Bodega Sur — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I want to start this review by saying that I didn’t experience any food at this establishment, but this review is purely based on treatment.

I went to the Mercado at the corner just north of this restaurant and got empanadas and a soda, a Sunday tradition I indulge in often. I asked if they served coffee and the cashier who I always see said no, but if I wanted to I could go 4 doors down to the Bodega Sur and they had coffee there. I said, “oh, I can eat there?” And she said, “yes of course! We’re all apart of the same company” -Or something to that effect. Okay, lovely. I’ve never eaten there, so I really didn’t know if it was a restaurant or not, and when we walked in, it looked like a cafe/coffee shop with wine bottles/beer along the wall for sale. There was no signage that indicated we had to wait to be seated, and I assumed the etiquette of typical coffee shop and went ahead to chose a 2 top towards the front of the building.

A server came over with menus.. I said, “hi we just came from the Mercado, she recommended we come here for coffee.” He said he’d bring two over and left menus on the table. At that point, I did think I made a bit of a mistake since it started to feel more like a restaurant since we received full menus so I started to second guess seating myself and felt as though I should have waited by the front to be seated. He brought the coffees and we continued to eat the empanadas from the Mercado. There was 2 other tables in there at this time (10:30 AM on a Sunday).

Someone else that didn’t take the coffee order came over and said, “yeah I just want to let you know you’re not supposed to do that, bring in food from other places.” I said, “oh I’m sorry.. the lady at the Mercado recommended to come here to eat/get coffees and said you were apart of the same company” he said, “no it’s fine since we’re not busy but I’m not sure why she said that.” So again I apologized.. but it definitely felt odd because I wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t something I asked her a few times over to make sure it was okay to eat there. And to reiterate, they are in fact apart of the same company/group.

From there I just felt awkward and like an inconvenience. I paid $6 for two small cups of coffees and added a $5 tip on it.. every server avoided further conversation about it like the plague, not that I wanted to say anything further, it just really dimmed the light on the place since no one said, hey sorry for the confusion.. etc.

I’m sure the food is fine, but please just have a communication with the other establishments you’re connected to. I wasn’t trying to impose or take a table from a servers section, I used to be a server so I think that added to my embarrassment and hurt feelings about the whole ordeal. I’m sure the food is great, truly. But I feel the situation could have been handled...

I’ve been coming to Tango Sur and Bodega Sur for several years and always had a positive experience. I decided to come here with my family to celebrate my mom’s birthday. I made a reservation ahead of time and arrived 10 minutes late due to being being in Tango Sur initially. There was a mixed up which isn’t a big deal, so I went to Bodega Sur to checked in . The hostess said that “ Your 10 minutes late and we only hold a table for 10 minutes “ . Which didn’t make much sense since we did checked in within the 10 minute mark . We explained her the situation and she stated “There’s nothing I can do sorry” . We asked to speak to a supervisor and owner and said , “ I do not know who they are “ This was very upsetting since she was not being very helpful and asked us to go outside . We were finally able to speak to the supervisor “Valeria” and she changed the whole experience for us . She informed us that a table would be opening soon and that we can wait inside. She greeted us very kindly and apologized for their rude hostess. She always checked on us and made sure that we were taken care with BEST. The food was delicious and made the whole situation like it never happened . We ordered the gaucha dish that serves two people. On top of that “Valeria” brought my mom a birthday dessert and singed to my mom . This absolutely melt my heart and we all had happy tears 😊😊😊 This place is a great place to bring families and will go out of their way to make it memorable ! Keep up the hard work and thank you for making it...

First time dining at Bodega Sur and nearly everything went wrong.

My boyfriend and I split an appetizer and an entree. Ordered the hummus and asked if they could add raw veggies with the naan for dipping. I was happy to pay more for the addition. I was told they don’t have raw veggies, so that couldn’t be accommodated. Then, in the same conversation with our server, she said they could add raw carrots and celery. I was confused, as that’s not what she said a moment prior and, also, because I was hoping for a bit more of an assortment of veggies, since many of their menu items include red peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, etc. When the hummus came out it had an olive tapenade on top, which was not in the description on the menu, and, since we hate olives, we couldn’t eat the dish and had to send it back.

We also ordered the “el gaucho”—a 16-oz. ribeye—and asked for it to be served medium-rare. It came to our table well-done with not even a hint of pink. We were so hungry and our server was nowhere to be found, so we simply ate it. We were supposedly given a discount on the steak because it was overcooked, but we never saw an itemized bill—only the handheld card-reader with the total amount displayed. $70, before any tip was added, for an overcooked ribeye and two glasses of wine.

In all sincerity, in the 20+ years I’ve lived in Chicago, I don’t think I’ve had a worse meal and/or experience. We won’t be returning to or...