Tapas in Chicago

I love Avec ! Cafe Ba Ba Reeba is good, but the Chef who started it was Emilio, who has his own places called Emilios. I like them better. Avec is the best though. Avec is next door to their sister restaurant Blackbird, whitch is one of my favorite in the country.

We also loved Avec,,, Chalkboard is another neat place.

Well, we're back and I'm probably 2 pounds heavier after a whirlwind weekend. For tapas Friday night we settled on Cafe Iberico. We have been to BabaReeba several times and always had very good food and a terrific time. Wanting to try something different and within walking distance in the River North neighborhood, we picked Iberico. It was incredibly crowded at 10:30 p.m. and the mean age was around 26. We had a great time and the food was excellent. We tried several dishes included tostadas de pisto, patates ali-oli, queso de cabra (baked goat cheese with a fresh tomato basil sauce) and canelon de atun. For dessert we had peras al vino.
Dinner on Saturday night was in Bucktown at Spring Restaurant
Spring Restaurant

I had a very fine meal at Spring, but it wasn't as good as several I've had at Le Relais or Equus and it cost about 45-40% more.

Thanks for all of the tips and suggestions.

I love Avec ! Cafe Ba Ba Reeba is good, but the Chef who started it was Emilio, who has his own places called Emilios. I like them better. Avec is the best though. Avec is next door to their sister restaurant Blackbird, whitch is one of my favorite in the country.

A perfect night is apps and cocktails at Avec, and then go next door to Blackbird for dinner.

I personally find Spring over-rated.

It is way too easy to walk out of a restaurant in Chicago several hundred dollars poorer, without a truly memorable experience to show for it.

I personally find Spring over-rated.

Yep, that was my final take on the place. Overall, when I come home from NYC or Chicago I am reminded of how very good our local restaurants are and the tremendous value they deliver.

Well, in fairness Jon, you know the local Louisville scene very well. If you don't know the market as well, you can end up disappointed. Even in NYC or Paris if you walked into a random restaurant, there's a good chance you'll have a poor meal. When you walk out disappointed in Louisville, you probably see it in the context of the overall dining market. But as a visitor, one bad meal can skew your view of the entire trip/city. Part of being passionate about food is encountering a lot of meals that don't live up to hopes. You've got to explore and find the places that work for you.