Cafe Bolero [Cuban]

Yesterday, after running too many errands, the last thing my wife and I wanted to do was cook. We were looking for something hearty and found it at Cafe Bolero.

The menu is primarily Cuban. They have an interesting selection of appetizers, some salads, sandwiches, and traditional entrees (ropa vieja, oxtail stew, etc). Most dishes come with rice, black beans, and maduros (sweet plantains). Short, but interesting wine list. Mostly Spanish and Latin American beers, and requisite rum cocktails.

We ended up getting the the whole fried snapper, which came with a simple salad of lettuce, tomato, onion, and cucumber. The fish was fried pretty "hard" but the meat inside was still very moist and tasty. We added on an extra order or rice, beans, and tostones which were perfect and hit the spot. I could eat their rice and beans solo and be content. We ended with a coconut and a plain flan, which were good, not great. (Next time, I might opt to walk/drive down to nearby Margie's for dessert next time). Dinner, dessert, and two drinks came to $50 pre-tip.

Nice mix of people in the restaurant, which kept filling as the night went on. Service was friendly. They didn't last night, but it looks like they're set up for outdoor dining. Live entertainment a couple night a week (Thurs and ??).

I'd really like to go back to work my way through the rest of the menu. Does anybody have any more experience with this place vs. other Cuban restaurants in the city?

Cafe Bolero
2252 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL
773-227-9000


Buen provecho,
Zee

Zeeshan wrote:They didn't last night, but it looks like they're set up for outdoor dining. Live entertainment a couple night a week (Thurs and ??).

I'd really like to go back to work my way through the rest of the menu. Does anybody have any more experience with this place vs. other Cuban restaurants in the city?

Zee,

I wandered into Cafe Bolero the day before yesterday. I've been to their sister location, Cafe Cubano, on North Avenue in Elmwood Park, and liked it quite a lot: a few years ago, I went there three times in 24 hours.

I believe there is a Cuban Jazz festival at Cafe Bolero the weekend after next -- I glanced at a sign as I was leaving, and because it was unlikely I'd make it back, did not take note...but I know it's happening soon.

Wandering in the area, I also stopped in at Cafe Boricua on Fullerton -- this Puerto Rican place looked very promising.

Hammond

Zim and I have corroborated on a rather lengthy and out-of-date list of Cuban and other Latin American. Juan does a nice job at Bolero, always has. NB, Cubans call snapper pargo, Mexicans call it huachinango. I point this out as deep fried snapper seems to be a theme today.

I saw the signs on the doors for the jazz festival. I can't recall the date exactly (but want to say the 5th), but it seemed like it was going to be a good day's worth of music.

...and just to complicate things a little, I think Puerto Ricans call snapper chillo.

--Zee

That's right. The University of Florida offers some nice red snapper info. You'll see that its habitat is basically the Gulf, Caribbean and tropical/subtropical Western Atlantic.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/D ... apper.html

Obviously, this means that the Nayarit and other Pacific Mexican seafood places selling red snapper (not to mention the Thai, Viet and Chinese places selling it), are not selling what they eat at home. In the case of pescado sarandeado, the "correct" fish, as I have read, is sea bream. Of course, in Nayarit, the fish is called pargo. Figures.

Fish nomenclature is tricky. I have had several bony little pomfrets in Viet restaurants after seeing the fish described as "baby flounder." Not hardly.

BTW, the "Pacific Snapper," like so many other fish, is a marketing gimmick as I understand it. Rockfish. Sounds better than toothfish, I guess.

One thing I've always partucularly liked at the elmwood park location (though I have to admit to it being qute some times since I had it) was their hand with octopus/pulpo - found it by far the tastiest stuff i had there

in fact it inspired my kids to chant "Mom eat Octopus" over and over to try to convince my veggie wife to give it a try

Sure there may be more drama across the street at Honey1 and/or Think, but why not watch it from the cozy vantage of Bolero?

We had another great meal here. My wife had the fricasse de pollo (chicken stew) and I had the fish steak en escabeche. The food was good, but will keep me coming back are the near flawless, (crack-rock like) black beans, rice and tostones. It's simple food, for sure, but also easy to mess up.

Live music in the back room and staff who treated us like we were regulars, even though we've only been 2-3 times made it a great night out.

z

We went last night (Friday) 7:30 to the one on Western S. of Fullerton, and there was a short wait for outside seating (we got the last empty table) and no wait for inside. The outside seating was nice, service was good and friendly. I had the skirt steak, Dear Hubby (forever after to be DH) had scrimps (a la plancha?). Both were good. The bread came with some sort of mildly garlicky spread and was warm. The steak was cooked as I requested, but had no char - it was pretty wet. It tasted good, but I think next time I'll go with another item. The cuban sandwiches looked good, as did the list of tapas. It also looked like there were enough vegetarian options to suit those so inclined. They actually had a reasonable wine list (short, but not the usual plonk - perhaps it's just different plonk, I don't know, we didn't taste them all )

Anyway, we'll be back. But there are an awful lot of other places to try along that strip of Western, too!

