La Taberna Tapatia

Our pal Yankee Mike invited us to take advantage of his coupon deal at La Taberna Tapatia. We arrived to a packed house and placed our names on the wait list along with our cell number for a courtesy call. To kill time we perused the isles of the Whole Foods down the block.
We returned before they called, but gave us the next table because we actually returned. The intimate room in the back was our destination, and by intimate I mean the size of the bathroom at Allen House Chicago. About thirteen other diners filled the room, each hoisting margaritas large enough to stunt the growth of a modest sized burro.
After placing our order Yankee Mike kept eyeballing the table behind us, after peaking in that direction I noticed that he was caught in the beauty of Miss Cook County. She was just crowned that evening and was showing her server the tiara and crown she kept in a clear plastic box. No more than three minutes later the large ladies at the table next to us nudged Margot and told her that girl was Miss Cook County. They congratulated the beauty queen loud enough for everyone to hear. We then began clapping and hollering congratulations. The whole damn place erupted with applause and the kitchen cleared out into our tiny dining area. People started snapping photos of her as she reluctantly stood up and put on the crown and sash. She turned from golden brown to bright red.
The service was lacking, but the food and booze were even better than the entertainment. Order the jumbo margarita, the plantain enchiladas and request that you are sat next to Ms. Cook County.

Nice place to visit once or twice.
Service was terribly poor. A party of two men before us was seated at a large table with about three extra chairs and obviously were friends of the owner because they got an array of drinks during the night and were chatting up the owner and wait staff. We, party of three, got scrunched into a side back table with only a little table for us to share. My friend was hungry and ordered two entrees and the waiter actually looked at her like, «What? You pig!» He had a terrible attitude and gave us sass the entire night. The food was alright. The chips were too thick, hard and stale. The Mojito was delicious though as was my chicken soft taco. My husband said the carne asada was just ok. My friend loved her burrito.

Granted I’ve only stepped into La Taberna after hours, which is a «mini dancing night club» on weekends. No matter how packed, my group of 10 always finds a booth to sit in the very back. We go to the bar to purchase our beers and we listen watch and drink til we cant take it anymore.

Went there for a couple of drinks with a school student group.
Ordered a margarita, which should have tipped me off to how the rest of the night was going to go. The margarita was weak, all sweet mix, no booze.
Against better judgment our table ordered the Cazuelo. Which is a ceramic bowl filled with what is their version of a long island ice tea.
This was all ice, all mix, and very little booze. I wasn’t getting drunk, I felt like I was getting diabetes.
Also, we picked chips of ceramic out of the dish, talk about a fiesta.
So feeling full of sweet liquid and not drunk, I just went ahead and ordered shots. Can’t mess up a shot and to their credit, they didn’t.
Then we get our bill. The Cazuelas which on the menu were 14 dollars showed up on our bill as 18. I went to bar to dispute this. After the bartender ran around trying to look for someone to fix this, the owner came up and fed me a line about alcohol prices increased in the city. I said, well should that be reflected in the menu? or shouldn’t we have been told that when we ordered?
I told the owner, hey, this isn’t the only drink I purchased here, I got shots. My total bill was 120 dollars plus tip. All I was asking for was my 12 dollars back for the three Cazuelas.
He then told me, «Hey prices subject to change without notice.» WHAT? oh really? what arbitrary price will the drinks be tomorrow? He finally gave me my 12 dollars back after I told him I would just dispute the charge on my credit card.
This is Chicago, there are a ton of places out there to drink a margarita and eat a steak taco. I would pass on this place. No need to give customers a hard time, we can spend our hard earned money somewhere else.
If you are looking for a great, strong margarita, I would recommend:

This is a cute place to visit.
Likes:
décor is cute pretty simple. Love the candle holder w/​all the tons of wax.
Food is ok. Drinks are ok. Music is good. Some cool people to meet.
Dislikes:
Wish it was a bigger bar in size. Can get passed capacity during the weekends. Some not so cool people to meet. Wait staff can be very slow.

