Cafe Iberico — Restaurant in Chicago

I was really looking forward to trying out Cafe Iberico because I've had friends/family tell me great things, but I was unfortunately a bit disappointed by our visit. My wife and I came here to celebrate her birthday. We were just looking for a chill place and we love tapas.

It was extremely loud in there. The place was busy, but maybe slightly over half capacity, so I assume it wasn't even at its loudest. My wife and I basically had to shout across the table to have a conversation. Something about the acoustics in that back room just really causes it to be extra noisy. In hindsight, I wish we would have sat at the bar in the front area because it was noticeably quieter in there.

Took about 5-10 minutes before anyone came over to greet us, although water/bread was dropped off promptly. They were busy and seemed short staffed, so it wasn't a big deal. I wouldn't say the staff was rude, but they weren't super friendly or very attentive, other than clearing plates. The server didn't introduce himself or say much more than "what would you like to order," and they didn't come to refill water until we asked after finishing our meal. Like I said, it was very busy for the amount of staff, so maybe this was an unusual occurrence.

The food itself was pretty good. Not the best tapas I've ever had, but the serving portions and quality seemed well worth the price. I really like how they put pictures of each dish on the menu. Sometimes with tapas, it's tough to tell the size of what you're ordering to know how much you're really getting.

I noticed they were on GrubHub, so I would probably order take...

I was not impressed with this place. Upon entering, it smelled of raw seafood which I got used to by the time my food came. There wasn't much of any ambience let alone a Spanish one. The tables were really close together. We had to ask the waiter to bring us bread, water, extra plates. It was too loud and not a fun loud, and had a TV playing the food channel. I couldn't tell if the sangria was house made or pre made. The bread was good. The tapas plates were very large, so between 2 of us we could barely share 4. (I like tapas so I can try many things.) I shared the salami plate, sausage plate, dates, and chicken empanada. The goat cheese stuffed dates were the best I have had, but the rest was sub par. A third member of my party ordered an entree- roasted chicken with mashed potatoes. The chicken was tender. The portion was huge. I'm just not sure how authentic it was. Lastly, I was really excited for the pear dessert, as I had it at another place, and it was amazing. I was let down, no exciting flavors. Overall, this place wasn't bad, but all of the other tapas places I have been to in Chicago and Spain, were good to great. I recommend any other tapas restaurant in Chicago such as: Emilio's, Ba Ba Reeba, Bul-eh-Dias. There were two other small ones near Wrigley and BoysTown that were good, but I believe...

I've been here several times, although not recently. The last time I dined here still is a story I tell people often - As we sat down, I asked our waiter for water, he said absolutely, right away! He came to take our order, again I asked for water. We got served the first plates, and still no water. By this time, I was extremely thirsty, which didn't pair well with the salty food. By this time I had asked for water 4 times (and to clarify, I don't mean MORE water, I mean AT ALL, we didn't even have glasses) and I noticed the table next to us was being given second glasses of water they didn't ask for alongside their full glasses of untouched water. The woman at the table exclaimed, "we don't need these waters" and I thought how much I'd like them. We were finally given water about 30 minutes after arriving. Additionally, our waiter kept approaching my dining companion from behind, leaning in behind her ear to ask her if everything was ok - which startled her each time. I had to start warning her he was approaching. It was a very uncomfortable dining experience, and I've since found nicer tapas restaurants, so I doubt...