Tavernita - - Ryan Poli's New Spot

The first thing that I noted upon entering is that Tavernita is not Perennial. Tavernita was loud, very loud. Tavernita was crowded and on a Thursday night at 7:30pm, was packed with twenty-somethings.

My friend and I were seated in the middle of a long banquette, and tables were spaced close enough that ours had to be moved so that my friend could get to the booth. I'd say that we were close enough that we could have easily heard our neighbors' conversations if it weren't for the fact that we couldn't hear our own conversation. Have I mentioned that it was loud?

The drinks were fine. We had glasses of Basque cider and French perry. It was nice to see these on the menu. My friend had a glass of white sangria. She declared it far too sweet. I sampled some and concurred. I tried two of their "kegged" cocktails. The commandante big nose is a rum and macadamia drink. I found the flavors to be muddled, but it was drinkable and not too sweet. I had better luck with the tourista, a tequila and grapefruit drink. Flavors were bright, and I'd happily order this again. I wasn't sure about the giant grapefruit slice taking up a good third of the glass, but it was easily removed.

We fared a bit better with the food, but I thought everything could use some pretty obvious improvements. The best dish was a simple plate of haricots verts with white anchovies, celery, and crispy shallots. The beans were crisp and the shallots added a flavorful crunch. The only ding on the dish is that I had to get close to the plate to discern any anchovies. There was perhaps one in the dish, diced into tiny bits. It's almost like they were afraid of turning off diners by actually including anchovies. Or maybe they were just keeping food costs down?

With the beans, we tried the grilled octopus with fennel, orange, and olive tapenade. This was fine. My friend had only had octopus once before; she loved it when we dined together at the Purple Pig. Tavernita's dish paled in comparison. It seriously needed acid, and a bit of char on the octopus would have been nice. At least, the octopus wasn't chewy. But for $12 for a small appetizer portion, I'd like more.

Our second course included the pork belly bocadillos and the mushroom ragu papparadelle. The bocadillos were a disappointment. The buns were doughy, and there wasn't enough pork belly to cover the bun, leaving you with meatless bites. Considering that the buns were teeny, it was particularly odd to not have enough meat. Having recently enjoyed Momofuku's pork belly bao, it's not even close. Pork belly sandwiches should be delicious, and these just weren't.

Finally, the mushroom pasta. This was tasty, and I happily ate it up. Fans of minimally-sauced pastas should stay away. There was a ton of tomato-y sauce. The pasta itself was a tad too cooked for my tastes. But, again, maybe they're trying to please their crowd.

Dessert? We might have indulged, had the server bothered to offer.

Our server was efficient - - too efficient it turns out. They are trying to turn tables quickly. She does get points for telling us that if we don't tell her exactly how to course the dishes, everything will come out at one time. Yikes! So kudos to her for that. After we'd been there an hour and finished our second courses, but still had relatively fresh drinks, she asked if we needed anything else. I responded, saying that we'd just finished our second course and would appreciate a few minutes to decide what else we wanted. Ten minutes later, she returns with our check, saying she'll take it whenever we're ready. And disappears before we can say anything. Hello, what? At that point, my friend and I decided to casually finish our drinks and then head out. I was no longer hungry, but would have liked to have taken a peek at the dessert options.

I'd wanted to catch up with a friend over a casual dinner. Instead, an hour in, I was supposed to leave. I'm glad that we lingered a bit, but knowing that Tavernita wanted my table, in addition to several other little annoyances, definitely tarnished what was otherwise a decent, if underwhelming meal. I'm unlikely to return.

Tavernita
151 W Erie
312-274-1111

Thanks a ton for sharing. I was staying away because I thought it would be too loud and busy. I can handle that if the food is really good, but you are the second one I've spoken to with that opinion. Thanks again.

Tavernita is part of this new mold of club-like restaurants where you're made to feel as if they're doing you a favor letting you dine with them. Well, judging by the current crowds, they're in good shape . . . at least for now. But if the FOH and other staff treat other diners like they treated my friends and I, the crowds will eventually vanish and we can discuss what restaurant used to be in this space.

Four of us arrived at 7:45 for an 8pm reservation and let the hostesses know we were there. Our table wasn't ready so we started off at the bar - super nice bartender, some great cocktails . . . so far, so good. As no table was yet ready, we moved on to a second (and maybe a third) cocktail. Apparently we were too close to where the servers picked up their cocktails because a waiter and waitress complained how annoying it is that diners waited in this area and that a rope was needed (making sure to look at us and speak loudly enough to make the point clear). Oh well, I'll chalk it up to a couple of poorly trained servers. The bartender was of a very different mold.

