On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Category: Tapas Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: LakeviewSouthport (Brown)
Loading...
I have fallen in love with this tapas restaurant!! It's the perfect place for a girls night or a romantic night with your honey. The atmosphere is cozy and charming - the space is small so go early or on a weeknight.
The Croquetas De Queso are amazing, I've never tasted this combination of vinegar and honey before - poured over fried goat cheese, it must be experienced!! Go now!! Run!!
Any of the choices with steak are perfection. The steak is cooked perfectly and seasoned impeccably. The crab cakes are also delicious.
To top off all of the wonderful food - the red wine sangia here is the best I've ever had - sweet but also light and refreshing. Could drink it by the gallons.
All around, one of my favorite places to go in Chicago.
I enjoy Bull-eh-dia's very much. It partly could be because the last time I went here, a stream of gay men kept coming up to my friend and me to tell us how attractive we were. I felt pretty, y'all! If you want an ego boost, come here!
Ego-boosting aside, I will say that the tapas here are all delish--at least the ones I've tried. I had an amazing special with J one time that consisted of extremely spicy mussels. Yum! Bacon-wrapped dates are always TDF, and theirs were no exception. Hmm...what else...the shrimp were awesome, great bread, and decently-priced wine...perhaps it's the wonderful food that makes everyone so joyous and eager to hand out compliments. Seriously. It's one of those places where the food/ambience makes you happy.
Other:
One of the bartender/waitresses is absolutely beautiful. Like, breath-taking. It's borderline annoying.
They play lots of Shakira, and my friend got annoyed because she has issues with warbling lero lo le lo les and hip movements.
After having a few drinks at a local bar and finding that most bars on Southport were not our speed for the evening while walking along we stumbled on Bull-eh-Dia's. Wandered in and found no wait (granted it was midnight).
Ordered a pitcher of Sangria and 4 Tapas, not one was disappointing.
Small Intimate with a great lounge vibe with the music playing. It was loud enough without going overboard. With their late hours it was a fantastic alternative to the typical late night fare of Burritos or Pizza.
There is definitely better Tapas else where in the city.
They have since changed the music to more appropriate Spanish guitar - and the sangria is still delicious and well-priced, and the tapas are decent.
I named this place Techno Tapas because they have very loud techno music playing at all hours… Read more »
Wonderful Tapas restaurant!
We wandered in here for a late-dinner before seeing a midnight movie at the Mercury Theater. It's a cozy setting. Candlelight, rich reds on the walls, colorful artwork. I ordered a glass of the red sangria and it was delicious. We shared the bacon-wrapped dates (always good!), the goat cheese croquettes (very good, but extremely rich--the basalmic vinegar is a necessary accent on this plate), and the Carne Casera (pan-seared steak with fried potatoes). Everything was so good, and I have never had such great potatoes before (well, beside my mom's...). The prices are reasonable. The place is romantic. The service is excellent. Bring a date.
I really like Bull-eh-dia's and am really going to try to make a point to go more often. The tapas are wonderful, the sangria's not bad, and I really like the ambience.
I went here on a date after we couldn't stand the wait at Tango Sur. Tapas are great for a date! We had smoked salmon, steak on crostini, and the empanadas. All wonderful. I brought a friend back for girl's night and we had the garlic shrimp, empanadas, bacon wrapped dates and ricotta chicken. The chicken was "meh" but everything else was divine. Luscious, little bites. And very reasonable!
Thought patio time has ended, it was really great to sit out on the patio. The layout is small and intimate inside. Love the lighting and ambient latin music! Definitely give Bull-eh-dia's a try!
YUMMY YUMMY GREAT FOR THE TUMMY
I popped into Bull-eh-dia's early about 5 pm on a Sunday and was the only customer which kind of freaked me out. It also made me uncomfortable that throughout my meal the bartender went in the back to make my food and I kept hearing microwave beeping noises.
But in the end, I don't know or care if the food was microwaved (which I doubt from the texture and flavor) it was excellent!
The bacon wrapped goat cheese stuffed dates are the stuff of dreams. Serioulsly, don't leave this life without eating these.
