Little Bad Wolf

I dined here over the weekend with a group of friends (about 15) and we ordered everything on the menu. Literally.
First — the ambiance is gorgeous. Great music, great décor, I want to steal their tables. Basically I’d like to live here.
Second — The food. AMAZING. My favorite was the Mac and Cheese. Possibly the best mac i’ve ever tasted. The crab cake was amazing. Steak Frites were delicious, steak was perfectly cooked. The mussels were perfection. My least favorite thing on the menu were the baos, but they were still great. I am definitely coming back asap!

Wow! Must have the fish tacos. We tried most of the tacos and baos and loved all of them. We will be going back for the burgers. Great cocktails and beer list. Can’t wait to return to try more off this menu.

LOVED the music: The Fugees, Alisha Keys, Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, Bruno Mars. I was dancing/​singing along as I ate! Two baos and a side was more than enough for dinner. I had the shrimp and the chicken bad — shrimp was better. I also had a side of mac & cheese — loved the bacon bits. For drinks I had the Green Eyes (no longer on the menu but you can ask) and the Duchess — so good. I had to bring it down a star because they had no dessert! Great little small place with great service.

The Bad Burger is just soooo ironically good. That and the chips with salsa + guac were both the best I’ve had in a long time. Get them. Everything is great here, though the waiter scared the crap out of me by coming up behind and very loudly asking if we were doing OK. Yep, doing great, please don’t hurt me.
Tip: this place isn’t huge so get a reservation if you go on Saturday. Otherwise wait is only 15 min at the bar. They also have games!

This was a cool, laid-​back kind of place to get some good eats. I enjoyed a grilled romaine salad, but be warned, if you don’t like the taste of balsamic, the sauce/​vinegar they use to get the char on the romaine is strong in flavor, despite what your server might tell you.
My husband got a burger after hearing of the many fantastic reviews, but he/​we found it to be just a little drier than we expected. The couple we went with loved their burgers and the choice to get a side salad instead of fries. The fries my husband were disappointing; they were lukewarm at best and very limp.
The very best part of Little Bad Wolf is the awesome soundtrack of oldies they play. (Well, at least they were playing the afternoon we had lunch.) I get to eat lunch while enjoying the talents of Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and the like? AMAZING.

I came here on a Thursday night with a girlfriend. I probably should have seen if they were on open table before showing up because when I got there at 7, there was a half hour wait. While waiting, we went next door to the bar where the bartender gave us some great advice about what to order. He said we had to order a bao and a taco.
When we came back to the restaurant half an hour later, they still weren’t ready to seat us. The place was packed and it’s a very small restaurant. We waited about five minutes and we were sat. I ordered the green eyes and omg it was the best cocktail I’ve had in awhile. My friend got their version of the Moscow mule and then switched to the green eyes. You can also order the green eyes up and it’s made with egg whites.
To eat, we took the bartender’s advice and ordered a bao and a taco. I ordered the shrimp bao and the potato taco and they both were just amazing! I just loved the bread they used in the bao– it was so fluffy. We also ordered the brussels sprouts which were full of flavor!
Overall, I loved the food and the cocktails. However, they need a bigger space because they’re just so busy!

I’ve heard of LBW for the better part of year but haven’t had the chance to visit – until today. What TOOK me so long?
First, the atmosphere. Think of your hipster barista friend who grew up, got a better paying job (and a liquor license) and redecorated. The place is funky chic. Great music, too.
Next, the service. Friendly and knowledgable. Props to Miranda for awesomeness. Empathy expressed for no iced tea on the menu.
Speaking of…
The menu? Eclectic. Tacos, baos, salads, burgers, mac + cheese, among many other things. Still, not a huge menu. We liked that. That usually translates into fresher ingredients.
Which leads me to… The food.
I got smacked in the face with happiness just now (yes, I’m still sitting here eating). The table ordered baos (shrimp and BBQ pork). Mac + cheese with chicken. Crab cake and chopped salad.
All of it was great. Wonderful.
Thank you, Little Bad Wolf! We will return.

Little bad wolf has the makings of a 5 star restaurant, besides one thing: the food. We tried basically every Boa and Taco on their menu along with their Mac and cheese after reading other Unilocal reviews, and they were all good, but none left a lasting impression. I felt the tacos/​baos were light on sauce and most were very dry and bland. The one exception to this review is the elotes corn. Go here and order this now! Might be the best I’ve ever had; creamy, buttery, and it comes with deep fried avocado on top. With that being said I loved the atmosphere, friendly service and extensive beer/​cocktail menu. I would go back for drinks and apps but probably not for their baos/​tacos.

