Barcocina

This place is great! I’ve been twice and both times the service has been excellent and the food even better. Brunch is an awesome deal where there is a chef’s station, entrée, and all you can drink for 2 hours! I will for sure be back!

A friend and I had dinner there last night and were blown away. Barcocina is a beautifully designed bar and restaurant offering small plates and tacos following a nuevo Mexican concept. While this may not sound original given the numerous small plate restaurants popping up, it is the execution that makes Barcocina stand out. Their take on everything is original, delightfully surprising and absolutely delicious. Not to be missed are the tuna tartare taquitos and the quest fundido. So why not five stars? The drinks are a bit high priced and a more than a little skimpy. Next time we will save the $ 22 we spent on two margaritas and put it toward the food. Glad to have this gem in Lincoln Park.

This place is pretty awesome when comparing it to the bars right next to it. I bet around 20 blackberry margaritas were ordered by girls in our party… can’t say I’ve seen that happen often! They have a large drink menu with tons of options, and the place looks real nice on the inside. You’ll likely need reservations on the weekend if you’d like to go here at night, the place gets wicked busy.
The food was pretty good, they were good sports by providing a lot of free chips for our many guacs/​salsas/​etc. It was convenient to munch on while we waited for our entrees. We had a couple tacos which were good, and some steak dish thing. I didn’t feel much for the latter, but the tacos are pretty awesome since they’re packed to the rim.
Honestly was impressed by the décor. They have this fire pit thing right next to their 5 or 6 individual bathrooms. It’s a real fancy place, I’d definitely come here for a date or something. I recommend it for sure, great service with great food and drinks. Lastly they aren’t snobby enough to ignore setting up TVs, it’s nice to watch some sports in the background.

I really wanted to like this place. Truly, I did.
Barcocina popped up around the time I was starting to become increasingly bored with Mad River, Matilda, Sheffield, Kirkwood, and the other drab bars in the area. It was nice to see something different. Aside from Headquarters, the other bars in the area have become tiresome. I have grown weary of the drunken college crowds and the same old sports bar feeling.
Barcocina was new and exciting. It is stylish and chic. I couldn’t wait to give it a try. They’re a new bar/​restaurant, and they have some SERIOUS work to do with their service before I consider returning.
My friends and I went to Barcocina for Thursday night post-​work festivities. We ordered Baked Goat Cheese, Queso Fundido, and Yucca Tots for appetizers. All of the appetizers tasted really good. I have a particular soft spot for a Goat Cheese, similar to my soft spot for Bruschetta. What concerned me that it took 30 minutes for the dishes to arrive when the place was not busy.
It wasn’t until about 8:15 that we realized our tacos hadn’t arrived from the kitchen. Furthermore, we became increasingly aware of the fact that our waiter had virtually disappeared. We hadn’t seen him since he delivered the appetizers.
After several inquiries to the waiter (when he finally showed up), our tacos arrived at 8:45 — a good 90 minutes after we ordered them. I would understand the delay if the place was overflowing with fellow patrons. Barcocina was not busy at all. In fact, it was quite peaceful. So why did it take 90 minutes to deliver an order of tacos?
We actually called the manager to our table to inform him of our displeasure. He was apologetic and understanding. We told him we had a horrible experience and would not be returning. A bit harsh, yes, but it’s unacceptable to wait 90 minutes for an order of tacos.
The Adobo steak tacos were actually incredible. I just wish we didn’t have to wait so long to enjoy them. In fact, I’m bumping up my star rating of Barcocina specifically because the Tacos and appetizers were actually quite good.
The manager did the right thing and comped our tacos. I appreciate that and thank them. Still, I don’t think I’ll be returning any time soon. Barcocina has sky-​high potential. However, they still have some kinks to work out with their customer service and their kitchen.
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There’s only one way tequila goes well with garage doors: Barcocina. So glad I hit the grand opening of this self-​titled Mexican Sharing Concept. My opinion, this concept is ready for production. From the North tequila wall to the South tequila wall, there isn’t a bad drink or sloppy taco in sight.
Service was incredible, sure it was packed but what’s a proper grand opening without a wait list?
Bartenders were on point, you’d be hard press not to try a Smoky Margarita as if you gave up all drinks for Lent. Two words: Jalapeño Foam.
If you live under a rock or the CTA — there’s a new phenomenon that Barcocina has embraced, Mezcal.

