La Bahia

so sad that La Bahia closed :-(

Man!!! Just as I was driving by on a Friday nite to go patronize a crappy Mexican restaurant on Lincoln, a little past Addison, I noticed that La Bahia was dark and couldn’t make out the sign. I figured it had closed, Thanks Economy! This isn’t a review of the crap I ate that night but a true regret for not having patronized this wonderful place more often. I’m bummed that it closed its doors. Not all Mexican restaurants are good!!!
This was truthfully one of the good ones… you’ll be missed!

Even though I’ve seen that it is closed I still need to sing their praises. I went to La Bahia the weekend before Christmas with a friend and enjoyed the entire meal. I would liken this place to the typical Mexican restaurant with flair. They took the familiar favorites and upped the flavor and presentation not typically seen in your local Mexican dive. The complimentary chips and salsa came with two kinds of salsa, one of them being a roasted tomatillo and the other freshly made pice de gallo. The guacamole we ordered was chunky and tasty. And our entrees were beautifully presented, large and delicious. To top it all off the service was great. Thank you, La Bahia.

The service was so incredibly friendly and pleasant, I must start my review by mentioning that.
The veg food and the tortilla soup were excellent! The «bowl» of tortilla soup was more like a trough and I loved every one of the 156 spoonfuls. However, the non-​seafood food was much better than the shrimp. With an extensive seafood menu and a name like La Bahia, I expected a lot more I guess. The sauce on my shrimp tasted too much like a chain restaurant’s, and the mushrooms were a bit bland and looked like Green Giant canned. The dish was certainly edible, but nothing memorable or authentic.
Margs on the rocks were good. I will be back if I’m in the neighborhood since the service was so great, food as above average to outright delicious, and parking was easy.

I’ve eaten here an embarrassing number of times, and every time it’s just as good. Breakfast, lunch, dinner… you name it, I’ve had it here. My favorites are the tilapia and the skirt steak. Both are simply fabulous, and the tilapia comes with really fresh veggies and rice, which is a nice change from beans and rice. The guac here is not my favorite, so I usually ask for extra pico de gallo for my chips. I encourage everyone to at least give this place a try! Viva Mexico!

I have been to La Bahia many times since it open. The food is fantastic. I have taken my parents to the place and they love it too and they are pretty good critics of latin food.
The drinks are really good too… they are open to making any kind of margarita and using top shelf tequila.
They also have two flat screens in the place… just in case a good game is on and/​or your date is boring.

I’ve been to this place twice now and both times my meals have been fantastic.
The salsa and the chips are both great — just enough salt, a very faint hint of lime, and both salsas are just spicy enough. My mango margarita was also huge and tasty.
I had the chilies rellenos this time and they were delicious. Just enough cheese, a lot of extra sauce. Plus I think they cook their rice perfectly.
My date had the chicken enchiladas and he pretty much cleaned the plate. We basically rolled ourselves home after our fantastic Mexican experience.
I’ve never seen the place packed and it’s a large space with plenty of room for groups. It was slightly busy this past Saturday night and our service was a little slow — I think they only had one waitress for the entire place. Other than that, I think this might be my new go-​to Mexican place, especially since it’s just a block from my apt.

So this place was really great. We were driving around looking for a place to eat and came upon La Bahia. There was even street parking. Sold.
We were the only ones in the restaurant. It looks like it had about 20 four tops so it would for sure be a great spot for a larger gathering or just two friends looking to grab lunch after a conference in Skokie.
Started with a strawberry margarita which was, holy crap, so good. Went down a little too smooth and quick. You get complementary chips and two types of salsa. The chips seemed like they were a bit stale and had a funky taste.
I had the chicken taco lunch which was two chicken tacos with onion, lettuce, cilantro, tomato, beans and rice. Very very very good. Not too big and just enough for lunch. My friend had the dry burrito with avocado, lettuce, beans and cheese. She really liked it and could only finish half so took it home.
The waitress was so very nice and was very nice to let us talk and laugh. Such a great way to escape a cold Saturday afternoon.

Clean, friendly staff, modern décor, and great food! The taco salad was amazing, as well as the giant margarita and chips and salsa.

This is a great little Mexican place!
The chips were my only complaint: they were a bit stale, thick, saltless, and cold. (Though I still ate the entire basket, of course.)
But everything else was great. I had the lunch special carne asada tacos with cilantro and onion with a side of beans and rice. Yum! Very respectable prices, too. The tacos were $ 1.75 a pop.
They serve breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays until 1:00 pm – a perfect cure for your hangover.
Great service, decent atmosphere. I’ll definitely be back to sample some other interesting looking items on the menu.

