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Damen (Blue)
Mon-Fri. 4:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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This is quickly becoming my after work stop, since its less then a hop, skip, and a jump away.
But more then that, its a pretty good mix of people, they have a great selection of tequila and bourbon, AND they serve great tacos till the wee hours of the morning. And its less upscale then the Violet hour, across the street and owner by the same people.
The design insides is clean, stark, and modern, but has a warm glow. With the bar in the middle of the room, it has lots of seating around it, but you just have to look for it, since the 4 or 5 booths they have (which are roomy) are mostly for larger groups. The place could use some more tables, but I feel like they are banking on the HUGE patio area for that, but with the winter on its way in, you are stuck standing for the most part. In the summer, this place will blow up.
Service is not fast, but its not slow either, and some of their staff could afford to put a smile on their face.
Finally, when I walk in here, I feel like I entered a new hipster Texas. Not much to look at, wide open spaces, good bourbon, and great tacos(the cocktails suck, be forewarned). Its not a bad thing, but I think they could put some art on the walls, the blank white walls are crying out for attention.
Booo on the hostess who says to my party of 2: "Eh well the booths are only for parties of 4 our more but you can sit at the bar or on the wall". Uhhh biotch do you know how much money I spend on food and entertainment? A LOT. I don't cook shaaat!! Let's just say my fridge only has lime juice for my tequila and some Kraft singles (cuz those never go bad) and my stove is always clean (cuz I don't use it).
Metromix users Ooed and Aahed about the tacos and we didn't get to try em cuz our party wasn't large enough to sit on some wooden benches? *In Ed Lover's voice*: C'MON SON!
Maybe they should've let us in and allowed us to spend money...so they could use it to buy a real sign instead of the one taped to the window. Douch bags.
Loud and crowded, but well-worth every minute!
Big Star is the new "it" place of Bucktown. The crowd is diverse ranging from hip, casual, young and old. I don't know what it is about Paul Kahan, but he successfully opens these places where hoards of people are willing to wait hours to get their hands on a bite of his culinary creations. Winning a seat, is like winning the lottery. Don't forget to bring cash, because it's cash only.
The place was packed, but we were lucky enough to snag 2 bar seats as a couple was leaving. Tacos were priced between $2-3 and the beer list was great. We tried the guac/chips, pork belly taco, al pastor taco, braised goat taco, chicken thigh tostada, and fish tostada. Everything was so fresh and well seasoned. I'd have to say the pork belly and chicken thigh were my favorites. I was hesitant to try the goat, but it was pretty tasty. They served it with a cup of braising liquid like a jus style.
The tacos were a nice size (think 3 generous bite portions) and the low prices were surprising for the quality of ingredients. The bill came out to $50 for 8 tacos, chips/guac and SEVERAL beers. We left stuffed, but without feeling gross because the food wasn't greasy.
Big Star is a great place to grab drinks and eat. I'd definitely return.
To start off this is a great spot and I would recommend it to everyone.
Pros:
1.The tacos were tasty and very affordable. The pork belly taco was the star, I could eat those all day.
2. Like the tacos the drinks were affordable as well, which is a nice touch since you walk out thinking you didn't over pay for some new trendy place.
3. The bartenders and staff are great, the bartender "Urussa" I'm not sure if that is her correct name was really nice and attentive.
Cons:
1. Only one flaw to this place was the lack of table seating, but that's okay since I really enjoyed the bar dining. Moreover, I know come warmer weather their patio is going to be sweet.
Cervezas + BigStar Tacos + A summer day in Chicago = Sounds amazing
Much the same as others have said, this place is first a whiskey bar and second a taco stand. The tacos were all very good. My sister and I had three each: the pork belly, goat, and pork shoulder with pineapple. All three were very good, but my favorite was probably the pork and pineapple followed closely by the goat with the au jus. Mmmmm.
Don't plan on bringing a big group here unless you get there right when they open. This place is only meant for groups of 2 or possibly 3. Since it's in the old pontiac space, we'll have to see if they roll out a huge patio come spring and summer. Hopefully they do. I'm hoping this place can make it, but they need to expand the menu selection a bit more if they are going to be known as anything but a bar.
It would be a tough challenge to find another bar/restaurant in this neighborhood that offers a better price/quality ratio. Got there right at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, literally one minute after they opened, and within a half hour the place was full. As other people have mentioned, there's not a ton of seating, which is unfortunate for people going there to eat as well as drink - the food wouldn't really be easy to eat standing up, so if that's what you're going for, I'd recommend getting there as close to opening time as you can, or there will likely be long waits for a table.
