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Categories: Spanish, Tapas Bars
Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River NorthMerchandise Mart (Purple Express, Brown)
Clark/Lake (Pink, Brown, Green, Blue, Purple Express, Orange)
Grand (Red)
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.
Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 a.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
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Cafe Iberico may not have the best tapas in Chicago, but you get good, solid tapas here for a reasonable price - and for someone recovering from a grad student budget, I'm down with that. I was here twice in the past two weeks, dozens of times in the last several years, and still find new tapas to love.
I've been satisfied with all of the tapas here - some more than others, like the garlic potatoes, tortilla espanola and garlic shrimp. The sangria is wonderful and not too sweet and not too winey. Regarding portions, make sure to leave lots of stomach room for the food - they bring out a ton.
Also, they are great for big groups and parties - I hosted a birthday party here recently and not only did we get tons and tons and tons of food, we had our glasses refilled with sangria numerous times and the staff was incredibly friendly.
Although it was Saturday night, we didn't have to wait too long for a table. The waiting area was filled with flat screens bumping music videos and the crowd by the bar was well dressed, good looking, and friendly. We hung out at the bar and sipped some delicious sangria until our table was ready. Maybe guzzled instead of sipped. When your table is ready your name scrolls along the bottom of the television. I don't know if it forces you to watch the music videos but I preferred it to those obnoxious pagers that never seem to work quite right.
The restaurant was packed and lively. There were a mix of families, bachelorette parties, and couples. Our food came pretty quickly but the fresh bread and olive oil kept us happy. Listen to the 600 other reviewers and get the queso de cabra. The goat cheese is smooth, creamy and pairs with that sassy tomato sauce. Yes, sassy. Even my sister in law who does not like goat cheese liked it. We also didn't tell her it was goat cheese. If it were socially acceptable, I would have licked the bowl clean. The patatas bravas were also delicious and come with a simple, smokey sauce. The grilled shrimp and mushrooms were also tasty. No dessert but our meal was so affordable I was little upset that my tummy had no more room.
I was stoked to go to this place, Spanish and Italian cuisine are by far my favorites. This place.. was pretty weak.. Sorry mom and sis, I'll take the blame for this one.
Jamon iberico - when I took a bite of this.. haha, I was just stunned. Overwhelming amount of tomato on this bread. I didn't know what to do actually. I kind of just sat there with it there in my mouth for probably 2 minutes, contemplating spitting it out onto my plate. The cold tomatoes, cold ham, cold cheese, textures it was just horrible. HORRIBLE.
Queso de cabra- I enjoyed this dish, thick, rich sauce. Goat cheese was nice. Overall hit the spot.
Mejillones a la marinera- Probably the best dish we had of the evening. Mussels were sweet, and the broth was really good.
Lomo de buey a la brasa- This tasted like garbage carne asada I could get at burrito loco. Couldn't have been more then 3 oz of meat.
Paella Iberico - Rice undercooked, proteins over cooked. No good.
Caramel Flan- So I was hoping something sweet would make up for this disaster of a meal. Nope, not gonna happen. The best part of the flan were the berries that were served on the side.
I will give it 3 stars cause I know there were some other dishes I should have ordered that I always order at tapas places, but for some reason didn't this time. Everything about this place just screamed ok. Someone would have to be paying for my entire meal to ever get me to return to this place. Didn't help that it was girls night out for 10 of the loudest women I have ever encountered sitting four feet to the right. If your sitting in the bottom level bring your bathing suit and sun screen, so hot down there. The bryan adams music videos playing on the flat screen behind us really set the mood. NOT.
Best tapas in the city. This is what a tapas place is supposed to be. Reminds of places I ate at while in Spain. The wait can be long but with reservation or as a couple, it's all good. Queso de cabra, mejillones and patatas bravas are killer.
Go for the sangria, stay for the baked goat cheese, mussels, and garlic potato salad.
Ask to sit on the left side of the restaurant, it's way more fun over there. There is no music on the right side, what's up with that?
