LAKEVIEW — The wine will be flowing like never before at this year's Wine & Sweets Stroll, which kicks off at 3 p.m. Sunday.
It's the second year for the event, which was created by the newly expanded Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce. This year, the chamber has doubled in size, thanks to a switch in service providers for the central Lakeview special service area tax money.
Reflecting that, the chamber has encompassed a number of new businesses for its Wine & Sweets Stroll, which will have north and south routes this year.
The north route runs along the upper half of North Broadway and North Halsted Street, with the south route starting on Clark Street and winding through the southern branch of Broadway. Each leg includes almost 20 businesses, each of which will offer samples of wine, desserts and other sweets from spots like wineHouse, Pastroal and Stellar Wine Company.
As for the sweets, they come from some neighborhood favorites, including Bobtail Ice Cream, KC Chocolatier, Ann Sather, Jennivee's Bakery and Hutch.
Tickets for each route are $25, or get a package deal for $40. The tickets include a wine sampling glass and two Laugh Factory tickets.
Participating businesses will offer exclusive retail discounts during the stroll, which provides ample opportunity to explore neighborhood gems like Unabridged Bookstore, The Leigh Gallery, Taboo Tabou, ArtDeTriumph and the soon-to-open Maison Marcel.
Here are the list of participating businesses along each route:
North Route (N. Broadway and Halsted Street):
• Laugh Factory (check-in)
• wineHouse
• Vanille
• Unabridged Bookstore
• Stan's Donuts
• Windy City Sweets
• Cram Fashion
• Cafe L'Appetito
• Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace
• The Men's Room
• Double Trip Press
• The Leigh Gallery
• Stellar Wine Company
• The Coffee & Tea Exchange
• Universal Wellness Source
• Ingmar James Salon
• FFC Northalsted
South Route (Lower leg of N. Broadway and Clark Street):
• Bittersweet (check-in)
• wineHouse
• Reckless Records
• Lakeview Kitchen & Market
• Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine
• Foursided
• Stan's Donuts
• Wells Street Popcorn
• The Colette Collection
• Bark By The Park
• ArtDeTriumph & Artful Framer Studios
• Stellar Wine Company
• Taboo Tabou
• Maison Marcel
• Robert Jeffrey
• 11 Degrees North
• Japanese Cultural Center
• La Boulangerie