Having read some of the other reviews on Unilocal I was a bit apprehensive but we had a great time and really enjoyed the food. When we got there, the hostess said all the tables were booked so we had to sit at the bar. No issue here, but I was surprised when I didn’t see all the tables fill up… Service at the bar was mixed… one bartender was great and very attentive… the other not so much. For drinks they have a full beer list, wine, sangria and a couple cocktails on draft.
For food, we had the chips and salsa (Green is excellent, red a bit too sweet), lamb tacos, pork belly tacos and Shishito peppers. Everything was very tasty and I felt reasonably priced for this sort of place. The peppers especially (while a little bit salty) were absolutely fantastic. I look forward to going back.

Brace yourselves, whatever you try to order the waitress 90 percent of the time replies with «We’re actually out of that.» Now, with that being said, the food was actually good…
My girlfriend and I arrived for our reservation on time but were told that they were backed up so there would be a 15 – 20 minute wait. When we were finally seated, the waitress asked if I’d like another Chipotle mule and unfortunately they were out of that. She recommended another drink of the same style, so I went with that one. Next, we started naming off appetizers including the lobster guacamole, hangar steak, Brussels sprouts and peppers. All of these items were «sold out.» Me and my girlfriend looked at each other with an odd stare, because we’ve never sat at a restaurant with that many items on a menu being «sold out.» We ended up ordering the jalapeño cornbread, which came out in a skillet and tasted delicious!
Finally, I ordered the short rib and Cajun shrimp tacos for dinner and my girlfriend went with the Adobe steak tacos. Not even ten minutes later my order came out, but my girlfriends were nowhere to be found. After maybe another ten minutes, she waived down the waitress and it came to our attention she hadn’t even put my girlfriends order into the kitchen! My Cajun tacos tasted just like shrimp should, but the sauce on top kind of killed the greatness for me. As for the short rib tacos, these are about as good as tacos can get! The sauces in this taco are sweet and taste better with every bite. My girlfriend seemed to like hers too, but agreed with me that the short rib tacos were the best.
All in all, we had to wait even with reservations, they were «sold out» with many of the items on the menu, and the service wasn’t very good. If you’re in the mood for short rib tacos this is your place, but I mean there’s a taco joint on almost every block. Choose wisely!

Love the décor and vibe of this place! The sangria and guac were amazing! We were there for over 2 hours, the food definitely came out at a slow pace and literally everything (minus the guac and sangria) was SO salty. Even the date cake was too salty to eat. Very strange. Probably won’t come back to eat but will come hangout for drinks in the future!

«Oh…we’re actually out of that»…slogan for the evening. We visited on a Saturday night with a reservation. The night kicked off with the hostess informing us that they were running 20 mins behind on all reservations so we headed to the bar.
20 long mins later, we were seated towards the back of the restaurant. Waitress came over to get our drinks and appetizer order started; that’s where it took a turn for the worst. We tried to order the brussel sprouts and hangar steak…“we’re out of that.” Then we tried for the lobster guacamole and shishito peppers…“oh, we’re out of that too.” So we ended up with the jalapeño cornbread which ended up having a good flavor.
Next disaster was the order for tacos. My boyfriend ordered the Cajon shrimp and the short rib tacos and I ordered the adobe steak. 10 mins later, my boyfriend’s tacos arrived and looked great. However, mine were nowhere to be seen (along with our waitress). I waited another 15 mins with no tacos and had to flag down our waitress who looked perplexed by me. I asked where my tacos were and it became clear she never placed the order.
All in all, this place has a TON of work to do in the service department along with making sure they actually have stock in their menu items. Best of luck

My wife and I read rave reviews on Facebook and decided to give it a try for their advertised Sunday brunch. The reviews were absolutely accurate! The food was outstanding, the service was outstanding the ambience was outstanding, and the DJ was too. Wow $ 39.95 was more than we would have liked to have spent on a brunch date, it was absolutely worth the money. Everything was excellent. Not only that, but we ate to our hearts content and enjoyed the bottomless mimosas and margaritas! We will definitely visit Barcocina again… perhaps at night… and have already recommended it to friends.
BONUS (that we did not know about prior to arrival) — what appears to be a summer beer garden is a little byo-​skates ice rink until Valentine’s Day! A must do if you’re going there to enjoy the bar.