But onto the food. It was amazing - I had the fish taco, which was by far the highlight, huge (for the $3 pricetag) piece of perfectly cooked fish topped with slaw and avocado, this is a must-try. I also had the taco with pork shoulder and pineapple, which was also ridiculously tasty, great melding fo the pork and the slightly sweet roasted (?) pineapple, and again a huge portion for $2. The guacamole "made to order" was very good and served with a heaping portion of chips, but it didn't awe me as much as the rest of the meal. Definitely do not leave without trying the three salsas -- they are already at the table, and all you have to do is order chips to go with them (though if you order the guac, it comes with more than enough chips to serve for salsa as well) - there is a red salsa, a salsa verde, and a very spicy, but deliciously complex salsa.
The drink list looked great, I had one with bourbon and ginger beer. They're reasonably priced at $7/cocktail, which considering the quality of bourbon and other ingredients going into it is a good deal, if not quite a "steal."
Highly recommended, especially if you can manage to avoid the crowds.
p.s. the hours listed on this site aren't correct -- they don't open till 4 on Saturdays (as I found out today)...
Look, here's my number one pet peeve in the restaurant business: you do not close your kitchen early. Ever.
I've worked in the service industry. I managed a restaurant that was one off the few late night eating destinations in Chicago at the time. Yes, on a slow night the kitchen would start closing up and cleaning everything early, but if we closed at 2 a.m., and someone walked in at 1:59 a.m., they were seated, the kitchen was dirtied,, and they got the same service they would have received if they'd walked in at 6 p.m.
Now I'm not saying it doesn't suck to have to go through that, especially when you've got your eyes on the clock and want to get the hell out of there, especially if it was a super busy day. But that doesn't change the fact that at the end of it all, posted hours should be observed. if they're not your reputation plummets in no time.
Big Star in Wicker Park has only been open a week and already they're falling prey to this behavior, and it's infuriating. I was pleased to hear people simpatico to the neighborhood had bought The Pontiac space, and even more pleased when I heard it's center on solid but affordable Mexican fare and lots of bourbon and whiskey! And what they've done with the interior is fabulous.
However if they're going to staff it with people that are too lazy to do their job, or can't be bothered to pay attention to little details like posted hours, then I give up on the place. Will losing my patronage hurt them? Of course not. But it's still a bummer to see one more place in Wicker Park fall into the average category that ends up primarily catering to douchebag clientele with middling service.
Whatever.
Approach this place as a bar, and you'll be fine.
They have 6 tables, and even though it was early Friday evening, my group waited 2 hours to sit down. We were happy because of good drinks and company though.
It would also be fine if you went with only one other person and could snag seats at the bar for an evening of beer and tacos.
Birria, pastor, and pork belly tacos were delicious. Really good chips and guacamole, and nice fresh tortillas.
I live right down the street form the newly opened Big Star and I've been looking forward to whatever was going to replace the awful Pontiac Cafe since they closed up shop.
Imagine my delight when the gods of Convenience and Deliciousness decided to have a surrogate baby in the goddess of Cheap, and she squeezed out Big Star
So, a little background -- I came in about a week or so after their open during the week for a meal. Remember, I said it was convenient as all hell. Got in early, around 6, and snagged the last table available with my roommate.
We started with Old Fashion-ed's. Honestly, I should have went with my heart and got a $1 Schlitz, but I thought I would pretend to be Don Draper for the evening and ordered one. Unfortunately, it was not in the top 3 Old Fashion-eds I have ever ordered -- and I have only ordered 4. That was one of my only disappointments.
The food was amazing. We started with chips and salsa, and it was off the chain. The chips were delicious, warm, and made to order. The salsa comes in squeeze bottles so you can apply directly to the chip. As far as the salsas go, the chunky chipotle one was top notch. For the rest of the meal I had Al Pastor and Pork Belly tacos and the chicken tostada, and they were exceptional. I would rank the tacos above the tostada, but that was great too. My first time having pork belly, but it was probably the best thing on the menu. Portion size was a little small on the tacos, but the flavor was more than enough to make up for the $2-$3 price tag.
The menu isn't large, but you're going to want to try most if not all of it. I do at least. The desserts here sound especially good.