Luckily, I was on a business trip with a co-worker who grew up in Chicago and she brought us to Cafe Iberico for a great dinner. The sangria was delicious as was the tapas. You must try the patatas ali-oli, yes it's basically potato salad, but it is so good! Actually, I should qualify that. If you are on a date you might want to avoid it because it is loaded with garlic. :) We had the grilled octopus...delicious...the steak on a stick with carmelized onions and fries...delicious...and some goat cheese and sauce with bread...also delicious.
We had a really great dinner (for a really great price, btw) and this will definitely be a stop the next time I am in town.
This was one of my favorite Spanish Tapas place in Chicago. For about 7 years, I would stop in there after work in the Loop for happy hours, gathering with friends and weekend brunches. It's not a fancy place, but it's always festive and sometime it's almost like a big party in there.
The place is huge and there's even a basement with more seating. Food is solid, but the food and the decor are nothing fancy and more on the simple, rustic side.
One item we always get is the grilled octopus with fries. It's lightly seasoned, but it's very tender, almost just melts in your mouth. The baked goat cheese in tomato sauce is also outstanding and goes well with bread. Other items that standout are the mixed seafood salad which is light and refreshing and the beef skewers with caramelized onions. The onions are so sweet and and the Mayo based sauce goes well with the beef and onions. All the other items are good, but not outstanding.
For the most part, it offers a rustic, country Spanish cuisine that's fairly simple in flavoring and preparation (olive oil, tomato sauce, salt and pepper and occasionally saffron), but it's fairly tasty and reliable. It's a great place for a couple of sangrias and a few plates of Tapas.
GROSS! Do not go here. I don't understand how people could enjoy this restaurant. Service was horrible: rude hostess + server disappearing for 25 minutes then returned reeking of cigarettes, food was even worse. The loud atmosphere and dirty napkins did not help either.
Probably my worst dining experience in the city.
Sangria, hot tapas, cold tapas, ole!!
I don't typically like seafood but I decided to be adventurous tonight skipping only the mussels. To my surprise, I liked almost everything. The octopus and shrimp tapas were tasty but the calamari was a bit chewy although I hear calamari generally suffers from that problem so I won't hold it against them. The crab cakes were only ok but the grilled mushrooms were perfect and the baked goat cheese was sublime (my mouth actually waters just thinking about this dish!). The pork loin or raxo adobado was a bit dry and the patatas bravas a bit spicy so I had to drink lots of sangria to wash them down - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
All around very good culinary experience and attentive service despite our very big group.
If I could go lower than 1 stars I would. It is incomprehensible that people give this place more than one star. I have been here two times thinking 500 reviews can't be wrong. Each tapas was worse than the previous. Even the baked goat cheese was had no flavor. I mean, how do you mess up goat cheese? The service was fine, the sangria was mediocre, and the food is disgusting.
Came here last night since my date suggested I try it. Last weekend we went to Cafe Babareeba, so this time I figured we'd try this place out. She said they had great Sangria and good food. Well let me say, the Sangria was pretty good....strong! The food was spicey, and it was ok. For some reason we were seated in the "dungeon" on a Friday night......had bad service and it was just too loud in the basement!
Overall, it was ok. I like Cafe Babareeba better......better food portions and selections and just a better time. They do not take reservations which is stupid, so be prepared on a weekend to wait........
So it was up to me to pick out a place to go tonight and I was in the mood for tapas. I had never been here so this is where I decided we go.
I was not disappointed. We started off with some red wine sangria, good, nothing special, but still was delicious. I then had the clams, pork w/fries and my favorite, it was a weekly special - chorizo, ham, cabbage, chickpeas, and potato casserole, amazing.
We then had some mojitos which were just as good.
Definitely try here, and will come back....
I absolutely love cafe iberico...the food is always great..i had the:
steak with caramelized onions --my favorite!
mussels in marinara ---delicious
octopus
scallops...
chicken balls...
all of it was super delicious n i was stuffed..i went there with my boyfriend so we shared everything n we were BOTH stuffed. i thought it was very appropriately priced..came up to less than $60..and we had a cocktail each too.i really wanted dessert but it wouldve been painful to have another bite of anything in my belly lol.
im coming back for dessert!
as for the ambiance...it reminds me of a whole family eating at a long table in a vineyard sharing some delicious food.in other words: loud..but cozy and comfortable..
i agree that the hostess could be a little more friendly, but i cant imagine trying to keep up with the crowd coz it gets pretty crowded and theres always a little wait.