Not even a week back from Mexico and we are already out for more Mexican food. We noticed this place awhile ago and finally were in the area for dinner. I tried making reservations online but there was nothing available for two on a Friday night until 9 p.m. When we walked in and there was a small gathering near the front bar and a few tables were seated. The asked if we could get a table (and like the other reviews noted) we were told they were all reserved for future reservations. We ended up taking a seat at the bar. Through our entire time I hardly saw more than four people come in and get seated. The rest of the tables remained empty.
Once at the bar we set about reviewing the menu. The bartender was amazingly nice and friendly. She helped us right away, place our orders, gave a taste of their take on a Moscow Mule and checked in on us at the right times. We were there for their happy hour, score! So we saved a few bucks and took advantage of the specials. We ordered strictly from the happy hour appetizer menu and had way more than enough food. We also went for one of their house margs. The Mule was not to our liking.
The food came out really fast and when each dish was ready. First up was the guacamole. I liked that they put balsamic vinegar on the top. The guac could use some more spice and the chips came out warm but I am not convinced they are house made. They were kind of flimsy. We had to leave several chip fragments behind in the guac. Next came the Elotes. This was a nice treat to alternate between. I liked the lime citrus hit that came through the corn and cheese. My fiancé raved about the jalapeño cornbread and ate very crumb, literally. I enjoyed the Shishito Peppers. It’s always a gamble each time you take a new pepper. I enjoyed the server’s comment, «good luck.», as he set down the plate. Last up were the Brussels Sprouts. I think they were backed. Normally I do not like backed sprouts because they get soft and mushy. These were just that but it seemed like they had been marinated in something that gave them a nice juicy flavor that I enjoyed. Overall the food was great, our bartender was attentive (all of them were actually, and all were super nice), I enjoyed the décor, but I think they need to figure out the front of the house and save some tables for the walk ups.

Came here for an event with my job. We were served tacos, chips and guacamole, and quesadillas. (The shrimp quesadillas were excellent). I also really enjoyed the sangria and margarita I had, and the ambiance was perfect for a fun evening out. However, many of my coworkers ended up with incorrect bills when we closed out our tabs, and the bartender also didn’t tell us that the tip was included in the total (to be fair, this may have been printed on the receipt – I don’t remember looking too closely at it). Even so, service certainly could have been better.

Two words: Happy Hour
Came here with a friend on Tuesday for a post work drink. Thankfully, we got there right in the middle of happy hour. From 5 – 7, Barcocina does $ 6 margs, $ 3 Mexican beers and half off tacos. That’s a hell of a deal!
My friend and I ended up getting a couple drinks and an order of tacos each. I started with the house marg, which was fine, nothing special. I felt great paying 6 bucks for it but $ 11 might be a bit much. I also went with the Korean short rib tacos as our waiter recommended it. He actually talked me out of the cheeseburger tacos so I really appreciated his honesty. Short rib tacos were solid; I would get them again.
Overall, I was impressed with Barcocina. This place is MASSIVE, with a new and shiny chique interior. If you can go for happy hour, even better!