In regards to the scene, it is very hipster friendly. I think the entire staff were hipsters, including the Rick Moranis look-a-like that delivered my chips. Lets hope his shrunken kids were not trying to escape from them while I chowed down.
- $3 tacos full of fresh delicious organic ingredients
- $7 cocktails made with boutiquey bourbons and tequilas
- $3 starting prices for beer
- Free ironic beards and moustaches
Shabby-chic, bare bones taqueria full of good food, good drinks, and the beautiful yupsters of Wicker park. But it's loud enough and dark enough that I can just concentrate on my pork belly taco with some of that chipotle salsa from the big, platic squeeze bottle on the bar.
I hate to knock a restaurant when the food is good, but in all honesty my experience here was completely ruined by an extremely poor floor plan (of all things!!).
We arrived around 6:30 pm on a Monday hoping to avoid the horrible crowds and the 1 hour + wait. Our plan worked well as the hostess told us it would be just a 15 min wait when we arrived. She recommended we hang out along the wall and grab a drink while we waited. This is when things went horribly wrong. We bellied up to the bar and ordered a Green Flash IPA and mint julep. Shockingly the bartenders replies "sorry we're all out of the mint julep." I almost fell over backwards... YOU'RE OUT OF THE MINT JULEP??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Last time I checked there were only three ingredients in a mint julep: water, bourbon, and mint (well, and a little sugar). I guess Chicago is experiencing some severe mint shortage. On top of that our bartender poured me the wrong beer, the Lagunitas pilsner instead of the IPA.
I didn't think things could get any worse until some guy total rails into me with his shoulder after standing up quickly from his bar stool (recall me mentioning the poor floor plan). He apologized, but this unfortunate event could have been easily avoided if they had put at least another 2 feet between the bar and the south side wall. I mean, I understand making the bar seat as many people as possible, but there is barely enough space for patrons to stand while the servers are constantly running through the aisle. In fact I should call the Chicago fire marshall in to inspect this issue! So basically if you stand here, you are constantly getting bumped into on a regular basis by the servers trying to get through. This can get annoying very fast.
After our hostess told us the bar was now a free for all, we moved to the other side to avoid the full contact football and to grab some seats from a party that was about to leave. We weren't there for more than 3 minutes when I got bumped into again. Twice! Last I checked they were playing country music here, not R. Kelly...I don't see nothing wrong (Wrong) with a little bit of bump and grind.
After ranting about the horrible floor plan and wondering who the idiot they hired to design the bar and interior was, I have almost no energy left to review the only good part - the food. We ordered all four of the tacos (the braised goat with dipping sauce was awesome, so was the Tacos Al Pastor topped with delicious grilled pineapple). The guacamole was the best thing ever and served with heaps of homemade chips. The fish taco, and the frioles - loved the frioles, but could live without the fish taco. The food was solid, not great, but very good. At $2-3 per taco I think it's reasonably priced, but not a bargain as others have suggested.
Bottom line is Big Star is not worth waiting over and our for a seat at the bar. If you're into the trendiness of the scene and are making an evening of it, I guess that's alright, but if you've come here for some good bourbon or whiskey, and an opportunity to enjoy your food, you might be in for a rude awakening. You can avoid the aggravation and save yourself 50% by heading down to Division and stuffing yourself with Mexican goodness at La Pasadita.
Oh and P.S. bring cash, they don't accept credit cards.
What I've learned at Big Star:
-A $7 cocktail in Chicago is soooooooo refreshing.
-Pork Belly tacos, ain't nothing wrong with that.
-I haven't had tortillas that fresh since Texas.
but
-Hot damn it was dark in there, and cold.
-Loud too, I was expecting some sweet classic Honky Tonk music, but the music was both too soft and too slow.
I'll be back after I dig my cowboy boots and western shirt out of the closet, and then I'm taking over the turntable with some Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings; and Conway Twitty.
Here is what I heart about the Big Star. Vinyl Records set the atmosphere with Old Country. The food is super affordable and the flavors are put together in such a way that you can taste each ingredient. Guaca-HOLY-Mole. I really wish i loved whiskey, because the atmosphere made me want to have a fine sipping bourbon in front of me.
I began this review with every intention of giving it 4 or 5 Big Stars, but the bartender was eeh and I am not convinced the layout was designed with customer comfort and traffic flow in mind. Oh and pet peeve.........cash only. If those things do not bother you, then you will LOOOVE IT.