Went here once last year after a book discussion with a group of friends from the audience. I found the tapas to be passable but quite lackluster. They had trouble getting the concept that someone might have problems using stairs, so it took us forever to convince them that we had to be seated on the main floor, *not* downstairs, and I didn't appreciate not being able to use a bathroom until late in the meal someone suddenly remembered there was a small first floor lavatory. Couldn't hear the large group as the tile bounced sound everywhere and there were a lot of drunk raucous people around.
Overall only good because of the company, in spite of the restaurant (they detracted from the experience in so many ways). I feel no reason to ever return.
Would have been disappointing if I had held any expectations of quality - or even adequacy.
I'm not sure how useful my review is when there's 545 others on Cafe Iberico.
Cafe Iberico is vegetarian-friendly. While there may be other tapas restaurants that offer more variety, Iberico's tapas are solid and moderately priced. I had the weekly special "Ensalada de Alubias con Cabrales y Neuces", basically a salad with fava beans, cabrales cheese, and crushed walnuts tossed with balsamic vinegar dressing. It was absolutely DELICIOUS. I was quite tempted to lick off my plate. The beans were buttery, the cheese creamy and spicy, while the walnuts added a slight crunch and the balsamic vinegar some tang. All the ingredients complemented eachother. They really need to put this on their permanent menu!
The vegetarian paella was way better than Tapas Barcelona in Evanston. The rice was cooked just right, not too firm or mushy. Plenty of vegetables like artichokes, green beans, green peppers, and more are in the dish. One dish is enough to fill two hungry (but not ravenous people if they order tapas.)
I rate Cafe Iberico 4.5 Stars because the food was good (oooh, the ensalada), not great but our waitress was super friendly and helpful while the bussers regularly came to the table to remove plates.
Cafe Iberico is not only a great place for happy hour (and don't forget your sangrias!) but is awesome for dinner.
The jamon serrano is out of this world and I also love their grilled octopus. And don't forget their paella...simply delectable!
Get there early however...long waits on Fridays and Saturdays!
I love this place, I believe it is the best place in Chicago for tapas. the sangria is amazing......homemade. Everything is fresh, fast and tastey.
Go there tonight!
was in the mood for authentic spanich cuisine so a good friend with flair for local cuisine recommended this place for thier tapas. True enough is place was packed for an early weekend dinner and I soon know why.
The hot tapas are generously portioned, taste is just wonderful!!!
try a bit of everything.
I'd give this place five stars but the service has degraded over the years. The wait staff can be a bit snobby and whoever the hostess is generally looks at me in such a peculiarly unprofessional manner. Those Spanish women love their drama.
The queso de cabra is good but anyone can put pesto on bread, toast it and dress it with marinara sauce and goat cheese. I'm an amateur chef and I can pretty much copy whatever Cafe Iberico makes. I'm not saying I'm all that talented, I'm simply saying that the food (although good) isn't all that complicated to make.
It is by far my favorite spot to eat, although because of the noise and smell of food, I wouldnt risk bringing my date here.
If you like sangria, welcome to your home. They have the best sangria! I have yet to try a dish here that I don't like. The food is tasty, the service is quick and the staff is friendly. This is a great place to go in a large group and split numerous things so you don't have to pick just one things, but can sample many of their options. Some of the dishes are offered only selectively, but they are worth it. If you are in when they have crab stuffed mushrooms, do yourself a favor and enjoy! Their paella is also rather yummy.
Bubble Gum.
This is what my coworker Andrea found on her plate as she was digging into her lunchtime tapas selection, which incidentally arrived about 20 minutes after the rest of the selections of our party of 8 did.
The victim: chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese.
*sigh*
So sad. A ravenous appetite instantaneously turned to disgust.
Andrea lifted her fork and shared her specimen with the class, which she explained she had thought was cheese. Luckily she had smelled an unmistakable bubblicious odor before biting into it. Obviously we were grossed out and Andrea was done.