The Carne en Tostada was tender and flavorful and the little herbed crostini it sat on was delish on its' own. The Patatas Bravas are very different than how they are served in Spain as you get 2 sauces on the side and you dip the potatoes into them. And ohhhhhh those potatoes! The potatoes are chopped then put in a bowl of water and seasoning to soak up the peppery flavoring. Then they are drained and fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. You could eat them without any sauce at all. But I really enjoyed mixing the 2 sauces together then dipping the potatoes into that mixture.
I got the albodingas to go and had them for dinner. They were alright, I would not order them again. My martini was also rather forgettable but not bad. I think it was a lemon strawberry concoction but it tasted like water and vodka.
The service was wonderful. The bartender/cook/waittress was warm and friendly and really made me feel at home.
The ambience is soft, warm and very Spanish. Great story on the menu about the design contest they had to select a designer.
Overall I would DEFINITELY go back to Bull-er-dias, probably next weekend.
This clean, attractive tapas place could be a lot worse. It could also be a lot better. While the service was absolutely top notch, I can't help but feel that the mark was missed with the food. Me and my honey split two cold and two hot dishes for an afternoon nibble. The olives and garlic underwhelmed me because I felt I could have gone to jewel and gotten the exact same thing. However, the Serrano ham with Manchengo (?) cheese was great! The crostini bread that came with it? Uh, so crispy that you could hear the bread crunching across the room, I found it to be a bit much.
For the hot we had the Steak Ceasare, the meat was tender and delish, the reduction and potatoes that came with it? Salty and overcooked. We had the house specialty Honey Orange ribs, which were..... ok.
The sangria was great, not too much fruit, but overall our afternoon snack was a bit pricey for what we got. I would probably go back when they have their kickass sangria specials.
One of my top three tapas spots in Chicago (with Iberico and Ba-Ba-Reeba). Good prices for serving sizes, brilliantly delicious datiles rellenos, and patio seating if you enjoy a sidewalk cafe!
Of my "big three" tapas restaurants, this is my favorite for lunch because I'm a fan of the patio. Oh, and I've never had to wait for a seat! (BIG plus over the other two.) Give Bull-eh-dia's a try!
Yum!
I came here last night and had the esparragos la parilla (which was excellent! I want to make asparagus like this all the time now!), the carne en tostada (difficult to eat without destroying it, but good none the less), and the patatas bravas, which I love love love!
The half pitcher of sangria is ideal for a party of two. You can have a couple glasses with dinner and then on to dessert!
We ordered the flan and it was probably the best flan I've ever had in a restaurant. Couple that with a cappucino (with an added shot of Frangelico) and it was perf.
Out server was super friendly and the atmosphere was great - however the seats were pretty uncomfortable!
It was a Thursday night at 7pm and we were there in a group of 8 for a birthday dinner. We had met beforehand at HyeBar, practically next door, for a drink and then headed over. Not crowded at all.... lovely place, friendly waitress, no wait. We knew right away to get a couple pitchers of sangria (red)- not to be confused with "sangarita", which was on special and cheaper. Oops, oh well. What I loved about tapas places is staggering things out, ordering 2-3 things at a time over the course of a couple hours.
The things that I would recommend and order again are:
The Plate de Queso- Spanish cold cuts and Manchego cheese w Quince
Gambas al Ajillo- garlic shrimp (we should have ordered two!)
Queso de Cabra- baked goat cheese
Patatas Bravas- spicy potatos (really good!)
Datiles rellenos- goat cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon (exceptional)
Calamares a la Plancha- grilled calamari (large amount, very flavorful)
Paella Bulerias-chicken and seafood paella (a must try! delicious)
And the only thing I would not order again was the empanada. There was too much fried breading on it.
Overall, a very tasty place! When you've got the time to really enjoy a long meal like this, it's fun to just relax with friends, have multiple pitchers of sangria and savor the flavors! I think each of us ordered at least 2-3 items each for the table to share. Our bill with tip was $44 pp.