I figured my first review in 2016 should be for this little gem. What a great place! The food, the drinks, the atmosphere and the people. Everything is top notch. Yes, it’s a bit tiny, not a lot of seating. But it’s really not an issue if you know that ahead of time and plan accordingly.
Definitely get one of their cocktails. I don’t remember which one I ordered but it was delicious. Also, the bao’s and tacos are a must. Shrimp, steak, chicken, all amazing!
So that’s it! Make this one of your «musts» this year :)

YES. Everything about this is YES.
Décor. I love the chill, loungy feel. I love the edison lights, the big bar, and small, cozy atmosphere.
Service. The people are awesome here. They aren’t afraid to give a beer sample or food suggestion. Just nice, real, down to earth people.
Food. The diversity of food here is crazy. My usual rule of «pick one and do it well» does not apply here. They have tacos, burgers, fries, mussels, baos. Yes. All of them. We ordered the mac and cheese, fries, and mussels to share. All of them were SO good. I would eat it all again.
Drink. BEER. If you love beer, you will love their menu. So many drafts and bottles to choose from. Not your regular stuff either. You can also order wine and cocktails… but seriously… the beer. I tried a few that I had never heard of before, all very good.
So basically you need to come here. And eat. And drink. Because it’s good.

Very, VERY crowded on a Saturday night! They don’t take reservations, so expect to wait. We got there at about 6:45 and waited maybe 15 – 20 minutes, which is not that bad considering how tiny and cramped the space is. For food, we got the chicken and shrimp baos, which were pretty delicious. I liked the chicken better, it was a bit spicy and had a Thai-​style taste to it. I could barely finish 2 baos, they were pretty filling.
The noise level here is out of control. I could barely hear my friend across the table. Don’t think I would come back on that basis alone.

This place is a great combination of style and substance. They have a cool atmosphere/​décor, tasty food, and a superb drink list. My first visit was 5 stars, my second visit was 4, mainly due to the service (service was excellent on my first visit). Despite the slower, less friendly service on my second visit, I’m a fan of this place. I’ve been for dinner and lunch.
They have an extensive whiskey and beer list along with some fantastic cocktails. I had their barrel-​aged manhattan and my cousin got their sazerac. Both were excellent. We did beer after and enjoyed those as well. For food, you can’t go wrong with their sliders, any of the baos (especially the pork one), and their french fries are really good. Their mac n cheese is solid and while their tacos definitely aren’t bad, I’d highly suggest their baos over their tacos.
I’m glad I’ve come across this place and that it’s walking distance from my brother’s apartment. I’ll be back for sure on future Chi visits.

Cool little spot in Andersonville. The heart of the menu and the best things they have are the little tacos and steamed bao bun sandwiches. It’s a weird combo, but both were awesome. They also had a nice beer list, this place really surprised me in a good way!
Crab cake — B
Salad — B
Pork taco — A–
Shrimp taco — A
Shrimp bao bun — A

We loved our experience!
First and foremost, the server was wonderful! Even though we were at a corner of the bar, he was extremely attentive to our needs and made sure we were taken care of with kindness.
Secondly, the food was great! We started out with the chips, Guac and salsa and really enjoyed ourselves. The hot salsa was scrumptious! The mild was too bland.
I ate three different baos while my partner had two tacos and a baos. My favorites were the pork and steak baos, but the shrimp baos was wonderful, too! My partner loved his food! And we were stuffed!
The menu looked absolutely delicious and we can’t wait to go back and try more! Not to mention the extensive drink list! Yes please!
And to top it all off, the atmosphere was totally rad. We got there early and had no trouble finding a seat, but people started to have to wait around peak dinner time.
This is a must try!

It was my first here and I have mixed feelings. The food was delicious! We had the tacos, elotes, and bao buns. I highly recommend the elotes as an appetizer. It’s like the ones you get from the Mexican carts on the streets of Chicago, but a little bit more refined. The tacos were also so amazing. The shrimp was probably the best one out of all of them. The bao buns were not for me, but my boyfriend loved it.
The only downside of this place the ambience. It was really really loud. Granted it was partly a bar. But I couldn’t even hear my boyfriend speak across the table. And because the tables are so close to each other, I felt like I was listening to the next table’s conversation. Because it was so loud, it was super difficult to get the waiter’s attention. I even screamed my waiter a few times, but he couldn’t hear me. Maybe if they lowered the music volume a few notches would be helpful for a better experience. Other than that, the food was delicious!

