Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 276-0170
Website
I was excited about going to this restaurant because a friend of mine lives about a block away and I've watched them build it. The space is pretty large with amazing murals of Brazil, Peru, and Argentina. We had a reservation for 9 pm, but we ended up waiting about 15 minutes for a table. That was OK, we opened a bottle of wine and had some nice conversation.
This is not your typical South American restaurant. The menu was a fusion of all the tastes of South America. I ordered the pollo al carbón (grilled chicken breast)
and my fellow diners ordered the currasco (steak)
the beef brochette
and the arroz con mariscos.
The fun started when our server was so kind to offer one small roll per person. I would have expected to at least get a basket of rolls and we had to ask for more. After what seemed like forever for our meal to arrive, I was surprised to see that the Argentinian chorizo that came with my chicken was actually Polish sausage! I'm talking Hillshire Farms Polish sausage! I don't know if they ran out, or were hoping that the diners would not know sausage from Argentina was. I also asked for some chimichurri salsa for my chicken and our server returned with a bowl the size of a thimble with it.
Overall the meal was OK. Maybe they are trying to cater to the upscale diners of Bucktown, but I believe that if they stuck to the basics of South American cooking (beans and rice, platano, pollo al ajo), they would do just as well, if not better. The one plus of the restaurant is it's BYOB, so you save a bit on alcohol costs. If I had my choice though, I would go to El Nandu or Las Tablas. They are much more authentic and a much better value.