At 8:20 we were told that our table was ready. The 20-minute wait was not bad; the table was. We approached what appeared to be a table for 2. Of course, we were 4 guys and it would have been a stretch for 3 slight girls to sit at this table, but there was no way 4 guys could fit - there was only one chair, perhaps 1.5 spots on the bench. When we told the hostess the table would not work, she huffed, then said it would be at least another 20 minutes until another table opened. We were eventually seated about 8:45 or so, no apology given . . . oh, and we noticed that 2 persons were eventually seated at the table we were offered. Nice!

Luckily, that's where the bad service ended. Our waitress was very friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, Tavernita didn't deliver on the food front, although not everything was a total miss. The escalivada - crisp toast with eggplant, red peppers, hazelnut romesco and goat cheese was terrific, bursting with great flavors and easily the best item tasted. Hamachi crudo with avocado, lime, jalapeno and cucumber was unremarkable - too much going on to test the quality of the hamachi itself and just not well balanced.

Back to the plus side, brussels sprouts with chestnuts and melted fontina was pretty tasty and might convert many brussels sprout-phobes. On the other hand, Greg's meatballs - beef and pork, in a hazelnut romesco sauce was a disaster. These meatballs were hard as rocks - I could have inflicted serious pain had I decided to start a food fight. I doubt these meatballs would have broken apart upon impact.

There was the grilled octopus with fennel, orange and olive which was fine but I'll echo REB's comments. The croquetas with Iberico ham and saffron aioli delievered the best textural bite of the night - beautifully crisp on the outside, hot and gooey inside. But neither the ham nor saffron flavor came through with the potency I hoped for, so while tasty, I'd describe the dish as a bit too much fluff. We had one other item I can't specifically recall (might have been the scallops) but what I do recall was that it was not any more memorable than anything else we tasted. And we opted to skip dessert.

The escalivada was the only dish I enjoyed without reservations. Given the attitude issues we experienced (albeit not from everyone at Tavernita), it would have taken far better food to ensure my return. As it turns out, I'm pretty certain this will have been my lone visit to Tavernita.

Tavernita's bar, Barcito is holding a fun event on various Mondays called Amigos of Pintxo. At 8:00pm guests chefs produce a variety of tapas served buffet style; the cost is just $25 and inlcludes all-you-can-eat of the tapas until 10:00pm. Barcito's beverages are available a la carte (and they really have some great cocktails; I had a tequila based drink with grapefruit, black pepper syrup, lime, preserve cherry and BBQ bitters that I loved). They have been attracting some excellent chefs; this past Monday was Chef Foss from El Ideas and Chef Zimmerman from Sepia. Between them and the Barcito staff they created fifteen different tapas (thirteen savory, two sweet) and quite a bit of each - nobody left hungry. While I did not love every bite, most of the tapas were quite good - Foss' lamb pancetta with carrots, raisins and tumeric was a stand out as was the pork belly sliders and the paella.

The next event is April 29th and features Chef Kahan of Blackbird and Chef Merges of Yusho. Chef Lents of Sixteen participated at a previous event. The staff was really friendly and the space beautiful; my only complaint was the music was so loud that conversation with my tablemates was difficult. While Barcito generally attracts the crowd that likely enjoys boisterous music, at this type of event I would think that people would appreciate a slightly more subdued ambiance. I recommend arriving a bit early as while there is plenty of food and attentive service, seating is very limited so you will end up standing. A portion of the proceeds goes to charity.

We went here 6pm pre-theater, so the place was nearly empty. Nonetheless they seated us right next to a 4-top, which was so close that a woman taking her coat off before sitting down pretty much laid the coat on top of my head as she was doing so (she could have chosen to step back, so not totally the fault of the close tables).

We were careful not to over-order, so we split the mussels as an appetizer (good, but we had to ask for spoons for the broth) and each had one of the grilled meats. I had mahi mahi, the DH had chicken. Both were cooked very simply, with sauces you could add. We didn't have any of the more tapas-like dishes. The chicken seemed like it had been done mostly in the oven, or maybe poached, and then finished on the grill. It didn't have succulent crispy skin with the fat rendered out that you want with chicken. The fish was cooked very nicely, but had an odd flavor. Not sure what wood they use, but it tasted a little like the wood had been re-used, or like not good charcoal or something.

I'm pretty sure we won't be back. If we're in the mood for tapas in that neighborhood we'll go to Iberico.

Mercadito's Tavernita has closed

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... has-closed

Dave148 wrote:

Mercadito's Tavernita has closed

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... has-closed

Here's a free-to-view take on it:

Amidst Tax Debt, Tavernita Swiftly Closes Down

No alcohol or food was served last night at Tavernita. Mercadito Hospitality's large Spanish-themed restaurant and bar did not open at all yesterday and swiftly closed for good, Mercadito's rep confirms, amidst nearly $75,000 of tax debt and a revoked liquor license.

If it's true -- and it appears to be since their own reps are confirming it - it's absolutely shameful. Poli sure was right to get out when he did.

=R=