Black Bull

This was our third visit to Black Bull. We really enjoyed our visits before but were so disappointed the last visit. The service was extremely bad and our waiter was very arrogant and not very apologetic. Two of us ordered tapas and our husbands ordered a large ribeye to share. Our tapas came out immediately but we then waited another hour for the steak. So two of us ate our dinner an hour before the other two — quite awkward. Our waiter promised us it was coming out ‘momentarily’ and then another 25 minutes it finally came. Of course after that time it was completely over cooked. We mentioned this and the waiter said the chef «just let it get away from him.» Not really acceptable excuse for a professional chef. We ate the overcooked steak as we didn’t want to wait another hour for another steak and wanted to get out. This overcooked steak was never deducted from our bill, but we were offered a shot of tequila — not really a great offer, we declined. At the end of all this the waiter overcharged us on the bill and never apologized when we corrected him. Our total bill came to about $ 180 for 4 people and I don’t think the food was worth that price tag at all.
Overall the visit was average Spanish food and horrible, arrogant service. Will not be back.

I brought a friend here who was visiting from out of town since I had had a positive experience here right after it opened. We were waited on by a seemingly rushed and rude man. When it came time to order, he went through his pitch of suggestions since we couldn’t decide on exactly what we wanted and before we could finish our sentences, he ran off and put in orders for two appetizers before asking or giving us time to tell him we both had food allergies. He came back holding two things he hadn’t suggested and we hadn’t ordered, one item containing ingredients we were both allergic to. When I brought this to his attention, he apologized by bringing out a plate of olives and fully charging us for everything on the final bill on which I didn’t leave a tip. I checked my bank statement later and found that I had been charged an additional $ 10 than what my card had run for, meaning that he had written his own tip in. I emailed management to address the issue and received a mocking email in return saying that I would have to come into the restaurant to get my $ 10 back. By far the WORST restaurant I’ve been to in the city. Don’t waste your time or money!

I want to like this place because it is so close and the menu is great. But the service was horrible. Sat on the patio for drinks and food for at least 2 hours and not once did our waiter come by when we needed something. We had to flag down other people to find him the whole time. They were also out of a lot of the things we wanted and one of the servers told us it’s always like that because they don’t order enough of the snack items.

Food is good, service is super spotty, it’s like half JV and half Varsity. Hostess should be working at dicks last resort.

This place is just more expensive than any restaurant in Chicago. We ordered a cheese plate, meet (jamon iberico) and the size was so small that I asked to confirm if this was the right dish. I come from France/​Spain and I think they are just raping people with their portion /​quality /​price. The ham was good but not as crazy as advertise, the cheese was dry like the plate was already prepared. Some of the cheese was matching the thickness of my nail. 130 $ for appetizer, why not but not for this bad quality. This place is a shame for my country.

Delicious food and great price! Brenda the hostess was very nice and recommended some of the most delicious dishes.

Cons: nice unique interior décor. That’s about it
Pros: food was really salty. compare to other tapas restaurants, the portion is smaller and pricey. Seafood paella is $ 13 per person. Our server was being pushy to make us order 3 portions of paella she even said the portion is really small so we decided to order 3 but actually we didn’t really have to since we ordered many tapas. She only recommended us to order the most expensive food from the menu. Oh the prawns weren’t fresh, croquette tasted bland and its size of fingertips lol
Honestly, I’d rather go to Café ba ba reeba

The dessert with the rosemary whipped cream=divine!

Great Spanish Tapas food! Had the prawns, the mussels, and the dates!!! They were all incredibly delicious. The wine went wonderfully with the food! We had a great experience! The server was very knowledgeable about the menu and the wine.

I came here with my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day, and we both left very happy. First off, the service was great. Our waiter and the other employees who dropped off our food were all extremely knowledgeable and very attentive. The ambiance was also great – good music but no struggle to have an actual conversation. Finally, all of the food we had was fantastic. We started with the cheese plate, which was presented with a sprig of rosemary which they lit on fire as part of the presentation. We also got the tuna and the croquettes. While I thought the croquettes could have had a little more flavor, the tuna was amazing! However, by far the best part of the meal was the massive ribeye steak. It was a 42 ounce bone-​in ribeye, which was enough to easily feed 2 – 3 people. It was served with potatoes and shishito peppers and cut into 5 filets.
It’s a great neighborhood spot, and we will definitely be coming back!