This is an ‘OK’ place to go for drinks, but when you throw in their tasty food, the rating gets bumped up to ‘Pretty Good.’ I agree that the atmosphere is crappy and drinks are made with mixes rather than fresh juices or fruit, but the beer is cold and the tasty food is hot! That’s pretty much all I need.

It’s been a while since I’ve visited this place. I went in recently with my boyfriend and the place looked like a dump. The bartender was laying down on the bolster talking on his phone. A lot of the lights were broken, there were bottles of booze missing tops, a few opened bottles of wine that had napkins stuck in the them as stoppers, there were no hand towels in the washrooms and probably an inch of dust on the back of the bar. GROSS! Needless to say we finished our drinks and took off. I definitely will not be back.

I’ve been coming here on and off for years. While I would love to give it no less than 4 stars, the lack of service is hard to ignore. While it wasn’t absolutely horrible, it would be nice if the servers stopped talking to each other so much that they would actually notice if a diner is trying to flag them down.
Food wise, it’s pretty good. This time around we had empanadas with ground beef, raisins and rice; chicken flautas with a ton of cheese on top; cerviche (one of my faves that night) and salmon w/​mango salsa on top of rice. I didn’t really care for the salmon, the mango was beyond sweet and didn’t complement the dish in any way. I wasn’t super hungry so I had a hard time finishing our dishes. I really think that for two ppl 2 – 3 dishes is more than enough (bump up to 4 if you have hearty appetites). I also had a mango margarita which was huge and definitely a good deal at $ 7.
Ambiance is so-​so, while I understand it’s more of a bar than a restaurant, it can get a bit too dark at times. They do have a patio in back, which really was the reason we decided to eat here, unfortunately, somebody had reserved it for the evening.
I’ll definitely be back, I just wish service would improve.

Going to La Taberna Tapatia always makes me laugh. Mainly because I chose to go on weeknights for their terrific drink specials and mainly because when I do this usually no one is ever there besides me and my guy. Occasionally waiters from the sister restaurant across the street come into eat their dinner in silence and sometimes the tv is on and the windows are open letting the honking, driving din of Ashland Avenue filter across the abandoned bar area… and This is just fine with me. I don’t go out on Tuesday night looking to throw down with the locals. I go out on Tuesday night for a good three dollar margarita and a delicious plate of steak skewers. And we laugh a lot and drink a few drinks, chat with the nice bartender and I always leave really happy that I came. The back patio area looks really nice (tho i’ve never been on it) and I’ve seen it totally packed on the weekends. All in all, i recommend this place. (Especially because they don’t treat us strangely when we’re the only people at the bar.) Thanks Guys!

I went for drinks & dinner with some friends on a weekday night. The place was EMPTY, which almost made us go across the street to El Tapatia Café where we WOULD have had an awesome time. They had virtually no lighting which made it difficult to see the menus, food, and people I was dining with! The service was terribly inattentive – it took us 10 min to flag down the bartender (IN AN EMPTY BAR) so we could order booze! The food came out promptly, but was average at best. My stomach can only handle so much fried food, and pretty much every dish has at least 1 fried component. Except the ceviche, which the served with SALTINE CRACKERS. WTF? It’s not like they didn’t have homemade tortilla chips.
All in all, it was a cheap learning experience that taught me
(1) if service is bad, pay for your drinks & leave,
and
(2) if it’s empty, it’s probably for a reason,
and
(3) don’t go here, unless you’re having a beer and waiting for a table to open up across the street at El Tapatia Café.

This place is hopping weekends with some great DJs and some of my favorite music, ranging from Ruben Blades to reggaeton. There are some great specials for anyone in the neighborhood, including one for their good mojitos, which, best of all, ARE NOT MADE WITH bacardi!!! HOORAY!!! There are some nice cheap appetizers that come out tasty and in nice portions. My pick? The yuca.
Across the street from another, less-​bar/​more-​restaurant tapas place I love.

