La Barca Restaurant

This looks like a mom and pop grocery store, but the food here is absolutely incredible & authentic. My burrito was packed with flavor, hot, and juicy. The horchata was on point too. So so yummy!! I would have given 5 stars, but I was quite confused on how to order at first, and the ladies up front were no help at all and looked bothered by my confusion. The guys at the butcher counter ended up helping me out, and they were so so kind to me! No dine in!!

I had La Barca for lunch (I work nearby) and really loved their tacos and guacamole. The food is authentic, flavorful and reasonably priced.

The carne asada tacos were amazing 👌👌

I just ate the second best burrito of my life here. The food is great and reasonably priced

This restaurant was not prepared for Memorial Day weekend. Upon arrival our table was not ready and hostess told us to have a drink at the bar and keep checking back. We checked back twice before being seated. No ability to transfer bar check to table so there is an awkward timing between multiple check backs and trying to settle bar bill. Server said they were out of a lot of entrees and there was not much left. We were told upfront the kitchen was very backed up and order all food and drinks at same time. Bar was also backed up. Ordered a bottle of wine (thinking this was fast and easy) and watched it sit for half an hour on the actual bar. Finally after 45 minutes my husband approached and asked if we could just take the bottle and uncork it ourselves. Were told there were no clean wineglasses and the bar back left and with no glasses the wine was not delivered. We finally got the bottle and poured into water glasses. Appetizers never arrived, entrees finally arrived. We watched manager pull a dirty tablecloth from a take and ball it up to be put on a chair. Bus person came by took the dirty linen and put back on the same table! The server was hustling and had wayyyy too many tables. There was not one piece of this operation that appeared to be flowing successfully. Finally end of night our $65 bottle of wine was charged as $82. They very kindly offered to honor the actual menu price and also let us know they took off the appetizers we ordered but never received. I honestly think expected to see John Taffer appear. I understand new staff and growing pains etc - they should have cut off reservations.

Food used to be so good. Now it is over priced, no effort and absolutely disappointing. Last 3 times I ordered the veggie burrito it was nothing but sour cream avocado and rice. It used to come with onions cheese beans etc....I don't know what happened but they must've stopped caring about their customers. Or maybe just certain customers? I'm not sure. As another reviewer said they don't seem to like business from black ppl. Unfortunately, I'm one of those ppl. Needless to say, my husband and I have given up on this place.

Do not order from here. The steak is hard and chewy like it's from the day before and heated up in the microwave by order. Restaurants use either griddle or charbroiler grills. This taste like it was boiled, not grilled. The tongue texture taste like it's few days old and hard. Don't pack the bay leaves used to cook the tongue inside customer's food. Absolutely dreadful and disgusting food.

*update 8/21/2022 - this location does NOT offer dine-in as of 8/21*. I visited this location around noon on a Sunday, and was told that they were not allowing indoor eating. There's a counter and a couple of tables available. The restaurant/convenience store was pretty clean though from what I can tell, with a decent selection. I was really looking for a place to sit down and eat, so we left without a purchase, and I really wish the map was updated before I wasted the gas. I'd come back here to get carryout in the future though

I was visiting a friend the other night when we decided to order takeout. None of us had been to La Barca, but figured it was worth trying since all the tacos were buy one, get one free. We ordered chicken, steak, ground beef, and pork tacos. We also order tortilla chips, rice, and beans. We assumed the chips would come with some kind of salsa, but we were wrong. So we just ate the chips without it. The food was okay, but nothing special. My sister and little brother liked it better than I did. The rice and beans were somewhat salty with minimal flavor. The tacos were okay, but the quality of the meat wasn't very good. I liked the carne asada tacos, though. My sister loved the chicken, and my bro liked the Al pastor. The food was filling and only cost about $30, which was pretty reasonable. Even still, I probably wouldn't eat there again.

Tasted Al pastor, carne asada, and Celina. Al pastor sub par, Carne asada was not good. Chewy meat and didn't like the seasoning. The cecina was the best taco here, not the best in Chicago. Tortillas are properly cooked. The taqueria close by is way better, Ochoas. Wouldn't go out of my way to come here.

Pros: - BEST tacos in Chicago, and I've been everywhere trying them. The tacos shine here. I used to love L'Patron and Carniceria Guanajuato, but I'm never going back after trying this place! It is just an amazingly fresh and harmonious taco - Corn tortillas are not greasy, not soggy, not doughy, and very corn tasting. Tastes like they made them in house. They do NOT become soggy or fall apart - Meat is grilled just right. Juicy, tender, so flavorful. Big slices of meat (most taquerias give tiny chopped pieces of meat). Cecina is THE BEST - They add refried beans in the Cecina taco. It is so good - The horchata is THE BEST I've had. It's homemade, and you can taste it (not syrupy, and has a rice-y taste) - So affordable. Only $2 per taco! Recommended: Cecina (famous for them), carne asada **PBS show No Passport Required brought us here