I love tapas and really like this place. We have been there twice, once with out of town guests. It was a great place to take out of towners. The atmosphere is cozy. We can walk here so it's definetly one of my favorites. I don't know that I would drive all the way across town, but... I wish they had a little bigger menu, but at least it wasn't overwhelming. We went to Cafe Baabareeba the following week and I thought Bull-eh-dia's was MUCH better!
My favorites were:
Queso de Cabra - I LOVE goat cheese. This was fantastic
Carne en Tostada - the beef and manchego worked really well together
Croquetas de Queso - little goat cheese fritters. HELLO??!! okay so I really like goat cheese
No offense to the neighborhood of the Cubs, but I was really surprised to find such good food in the area (save for the Tango Sur meaty goodness up the street). I'm used to hitting up Wrigley for some beer. The place is really cool and the food is good - standard Spanish fare done well. Sangria is pretty kickin'. If I ever find myself in the hood not feeling too tipsy, I'll be heading here!
If I could have any meal in Chicago (that I've had so far of course) it would be Bull-eh-Dia's Carne Casera. Fantastic. I've sampled a couple of the other dishes there and I've never been disappointed with any of them. The deserts? Perfect.
Atmosphere is good. They do great with the small space they have.
So far I have been here 3 times and have not been disappointed. I have had all 3 of their Sangria and even though it is not the best that I have ever had it is pretty close. The ribs, that have been on the special menu are absolutely amazing, so if you like ribs, try theirs, you will not be disappointed.
I am a goat cheese fiend, and this place is like my own personal heaven. Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese? Um, YEAH... goat cheese fritters drizzled with honey and balsamic vinaigrette?? SI!!!
Oh, and the other food is good too... I especially recommend the artichokes in citrus dressing and the plato de jamon.
This was a real disappointment. It was very loud and crowded with barely enough room to pull out my chair without hitting the person sitting at the table behind us. They have a TV in the dining area, as opposed to just at the bar, which I always think is a big mistake. They were severely understaffed, so we didn't get very much attention. And finally, the food was incredibly mediocre, and as others have described it, bland. The asparagus was tasteless, the marinated artichokes could easily have been the canned or jarred variety, the tomato sauce/goat cheese was fine (but that's a hard one to mess up), and even the olives were just so-so. The sangria was too sweet and didn't seem to have much wine in it.
No need to go back.
I visited Bull-eh-dia's on a slow Monday night in an attempt to expand my Southport dining experience.
Largely, I agree with what many other yelpers have said: The food is good (not great), and the prices are a bit high for the portions. It seemed that any dishes with individual items (like shrimp) all came in sets of 5. For the 3 of us, we ordered a total of 6 tapas, and while munching on bread, we managed to spend $21 each, including tax & tip.
I could be persuaded to go back here, but I think I'd prefer to try Twist again, despite the longer walk. To get an extra star, I'd like to see a better value for the food (either larger portions or lower price). To get a fifth star, they'd need to up the quality and variety a bit.
Bull-eh-dia's gets a thumbs up, but I have a feeling there's much better tapas to be found in Chicago.
This is a great choice on a night you plan to visit the Music Box Theatre. The food was pretty good, I think I would come back but the prices seemed a little steep for the quality.
I had a roast beet salad with goat cheese, onions and almonds; potatoes bravas; garlic shrimp, crostini with portabello mushrooms, manchego cheese and roasted red peppers, and cheese empanadas. The salad was delicious and had 3 giant slices of roast beet, the potatoes bravas is a tapas staple but did not disappoint. The cheese empanadas were the standout, they looked homemade by the way the dough was folded over - and if in fact they were that I am impressed because these suckers are very time consuming.
The service was fine, the place was packed for a Sunday night and only the bartender was on duty, so she seemed swamped. I will back for round two next time I stop into the theatre.
After living around the corner from this restaurant for 6 months we decided to give it a try. It looks really small but they have a big upstairs with about 15 tables and another bar. We got right in at 7:30pm on Friday night which was nice. The service was good overall (our waiter was also covering a large party of 22 and two other 2 tops) and the ambiance was great. We had a pitcher of the red sangria which was quite good. The best tapa we had was the beef tenderloin on crostini - very good! The goat cheese was good but not very large comparatively. We were going to try the dates but got too full before we could - we will definitely try it next time!
