There's a first time for everything, so let this be my first LTH post on an eating and drinking place. Insert thrilled expression smiley face here ( )

Thank you for having me.

Anyhootinanee, been looking forward to this opening since learning about the concept. Of course, I've been following its development online. I do feel like Big Star the Big Picture hasn't been revealed yet, but do believe that the stage it is at now is well worth commenting on. The Big Picture I prophesize about is the life that Big Star will take on when then the taco window is open and the patio is filled with 100 seats.

So, it seems like it has been made clear that Big Star is a bar with food. The ID check at the door sets that tone upon entering and the wrap around bar welcomes you once you make it inside. Even though Big Star is "just" a bar with food, I hope that a discussion is spurred off about other bars with food in Chicago because for one, I think it could make for interesting discussion and two, you can never have too long of a recommended eating and drinking list.

I guess I'll summarize my visit to Big Star (the pre-supercharged, bored-out Big Star) like this: There are several things that I look for in a good dining experience. Not necessarily in any order, I look for these general things:

1. Good food;
2. Good drink;
3. Good service;
4. Good design;
5. Good value;
6. Good music.

More specifically, I look for:

1. A chef-driven menu with real food made with real good ingredients;

2. A carefully crafted bar menu that includes interestingly sourced beers, spirits and wines and well-mixed drinks;

3. Service that includes a pleasant greeting at the door and when exiting the door and amicable table and bar service;

4. A creative design vision that blends form and function;

5. Whether cheap or expensive, the experience should be worth the money;

6. Good music, is unfortunately, more often than not, an occasional bonus at restaurants and bars. More often than not, bars win over restaurants in this category. Music at restaurants ranges anywhere from non-existent, muffled, too-loud or generic. Since everyone's taste in music differs, just as taste in food differs, I believe, again, that good music at a bar or restaurant is often the result of the same effort that went into the food or drink menu. A place that is known for good music didn't just turn on the DMX box.

Finally, to be even more specific here are some of my observations and experiences as they relate to each of the six points:

1. Chefs Paul Kahan and Justin Large have created a well-edited menu of authentic style tacos on hand-made tortillas with locally sourced and pastured meats. They have also included some appetizers like queso fundido that is bound to be a favorite dish of my wife and I for years to come. Salsas, guacamole, side dishes are all made by a chef-run kitchen with farm-fresh ingredients;

2. The bar menu is a collaboration between the operators and a well-known mixologist/barman. Since I don't many folks behind the stick I'm not "personally" familiar with him but I know he has a following similar to the type of following that good chefs in Chicago have. The bar menu ranges from a dollar 7 oz. Schlitz on draft to high-end bourbons and tequilas with reasonably priced, well-mixed cocktails comprised of fresh-squeezed juices and herbs and good bottles of beer in between. Square ice cubes are a sophisticated touch for the sophisticated distillations.

3. Good service begins with the greeting at the door. Good service continues to the bar or the table in the form of congeniality, a professed knowledge of the food and drink menu and a properly poured drink. Good service ends with a salutation on exit.

4. Good design should be apparent on the exterior of the space and flow into the interior. There should be an identifiable vision and everything should have it's place. Form and function are the body and the movable parts of the operation. The design should enable the food to get to you without a hindrance when things are hopping and it should make the food look good on the bar or the table. You should feel good sitting at the bar and you should be able to see your friends at the other side of the bar (hinting at the benefits of a U-shaped bar);

5. 2-3 bucks for tacos. 7-8 bucks for a margarita, 3 buck cans of beer, a dollar short pour of beer is the average price range here but the sky is the limit depending on your drinking habits. Big Star is a value;

6. Music can be lumped into the design category as audible wallpaper but can most definitely stand as a category of it's own. Meant to serve as the soundtrack of Depression era Bakersfield California, old country tunes play from the turntable. It will be interesting to see if the music is woven into atmosphere of the large patio when it opens.

I guess after all this careful analysis I could summarize Big Star as a bar that offers a distillation of most, if not all of the things that I look for in a restaurant. That said, who wants to join me at the bar for dinner?!