Went to Big Star last night (a saturday evening). Got there around 7:45ish with a party of 5. Was greeted at the door by a stylish man with great hair and glasses - gave him my name. Was told they don't quote how long it'll take to get a table, but the list ahead of us didn't seem out of control and it was a nice night so went ahead and waited for a booth to open up.
It was pretty crowded inside but we still managed to grab some wall space and order a round of drinks by sending our tallest friend to the bar as to not be ignored. The crowd while we were waiting was pretty mellow. A funny mix of local hipsters and dare i say "bridge and tunnel" folks dressed up a bit too fancy for a night of tacos. But even my super cynical scared-of-yuppies boyfriend couldn't complain about the crowd really.
We had to wait about 45 to an hour for a booth to open up (can't remember, but still not an awful wait - i think some people before us got antsy and left) - and the nice man with nice hair (who i think writes down little descriptions of the people in your party because there is no way to shout names over the din of the crowd and the funny country music) came over and showed us our booth. It was a cozy with 5 people in a booth but could have squeezed one more.
We ordered a fair amount of food - a few rounds of tacos, chips and guacamole and a few more drinks. I had two pork belly tacos and a fish tostada. The pork belly was out of control. I sort of wanted the waitress to just bring me whatever bucket they had of it waiting in the kitchen. The tacos are a little small... but premium fillings in a freshly made tortilla for $2-4 a piece is a pretty nice deal. The fish tostada was tasty as well - a good char on the fish - and a nice contrast of cabbage/radish/crema on top - but would have preferred it to be a taco because the tortillas are pretty great. Drank a "La Paloma" cocktail (which was refreshingly on $7!) that was super tasty. Some members of our party had the goat tacos - and said they were also way tasty. I'm not that adventurous.
Our waitress was quick and friendly enough. The food came out really fast. And though the crowd grew and shrunk and grew again throughout our meal, we weren't rushed out of our booth - which was a pleasant surprise - being that we had a few parties staring at us from the bar. Perhaps they were staring at our mounds of food, but whatevs.
All in all - the bill came to $73 for dinner and drinks for 5 people! YAY! We were all so full and happy when that bill came and it wasn't a zillion dollars. Just a bit scared now that this place is super close to home - and it looks like there may be some sort of walk-up window in the works... glad i don't take the damen el - i'd have a pork belly taco every day!
I'm almost pissed that the quality of Big Star has surpassed its hype. I was waiting for it to open for months.... and I wasn't disappointed.
Went in on a Sunday night and it was a complete who's-who of industry people, artists, and musicians from Wicker/Logan/Ukie. The music was great, the drinks are simple but full of flavor, and the food is perfect. Walked in around 9:30 and while it took about 20 minutes for one of the three bartenders to acknowledge us, we were able to snag a seat at the bar and then were no longer ignored. We tried three drinks each, had the best chips and salsa ive ever had, and then a round of Rittenhouse shots before we called it a night.
The prices were fair, the food was delicious, and it attracted a great crowd on a Sunday night. By around 10:30 anyone who walked in could easily get a table or barstool.. this may be my new sunday night destination. And thats saying something because I'm snobby.
"Didn't De Cero corner the foodie taco market 5 years ago?" I asked.
"STFU with your restless lip syndrome, dick queef. This place is the future," I replied.
And so the conversation with myself went.
I'm not sure I was totally feeling this place, but I do think the very reasonable prices will keep me coming back. Without booze, you could easily get out of here for like $10 and be pretty full of awesome pork belly or al pastor tacos. Some of the other things we ordered weren't quite as impressive - goat tacos, queso fundido, beans (still not sure why we ordered "beans", but there was bacon in it I guess). On a more positive "tip", everything we ordered came with excellent house made tortillas. The drink menu is decent and a lot cheaper than the speakeasy across the street.
As for the space, I know I'll get over it, but I was initially offended by what they did to the Pontiac. And I didn't even really like the Pontiac. I was just comforted knowing it was there. Not that that makes sense or anything.
The patio fence and fire pit are completely gone. Where the scary, biohazardous-waste-filled bathrooms were, there is now a kitchen enclosed by a window so people outside can see the cooks making tortillas. There is a valet car hiker in the parking lot. There is absolutely no signage. There is a giant bar in the middle of the building, around which food orders are taken and consumed. The entire room is painted white. Yupster infestation is at level 10 - the highest reading I've seen since 2007, when yupster infestation levels were first recorded.
If you didn't know that this space was once a dirty old road house that had average bar food and live band karaoke Fridays, you never would guess it by coming to Big Star.