The place is pretty dim lit and the music is pretty loud which can be annoying because everyone else dining there ends up speaking louder too so you end up screaming at your friends. They unfortunately don’t take reservations so be prepared to wait! On a friday night for 2 people, i ended up waiting about 40ish minutes for a table.
Let me start of by saying my friend and I definitely over ordered so definitely do not feel compelled to order as much as we did LOL
We got:
Mussels — come in a green curry coconut broth and is served with bread. Probably one of the top 3 mussels i’ve ever had. The broth was absolutely deliciousssss. I was using my spoon and drinking the remaining broth cause it was that good!
Elotes– sooooo goood! The corn was sweet full of flavor and the beer battered avocado was soo good. The avocado wasnt mushy on the inside as I would have expected.
mac & cheese– I had high hopes for this since the reviews raved about it but I wasn’t too impressed. Tasted like regular mac and cheese to me. Nothing really stood out.
Japanese BBQ Pork Bao– This was good! The pork was tender and had a crispy layer of skin which gave the boa that extra crunch. The bun was so light and fluffy.
Steak-​Shitake Bao– the meat tasted gooood but im not the biggest steak lover because i like my meat really tender but the flavor was definitely there.
Fish taco– definitely my favorite! The fish had a crispy batter that wasn’t overfried or soggy.
Shrimp Taco– definitely did not skimp out on the shrimp! If you like seafood, you’ll definitely like this.
pork al pastor taco– comes with jalapano and pineapple which definitely helped amplify the flavor. This was my second last taco so by then it was kinda cold but the taste wasnt as great as I was expecting but I think that is just because it got cold :(
Lastly we got the steak taco– once again, wasn’t too crazy about it because it is steak and this was my last taco so the meal was kinda cold and the taco shell had hardened.
Overall the meal came out to around $ 30 per person after tip and tax which isn’t too bad considering all the food we got. My biggest recommendation is to definitely get the mussels, fish taco and elotes!

Delicious & memorable food & drinks! The space is small & loud. The hubs asked them to lower the volume and they did immediately!
Bao. There was a theme from our party of 6 that the meat ones were better than the fish/​seafood options. Loved the chicken & pork bao! Found them to be tasty & innovative
Tacos. Everyone loved the fish, steak & potato.
The guac was creamy yumminess. So much that we had to order another order of guac!
The mussels in a creamy coconut broth was to die for! One of our friend had never had mussels before and fell in love!
The mule drink was well made and served perfectly.
We will be back. Probably on a weekday when it’s not so crowded. They don’t take reservations so be prepared to wait on a weekend as we went at 7pm on a Saturday… prime time wait was 45 min!

Great place, the food is fantastic, and the staff is friendly. I had the steak boa and Mac and cheese. The boa was delicious, the Mac and cheese was good, I think smoque still had the best Mac n cheese though.
I will come back to try their crab cakes and some more baos. Oh, did I mention that they have so many drinks to choose from.

OMG what a hidden neighborhood gem!
I have lived in Edgewater ever since I’ve moved to Chicago and never knew about this place! This place is SO cute, the décor is rustic, extremely nice! We were immediately seated and the server showed up right away and was attentive throughout our stay! They have an extensive selection of drinks and cocktails, most of which we tried were really good.
We ordered bao’s and tacos. We had chicken bao (perfect harmony of sweet and savory flavor & crispy/​soft texture), beef tacos (OMG SO delicious and tender), fish tacos (WOW), and potato taco (my least favorite, but only because the other ones with meat were beyond tasty)! Tacos were served on slightly crisped up corn tacos and came with a decent serving of meat and condiments. We were in food heaven and later food coma! I felt like I couldn’t be more satisfied with the food!
I am so so glad to have found this place nearby which serves great tacos for less price. My favorite place for tacos had been Mercadito but this place comes very close! I cannot wait to return very very soon!

When the boyfriend and I saw pictures of tacos that other Unilocalers had posted, I knew I wanted – nay, needed – to eat at LBW.
The liquor and beer lists are impressive and the bar and waitstaff were all very nice– when I asked about a particular beer (Sweet Action by Sixpoints) the bartender said if I didn’t like it, he’d drink it. Guess what! I liked it.
But what I really liked were the tacos. I had to have a fish taco and a potato taco and the boyfriend ordered some baos and, well, we ended up sharing all of it and ordering more because it was all so insanely delicious, including the elotes, which were kind of spicy but really, really tasty.
I have a feeling this is going to be a regular spot for us.