Really one of the worst experiences in a restaurant I’ve had in awhile, this review is a few months over due.
Went here with a group of 8 girls for a friends birthday, sat in the bar. They were busy but we were extremely low maintenance. We all ordered the same drinks and all order tacos for dinner. Drinks took an exceptionally long time to receive (even water).
But for dinner… they brought out each order of tacos separately??? How does that happen when we all ordered the same thing? That means the first person who got their food had to wait at least 15 minutes until everyone at the table had their tacos. Which… never happened because I never got my tacos. I alerted the server that we were still waiting on one order and he proceeded to give the tables around us the exact tacos that I ordered before me…
I worked in the industry so I hardly ever complain but I was legitimately dumbfounded that now two tables around me (at least 20 minutes later, all my friends were finished eating) had gotten exactly what I ordered, but I still had nothing. Finally got them about 25 minutes later.
I then went to the host stand to ask for a manager and she then told me she «couldn’t find him». Okay… I think told her that I would wait because I DIDN’T want him to come to the table, as I didn’t want to make it a big deal since it was my friend’s birthday. She told me she would come grab me when he’s available. Two minutes later, he comes to the table… seriously?
He then smirked through his entire speech of how he appreciated our service and that he was sorry, I’ve never encountered a manager like that before. Not remotely genuine and extremely awkward.
The server then brought all of us luke-​warm tequila shots as a «sorry» and the only thing he took of the bill was my one order of $ 12 tacos. At least give us a free round or something for all the trouble…
Just a very weird and mind boggling experience for someone who works in the industry. On top of everything, the food was not good. Lobster guac wasn’t even touched at our table and they didn’t bother to ask how it was/​take it off the bill.
Just no customer service. Will not be back.

My friends and I came to Barcocina on a Saturday night for dinner before we hit the bars HARD! The space is large with a good amount of seating, which thankfully made our wait time extremely short.
After being seated we waited about 10 minutes for our waiter to finally make his appearance to take our drink order and at this time we asked for the Barcocina Guacamole. About 15 minutes later he comes back with 2 of our 3 drinks (luckily one of those drinks that arrived was mine). However, our guacamole had yet to arrive even though our patrons who had been seated after us were receiving their guacamole faster than you can say, «Where’s the guac?!?» When I asked our waiter if we were still getting the guacamole we ordered his response was, «Oh you didn’t get it?» I had to stop myself from saying a smart a** comment back to him. I mean IF we had received the guacamole would I be ASKING if we are going to get it anytime soon? I let Jesus take the wheel and I just said, «No.» So the waiter went off in search of our missing guacamole and just as he leaves our table our entrees come. 5 minutes AFTER our entrees arrived our waiter arrived back with the guacamole. At this point we didn’t even want it.
So yeah while the service sucked the food was good. I really liked the cheeseburger taco, but not enough to come back again to experience crappy service.

Barcocina is beautiful inside, would be awesome for a large group. The service is on point. Our server was well educated, had tried everything and helped us select drinks for our tastes. Total win!
We had the following:
Barcocina guacamole: you must order this! Some of the best guac I’ve ever had. The balsamic adds the perfect sweet flavor to the spice that’s in the guacamole. I could’ve ate 10 of these.
Queso Fundido: this too was interestingly different. It has a slightly sweet flavor and the egg on top… Yum!
Adobo Steak Tacos: perfection, the steak was seasoned/​marinated well and the salsa verde on top makes the taco. Simple and well executed.
Cheeseburger Taco: Our curiosities got us! And barcocina won! This taco… So cool. You have your beef, smoked cheddar, cabbage, a little tomato and onion topped with the mango ketchup. Every layer of a cheeseburger in a tortilla.
I’ll be back for sure, and you should try it!

I feel tired after being at Barcocina because there was just a lot going on. I guess I should have expected that for a huge, trendy restaurant in Lakeview on a Friday night at the end of summer. If there was 3.5 stars, I would give that… I don’t quite feel that it deserves 3 stars or 4 stars.
We had a party of 6 with an 8:30 reservation on a Friday night. We got there early and were seated early (four stars). We ordered margaritas that were $ 11, and for all the ice that was in them, I felt that they were definitely overpriced…(three stars). It’s shareable plates and our waitress recommended that we order 6 – 10 things to share. We ordered 6 and that was plenty believe it or not. We started with the guac (amazing) and the queso fundido (very good) but they were both served in tiny skillets. The tacos that we ordered were really the stars of the show– very flavorful. However, i noticed during my indulgence of one of the steak tacos that there were two… MAYBE three pieces of tiny steak in there. Hmmm.
Ambiance is awesome. It’s a huge place with lots of space to hang out. The food was good but just no different than any other mexican restaurant. Bar is super cool and huge. I missed some of the mexican classics: burritos, quesadillas, tamales, etc… that I wish would have been included. I also just feel like tapas is hard to do mexican.
I would like to say I’d come back here to have a margarita in the bar, but $ 11 just isn’t worth what is in the glass.