I am giving it 4 stars as a great neighborhood date place - no wait, great ambiance, good service, good (not amazing) food. Thought it was fairly reasonably priced - we had 5 tapas and two pitchers of sangria and the bill was under $80.
Went here for my birthday last Saturday and I had a great time.
The waitress was really nice even though we made her wait an hour before ordering any real food, besides drinks, for the rest of my friends to come.
The empanadas were really good too. So was the sangria.
My parents worked with Joe and Mariena at Bull-eh-dia's to organize our engagement party last month. It was phenomenal! The food was excellent, the service was great, and Mariena was just so nice and accommodating about everything. She even presented my fiance and I with a complimentary bottle of champagne when we arrived. The party was at 2pm, so we basically had the whole restaurant to ourselves. It was a really wonderful experience; my fiance and I are sure to return in the future. If you go, be sure to try the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese... to die for!
my search for authentic tapas has ended. dining here is like being transported to spain. it's intimate, sexy and oh-so-delicious!
have not had a chance to sample the sangria yet, but every tapas i have tried has been delightful. i'm a big fan of the patatas bravas, and they offer their version with two different sauces on the side - one spicy hot, one cool and soothing ( i think it may have avocado in it?). also worth mentioning is the jamon y queso - i could make a meal on that alone!
take your special someone here. save iberico or ba-ba-reeba for the big group outings. this is the real deal.
When I was in Spain I ordered "Gambas al Ajillo" for every meal-- sometimes I'd get shrimp scampi, sometimes I'd get scrambled eggs. Once I got a shrimp omelet. Anyway, maybe I'm not the best judge of Spanish food considering getting my order right garners at least one star. However, I think Bull-eh-dia's is a pretty good addition to the Southport Corridor.
The sangria is great-- they only have red and white, but they do both right. The white is light and fruity, while the red (which was better, in my opinion) was sweeter and more intense.
The highlight of the meal was the dates... bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese. These were amazing. I wish they served more than 4, but they were huge and I probably didn't need to eat more than 4.
The grilled calamari was tasty and I liked the empanadas--the sauces served with them were excellent. I'm not sure what the green one was, but it was great. The mussels were ok, they were kind of small and served in a marinara sauce, which isn't my favorite. For dessert I had the flan, which was covered in chocolate, caramel and whipped cream. If it sounds like too much, it kind of is-- but, in a good way.
Oh, and the "Gambas al Ajillo" were what I was expecting-- five tasty garlicky shrimps. Success!
Alright I may be a little biased because I used to work here, but this place has some great food.
Granted sometimes it gets a little busy, but that just means that people enjoy the place and keep returning. The space is small and the tables are a little too close together but I think it just creates a more intimate atmosphere.
I saw a lot of couples come through this place and they always seemed to leave smiling.
As everyone said...bacon wrapped goat cheese stuffed dates, ahhh-mazing. The garlic shrimp is really good as well. I also remember really liking the chorizo with potatos. It's worth trying for sure.
I love me some tapas, yes I do! Being the little Miss Bossy Britches that I am always wanting to dictate what all my friends order so that I can try EVERYTHING on the menu, tapas gives you the perfect opportunity to try a little bite of this and that without the forceful attitude.
Bull-eh-dia's hit a few high and low notes for me throughout the night, both playing into my fancy for small plates (and lots of them), but also turning me off with a few nuances that are (fortunately) fixable.
Let's explore, shall we? We'll take it down Pro-Con-Pro style like my sorority days:
Pro/ Cozy atmosphere, warm colors, it was charming, authentic and we loved the Spanish music that transported us to another place & time even on a dreary, rainy night
Con/ No waiting area. Unless conditions are perfect outside (which in Chicago they so often are, right?), you're waiting on the sidewalk. We stood in the rain for about 20 minutes until a bar spot opened up.
Pro/ The Sangria was delicious. I'm so turned off by a fruit punch-esque Sangria; their red was amazing and pitchers are only $18.00 making it one of the most affordable pitchers of Sangria in town.