Now, horrified as we were, we're a sweet bunch (shucks we work at a non profit) and take things in stride. Yes this was unacceptable. (Really? Your line chefs chew gum while preparing food?). But, mistakes happen. Further we were having lunch out (a rarity for us) to say goodbye to a friend of ours and didn't have much time to spare. We were wrapping up and really, we wanted to move past this faux pas.
Problem was, we couldn't get our server's attention, despite all 8 of our heads searching. Dum dee dum dee dum. 10 minutes elapse....
Now this is after we had *already* been trying to get our server's attention for about 10 minutes (prior to bubble gum incident) since she had neglected to bring a salad we had ordered.
Finally, server appears, Andrea politely shows her the wad-o-bubble yum on her plate. Server asks if she would like a new entree and Andrea says no (no appetite for it now, and we have to get going), but whatever she could do to reduce the bill would be appreciated.
A few minutes later the manager (?) comes to our table. "Suprising!" she says, when Andrea shows her the gum.
Ummm, yeah.
Then, as an overthought, "I'm so sorry. Can I get you a new one?" No Andrea repeats, we have to go but whatever you can do to adjust the bill is appreciated.
"Would you like another entree?"
Nope, no time.
"Perhaps a chocolate tequila?", the manager continues, obviously distressed.
No, that's ok Andrea says.
My other friend mentions to the manager that she never got the Ensalada Mixta she ordered (40 minutes ago). "Oh do you want it now" she asks, apologetically, but with no indication that it would be brought either quickly or gratis. Faced with the prospect of waiting for who knows how long, we said no thanks, just make sure it's not on the bill.
So, we're anxiously waiting for the check, and a few minutes later we see our server....starting to pour us sangrias.
Ummm, appreciate the thought, but as we have tried to make it eminently clear, not to mention it's 2:00 pm on a Wednesday, we don't have time to linger! Can we just have THE BILL?
About 7 minutes later (but who's counting) we get the bill. The chicken entree is taken off.
Ok, fine. We expected more (a few entrees comped?, something to take home?). The manager comes over and redundantly explains that the chicken entree was taken off. Then she sheepishly tells Andrea that if she *wants* she can take something else off the bill. Andrea doesn't really know what to say and tells her to take off whatever she thinks is right.
Manager disappears back up front, we're gathering our money (tip automatically added), and then as we're about to settle, the manager gives us a new bill. "We took off the Jamon Iberico" she exclaims..
Grrrrrreat.
We retract our 7 dollars or so, and hit the friggin' road!
Now, I've been to Iberico many times before. I enjoy many of the menu items such as the grilled octopus, shrimp with garlic, and goat cheese. I haven't had major problems before. And shucks, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Which is why I'm giving them 2 stars.
But really, the front of house needs a refresher course on how to take a care of a problem efficiently.
Aye carumba!
I've been here numerous times in the last few years but only now felt compelled to write a review. The consistency has always been a nice thing about this restaurant, aside from the countless other obvious reasons, mainly the same as the previous other 500+ reviews . Until my last trip there this past Saturday I was severely disappointed.
It's quite apparent that the PORTION SIZES HAVE BEEN REDUCED! Has any other regulars else noticed this??? It's not on every dish, but some. The first and most obvious reduction was the scallops. It's blatantly obvious they cut them in half and serve them at the same price. I wish I took a picture but what once was a nice plump scallop has now been reduced to a the size and thickness of a silver dollar!!!??
The second, the mussels. What once was a pot full of shellfish goodness that could barely be counted has also been reduced to a small bowl. Third, the shrimps have also followed the same fate and are now about 6 sitting in an even smaller bowl. Basically, the more expensive dishes are now about half the size of what they once were.
They seemed to have picked and chose what dishes get cut in half because the beef dishes seemed to be the same as with the deserts.
Maybe they had to cut serving sizes in half at the same price to pay for the newly remodeled and larger bathrooms??
This place is a block away from me, so I've now had the pleasure of repeat visits. I generally hate tapas places because you can easily walk out with a $300 bill and still be hungry, but this place is definitely an exception to the rule. First of all, it's very reasonably priced, second of all, the food portions are respectable and the food is simply delicious. Potatas Bravas, Steamed Muscles, Olive Plate, Seafood Salad, Paella are all amazing. I'm salivating just thinking about this place and can't wait to go back soon.