Wow, it's packed in here for 530. The chips are hella large and warm. The salsa comes in 3 unlabeled bottles so i guess you play a mystery game with it. All 3 were good, the chunkiest one was my favorite. Let's call that the chunky salsa then. The al pastor taco has grilled pineapple inside, which blends well with the dark, smoky taste of the al pastor. The fish tacos are insane.
7 oz schlitz for $1? Don't know how I feel about that. And they serve horchata here!
I'll chalk up my rather long wait for food to opening night crazies, and my bartender couldn't have been sweeter, even though she was swamped making labor-intensive beverages. If i were her i'd steer people towards selecting beer.
OK OK OK so I am guilty of jumping the gun because of my over eagerness to acquire more first to review badges.
But I DID go last night, I guess Yelp is just too popular these days for anything to be under the radar. Anyways...
We had 9 cocktails (margarita, bourbon n coke, michelada), chips, guacamole, salsa, goat tacos, banana fries, and pinto beans, all for $82 bucks. Amazing price, really good in my opinion.
I went to this place with 2 hot Mexicans, who couldn't stop talking about how much the green salsa reminded them of their Abuela. However the michelada drink wasn't served authentic-supposedly you're supposed to get a full glass of tomato juice, chili', lime and salt, and a can of beer on the side, and you just slowly fill the glass with the beer as you drink everything else. But what do I know, I'm just a gringo following hot Mexicans around.
The interior is rad, beautiful wood bar, custom looking wood trimmed speakers, old country music with high pitched lap steel on the airwaves, a turntable on the bar, and the best xtreme hand blower/dryer in the mens bathroom.
This place will get my 5 stars once I chow here in the summer time, and when they don't run out of Al Pastor. I recommend you try this place out for yourself!
went during opening week around 10:45pm and the place was busy. we luckily got 2 stools and grabbed a drink while we waited for a booth to open up. the margaritas are excellent and the sodas are tasty too. tried almost everything on the menu since there were 4 of us. the absolute winner of the night were the pork belly tacos. tried the goat, fish, and al pastor tacos as well. they were all good but the prok belly definitely blew the rest out of the water. dulce de leche milkshake is SO good and very sweet. basically the perfect dessert after a nice taco treat.
the one thing we didn't really absolutely love was the queso fundido. there was nothing special about it and i would prefer to fill my stomach with more pork belly than melted cheese. their tortillas are excellent and hand made. once that walk up window opens up it's gonna get crazy over there. i definitely feel like you should go there for the drinks and have THE best food to snack on, but for an actual meal it's probably pushing it since there are only about 5 booths. 4 people (3 hungry guys included) and our bill came out to $51! love it. will be back and recommend to others.
Thank you.
Great job. Honestly, thank you to the owners of this establishment.
I think they hit the nail on the head with the combination of a good beer/spirits selection and a simple but very complimentary food menu.
Based upon my first experience here this evening I will be visiting again, perhaps within the next few days.
I'll start with the only low notes of the evening. The guac was not my style. I like it spicy, salty, and with citrus but this batch was pretty average and not to my liking. Second, it was a little stressful scouting out seats at the bar. But I do understand, it's a new hot spot, not really feasible to "reserve" seats at a bar and it was relatively busy. No biggie, but thought I'd mention.
Ok, on to the good stuff. The al pastor taco was excellent, they make the tortillas on the spot and to order and it shows. Flavor was very nice with an unexpected hint of pineapple tossed in. When I ordered I thought I would not like, but in the end it worked out nicely. Next, the pork belly taco. It was awesome. I know it is no stretch of genius to make pork belly taste good, but seriously it was a great little taco (I say little because they are smaller than the average, but greater in taste). We also ordered a side of beans and they were also spot on, smoky, peppery, and very good on chips or the supplied tortillas.
Service was great, both of our bartenders, Ben and a nice latin girl, provided us with drinks without much delay and were very helpful and friendly.
***I have to get a quick shot in at Pontiac. I've lived in the area for about 12 yrs now. Pontiac left me pissed off and feeling ripped off every time I would visit with it's wretched service, bad food, and overall dirty-ass vibe. I was happy to see it go and even happier to see Big Star take its place.***
Anyways, I think I've made my point clear. This is a great new business and a nice fit to the neighborhood. I look forward to visiting regularly. You should go too, just stay the hell out of my way when I'm chicken-hawking for a stool. I will cut you. I repeat, I will cut you.