Con/ The bartender was slower than molasses in January. The Sangria may be good but when he repeatedly forgets to bring it to you it sort of defeats the purpose, you dig?
Pro/ The food was very good. Stacey A. is right on, anything with goat cheese hits a high note... Baked Goat Cheese in Marinara, Goat Cheese-stuffed Bacon Wrapped Dates, Goat Cheese croquettes with Honey. I was liable to start bahhhhing at any moment. The garlic chicken and chorizo empanadas also get enthusiastic honorable mentions.
Con/ Noise level. What?! Whaaaat?! WHAAATTTT?!?! That was the majority of the conversation had that evening. It was above loud in there and it got annoying quickly. We couldn't hear the waitress, the music or ourselves. Tables are way too close together, the acoustics are obviously poorly thought out and the volume of voices made my head throb.
Pro/ Dessert. Don't miss the Plantano al Caramelo aka Bananas in Caramel. It doesn't sound all that adventurous, but trust me, we all fought for this one and left the others virtually untouched.
...so there you have it. A few kinks to be worked out, but overall still a nice addition to the SoPo lineup. I'll be back for more goat cheese degustation even if I have to shove it in my ears to enjoy it!
A friend of mine recommended Bull-eh-Dia's for dinner. I didn't even know the place existed but thought I'd give it a shot.
My favorite thing about this place was the ambiance and the Sangria. This is a great date place, it's small and cozy. We were able to get seated right away (at 8:30pm on a Friday night). The Red Sangria was out of this world! We went through 2 pitches very quickly! :)
The food was OK. The Queso de Cabra (Goat Cheese w/ Bread) was pretty good, the Calamares a la Plancha (Squid in Lemon sauce) was way too salty but big portions, the Albóndigas Españolas (Meatballs w/ Saffron rice) was good but very filling and the Croquetas de Queso was bland.
I would go back to this restaurant to try a few more dishes. However, I was not overally impressed with the food this time around.
I finally had a chance to check out Bull-eh-dia's for an early dinner outside. I was unsure how the food would be, but it was surprisingly delicious! My friend and I split a pitcher of white sangria and three tapas. Everything was good and came out quickly - so no complaints there.
So, why only 4 stars vs. 5? The service was sub-par. Perhaps it was because my companion and I were the only guests at the restaurant, but our server was "creepily" eager and we felt rushed. The music was also absurdly loud for 6pm and was annoying enough to make us want to leave after one pitcher of Sangria (not the norm for me and my friend).
I would definitely want to check out Bull-eh-dia's at night as I think it could be a great place for a large group. It sounds like that is the case from the other reviews posted.
I'm going to have to come back to this review later on and edit the living fuck out of it. But here's the quickie version:
If you see something on this menu with goat cheese? Order it.
Especially the figs stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped with bacon. Sweet merciful crap, greatest tapa decision of my LIFE.
More later when I can remember what I ate.
And apparently this is a newer restaurant? I'll have to come back next month and see how the service has improved, because they were running their little faces off on a Saturday night and looked pretty stressed. I'd like to see if they've smoothed things out at all.
I was very excited to find a tapas place that I could walk to, however after eating there I was very disappointed. We ordered the Spanish omelet and grilled chicken in garlic, the food was very bland. I would not recommend going here.
Congrats to Bull el Dia for securing the number 2 spot in my tapas list, and because of the fact that I didn't have to wait an hour to sit outside like at ba ba reeba, it is a close second. The place was cute, cozy, authentic looking and they have a little outdoor patio. Tables are a little close together out there, but we dealt with it. Price-wise, it was comparable to most other tapas places in the city, around $6-8 for most dishes. Service was a tad slow, but overall it was a pleasant experience and I can't wait to go back.
Now on to the food ...
The Good Stuff
Shrimp in olive oil/garlic -- Solid item. Shrimp was cooked perfectly, flavors were not too overpowering. Would definitely order again
Carne en Tostada -- Definitely the best thing we had, we ordered seconds. A very tender piece of beef on a crostini topped with a slice of Manchego cheese and a little red pepper. Soooo good!