Cafe Iberico is one of those place you have cravings for after you've eaten there once. The sangria is to die for and fairly cheap. The atmosphere is very "alive". It can get very overcrowded on Friday and Saturday nights so the best time to go is during the week.
It's a great place to go with friends since the tapas are made to share. I also recommend waiting the 45 minutes for the Seafood Paella.
Delicious tapas, but the service was super slow during lunch since they had only one waitress covering like 20 tables. Ridiculous. Servings were decent, I was full all though we shared 4 plates with 3 girls.
The mussels: good
spicy potatoes (PATATAS BRAVAS): WAY TOOO salty (this is one of the most popular things on the item too)
grilled shrimp: good
baked goat cheese: yum
Iberico makes what is probably the best sangria I've ever had. We got a pitcher to split between three people, so I had quite a bit. The one time I tried to pick up the pitcher to pour it for myself, a waiter stopped me and insisted on pouring it for me. I love being unexpectedly pampered, so this was a delight.
We had Tostadas de Pisto (toasted bread topped with stewed eggplant, peppers, onion, zucchini, tomato, and olive oil), Queso de Cabra (baked goat cheese with fresh tomato basil sauce), Gambas al Ajillo (grilled shrimp with olive oil, garlic and wine), and Patatas Manchegas (a special--baked, thin sliced potatoes that were drenched in Manchego cheese and olive oil). Everything was heavenly. Add in all the free bread and olive oil, and between three people, we were stuffed. It's also worth mentioning that 4 tapas plates and a pitcher of sangria only ran us about $63, tax and tip included. I think that's a great deal.
I'd suggest going at 11:30-12:00 for lunch on a Saturday. There were only, like, two other people in the entire restaurant (which I hear is a rarity). Considering that, I wouldn't say it's a coincidence that our service was very attentive, friendly and professional. Also, I loved the atmosphere--kind of dim and romantic, even when it was bright in the afternoon.
I was looking for a place for my boyfriend and I to celebrate our one year anniversary, and I decided I wanted tapas! I was going to go to Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba, but I had a few friends say oohhhh noooooo and one suggested Iberico. It had a pretty solid rating on yelp, wasn't a pain in the ass to get to (I'm in Logan Square), and as a bonus was open late. My boyfriend and I oohed and ahhed at the menu and got excited. Neither of us had eaten tapas before.
We get there around 11p on a Saturday night. i had a backup in case this place was open til 1:30 but the kitchen closed early but that was definitely not the case. We were seated immediately but there were still plenty of people there- perfect! It was a bit hard to hear in there at first, but as we ate (we stayed until 12:30) it emptied a bit more and it was easier. There were also a bunch of 90s music videos playing, which was kind of weird, but entertaining.
We started off with a half pitcher of sangria (red). It was only $10 and we each got about 2-3 glasses out of it so it was a great deal. We split an order of Queso de Cabra, goat cheese in a tomato basil sauce. I've never had anything with goat cheese I didn't like so it was divine. As for our plates, I got Salmon Ahumado (sliced salmon, dill sauce, capers, toast) and this Spanish potato salad with tuna, peas, carrots (can't find the name as it's not online even though it wasn't a special). Both dishes were cold and very delicious. The potato salad was a huge portion so I took half home and it made for a good snack. He got Patatas Ali-Oli, Red potatoes with garlic mayonnaise sauce. He loves garlic and there were cloves of it, and I will probably be eating his leftovers from that (again, huge portions), and Gambas Al Ajillo, grilled shrimp with olive oil, garlic and wine.
We didn't have room for desert, as we were so stuffed, but we had a wonderful time! Bill for 5 plates and the 1/2 pitcher of sangria was about $51, so definitely not bad at all, also considering we have 2 portions of leftovers. I think this would be a great place to go to after a show since it's open so late, and they have a deli so I will keep that in mind as well. An amazing introduction to tapas!
Nope, nope, nope.
