Bien Trucha — Restaurant in Geneva Township

Always delicious. We had an outdoor pod to ourselves with a heater and in the upper 50s it was a delightful atmosphere. Great cocktails. We always get an avocado margarita but also tried the pepino and apasionado. The habanero tequila in both was the perfect level of spice. The tuna ceviche (pictures) was excellent and very generous in size - could be a whole meal or shared easily with 4 people. The chorizo aioli on top made it for me. The perfect Mexican version of a spicy tuna roll. Tried the poblano soup and it was okay but we wouldn't order again. The potatoes were a little undercooked with chunks of queso fresco, so the soup had a weird texture and the soup itself wasn't as flavorful as we know poblano soup can be. Grilled bread would have gone with it much better - they broke a hard shell in half and served it on either side, which wasn't an ideal plating. Poblano soup at Altiro is great. All Chocolate Kitchen's restaurant actually had the best poblano soup we'd ever eaten, which may sound odd, but it's true. Out of the tacos, the fish taco stole the show with a deliciously crispy fish and creamy slaw. The slaw had just the right amount of bite, tang, and smoky depth to it to make every bite interesting. The fried avocado taco was okay, with a nice fruity sweetness from the pineapple, but it would be better if it was two smaller fried pieces of avocado instead of one giant slice, as there was a little too much unseasoned avocado creaminess. We noticed it in this taco the most that the tortillas didn't have enough salt in them and had no color on them - kind of took away from the flavor of the taco. The last one we had was the Quiubo tacos. The braised beef didn't quite have enough flavor, as I was expecting something smokier. It tasted very similar to a pot roast and there was a lot of it in the taco relative to the toppings, so it also was unbalanced. The toppings and beef were also all similar in texture. I suggested that they add some chicharrones to it for texture and flavor - I had some leftover from our guac and they were really good together. Don't get me wrong, we had a great night, but found a few things we wouldn't order again unless they changed the preparation (several of the components were delicious...

The service was excellent and the food was okay but it's a rip off for what you get. In April, 2022 I paid $27 including tip (and the tip was a little low) for two little tacos, a couple of raspberry teas and some chips with three tiny finger bowls filled with different types of sauces. I would have rather just had chips and salsa but that was not an option. For that price I could have gone to a typical Mexican run burrito place with more room and gotten TWO giant burrito meals for two people including chips, rice and beans and drinks and still had a few bucks left over.

The reason they are so expensive is that they charge you for ambience and fanciness. The atmosphere is kind of nice with the lights turned way down low and nice little candles all over the place and pleasant Mexican music playing in the background, but that nice atmosphere is heavily compromised by the tiny shoebox amount of space in that place. It's roughly about the size of a Subway restaurant. There are no booths and a little space. A long wooden bench against the wall has several little wooden tables pushed up against it with chairs on the other side of the little tables. I just sat on the bench side and was elbow-to-elbow with the people next to me and right across from the little kitchen right in front of me. If I wanted an Ambience and a nice Mexican and a sphere I could have gone to a nice Mexican restaurant for the same price with much more space, tablecloths, nice Mexican music but have gotten a much bigger nicer meal for one person including endless chips and salsa for about the same price.

Besides the atmosphere another part of the supposed fanciness was the food itself. The little tacos were not typical tacos but different fancy ones but again, they were small without any sides that came with them. The place had no burritos, no enchiladas, no tostadas, no rice and beans and almost none of what you would typically find in a normal Mexican restaurant. Only though weird little appetizers and those exotic little tacos. I can't even imagine how much I would have spent if I had gotten a big-sized meal with...

Bien Trucha. A traditional Mexican restaurant with a strong city vibe to it. Nothing that they have been doing is specifically out of the ordinary for this time that we are going through. They have outdoor pods set up so that you can eat your meal without worry about what other people could be doing. Surprisingly they were able to set up an audio system in each pod to play music. The group of friends that I went with was on the quieter side and the music was quite loud at some points especially when no one was talking. However, the music choice worked well with the theme and style of the restaurant. I am thinking that the reason they did this was to keep some of the ambiances of the restaurant. They are also taking reservations for indoor dining during their dinner hours. Not surprisingly the menu has had to adapt, and not just the prices but also the quantity of the food. Their portion size for most of the tacos has diminished to two tacos per order from four. Along with this adjustment, the prices have increased a couple of dollars per order. In total, we ended up trying two of their sides in addition to their Bien Trucha, El Pastor, Queso Fundido de Camaron, Pescado tacos. The first side that we tried was the esquites which was supposed to be grilled corn, epazote-butter, lemon aioli, queso cotija, and piquin. The side on its own was not very good, however, if it were to be paired with the arroz it would be much better. The arroz was just rice with cream and cheese and the cheese itself was a somewhat sour cheese. The highlight of the four tacos was their Pescado taco. It was beer-battered tilapia topped with a sweet and tangy Mexican slaw. The breading was quite moist yet it was not soggy at all. Strong flavor lovers will like the esquites and arroz paired with the el pastor tacos while those who have a softer palate will enjoy the Bien Trucha and the...