While Matt was great and the best server I’ve had in a while…
I have lived in this neighborhood for 3+ years, and have always loved Black Bull. I regularly brought people here from out of town or suggested it as a meeting up place for my Chicago friends. I have noticed though, due to my regular patronage and weakness for sangria, that the prices considerably jump at every visit. I guess someone has to pay for their new booths. Used to be, you received an olive tapenade and bread with olive oil and balsamic as soon as you sat down. Sadly this is no more. None of those things are included anymore, and frankly after 2 bottles of the expensive sangria I was a little hungry. Love the place, love the atmosphere, love the employees, but miss the way it used to be.

This place was fine, but I think there are many, BETTER, tapas places in the city. The squid ink paella was great, but the rest was very meh. The drinks were fine, but nothing spectacular. There was a strawberry gazpacho that was, uh, divisive. I thought it was fine but I was the only one.
The space is cramped and the food is overpriced. I’m fine with it, but I won’t be planning any group outings there again.

To start off, I’d say this place has delicious and unique flavors and we loved everything we got. However, the pricing is a bit steep for the amount you get. But that’s okay, there’s Burger King and Wendy’s close by on the walk back to the Division blue line stop. Protip: check in on Unilocal for free dessert!
I adored the decoration; they still have up their festive decorations and it’s mixed with other gorgeous themes.
$ 4 escalivada: roasted eggplant & white anchovy bits on top of bruschetta. Forewarning: $ 4 is for just one piece. The eggplant was actually seasoned to avoid being tasteless mush that eggplant sometimes turns into, and the bits of salty anchovy really popped.
Remolacha y coles al romesco: brussel sprouts, beets, blue cheese, and two adorable sunny side up quail eggs. This had more substance to share amongst our double date, but everyone still only got bite-​sized portions. The sprouts were roasted perfectly and everything blended well together. (I have a weakness for egg yolk, so this was perfect)
Pulpo a la gallega: grilled octopus, boiled red potatoes. As everyone here has already said, of course we tried the octopus: it definitely the star of the night. I’ve never had such tender octopus before. Usually octopus is always very chewy and sinew-​y, but this was so tender I felt like I was eating chunks of scallop. Absolutely delicious. I was pleasantly surprised by how much octopus we got; I was happy to see only two thin slices of potato on the bottom of the dish.
Chicken liver mousse: sherry apple purée, curry pine nuts, smoked idiazabal powder, grapes, housemade pecan almond & sea salt bread. I always like trying a menu’s most exotic/​strange/​special item and I successfully convinced my group to try this. I’m so glad I did. The sea salt bread was so thin and crisp it was so delicious and fun to spread the liver mousse on. I wish they gave us more of the bread. The liver mousse was really really tasty; super rich and creamy with the perfect amount of crunch and sweetness from all the other ingredients.
I probably wouldn’t come here again soon, just because of the pricing. But everything we did try was really good and the servers were delightful. They explained every dish they brought out and patiently answered any questions we had. Also, we made a reservation for a Saturday night, but it was unnecessary. The place never got too busy; it was pretty empty at 6.

Just. Don’t. Come.
If you want Tapas and Paella’s– anywhere else, Café Iberico if you’re in River North, Café Ba Ba Reeba if you’re in Lincoln Park, or just go eat somewhere if you can’t make it to either of those because Black Bull won’t be worth your time.
You have to have reservations– and this is not a place to celebrate anything. It’s very sports bar like so unless you want a beer or a drink with a lively atmosphere– this place is fine, otherwise– save your money and go somewhere else.
My friend is a vegetarian and I was impressed by the fruit and cheese plate as they light the rosemary but that presentation was just a presentation. The paella would take 40 minutes– and if you’re a veggie– this place is a nightmare. Besides the usual potato dishes that didn’t have a good amount of sauce and the potatoes were dry– they don’t even had sides of rice to give us instead.

I thought the food was good but slightly overpriced for tapas compared to other places I have been. Portions are on the smaller side, even for tapas. Our server was nice but pushy. He seemed put off when we didn’t take his recommendation to add their special ham to our charcuterie board or the most expensive dish on the menu and felt like he held it against us for the rest of the meal. We had to ask him to bring an extra silverware/​napkin setting; he only brought silverware, no napkin. We had to seek him out to order additional dishes. Our first dish came before our sangria and it took even longer for another dish to come because «something got messed up in the kitchen.»
It also seemed like he was trying to sell us on their speakeasy which is located upstairs. There’s something to be said about informing your customers about the menu but it’s not very appealing when you come off as a pushy salesman. Kinda ruined it for me.

