Which Las Tablas location for Colombian steak, etc.?

I've heard posters mention Las Tablas before as a top notch Colombian steak place, but I'm curious which location people prefer, and why? TIA.

Unfortunately, I think Las Tablas tends to have nice locations-- the one on west Irving Park, just past Milwaukee, is very handsome, and as I noted the other day, they're building a new one on Lincoln that also looks like it will be quite nice-- but I find them the least interesting, most blanded-down-to-a-gringo-comfort-level of the local South American meat places. I guess that means they work as a next step for people who've been eating at meat on swords places, and they're not bad by any means, but for food I'd sure pick El Llano before Las Tablas.

Las Tablas (Northwest Side)
4920 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago
Tel: (773) 202-0999

Thanks, Mike. I take from your response (the meat-on-swords comment) that you aren't a big fan of Fogo de Chao. I guess everyone has their own opinion of FdC, and I don't know how authenticly South American it may be, but I've found that their lunch option is really a hard to beat deal for someone who loves to eat obscene amounts of well-prepared, high quality red meats and a superb salad bar. That would be a very accurate depiction of me and a few choice friends and clients from time to time. I appreciate the suggestion of El Llano, but it just happens that this time around I'm working through the list of restaurants included in the Delta SkyMiles frequent dining program, which includes both Las Tablas locations. 20 more qualified dines ($15 + ) before December 31 will get me 25000 bonus miles, so I'm a man on a mission. It may just take a lot of bar visits to Timo, around the corner from us, to fill my requirements. Cheers!

Never been to FdC, but my attitude toward the genre is encapsulated here.

Anyway, I like South Am. places the more they diversify from just a way to get a cheap steak and take in at least some interesting sides.

Mike G wrote:Never been to FdC, but my attitude toward the genre is encapsulated here.

Anyway, I like South Am. places the more they diversify from just a way to get a cheap steak and take in at least some interesting sides.

I don't like to generalize about "genres" of restaurants any more than I would generalize about certain groups of people. I prefer to treat each one as an individual. I have never been to Sal y Carvao in Downers Grove, but I have been to Sal y Carvao in downtown Chicago and I would never return. My business partner and I went there to compare to FdC, and we were sorely disappointed. The meats were average at best, and the salad bar was nowhere near the level of FdC. I think Sal y Carvao's current reduced (even more) lunch pricing speaks to how well they are doing compared to FdC (which does a booming lunch business). Although I tend to steer myself toward the lamb (chops and leg) or some of the beef dishes, my clients actually swear by the polenta sticks and cheese puffs (a few of the "cheap fillers" that you mentioned), which they consider "interesting sides". At FdC, there are only two meats that are wrapped in bacon, the garlic beef, which I love, and a chicken dish, which I normally skip. But I do like bacon. A lot! Is it theater? No. But I'm not going there for a show. Save that for Benihana. Is it Moto? No. But Moto doesn't serve lunch for $29 including salads, appetizers and a selection of 8-10 superb meat offerings.