My impressions are similar to yours, almost across the board. I'd give a lot of credit to the Mexicans/Mexican-Americans working in the kitchen who are mostly preparing/plating the food, also - as the menu seems pretty much "home cooking" (Mexican) style items (or more of a fast-food, traditional Mexican item list) and not something that takes a celebrity chef to originate. I found the decor the real weak point in the operation (including a light level that made it very difficult to discern what I was eating) - bland, boring, minimalist. There was no music playing when I visited, so I have no opinion about that item. I think, it's a bit early, though, to call a special meeting to award a GNR (let's wait another week).

Made it to Big Star tonight. Food was awesome. Pork belly tacos were excellent but I loved the tacos al pastor, the grilled pineapple was perfect. I actually thought the guacamole was the highlight. Awesome flavor and with radish, well done...and homemade chips.

art wrote:More specifically, I look for:

1. A chef-driven menu with real food made with real good ingredients;

2. A carefully crafted bar menu that includes interestingly sourced beers, spirits and wines and well-mixed drinks;

3. Service that includes a pleasant greeting at the door and when exiting the door and amicable table and bar service;

4. A creative design vision that blends form and function;

5. Whether cheap or expensive, the experience should be worth the money;

6. Good music

This is a well-articulated list of criteria!

Judging against other neighborhood taverns with pedigreed chefs serving tacos with house made tortillas and an immense list of small-batch bourbons, I'd definitely say that Big Star is in the Top 10. Judging the food against Chicago's better Mexican restaurants would be another story, and Big Star would not measure up.

When I order tacos al pastor, I'm often disappointed by the lack of bark or other textural contrast. It's often just bland, marinated pork. At Big Star I had the opposite problem - my taco al pastor was all crunchy, chewy carbonized bits with no meaty texture or actual pork flavor. The tortilla was great though.

Tacos de rajas y queso were pretty good, and provided a canvas on which I could try each of the house made salsas. These were universally disappointing, with the flavor of each unique pepper completely muted by the vinegary sourness. It's a real shame to take earthy, smoky and delicious chile de arbol, and ruin it that way.

Guacamole was terrific, with a liminess I find overly tame in lesser versions. But I think the kitchen was struggling to keep up with the crowds, because the piping hot, fresh-fried chips served with the guac hadn't had time to drain, and they were just dripping with fryer oil. Not good.

The fish tostada was pretty bad. The heavy dose of smoke could cover up the aluminum-flavored shreds of flesh only so much, and the sour crema seemed to actually enhance the metallic taste.

Friendly, professional staff, carefully prepared cocktails for seven bucks, and food prices that won't break the bank will surely keep the crowds coming to Big Star. I'll be having drinks at Bar Deville with dinner from the tamale guy.

What an amazing place. I had three delectable tacos (al pastor, pork belly, pork belly again) and two solid tostadas (fish and chicken). The salsas were bland for the most part, but the experience was excellent. The bourbon cocktails, while simple, went well with the food and I was happy to see two Anderson Valley brews represented on the impressive beer list. Oh, and I did enjoy the inclusion of a dulce de leche milkshake, even if it wasn't nearly as thick as it should've been...

Tasty food with refreshing cocktails for cheap? And energetic bartenders and honky tonk music? Count me in. Again and again and again.

gleam wrote:One thing of note: all prices include tax, so a $2 taco is really a $2 taco, so the prices really are dirt cheap.

Is this true with their drinks as well?

pigOut wrote:

gleam wrote:One thing of note: all prices include tax, so a $2 taco is really a $2 taco, so the prices really are dirt cheap.

Is this true with their drinks as well?

It was true of my non-alcoholic limeade. I don't know about the alcoholic stuff.

pigOut wrote:

gleam wrote:One thing of note: all prices include tax, so a $2 taco is really a $2 taco, so the prices really are dirt cheap.

Is this true with their drinks as well?

