Cafe Iberico
739 N. LaSalle Blvd.Chicago, IL 60610-5323
River North
312-573-1510
cafeiberico.com
Hours: Lunch, dinner: seven days
Open late: Friday & Saturday till midnight, other nights till 11
Our Review
Loud, crowded, and a tad disheveled, Cafe Iberico has been going strong for years and seems only slightly worse for the wear. The cavernous 450-seat restaurant includes two dining rooms, three bars, a party room, and a deli counter offering a selection of Spanish cheese, sausages, and canned goods. At 10 PM on a Wednesday night the front bar was surprisingly packed with a diverse crowd of diners, from a clutch of Muslim teenagers gossiping on the sidewalk for hours to a multiethnic mix of young professional couples and a rowdy squad of pub-crawling frat guys. The service was efficient, if not terribly solicitous, and the bathroom was a mess. But if you stick to the classics, the menu still delivers. A bowl of mild Spanish olives was a nice complement to a simple plate of buttery jamon iberico and nutty manchego cheese, served with rounds of bruschetta. The gambas al aijillo—grilled shrimp in garlic and oil—were firm, crispy-tailed, and came sizzling hot; champignons a la plancha were mushroom caps in their own dusky, smoky oil-and-garlic suspension. The more ambitious dishes sometimes fall flat, but if an item disappoints, you’re not out much, and here even the sangria is cheap.
Price: $$
Payment Type: Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Reviews/comments (45)
Showing 1-5 of 45