Stuffed Chicken - Don't remember the name, but it was stuffed with spinach, goat cheese (see I told you I liked it), carmelized onions among other things. I dont even like onions, but I honestly think that they made this dish - gave it a bit of sweetness. This was served over a bed of red pepper mashed potatoes, which were very good. Was thrown off a bit by the look/texture, but they were great.
The So So Stuff
Croquetas de queso -- I will eat goat cheese on anything, with anything, or with nothing. These were fried balls (sexual, huh) with warm goat cheese inside. The interesting/maybe weird part of it was the honey and balsamic vinegar it was drizzled with. The flavor was very, very unique, something I have never tasted before. Not sure that I would order it again, but I'm glad I did. Would probably try the traditional baked goat cheese next time.
Mussels in marinara -- This was my first time having mussels, and well, it tasted like I thought it would.
I went here a few weeks ago and loved it! The food was excellent and the sangria was really really good too.
We came with an 18-person group, so I cut them some slack on the service. They kept apologizing for not seating us faster, but we weren't in any rush. After that, they had some troubles keeping the orders straight, but hello? 18 people? Yikes. For what I gave them, they handled it really well.
Finally, the birthday flan is exactly what you want on your birthday. I promise. It jiggles in just the right way (and I don't even like flan that much!)!
Marvelous. Everywhere - great, open decor; handsome wine list; food through the roof.
We had scallops in a saffron sauce, with red peppers; a pork tenderloin stuffed with dates, almonds, moorish-influenced flavors, in a white wine and aromatic broth; grilled octopus with potatoes; crab cakes; chorizo empanadas with two sauces (a red pepper coulis and avocado sauce). Unbelievable intensity of flavor and skill. Passed back with a really nice tempranillo (forget the vintner), and a Ladera white. Music mix was spot on, wonderful.
We understand Tuesdays, 7p-9p, there is a live guitarist; we're in.
Congrats to the chef and owners for creating such an authentic, wonderful experience.
This is one of those "I hate to review it because I hate the idea of it getting too crowded" reviews, but we went for dinner here on Fri. night and now, on Monday, the BF & I are still talking about it. A rarity, as usually he doesn't like to discuss food.
The bacon wrapped dates and the grilled octopus were divine. I'll order them every time I go. The $18 pitcher of red sangria? Again, I'll never be here without it. The cheese empanadas? Decent, but could've used more flavor. The only low point of the meal was the carne tostatdas. The 'tostada' was a french bread baguette from the across the street Jewel, it was stale and totally boring. The meat on top of it was soft and succulent though. We ate every morsel of meat, and left all the bread.
Our waitress was great, presentation was gorgeous service was quick, and the best part? A runner came to bring us a plate and saw that we still had something on the table. He took the plate back in to give us more time (on his own accord, but it was more than fine with us). When he came back with the plate a few minutes later, it was still hot and delicious. Great timing. Can't wait to go back again.
Little bit of a different review. Apparently in addition to being a semi-new down the street from Tango Sur, BeD's let's you book "party packages" if your party is at least 8 strong. [Note: if you have 15+, then you can book the party room upstairs, it's BYOB and you get a dedicated server] We got some sort of custom 7-dish package since we didn't make the 15 person minimum. We were a party of 13 there for a bday, so it was kind of nice not to have to deal with the hassle of looking down the menu and dealing with variable costs outside of the sangria (although apparently we missed the scallops Maureen M recommended).
Since I wasn't the event planner, I have no idea what the format was, but it just seemed like they kept bringing different tapas out. I think I dropped my standards a bit since I was famished, but everything tasted good, although I think Babareeba might still be a bit better. The dish that stood out to me was the Empanadas con Chorizo Mojo Canario (long name!) but it was the avocado sauce that really made it. The Pollo Relleno, stuffed with spinach and goat cheese was also yummy.
The restaurant itself is pretty small and very friendly and cozy. The manager really took care of us and the service was phenomenal. I'm sure this contributed to our final bill, but my sangria glass rarely, if ever, went down to half empty. Both the red and white were equally good, although BeD's doesn't have quite the variety of Babareeba. What was really awesome though was at one point, one of the waiters went around with a pitcher of ice and spooned ice into our sangria glasses so that it would be nice and cold - talk about full service!
