Shelah S.
Yelp
My bf and I were in uptown mad early because we were here for the TK concert. The concert was later in the afternoon and ya girl does not like driving in this Chicago traffic later in the day so our plan was to come early, grab a bite to eat closer to the doors opening and then we were good to go. Did I mention that parking is a pain so coming early also helped to alleviate the anxiety that comes with last minute parking as well?!? Haha!
Anywho, my hungry bf, tummy and I saw that this restaurant was right near the venue (shout out to Riviera theater and I mean, who doesn't love tacos or enchiladas -- am I right?!?) so we decided to check it out. We were there around 3pm and it wasn't so busy at that time, I think actually there was only one other couple in at the time so it was not busy which was great. We were seated and tended to promptly. The customer service was great, they were kind and gave us all the time we needed to place our order.
The interior decor was cute, it was very bright and festive which made me smile. For drinks, we started off with some horchata and agua de jamaica. My bf loved his horchata and I do have to admit, I stole from him...alot, it was very yummy. Not too grounded in cinnamon and it was sweet but not overwhelming so. Nice refresher for sure. I, on the other hand, enjoyed my agua de jamaica. I know the agua de jamaica is hibiscus tea but there was something off putting about it, it tasted almost very reminiscent of....prune juice. It had a weird after taste and while I did enjoy it, I probably wouldn't get it again and would instead get the horchata. We also ordered half a pitcher of their house margarita, i mean....we're going to a concert in the evening and considering it was only mid-day, it's gotta be be 5 o'clock somewhere, yeah?!? The margarita was absolutely delicious and more importantly-strong! It was definitely going to hold us over until we stepped foot into the Riv later on that evening.
For the food, we ended up getting the queso fundido for an appetizer and I ended up ordering the taco dinner with corn tortillas which came with three tacos of my choosing (chorizo, chicken and al pastor) and then sides of rice and refried beans. My bf ended up ordering the taco dinner with flour tortillas which like mine had three tacos of his choosing (chicken, chorizo and carnitas) and then a side of rice and refried beans.
When the queso fundido came, yooooo...that appetizer was lit! The chorizo, while salty, was offset with the baked, creaminess of the chihuahua cheese. It came with warm corn tortillas and as much as slathered that chorizo with the cheese onto the corn tortillas, it was *chef's kiss* beautiful! Absolutely delicious!! When my bf's meal came, he said while he enjoyed the tacos, the chorizo was too salty, the chicken was perfect as it was very tasty and tender and the carnitas was nicely seasoned, tender and succulent. He also enjoyed the refried beans and was indifferent about the rice. When my meal came, I, too thought the tacos were overall pretty good too. However, like my bf, I felt like the chorizo was way too salty, the chicken was well seasoned and came with a spicy bite which i appreciated and the al pastor was tender and juicy. The refried beans were really good though so that was the unexpected star of the show. The rice was...rice. Nothing bad nor nothing amazing to say about that.
Overall, I really enjoyed the restaurant. I enjoyed how close it was the venue, the drinks and the food were top notch and the staff was awesome for not making us feel rushed or uncomfortable which I appreciated. The price was decent enough for being in uptown, it was high but again, you're in the city, you know you're going to spend money but it wasn't enough to break the bank. I felt the price was definitely justified. I would definitely come back if I'm ever in the area again. The food and drinks kept me happy, energized and ready for one of the best nights I've had in a long time! (GO TK GO!) I would highly recommend coming here, if not for the food, then definitely come of the drinks but...i would suggest to come for both because this place was awesome!