Well it’s about time I try out this place, as I live right around the corner. I hadn’t eaten all day and was riding my bike around the neighborhood when La Bahia caught my eye with it’s bright clean interior and giant open windows to allow for a nice evening summer meal and great people watching.
I arrived just around 10:00PM and there was a big table of around 12 people so I felt a little bad rushing in and grabbing a table for my g/​f and I, but we were starving.
We were happily greeted and seated next to the window and promptly provided chips and salsa. The chips were a bit stale (hence the drop of a stat, which I will gladly add upon further review), but considering it was past closing I shouldn’t complain. The salsas were great featuring a spicy red and a mild verde.
We ordered the Shrimp Ceviche ($ 8.95) and it came out in a big glass goblet. It was very refreshing with lots of baby shrimp, cucumber, radish, onion, cilantro and jalapeño. A very generous portion and would definitely recommend this on a hot summer night.
We both ordered two fish tacos ($ 2.00 each) and they arrived shortly after the ceviche. Each taco came on two fresh homemade tortillas with grilled tilapia, white onion, cilantro and cheese (lettuce and tomatoe available as well). They were very light, fresh and flavorable.
Our service was great and I was very appreciative of the place staying open to serve us. It looks like they have some other wonderful fish dishes, so I will be coming back for sure. There is also a full bar.
Did I mention how fresh and clean this place is?
If you are in the neighborhood or surrounding area please support this place, as I think it is a great addition to the area and would like to see if become a fixture.

I hope this little place survives the neighborhood. It’s much more than I initially expected. It’s bigger, cleaner, nicer and EMPTIER than it looks from the outside. I think I’m going to like this newish Mexican restaurant that is right around the corner.
I decided to take out instead of eat in. Doesn’t seem like I am missing much though. There is little to no decoration, which, quite frankly is fine with me usually, but a little awkward in this space. They offered me a glass of water in the very short amount of time I was there waiting for my order to be complete. LOVE THAT! Didn’t love the music however.
The Taquitos Dorados was just the right combination of crispy flavor. The portion was perfectly sized and the price was right. I am a sucker for beans and these were great. Try them with each of the accompanying sauces (red and green). Both are unique and not too spicy nor too mild.
And they have flan :) Next time!
La Bahia, you are a welcome addition to North Center. Glad you could join us! Hope you stay around for a while.

This morning I went to La Bahia with my fiancé for a Mexican breakfast. It was delicious, the coffee was wonderful, and our server was so nice. It is charming inside and very clean. I enjoyed the Huevos a la Mexicana and my fiancé enjoyed the Eggs Benedict. There were complementary chips and salsas (3 kinds) as well. Families were stopping in for the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt, and we even told some to be sure to stop back in for a meal. We can’t wait to try the dinner entrees.

This place was not quite as good as I expected, based on the other reviews here. I went on a Wednesday night when it was depressingly empty, and the cheesy Spanish love songs reverberated loudly, but at least the service was good. The food, on the other hand, was only OK. The free chips were bland — salt would have helped, but freshness might have, too. My ranchero steak, a rib eye with «special sauce,» had good flavor but was almost half unchewable gristle. The accompanying steamed veggies were well cooked, and the rice and refrieds were fine, but nothing was special. My husband was not jazzed by his fish tacos, though I think his tortilla soup was somewhat better.
As my husband noted, the overstuffed menu, with countless variations on the same basic dishes, was a bit of a giveaway — a better restaurant might only do one steak preparation but do it well. That’s our armchair restaurant managing for you. Back to the customer POV, while we didn’t feel ripped off, and we’re certainly rooting for the new place on the block to do well, we probably won’t be going back here.

We live across the street and decided to give our new neighborhood restaurant a shot. We were very impressed by the wide array of items on the menu — and fresh flavors… The restaurant is very clean, and the staff are extremely nice.
Service was a bit slow, but I am thinking that since they are new, it will get better
It’s not super-​fancy, but definitely many steps above a chain mexican restaurant. They have a lot of fish entrees!
They do not yet have a liquor license, so they are BYOB at the moment, but should have their liquor license soon.

this place was a pleasant surprise! my wife and i stoppped in the other night because we noticed the new place. our expectations weren’t high but wow this place was realy good! skirt steak is great and so is the shrimp diablo! we will be back again!

I think I would probably give La Bahia 3.5 stars. It’s a cozy and bright Mexican restaurant with a heavy influence on seafood. When we walked in the door, my roommate actually said «it smells like seafood in here» before we even glanced at the menu! The prices are a little high, but then again, almost everything on the menu is an entrée. You can order tacos and burritos a la carte, but other than that, you’re going to get a full plate of well prepared food, including warm tortillas and steamed veggies (alongside the usual rice and beans). I ordered the arrachera steak, which was pretty good. They cooked the steak to my request, which is always a plus. My roommate got the camarones a la plancha, which were good as well. It was nice to see such large shrimp being served in plentiful amounts. the dish was very simple, they were grilled, and have a nice flavor from that. They just opened in the past week, so it was fairly empty, but there was always at least one other table of customers while were there. The service is attentive, but a little slow with the check. Hopefully that will improve as time passes. I will definitely go back, and try one of their many seafood dishes. I had my eye on the camarones a la veracruza, with cilantro, tomatoes, and onions. Give it a try, it definitely beats Garcia’s and the super burrito place nearby.