In the end, I'm not sure I ate that much but given how much I drank, the bill/person was not unreasonable at $45, esp given the attention the restaurant gave us. BeD's is worth a second visit to try some other plates, and definitely a great place for a large group.
What a nice surprise! My wife and i went there on a Friday night around 8pm. We were seated promptly and we were quickly able to enjoy the warm laid-back Spanish decor. One quick tip: avoid the high tables/chairs as they get very uncomfortable overtime. We ordered a half-pitcher of white sangria and a few hot tapas. Everything was truly delicious while remaining unpretentious. The flan with toasted almonds, chocolate syrup and whipped was just a delight. And the service was spot on. Definitely looking forward to becoming a regular and highly recommend it.
Best tapas I have ever had...including a trip to Barcelona and Madrid. The food was just out of this world awesome. We had the squid, goat cheese w tomato sauce (not marinara really), and some lamb chops.
The presentation and tastes easily beat any of the other Chicago tapas places. The service was fine but the place only had a few other people in it, they were playing some jamming spanish guitar cd (no complaints) and the banana desert should not be missed!
Summer update: I've eaten there a few times now since my delivery experience and it was great!!! I'll definitely keep this on a list of neighborhood favorites.
Original review:
I believe this place has been opened less than a month. There is no sign outside (yet?). It's across from the Jewel parking lot on Southport just south of Waveland - in the old Nebours space. Hopefully this will be a great non-bar addition to the corridor.
My review is only for carry-out. I'm sure the food would have been better dining in. I ordered 3 hot tapas plates and was told it would be 45 mins. On a Sunday early evening, that seemed a little long - esp for a new place... Anyway, my instincts were correct, I think my food was sitting for at least 10 mins before I picked it up at the prescribed time.
Patatas Bravas w/2 different spicy sauces. The potatoes were good as was the red aoili, I'm not sure what the the other sauce was. It didn't do it for me.
Goat cheese stuffed dates wrapped with bacon: 4 little nuggets of heaven. Again, these came with 2 sauces. One appeared to be a sweet balsamic reduction or something. It was great. The other sauce I couldn't identify was red and not as tasty.
Empanadas stuffed with Fetilla Cheese: 1 of the 4 was missing the cheese. These were a little dry, but I think they'd be much better fresh cuz I think they'd been ready for quite a while. The cheese inside was a nice mild white cheese.
Since it's less than a month old, I will try this place again and update my review. I really want this restaurant to succeed since I'd love to have tapas 2 blocks from my house. The owners and chef seem like REALLY nice people (from their neighborhood association presentation). They put a lot of effort into transforming the space.
The main floor dining room is small, but very cute. There will be seating upstairs once they get a permit or something.
If the owners read this: carry-out sauce cups for patatas bravas are TOO SMALL. I mean, not even enough sauce for 1 person.
My girlfriend and I ate here the other night and it was better than I thought it would be. I'm not trying to be a pretentious food critic, but I lived in Spain and tasted some pretty darn good tapas; and other than Cafe Iberico, tapas in Chicago has always been disappointing.
We ordered:
1) Patatas Bravas- served hot and fresh, huge portion, and the sauces were lick the ramaken (sp?) worthy.
2) Beef on crostini with manchego cheese and roasted pepper. Delicious, fresh and ample portion for the price.
3) Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese, aka heart-attack waiting to happen, these were out of this world. Only 4 were served in a $7 order, but they did me a favor by not putting any more on that plate considering I ate 3 of the 4.
This place was fairly authentic, service was better than average (it was a Wednesday night) and the bill rang in under $30. My girlfriend had a glass of red sangria and seemed to have liked it. Our intention was to try more dishes after our first round, but we were too full....
I'd go back again, check it out if you're in the neighborhood.
Half-Priced Bottles of Wine
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Book your holiday party at…
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Tapas Bars
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Cinema
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Tapas Bars
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
Great places to check out when you are hanging out…
In a sandwich, in a basket, next to my pancakes,…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