I have been going here on and off for about a year now, but the past few experiences there have prompted this review.
First. service here is as bad as previously stated. Not just long, but the waitresses seem to lack a logic to checking tables or checking back after the food is served. Quite often, we just gave up and went to the bar to get another drink. when the waitress did finally breeze by our table, she had a little bit of a attitude that we would go and get our own.
The one thing that has been happening lately here is the «sliding dress code» that has been used for years in Chicago to keep out «certain types of people». I actually suggested coming here with about 6 friends to celebrate. The fashion diva 5’4″ bouncer stared us up and down and saw our faux paux. gym shoes. clean boutique ones at that! So Ms. Blackstone quickly barred us from entry, preserving order and the high society leanings that exist inside this business.
We went around the corner and dropped about $ 150. Thanks La Taberna.

This place is pretty chill. You can walk over here while you wait for your table at El Tapatio. Not the greatest service in the world but the drinks are pretty good. Big location with an amazing back patio. Good times…

The drinks here are so good! I’ve never had a problem getting my mojito or margarita exactly how i wanted it. It’s a smaller bar, but you can usually find a seat. If it’s nice, try to get a seat outside in the back. The bar is quite dark, so it’s nice to be able to also sit in the sun on the large patio.
The service is on the slow side for a smaller bar, but its a chill place and you should adopt a chill attitude. Just go to the bar if you really want your drink immediately.
Also, you can chill here while waiting for your table at Tapatio!

As a bar in and of itself, meh. Decent atmosphere, decent drink specials, plus there’s a limited menu (Mexican appetizer plates). Service is, as mentioned, weak. Waiting at the bar to be noticed or practially having to trip a waitress wandering by your table… either way, it’s sub-​par.
The main reason I’m there is because it’s the waiting room for El Tapatio across the street. I really doubt I’d make this a destination. But it serves its purpose well enough. I just look forward to nicer weather so I can sit outside. Last I was there, it wasn’t particularly smoky, but it’s still a bar, so it can still get that way.
And on a side note, not necessarily about the bar itself, but last I was there, some people (waiting for Tapatio) had their BABY in there. As in an infant. As in IN A BAR! Unbelievable, really. (So apparently «good for kids»? Ha!)

The major reason why this place gets 4 stars instead of 3.5 is because of the great music they have. The reason it doesn’t get 5 is because the service is horrible. You are better off ordering from the bar. The food is very good though. I have had the empanadas, ceviche, and the salmon. We even got a peach cobler type of dessert! The drink to get is called the Cazuelos. It’s in a huge bowl with tons of different liquors and straws. There’s a 2 person minimum for this drink. It’s fun to drink with a bunch of friends, but watch out for a brain freeze! The place isn’t very big, but it will get packed with a lot of people that like to dance. The DJ there really mixes up the music well, and will get you on the dance floor even if you don’t dance that much! We’ve had one of the DJs there come mix at a party for us, and he was awesome!

I frequently go with friends for $ 2 sangria on Thursdays, and every time we wonder why. OK, to be fair, the sangria is delicious. And my margarita last night was quite tasty as well. However, the service is HORRIBLE. Last night, a friend and I arrived and sat on the patio for at least 20 minutes with no wait staff coming out to take an order — she had to go in and ask «can we get service on the patio?»
Later in the evening, after waiting about 40 minutes for her quesedillas, the waitress asked my friend «you had the quesedillas, right?» — no apology. 10 minutes later she got them. Effin’ quesedillas!!! Not hard to make!
Often you’ll be waiting 10 – 15 minutes for a drink after you order — so better double up!

This place specializes in mixed drinks and has an impressive menu of Mexican/​Spanish food. It definitely gets crowded on the weekends.

this is great bar/​lounge to have some drinks. The décor is nice and its gets pretty busy in here. Sunday nights this place is definitely going on. Drink specials galore and not your typical bar food.