These guys seem to be off to a good start. The tacos and tortillas are awesome, simple and somewhat cheap and the one chicken tostada left me wanting two more. The only two problems I have with it is no credit cards (ever?) and it's pretty damn cold in there. Time to winterize those garage doors.
Looking forward to the take out window!
Expect:
Big Star to be packed/there to be a wait;
To pay CASH ONLY;
Classic toe-tapping lo-fi country music (not the crap on the radio today);
An equal mix of scenesters and hipsters;
Ironic facial hair;
Amazing pork belly and al pastor tacos, decent goat tacos;
Gooey queso fundido and roasted poblanos (hint: mix the two together!);
Some awesome homemade tortillas, chips, and salsas;
Ridiculous bourbon selection;
Cheap drinks (I can polish off $3 Lone Star bottles all day);
Your bill to be significantly cheaper than you thought it would be;
Expect to walk out of Big Star contemplating your next visit with cash still in your pocket and a smile on your face.
We ate there on a Sunday night around 8 and despite tales of ridiculous waits all the time, we walked right up to two seats at the bar. We split one of every taco, the two tostadas, and queso fundido. Every single item they brought was amazing! Then we drank more cheap beer and sipped Templeton. It's inexpensive too!
Went to Big Star last night around 6:00PM for the first time to check out the old Pontiac. Now finding a seat is going to be a trick since there doesn't seem to be any type of hostess directing traffic, I'm not sure I'd want to come expecting/needing a table. We found two spots at the bar very quickly. The chips, tacos, and tostadas we had were incredibly delicious (don't believe De Cero compares at all). The food comes out very fast so you certainly could order tacos piecemeal. As a commited bourbon drinker I was also pretty excited when I saw that the had 4 pages of bourbon in their drinkbook.
Now of course you get to hear my gripes! The food was absolutely 5 stars but being a cash-only "restaurant" is a real pain and the bartender/server was clueless and disinterested at best. I cut a little slack since the place is new but she was pretty confused/flustered by my ordering specific bourbons.
I will be back, but not with more than one other person until they get the seating figured out. It's be a nightmare trying to find room for a party of 4 or more.
Oh Paul Kahan, you wonderful man, you.
I went to Big Star at about 6:30 on a Thursday night. It was pretty packed, but after circling the place once, we managed to snag two seats at the bar. The atmosphere is simple, cozy and warm. The food is beyond amazing. And the drinks are perfection.
Out of the three tacos, the pork belly was my favorite: tender, savory and dripping in juices. We also ordered the Queso Fundido - which I could eat everyday for the rest of my life and die happy (although probably early and of morbid obesity). And then there was the Pescado Tostada, which was really beyond words. Highly, highly recommended. The guacamole was eh.... delicious, of course, but nothing special. The chips, however, are deep fried and sprinkled with lime; exactly the way chips SHOULD be.
Drinks-wise, I started with a whiskey cocktail that not only made my tastebuds dance, but also left a warm glow in my belly. I moved on to the $3 Schlitz, which is simply a good deal. And then finished off with a Michelada: spicy, fizzy, mmmm so good.
Interspersed throughout this great food-and-drink experience was fun banter with the bartenders, great people-watching and celebrity chef sightings as Paul Kahan ensured his baby was running smoothly - wandering from the taco window, to the back, to mingling with the crowds.
I left Big Star extremely stuffed and extremely happy. For a huge meal and three drinks, I only spent $35 including tip. WHAT?! $35?! Yes. Amazing. I will definitely be back.
Rajas de poblano taco was awesome.
Pork belly taco was dominated by onion.
Al Pastor was a little dry.
Fried to order tortilla chips were nice, guac was pretty good.
Service was terrible. Bar tender was pretentious and inattentive.
I appreciated the concept.
Cheap, but they didn't charge any tax. Illegal?
Overall good, but not as good as I had expected.
I'm definitely a big fan as it's hard to go wrong with a bar that doesn't try to do too much and gets it right. The drink selection is impressive while the food is easy to find a few things quickly. Next thing you know you've got a plate of tacos in front of you. The pork belly was my favorite, followed by the pastor. The goat was decent, but I probably wouldn't get it again...
I really wanted to like this place as, but the corporate-hipsterdom made me too nauseous to eat. It is official, wicker park has become lincoln park for people who don't like sports......
