer.
Still to come
More openings are on the way, though none has a firm date. Argos American Bistro is preparing to open in the former Ted's Snack Shop at 1824 Crain St., a few blocks south of Central. It plans breakfast and lunch, and the owners had not set an opening date as of early October, according to the Evanston RoundTable. Farther west, Colectivo has announced a café at 2945 Central St., projected for late 2026 or early 2027. If both open on schedule, the street gains morning options to match the new evening ones.
Downtown Evanston has its own holiday dates after the stroll. The Evanston Made Holiday Market runs Nov. 20 through Dec. 23 at 822 Dempster St. Downtown's Holiday Light Celebration is Dec. 5, 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Fountain Square, with the tree lighting expected around 5 p.m.
If you're planning a move to or from north Evanston, maybe between Central Street and the Milwaukee North Shore, Phair-Hinton Group follows how these blocks are changing so we can tell you what daily life on them looks like. Let's get you home. Schedule a call to get started.