Loved brunch at Barcocina. Especially love that they take reservations although at 11am on a Saturday there were plenty of open tables. The space is so open and airy. Tons of seating. Just a great vibe overall. I hope they are successful in their efforts to open the outdoor patio next summer as the large space is definitely being wasted right now.
We brunched with friends and their baby. Plenty of room for a stroller to stand next to your table without getting in anyone’s way.
For my drink, I ordered a champagne margarita. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was just a margarita and a split of sparkling. Not bad, but I thought it’d be a little more inventive or… something. Anyway, for the price, you’re essentially getting 2 drinks in 1 so nothing to complain about, I guess!
As for food, we ordered the pozole for the table. It was great and flavorful, but I think would go over better for dinner than brunch. For my entrée, I had the chilaquiles, which were great and a portion so large I only finished about half. My husband had the chorizo benedict. The others had the fish tacos as well as steak and eggs. All good reviews and equally sizable portions.
My biggest annoyances were: the server explained the entire menu to us. This is obviously something management instructed them to do and it happens at so many restaurants and I don’t understand why. I know how to read, there is nothing out of the ordinary about the way the menu is set up. It just makes for a weird, awkward experience as you nod along when someone says «on the left are the cocktails and on the right is our beer list.» Similarly, she explained what chilaquiles are. Twice. Unprompted. This isn’t some exotic dish. Idk, these are just pet peeves.

Barcocina opened up recently around the corner and the most immediate selling point had to be the great atmosphere and massive outside seating areas (though lately they haven’t used some of their outside seating).
Partly because it’s new, partly because it’s such a chic atmosphere, the line is always massive. The trick? Make a reservation. Most places like this don’t have reservations and you’re stuck waiting in line. Just decide to go earlier in the day and chances are you’ll be able to reserve a table.
The drink menu is pretty good. I went with the only bourbon-​based drink on the menu (plenty of margarita and tequila drinks) called the New Fashioned. Honestly, didn’t expect much and was totally wrong. It was really good! Fairly strong and a great twist on an Old Fashioned.
They advertise themselves as a small plates and our waitress said we’d need 2 – 3 small plates per person, but that’s nonsense. My girlfriend and I split the barcocina dip, and two orders of tacos (3 tacos per order) and we were plenty full.
We got the cheeseburger tacos which turned out to be absolutely fantastic and they came with a mango catsup which i found quite tasty even though I don’t like mango. They didn’t taste like cheeseburgers; instead they were full of really interesting and unique flavors.
Also got the grilled fish tacos. A little more traditional an offering, but I was so glad they’re grilled, not fried. And, not just your standard cod or tilapia, it was some fish akin to red snapper. The chipotle aioli came in a separate dish so you could put on the amount you desired.
Definitely going back to barcocina. Little pricy, but worth it I think. And those cheeseburger tacos…

«This place will be great for the next restaurant that comes in.»
Boom. My boyfriend’s comment sums up our view of this place. It’s a great remodel of the old Soprano’s space, but Barcocina falls flat.
Snoot from the host: We ask for a table for 2 on a weekday a few weeks ago– the place is half empty. She says that she can’t give us a table because of expected reservations. Fine, we took seats at the bar. Our bartender/​server was really nice. We came for tacos, but at the suggestion of our server, we ordered the elotes dip to start which came with chips.
Again, since the place wasn’t very full we got our food very quickly, but they gave us our appetizer and tacos all together. Bummer. The tacos were so weak. I got the lamb tacos with some flavorless brown dipping sauce. He got the adobo steak which again, not much taste. The elotes dip was not good. We didn’t eat much of it. Our margarita drinks were fine.
The bottom line is that this is a heavily remodeled bar that serves tacos as an afterthought. The patio and the window panels that open up to the street are inviting, but I guess you would come here to drink, not eat which is too bad because Lakeview could use a nicer place in this neck of Sheffield. But my guess is that the owners are fine with that since alcohol has higher margins. Oh, and I doubt those ‘expected reservations’ ever showed up.
There are so many taco places in Chicago. Not coming back.