Food = Good overall
Ambiance = Fair
Wait Staff = Poor
I'll elaborate:
I went with a party of 5 this evening, and we had heard about the wait and the standing room... so we showed up at 4:00, on a Monday. We were there for nearly 2 hours, and the crowd was very small and we had a booth.
Drinks:
One girl in our party informed the waitress that she didn't drink much, but she wanted to try a cocktail, and asked for her recommendations, preferably one that wasn't too strong or overloaded with alcohol. The waitress offered the Sarsaparilla beverage. The girl in our party took one drink and absolutely hated it. I found it to be fantastic, but I am a whiskey lover... and even as a whiskey lover, I would have to agree that that drink should not be marketed as a "cocktail" or even a "mixed drink". It was a gianormous shot with a splash of root beer added. The host then came to the table, as the girl was coughing and choking on the whiskey, and asked if she needed anything. The girl choked out that she would like just a plain sarsaparilla, or just a significant amount added to the drink that she was served. The host returned with another "cocktail"... rather than just the soda. The girl however, did not know this and took a very large gulp... causing her to gasp for breath and cough heavily. We felt that this was unacceptable.
I had the Bakersfield beverage, which was heavy on the whiskey, and not for the faint of heart. I thought it was delicious... but beware before you order it that it is a lot of whiskey with just a splash of ginger beer. At our table Los Tres Reyes was ordered, and it was a surprise when it came as a "deconstructed" beverage, so just be aware before you order that. (again, we think that this is something that the waitress might mention when you ask about the drink...), we had heard good things about the Black Cherry Fizz and attempted to order this, but we were disappointed to find out that they were out of the black cherry soda. Also, the margaritas were fantastic, right on the spot. The Old Fashioned seemed to be lacking.
Food:
Pork belly: FANTASTIC. All of us agreed. The pastor was good, not as good as the pork belly, but definitely in second place. The fish taco was nice, but we agreed that we found the portion of avocado overwhelming on such a tiny taco... a 1/4 of an avocado is delicious, but overtook the rest of the taco. The special of the day was sopapapillas. These had great flavor, but we felt as though the portion size for $7 was tiny, when it is taken into consideration that one could get 3 pork belly tacos FULL of delicious meat for the same price. We all enjoyed the guacamole, but none of us enjoyed the salsas offered on the table. The fresh tortilla chips were great.
Ambiance:
Make sure to bring a sweater! It was very chilly in the restaurant. It was not crowded at all for us (Monday afternoon at 4pm), but we thought that it was exceptionally dark. The candles on the table were nice, but since it was so dark in the rest of the restaurant that the candles seemed to be blindingly bright.
Wait staff:
Absolutely unacceptable. This restaurant has great potential, with great food, but the mood of the place, and the life is completely sucked out by the rude, non-caring, incompetent wait staff. I'm sure that not all of the wait staff are horrible, but the gal that we had certainly was. She was unable to do basic server 101 sort of things... like, introducing herself... or taking plates off the table when there is clearly not enough room... or being attentive to her guests. She also made errors on our bill not once... but TWICE. We were charged for two drinks that were never ordered (one of which was the Black Cherry Fizz, which was ordered, but was never served as we were informed that the beverage wasn't even available that night!). When you have a table of hungry and thirsty people who are going to be ringing up a hell of a tab, I feel as though you should make damn sure that they are getting quality service. Our ending tab was $94 (Note: $49 was on drinks alone), and we felt as though our waitress had just anticipated that she would receive a tip as though she was entitled, and therefore she didn't have to provide quality service. We disagreed and made sure to let her know this.
Overall... This restaurant review is nit-picky in some respects, and I understand that, but I believe that the point of a review is to look at all the details that go into making the dining experience. We were severally dissatisfied with the service, but did enjoy the food. We would go back under the context of having just a couple tacos or something while waiting to meet a group of people to go to another restaurant. If I were rating the food alone, I would have given a 4 star rating.
Went to Big Star on Monday at 4:45 pm and the place was super busy, by the time we left at 6:30 there was a list at the door! I think this idea is brilliant and exactly what Wicker Park needed. Soon the yelp reviews will be all 1 star and 5 star reviews of this place. It's the kind of place you have to go into knowing you may not get a comfy seat, you may be perched at the bar, but if you get that far, you'll be feeling great. The atmosphere is great, it's simple..you get the sense they want the place to take on it's own character in time, it's like a blank slate waiting for years of good times to decorate it. The one-starers are going to complain about how busy and loud it is, etc...but that's just what it's going to be!
