A Hyped Pop-Up Debuts a Po’ Boy and Natural Wine Restaurant on a Patio in Avondale

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The friends behind a hyped food business that got its start on the back of a motorcycle are launching something a little more stationary – but only for the warm months. The seasonal nature of the laid-back patio restaurant and bar is right there in the name: Limited Time Only (LTO). It debuts on Friday, May 24 at Avondale's Guild Row.

LTO comes from the same team behind the pop-up Motorshucker. But where Motorshucker focuses on oysters, LTO will specialize in another food that originates from a coastal region: the po’ boy. Chef Jamie Davis is preparing catfish, shrimp, squash, brisket, and hot links in the style of the Laotian sausage sai oua as fillings for the Louisiana sandwiches, in addition to collard greens, malt vinegar chips, cheese and charcuterie, and soft-serve ice cream to snack on with natural wine, beer, and cocktails like a weather-appropriate Pimm’s cup.

Davis and his partners Cub Dimling and Mico Hillyard were inspired by the popular New Orleans wine bar Bacchanal, which features food, drinks, and music on a back patio. “We wanted to do something that had that sort of feel,” says Davis. “Natural wine, cheese and charcuterie, very casual vibe” – and occasional live music, too.

That inspiration came naturally, given the courtyard space at Guild Row that LTO occupies. Conceived as a social club for makers and artistic people, Guild Row eventually shifted into a “hybrid co-working space with a focus on community and creativity,” in the words of its co-founder Elyse Agnello, whose firm DAAM designed the stylish space located in a formerly industrial stretch of Avondale along the river. During weekdays, Guild Row will remain a co-working space before opening to the public in the evening, while a cafe with coffee and light offerings devised by Motorshucker is open for takeout by anyone.

Guild Row has hosted public events, concerts, and pop-ups of numerous kinds. Adding in LTO and opening the cafe to the public “really came from wanting to replicate all the time the sensation of the space being full during these events,” Agnello said.

Motorshucker’s “fun, casual, but still high-quality offering dovetailed so nicely into our space and our community that it felt like a really natural fit,” she continues.

Hillyard started Motorshucker with a colleague in 2021, delivering oysters on a vintage motorcycle he had repaired during the pandemic – hence the name. He was eventually joined by Davis and Dimling, who had both worked at Wicker Park’s Red & White Wines along with Hillyard. Dimling’s family owns an oyster farm in New York from which Hillyard was sourcing, and Davis had cooked at the touted Museum of Contemporary Art restaurant Marisol, allowing for an expansion of the menu beyond oysters. In addition to popping up at bars around the city, Motorshucker is now a regular Sunday afternoon fixture at Easy Does It wine lounge as well as at the bars Queen Mary and Way Out.

Those engagements will continue, but the opening of LTO might curtail some of the one-off pop-ups. “The era of hauling Yeti [coolers] anywhere we can on a nice day is maybe a little bit more limited,” Hillyard says with a laugh.

Even as Motorshucker takes them around the city, the trio has found something of a home at Guild Row in the last year, as they have based their operation out of its kitchen – which used to operate as a shared kitchen for various businesses, but will now be given over completely to Motorshucker and LTO.

But those aren’t their only businesses: Davis and Hillyard also run a delivery and farmers market-based butcher shop called Cut Once with a third partner, Jake Calthorpe. It’s an outgrowth of their interest in sustainability and ethical practices, a way to put those values into practice a bit closer to home than they can with oysters. The meat for LTO will be sourced through Cut Once, while the bread for the po’ boys is from 3D Baking in neighboring Old Irving Park and coffee for the cafe is sourced from Avondale’s Factotum Coffee Roasters.

Wine for LTO comes from further afield, but Dimling says they are still trying to build connections with suppliers and take care in their sourcing, as they do with as many of their ingredients as they can. “That very easily carries over to natural wine,” they say. “We’re definitely focused on selections that are accessible, things that I just find undeniably delicious: a lot of wines from Italy, a lot of wines from Germany, a little bit of French wine, and a lot of the new guard of California winemakers.”

While natural wine is a focus of LTO, the founders also want the restaurant to be friendly to families, too – and the soft-serve is a big part of that. Flavors will rotate depending on seasonal produce and Davis’ whims, but he wants to always have “one for grown-ups, one for kids, and then you can mix them [in a swirl], and maybe that’s for big kids,” he says. One flavor will always be a bit more familiar, like the white chocolate that will be at LTO’s debut, while another will be more adventurous, like a rhubarb and Riesling that is currently on. Either will be ideal on a hot day.

And when those hot days are over, LTO will close up shop, true to its name. That will likely take place some time in September, before Hillyard, Dimling, and Davis reassess in partnership with Guild Row and see where they go from here.

For now, they’re just enjoying having a permanent space. “Being in a more stationary spot is just one little step toward having a little bit of a moment to grow and a little space to breathe – and a little bit more sleep every night,” says Hillyard.

Limited Time Only is closed on Tuesdays. Its bar opens at 4:00 pm Monday - Thursday and at noon Friday - Sunday. Its kitchen opens at 5:00 Monday - Thursday and noon Friday - Sunday.