It was 100 degrees the day I tried this place. Despite the open tables on the first floor, we were sat on the second floor, next to the empanada station. Second, the menu seemed.....childish. Pictures? Weird. The space is outdated, and could use a good scrubbing as well. Finally, The food was no better than any other tapas place I have been to, but the prices sure were higher.
The service was ok.
Yep, still a no-go.
With friends in town who wanted to get tapas downtown by their hotel, we figured we'd give Iberico another try. They tried to convince us to head to the upstairs pinxtos bar and now I wish we would have, maybe it would have beeb better.
Over about 2.5 hours, between 4 people we have a round or two of beers, two pitchers of yummy, cheap sangria, and just 5 tapas plates. Why not more food? It just wasn't good.
It wasn't bad, but again everything was utterly and completely (with the exception of the jamon) lacking in any major taste. It was all just so bland and unmemorable again. Not a abd price at around $80 for all four or us, but I would have rather paid more and actually enjoyed my food.
So disappointed.
Let me start by saying I LOVE tapas. I like small portions and I enjoy most of the…
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This place rocks! This place rocks! (singing) So, what can I say about Cafe Iberico? I have tried many other tapas places, and none have ever compared to this place. The Spanish style decorations, tile walls, and large bar area... all very cool! The best thing ever, is the food. Seafood Paella, Jamon Iberico, Grilled Octopus, Sea Scallops, Shrimp, and Squid are out of this world! Beef Tenderloin with Fries is also wonderful.
The only negative part is that there is almost always a long wait. Of course unless you go at around 5PM, I've done it. It's not crowded at that point, but it makes for an early evening, especially if you're planning on having the Sangria (which is fantastic). It's strong, but tasty. If you've never had it, don't eat the fruit in the bottom unless you want to get super drunk FAST! I've seen it happen ;-).
First and foremost, their Sangria kicks ass!
Great atmosphere- People watching is a blast, for those who share that interest. Tapas are delish!
`Mussels- Great.
`Spicy Potatotes- Delish.
`Chicken brochette - Yummy.
`Grilled shrimp- Tasty.
Another plus- very affordable. This place is definitely great for groups. A definite must try!
I go here with the family every so often. Its a good time and good crowd. Everyone tells me that they have to wait like 20 mins to get a seat but I never had to wait. I just walked up and told her party of 5 and we got a seat right away. Sangrias are the best here and the food is really good. Its nothing over the top but its been a good time everytime I went. I recommend it.
This is a yummy restaurant. I have only been there a couple times-with my mom and then with friends, but have never been disappointed. Their red sangria is to die for and I love their goat cheese/marinara on toasted bread. Delish! Fun place & great food! You can't miss!
Simple decor. Tapas would be considered average in Spain, but we're not in Spain. We started with an exquisite spinach salad, followed by a an island of goat cheese in the midst of a tomato sauce, chicken croquettes with a cream sauce , and an unfortunately soggy patatas bravas. The last dish was something of a disaster - particularly because in Spain it's the equivalent of french fries - everyone does it at an acceptable level.
I did appreciate the wine list - a wide variety of Spanish reds between $20 and $23. Service was good, but the noise level was high. Aside from noisy conversation, do they really need to play Ricky Martin that loud? Still,I'd love to have this place in the DC area.
I have been sending my guests here for years. Probably hundreds if not thousands of them. I FINALLY made it there myself and what a disappointment!!
We arrived on a Friday night which I knew would be busy. We had a birthday party of 14 people. We stayed happy during our wait with a pitcher of sangria. Not the best I've had, but good nonetheless. When we reached our table, we were so excited to get started ordering. Unfortunately we sat for at least 20 minutes before we were brought menus!! Bogus. There were servers crawling all over the place, but no one noticed us trying to get their attention?
When we finally got our menus and the very unfriendly waitress named IZEK came over, it was all huffs and puffs. She was rolling her eyes at us and nearly wrestled the menu from me when I wanted to point at a menu item because she could not seem to understand "pork loin". Then when my friend asked for pepperoncini, she brought sauteed green pepper and onion. Again we explained what we wanted, but instead got frozen whole jalapenos! Ahhhhhhhhhh!