Drink pricing (as well as food) at The Violet Hour (under overlapping ownership) is inclusive of tax, so it would not surprise me if the same is true across the street.

I'm guessing it is. My draft beer and shot of tequila cost $9 even (no odd cents).

Made it over to Big Star today around 5 pm and quickly found a spot at the approximately 80% occupied bar...none of the booths were occupied while I was there. Ordered goat, pork belly, and al pastor tacos along with an order of guacamole & chips. The guacamole was quite good and the enormous portion of fresh fried chips were excellent. Of the three tacos I had, I liked the pastor the best largely because it was the only one I felt really packed much flavor. The goat was dry and I wouldn't have known it was goat if I myself hadn't ordered it (the consomme it came with didn't do much to help it). The pork belly was alright, but lacked the unctuousness that I was looking for. I also felt all of the tortillas used for the tacos could have been warmer. Overall, the tacos were okay but I think they suffered most from a lack of seasoning which is perhaps due to the restaurant trying to appeal to a broad audience.

I also tried the three varieties of salsas both by themselves and on the chips and I much preferred the smokey chipotle-based one.

While I think Big Star offers good quality food and drinks at very reasonable prices (esp. considering the area it's located), I was a little underwhelmed. I think this had equally as much to do with the food as me just having too high of expectations. FYI: all food and drinks including alcohol have tax included in the price.

Menu scan:


Was at Big Star on Monday...ended up ordering a decent amount of food- taco al pastor, goat taco, pork belly taco, chicken tostada, and the chips & guac. The goat was the only underwhelming dish- it just seemed bland. Everything else was very good ...pastor maybe a little heavy on pineapple, but that didn't detract from the meat, a good mix of crunchy charred pieces and more tender ones. Pork belly was as wonderful as pork belly should be. Chicken tostada was the surprise- I ordered it because of G Wiv's rec earlier in the thread, and even so the flavor exceeded my expectations...very well seasoned, and the crunch from the fried tortilla was particularly satisfying. Guacamole, as noted by others was citrusy with lots of onions and a generous serving of chips. Table salsas were not impressive, but the only dish that truly needed them was the goat taco.

I'm not sure I spent less than I would have at some other bar...but the prices (w/ tax included) are more than reasonable, and there's a lot to be said for eating quality tacos instead of standard bar fare. The room isn't the most comfortable, especially if you don't have a place to sit...but I walked away from Big Star impressed and eager to return.

Excellent scan - ¡muchas gracias!

Nice signature quote too

Big Star has all the interior warmth of a prison cell or decompression tank: if you brought fun in with you, it would die a dark, shivering death. It would at least be fed, but if you can't see, hear, or have any interaction with the food other than getting the vague sensation of "salty" on the right edge of your fungiform papillae, you're not really thriving.

The space is somehow, stupefyingly, not an improvement over the soulless Pontiac Cafe; Thundercans could have done a better job with half a bucket of paint from my basement, an Ikea rug, and some hubcaps collected from the Dan Ryan. Sound bounces off the bare, colorless walls like an all-metal stairwell, making your brain hurt. At least in the evening, when the food arrives, it's a small dark salty mass on a small pale disc of some soft material, perhaps accompanied by a small bowl filled with a dark salty wet substance that may have something to do with the process of cooking in a dark salty kitchen. More indistinguishable substances are available for invisible garnishing in plastic squeeze bottles. I have only some indirect evidence that the food does empirically have some color and dimension from Ed's impossibly adjusted photos upthread (anyone ever see the reality show "Dating in the Dark?"), and is not in fact intrinsically deathly brown like some benthic fangly fish.

As the nitrogen narcosis starts to take a hold of you, flashes of hallucinogenic synesthesia reveal that there may be quality food nestled inside the tortillas - a warm sense of gold from caramelized pineapple in the al pastor, an itch of red from the rub on the braised goat, a happy pink oink from the pork belly tacos - and slight variances in texture suggest the presence of a crumbled cheese, radishes, maybe some toasted shallots. All I can know definitively from personal experience is that everything is salty and black and $2. And that the eager staff and patrons are vaguely humanoid in general shape. I think.