I have been going to Cafe Bolero for years. It is a nice spot. My favorite thing on the menu is the prok chops - thin with a nice sauce. My favorite thing on the menu used to be the mussels - garlicy tomaato sauce. However, shellfish have turned on me and they give me horrible pain in my stomach (this has nothing to do with Bolero but me).

The sangria and mojitos are real good too.

I lived down the street from Bolero for a number of years and was actually there the first day they were open. I have always enjoyed their stuffed hamburger and the arroz con pollo.

Just for clarification sake, Cafe Cubano on North Ave has not been owned or run by the same family as Bolero for quite a few years. The food reflects this, also.

-ramon

I have always liked their Cuban sandwiches...especially the stuffed hamburger (olives and cheese for me) ' Ropa Viejo' is also good. Somebody in the kitchen is Serbian (?the owners wife)...and a very nice house made cevapacici will sometimes turn up as a special (might have been on the regular menu for awhile too).

kuhdo wrote:Somebody in the kitchen is Serbian (?the owners wife)...and a very nice house made cevapacici will sometimes turn up as a special (might have been on the regular menu for awhile too).

The sausage was on the regular menu this past weekend. They serve it with feta.

Drove by today and noticed a big sign noting that CB was now under new management and BYOB. Anybody pass by recently at a slower pace (or have additional info by other means)?

z

Wow! I'll make a point to get over there for dinner this week.

They were closed for about a month, and just opened up a week ago. We went last night, and the food is as good as ever. The menu seems the same (it's a different printing and format, so perhaps they changed the prices). The Eastern European sausages are still there. I had goat stew, and it was fantastic. DH had scrimps again, which he said were good. We shared a ceviche, which was tasty, but the items in it seemed over "cooked".

Right now the outdoor seating isn't open, and they are BYO. Eventually the permits will be granted, and they'll be back to normal. Apparently the parents transferred the restaurant to the kids, and the permits have to get transferred as well.

edited to add - I forgot - they had live music! Two guys played about 3 songs on guitar, then they got paid - in dinner - not a bad gig

leek wrote:Right now the outdoor seating isn't open, and they are BYO. Eventually the permits will be granted, and they'll be back to normal. Apparently the parents transferred the restaurant to the kids, and the permits have to get transferred as well.

I just read in the Greater Goethe CAPS minutes that the owners of El Cid are now running Cafe Bolero (see section 3). I had no idea that Bolero and El Cid were family related businesses.

Juan Gonzales and his fmr. wife Barbara- opened a Cuban restaurant (serving some side dishes from Yugoslavia (I always forget, Bosnian or Serbian??) due to Barbara's heritage) in a building on Western at Belden, in 1993.
Juan's brother is also in the business- running El Cid on Kedzie (which he plans on expanding to the 2nd floor - creating more of a lounge atmosphere)
I used to live in the neighborhood- and knew the whole family (Mama Gonzales used to cook up some Tasty Latin soups when they 1st opened).

Disclosure:
My Hand-Forged metal work graces the windows on the Belden Street side- "burglar bars" hand-forged in the shape of indigenous plants from Cuba.

Drove past Bolero this afternoon...and noticed a distinct lack of a BYOB banner on the awning.

One phone call later and it's confirmed - the liquor license is back, which means I'm way more likely to stop in. Good times.

oh that's a bummer if you ask me... i'd much rather go to BYOB than non-BYOB.

i was just there two weeks ago... food was good.

they'd make you mojitoes if you provided the liquor for it... kinda cool i thought...

We had a nice dinner at Cafe Bolero last night. The inside is pleasant and lively, maybe a little too dark...

(descriptions of dishes are directly from their online menu)
We started with Tortilla Espanola-- omelet stuffed high with potatoes, onions, green and red peppers with your choice of chicken, beef, or veggies, topped with cheese, a spicy tomato sauce and sprinkled with cilantro


Also as an appetizer we got Ensalada Bolero lettuce, tomatoes, onions, carrots, corn, avocado, feta cheese with freshly squeezed lime juice, olive oil and cilantro -- as compliment of Juan (this morning I realized that we were actually charged for it, but I am sure it was an honest mistake):


We had :

Ropa Vieja shredded flank steak simmered for 5 hours in a roasted pepper, tomato and garlic sauce (no picture)

Fricase De Pollo tender chicken stewed to perfection with roasted peppers, garlic, potatoes and herbs in a tomato base sauce (no picture)

Paella Vegetarian a colorful, meatless dish with peas, lima beans, carrots, artichokes, red peppers, tomatoes and a wonderful touch of ground almonds:


Everything was delicious..including the mojitos:

Living Social deal of the day.

$20 for $40 worth of food and drinks at Cafe Bolero

Finally gonna try this place that I pass (just about) daily.

The goat and the Ropa Vieja are both excellent there. The quality of the food has stepped up in the last year as well for any who had previously visited.