We got lucky enough to sit at the bar, it was the first night, so it was slightly crazy, but whatever, the bartenders are super sweet, lot's of familiar faces from other favorite local dining places, coming together to make it not just Big Star - but All Star!
We ordered probably the most food we could, ordered all the vegetarian options and the seafood options. (but later found out maybe not:( ) Everything we ordered was awesome. The romaine salad in itself was enough for me to want to come back the next day. Fish tacos, some of the best I've ever had. Plantains, delicious, as well as the chips and guac. Here's the one disappointing thing. As we are chowing down on the chips, I said to my husband, "Man, these are so good, you don't think they are too good to be true do you? Like, fried in some kind of meat fat or something?" My seasoned Industry husband said, "No, they would tell you" munch munch. I believed him, but found out a few days later that it's true....the chips are fried in lard. I was pretty upset about it, but understand that probably a lot of chips in Mexican places are, but for a Wicker Park place...full disclosure should be a must. Pretty please!
Okay, other than that set back...on with the other awesome stuff. The drinks! Hello! The cocktails are ambitious for a small place like this, but be patient...they are great! The bourbon selection if rumored to be somewhere near 50 different kinds. And if you just want to try some new beers or some old cheap standby's, this is the place.
Again, I don't think one should go into this place expecting to have the space to dine on a full meal. I'd go in looking for some excellent drinks, old timey music, good conversation and people watching, supplemented with some of the best damn food you've had in a long time.
Best. Tacos. Ever.
Went on Tuesday, their 2nd day open. Got there around 8:30p and it was pretty packed already. Luckily we got seats at the bar. There were definitely some hiccups with their operation, it's understandable it was their 2nd day open, they probably didn't expect to be so busy. But Pontiac's been closed for so long, and people love to try out new places. Just be forewarned that it'll probably be even busier this weekend, thus expect long waits for food and drink.
Drink - It took a long time to flag down a bartender to get our drinks. And it's not a big bar. We finally ordered a round, and everyone ordered 2 drinks b/c we didn't know when he'd come around again. Finally after he took our orders, it took about another 10 min to get drinks. And it wasn't like he was taking other orders, it just took him that long to make the darn things. But when they finally arrived, they were pretty good. There were only 3 bartenders there, even 1 other bartender would have been so much better. And it was a Tuesday night!
Food - Cheap! and pretty tasty! They were out of the al pastor tacos, boo. I got 2 of the pork belly tacos, 1 order of chips & salsa and 1 horchata for the low low price of $10 before tip! Pork belly was awesome, very soft, not too fatty, but they did need a dash of salt, which they didn't have at the bar and by the time I would have gotten salt, i would have finished my tacos. It took a long time for the chips & salsa to come out. But for $2 they give you a huge plate of chips and 3 big squirt bottles of salsa. My fave was the chunky one, it tasted like pico de gallo, but put through a blender. Next fave was the green one, it was slightly spicy. Least fave was the dark red one, I think it had chipotle. Horchata was just okay, too grainy for me. But it was a huge cup. My friend ordered the guacamole, they say they make it fresh, I guess that's why it took 15 min to come out. It really needed a lot of salt.
Atmosphere - Lots of nicely dressed young people here. There's a huge bar in the middle, if you're lucky, get a seat anywhere along the bar, just not by the kitchen window! It was the worst place to sit for obvious reasons - too much foot traffic. The north (?) wall has big booths, the booths were really cool looking, but looked so uncomfortable! Other than that, it's pretty bare bones in there, very grey and industrial looking.
Big Star will definitely be a quick and cheap dinner spot for me in the future, since I only live 1.5 blocks away, but I'd never spend all night here, it's just too cramped.
We came here on a Saturday evening and the place was packed but we were able to squeeze into a standing place at the bar. That was pretty much the only downside. The drink list is really nice...if you are into bourbons and ryes. Which is interesting considering they sell mexican fare. I figured the tequila list would be much more extensive. We got one of each taco and my favorite by far was the goat. So tender and delicious. The carne asada was quite delicious as well, and you can't go wrong with the pork belly taco. The quac was very tasty and I like the radish in it which gives it a nice contrasting texture. Overall, if you don't mind crowds and want cheap but really tasty eats come here. Maybe next spring/summer they will have some outdoor seating which may open things up a bit.
Chili's Gift Cards
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Come Eat and Enjoy Music
Neighborhood: North Park