The horchata is good.


Rating: one benthic fangly fish

How were the portions?

As the nitrogen narcosis starts to take a hold of you, flashes of hallucinogenic synesthesia

You make this sound like it's a bad thing?

Santander wrote:As the nitrogen narcosis starts to take a hold of you, flashes of hallucinogenic synesthesia reveal that there may be quality food nestled inside the tortillas - a warm sense of gold from caramelized pineapple in the al pastor, an itch of red from the rub on the braised goat, a happy pink oink from the pork belly tacos - and slight variances in texture suggest the presence of a crumbled cheese, radishes, maybe some toasted shallots. All I can know definitively from personal experience is that everything is salty and black and $2. And that the eager staff and patrons are vaguely humanoid in general shape. I think.

The horchata is good.

I guess I should leave my $1000 Dolce and Cafona sunglasses in the car if I ever go... (No one would be able to see them.)

A

I've been here twice in a week. I quite like it. Will write up more when I have time. They don't answer the phone, though.

Can anyone say with any certainty when the kitchen closes. A friend lands at O'Hare at 11:30 pm and am looking for somewhere to eat this evening.

BryanZ wrote:I've been here twice in a week. I quite like it. Will write up more when I have time. They don't answer the phone, though.

Can anyone say with any certainty when the kitchen closes. A friend lands at O'Hare at 11:30 pm and am looking for somewhere to eat this evening.

From up thread...

grahamhh wrote:Was expecting them to serve all night, and was foiled when the kitchen closed at 11, minutes after I finally was able to get a bar seat. Quite a few industry luminaries in there, all laughing and getting smashed. The equally pickled patrons that I waiting behind raved about the food as well. Probably gonna try to swing by again tonight and give it a try. The platanos fritos looked incredible.

SSDD

I was able to score some tacos after 11pm this Tuesday (probably around 11:30pm), so the kitchen closure may vary day to day.

This past Monday night/Tuesday morning, were told when we called that the kitchen had closed at 1 am. It was about 1:30 at the time. Ended up at Arturo's instead.

=R=

According to one of the managers at the Publican, 1 am. At least on Fridays. I think it'll be a good stop. But then again there's Avec. And Kuma's perhaps. Will likely end up at all three this week, so it's not like the decision matters all that much.

The Violet Hour-Big Star one-two punch has to be one of the great combos in Chicago right now. Especially for someone who dabbles in hipsterdom and misses the proximity of downtown NYC, being able to cross the street from one to another just speaks to me on some deeper level.

And, yes, $1 baby beers don't hurt either.

First time I was here was day two of operations. Slammed, rather obnoxious. I'm okay with it. What I'm less okay with was a bit of attitude I felt like I got from the bartender. Not agressively douchey, just hipper-than-thou. And I'm quite hip, I assure you. Whatever, the food came quickly, and was tasty and freaking cheap. Second time was actually able to get seats at the bar. Bustling but bearable. Definitely my kind of scene, and still the same delicious food and cheapness. And the bartendress even smiled. Big Star is that girl that I'm kind of obsessed with. Who isn't particularly friendly. Who is also cool enough and just nice enough to keep me wanting more. I also apparently like girls that build wraparound bars that take up too much floorspace. Oh well, she's not perfect.

The goat tacos weren't ethereal, but I was satisfied. I also liked the consomme quite a bit. Nice and rich in the mouth. Pork belly tacos, what's not to love? I find the frijoles charros and queso fundido to be not-as-good-as-in-Mexico but very tasty all the same. As bar food, it's really top notch. Did I mention cheap? I can do beers and snacks and spend less than $20. The fish tostada was perhaps my surprise favorite. I'm not likely to order it as often as the meaty goodness, but it's a nice composed bit of food.

The triangle between my place, TVH, and here will surely be one heavily traveled. And I haven't even gotten into the spirits and cocktail list yet.