The food was ok. The croquettes were super tasty, but also super rich. One was enough. The calamari was the fattiest I have ever had (ick), though I liked that it was mixed with fries. The warm goat cheese in tomato sauce was the best item I tried that night by far. Crunchy, creamy, sweet, all in one! Potatoes -ok, tuna potato salad-outstanding, pork loin-ok, chicken skewers-ok.
When I asked the manager for our servers name, she was more than accommodating in trying to rectify the situation even though I was not trying to make an issue out of it. What an outstanding display of managerial skill. Thank you! Too bad the waitress stood there after giving us the stink eye.
They gained one extra HUGE star from me when they brought our gay friend a birthday dessert in the shape of a HUGE penis. Two scoops of ice cream at one end and a large plantain trailing to the other side of the plate. They even added a schmear of whipped cream on the tip for added effect. Brilliant and it tasted pretty d*mn good. Yes, I did bite off that tip. :-)
Hooray! LOVE this place for good, authentic Spanish tapas. Reasonably priced, good serving sizes (for tapas), good staff (who made tasty recommendations), and the *best* bacon-wrapped dates I've had in Chicago.
No, it doesn't have the pretty atmosphere of Cafe BaBaReeba (also a great choice), but if you don't care much about decor, this is your tapas restaurant.
I took a rock-collecting class in 2nd grade and I still remember taking my first lick of a salt rock -- I was in love. Helps explain why despite the long waits, noisy crowds, and tables piled on top of one another, I just can't help coming back to Iberico. Nothing here is bland. Just order a couple pitchers of sangria and everything will be alright.
We usually order the queso de cabra, a couple cold dishes, a couple hot ones (patatas bravas, pulpo a la plancha), and one of the paellas. Dishes are decent-sized for a tapas joint and even if you get trashed on the sangria and go on an ordering spree you won't wake up totally broke. Check this place out.
There you go, now you can skip the 600 other reviews...
I really enjoy tapas and Cafe Iberico does it right. The food is decently priced for how delicious the food is. I have ventured quite a few times in the last couple of years.
This restaurant is always bustling - they recently opened an upstairs bar/restaurant to help accomodate the demand for seating. They will not seat you until your party is complete, but once you do get settled in, prepare yourself for a feast comprised of many little things.
I highly recommend the queso de cabra, tortilla espanola, and the jamon iberico. The paella is definitely for sharing and is definitely worth revisiting.
In honor of the true Iberian country, this vast array of goodness must be accompanied with alcohol and the sangria will not dissappoint! Whether it be the white or the red, make sure to line your stomach with some Spanish tapas before partaking too much - you may fall victim to the sweet wine drink and forget all else of the evening.
I have visited with a few and with many and each time, the bill ends up being between $10-$20/person. Not too shabby at all. Just thinking about my last visit is creating a craving...
Warning: Parking is muy dificil in this area and watch those meters! $2 per hour with a 2 hour time limit? I know the city of Chicago is broke, but give a girl a break.
Terrible ambience.
Lamentable sangria.
But those tapas are NICE! We didn't order anything super adventurous or exciting, but most things were top-notch. The only lackluster dish for me was the grilled squid, which was a little overdone and lacking in flavor. Other than that, I wholeheartedly recommend the goat cheese (!), spicy potatoes (!), grilled mushrooms, grilled shrimp, the beef skewer (fries are a meh) and the fried banana and the chocolate flan for dessert. I was surprised, to say the least, when the bill came - it ended up being CHEAP and we were FULL. Good deal!
Service was speedy and only got mixed up once - that's pretty good in my mind, considering how many tables they have and how many dishes they're delivering to each table, right?! We came in on the early side on a Saturday evening and didn't have to wait to be seated (nice!) but we did get seated way way WAY in the back by the kitchen (and next to the weird shelves full of boxes of extra plates, flatware, etc.).
In a world where every restaurant seems to think it can pull off "tapas" in any cuisine, Cafe Iberico is refreshingly faithful to the real deal and a meal here doesn't break the bank.
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Spanish
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Tapas Bars
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Tapas Bars
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Tapas Bars
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Tapas Bars
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