For a newly opened restaurant, the entire staff was running a beautiful show. This new space - much anticipated and highly promoted in Chicago press- delivered all it promised. The decor was modern but warm. The service was impeccable. The food was absolutely delicious. The restaurant really promoted their "kegged cocktails" and they were fun and interesting, certainly...but I preferred my traditional cocktail. I tried several of the kegged cocktails and, frankly, found them to be a bit weak. While tasty and unique, they lack "oomph". Also, while supposedly they are meant to be consistently equal due to the fact that they are kegged (think pouring a pre-made drink without the bias of a bartender involved) we did not find that to be so. My friend and I got the exact same drink and mine had a distinct heavy BLACK layer of pepper syrup in it, making it extremely zippy, while hers had barely any. A bit of a fail. We noted that there is a good wine selection available.
The service was some of the best I ever had - a knowledgable, fun and friendly staff, team-work on delivering the tapas style dishes, and making sure that the portions were right for our group dining experience (7 women on a night out). The only critique with the service is that I noticed that the staff was "hovering" significantly to make sure they whisked dishes away immediately. It at times made it feel like we were holding a big table too long by lingering over our drinks etc. But the intention, I think, was pure service.
As for dishes - each and every one was a success. We tried multiple ceviche options - all delicious. The escalivada, coca de seats, and bocadillas were all delicious. The brussel sprouts and also the corn pudding were delicious, as were the meatballs. Not one misstep. And please do yourself a favor and get the pan de chocolate for dessert. WOW.
Reservations are a MUST as this place becomes QUITE a "Scene" as the evening wears on. It did make us feel a tad rushed to give up our table at the end, to be honest. But overall a superb, fun, delicious, well served dining experience. I wonder how it will fare and how the experience will shift as the novelty of being the "it" place to go wears off. If they keep up with their food and service they should be just fine.
Note: oddly, there is a bar within the restaurant that is not really tied to the restaurant in that it has a different vibe, menu, even music. Really odd. For instance, we moved there after dinner from our luxe, wonderful, rich dining experience where we had been listening to wonderful modern music to match our dining into that strange enclosed bar to be met by blaring tunes by Credence Clearwater Revival. Now I don't mind some CCR, but it was like going from a club in Vegas to a bar in Texas. It was just STRANGE. On top of that, the contrast in service was SHOCKING. Rude waitress, inattentive bartender. We left immediately. Did not want to kill the warm feeling from our terrific time at Tavernita.
TIP: Reservations a must and go early to get a good start and watch the scene build around you as opposed to waiting in the throngs for a table.
Girls Night Out at Tavernita:
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