I went to Big Star last night with my wife and a friend, after a few drinks and snacks at the violet hour. We arrived at Big Star at about 8:30pm and the place was packed. We wandered around the bar area for a while and finally two seats opened up. I hate free-for-all seating.

We ordered a plate of chips and salsa and the fish tostada to split, then we each had the goat taco and the pork belly taco. The chips are freshly made and served with three salsas - a mild red chile salsa, a medium-spiced tomatillo salsa, and a hot habanero/tomatillo salsa. All were excellent. The fish tostada was fine - probably not a great dish to split. the tacos were excellent. Unlike Rene G above, I didn't find the texture of the goat taco to be mushy at all - in fact, if anything it was a little dry. My only complaint about the tacos is that they are served on tortillas that are slightly on the small side for the amount of meat they put on. I'd prefer either a slightly larger tortilla or at least a second tortilla to help keep things inside.

I also had the dulce de leche shake, which was excellent.

I like Big Star and will definitely go back. But since it was packed at 8:30pm on a Monday night, I think this will be a place I go only when I am in the neighborhood and can get there very early.

Darren72 wrote:
I like Big Star and will definitely go back. But since it was packed at 8:30pm on a Monday night, I think this will be a place I go only when I am in the neighborhood and can get there very early.

Echo.

I had flashbacks to the days of trying to snag a bar seat/table at Frontera on a busy night. Even if you're successful, you have people lurking around you, begging with their eyes for you to hurry up and turn the table over. Then it's practically a cage match to see who actually lands the seats.

Come by yourself and squeeze in, or come with a group of 4 or more, so you can at least get a table the civilized, old fashioned way.

Was at Big Star again on Wednesday. Nice vibe to the place. Not slammed, good stream of people in and out. Lucked out and got one of the spacious booths for my party of four before I'd even finished my first drink. Cocktails are very simple but thankfully not too sweet. They won't necessarily win awards for balance and subtlety but are better than what you're find at your typical neighborhood joint owing to them being made with decent spirits. Got around to trying the pastor tacos, finally. Heavy pineapple flavor that was interesting, if also a bit out of balance. I liked it though.

The kitchen seems to grill pretty hard across all the meats. There's some nice char in the pastor and chicken items, but they do sometimes come out just a bit dry. It's like a tradeoff of sorts.

clogoodie wrote:Menu scan:

Wait... $17, $18 beers? What am I missing?

radparker wrote:Wait... $17, $18 beers? What am I missing?

I don't know about all of them, but the Le Merle is a 750 ml bottle.

Lee

leek wrote:

radparker wrote:Wait... $17, $18 beers? What am I missing?

I don't know about all of them, but the Le Merle is a 750 ml bottle.

Lee

Well that entire section is under the heading "1pint, 6ounces", so yes each of the beers in 24 oz or about 750ml.

SSDD

Wait... $17, $18 beers? What am I missing?

Did you miss the Lost Abbey "Inferno" at $19 per bottle?

Well that entire section is under the heading "1pint, 6ounces", so yes each of the beers in 24 oz or about 750ml.

Actually one pint, six ounces is 22 ounces or about 650 mL. Despite the heading I think the bottles in the list vary in size—some are 22 oz, some are 750 mL.

I don't find Big Star's markup to be particularly excessive. To take one example of an expensive beer, a 22 oz bottle of Goose Island "Sophie" sells for $7.99—about $9 after taxes—at Treasure Island (you can find it cheaper or you can pay more). It's $16—with no added tax—at Big Star.

It's nice having a couple Port Brewing and Lost Abbey (misspelled on the menu) beers available. They aren't common on bar lists in Chicago. To cite another price example, a 750 mL bottle of Lost Abbey "Inferno" is $9.99 (pre-tax) at Binny's and $19 (with tax) at Big Star. For those who don't like the prices, there's always the $1 glass of Schlitz.

El Panzone, dedicated student of bourbon that he is, found a couple relative bargains on the whiskey list. At least one of them seems to be a pricing error. I won't mention what it is but look over the menu carefully and enjoy it while you can.