As I stated in my Bordel Review I love Spain, but it’s the food that to me is the selling point. I was a foodie before a cocktail guy.
There is 1 thing that irks me, is how everyone and their mama calls appetizers or small plates the blanket term Tapas, none of them ever been to Spain or even really know what they are all about. To put it more lightly it’s like going to a steakhouse, ordering a 45 day dry Prime Ribeye Tomahawk and saying «I’ll have the beef» as if to differentiate it only from the pork or chicken or fish like at some wedding.
This is what I was looking for, a place that differentiates between tapas and pintxos and the prized jamon iberico.
I went with the Boquerones, white anchovies and chips, light fresh anchovies. Hontadita de mohama twas but a bite of tuna belly, complex. Langos a ala plancha, squeeze of lemon and ditch the salsa, perfect with your first beer. Mejillones con chorizo was tasty, but could use imo some shallots. No way was I paying for $ 9 shishitos though. Flamenquines and pulpo a la gallega were great. Serrano and manchego 2 classic Spanish flavors and the garlic chips set it off, needs a sauce to round it out. Octopus was fresh, not chewy, seared well, again missing a sauce.
Paella. I was so happy to see they used Bomba rice, offering a negro version and had rabbit offerings. I went with both. I was pleasantly surprise dot see monkfish and baby scallops in the negro, not soupy at all like some other places make it.
Cochinillo took a confit suckling pig which is rich and fatty and flavorful and paired it with berries and squash mousse which looked great, but ultimately didn’t compliment the flavors. I would have gone with a wood ear mushroom and sous vide carrots which gives you the color and texture contrast you are looking for. I was a little bit off put seeing the beloved Iberico ham use to make hamburger patt’s, seared and wrapping dates. To me it’s like taking caviar and putting it on hot dogs, just watering out it’s flavors and pure essence. Next time I come I’m coming for the seafood. Cockles, razors and chipirones.
Décor is great, service is excellent, but I earned the servers respect early on and was actually greeted by the chef. Great job on some of the dishes, This really makes me miss Spain.

Husband and I had totally planned to go to a different restaurant for dinner, but as we were walking down Division, we both decided Black Bull is a place we had wanted to check out for awhile and it might as well be that night!
We were warmly greeted and offered a great table in the back. I started with sangria which was phenomenal and I wanted a porron to myself. (Tip: Wednesdays and Thursdays I believe have half price porrons of sangria!). We started with the tabla mixta which was just a plate of cheese, fruit, and meats and some herb that was on fire, so that was fun.
We split a bunch of other tapas… all were excellent and the service was great. The head chef was in the back cooking himself too which I always appreciate!
Will definitely be back here, especially for their happy hour deals. Seems like they have a happy hour deal most nights of the week, sometimes including food!

The new menu has far fewer items. BRING BACK THE QUESO DE CABRA!
The pulpo (octopus) is phenomenal. The tabla de queso, including blow torched sage, is also very good.
Enjoy a nice cocktail and sit in the sidewalk area. ¡Salud!

Black Bull is a great place for tapas. My friends and I had a reservation at 9 pm on a Saturday, yet we still had to wait 15 – 20 minutes before we were seated. No worries, we just passed the time with a porron of red sangria and some lively banter. We ordered a ton of dishes, but here are some of the highlights:
–Tabla mixta: a great combo of cured meats, cheeses, fruits, and olives. They light some rosemary on fire that is stuck inside the cheese to give off a nice aromatic smell
–Pulpo a la gallega/​grilled octopus: tender and not overly grilled/​chewy
–Cochinillo/​suckling pig: the star of the night! The meat literally falls apart when you put your fork to it. It also has a nice, fatty texture to the skin (my friend isn’t a fan of fatty skin texture so she ended up giving me her share, too — talk about a win!). The squash mousse and berries play well w/​the pig. Suckling pig… you the real MVP
Sadly, we forgot to order the patatas bravas. Guess we gotta go back to try em!

Black bull has some of the best tapas in Chicago. Tabla mixta=da bomb. Octopus… Yeeeeup. Croquettes? Gimme some of dat. Brussels sprouts with quail egg? Please. Suckling pig was the winner… Yum yum yum.
We made a reservation for 4 at 9 pm on Saturday and somehow still had to wait until 9:20 to be seated. But they have pretty tasty sangria served from porrons to keep you occupied if you need to wait. Service was okay but we didn’t mind with the amazing stuff going on in our mouths. A little more timing between the dishes would have been nice because we all felt a little rushed but better to get food faster than have to wait I guess. Go upstairs to Bordel afterward for another cocktail in a porron (these are much stronger than sangria though) and some great live music.

El mejor restaurante español en Chicago. … palabrita de honor!
Cuando siento un poco de anhelo. simplemente necesito ir allí! Diversión asegurada.
Ambiente moderno pero con el encanto de la verdadera tradición y ambientación Ibérica.