Big Star Wicker Park — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Do NOT book a reservation here for Restaurant Week! The menu is a very misleading bait-and-switch.

I made a lunch reservation for a Sunday afternoon at 1:45pm. Two hours before my reservation, I get a message from Big Star on OpenTable saying the brunch menu ends at 2, so there will be a limited menu between brunch and dinner. I replied saying we were just going to get the Restaurant Week lunch. (For context, the Restaurant Week menu is $30 coursed for two people—an admittedly great deal at $15/person.) Big Star then replies saying that the Restaurant Week lunch is not available on weekends because of brunch service. There is nothing on the Restaurant Week menu that mentions this, which is what I say in my reply. In response, Big Star offers me the Restaurant Week dinner menu instead, which is the EXACT SAME menu but with different entrees, for $45. The only difference between the lunch and dinner menu is that the lunch menu has tacos for the entree. Tacos are on their regular menu, so there’s no reason why they can’t offer the lunch menu… you know, what they already advertised.

After I call Big Star out on this bait-and-switch, I get a call from a team member saying they "will be able to accommodate" us and serve the Restaurant Week lunch menu that was advertised. This puts me, the customer, in a super awkward position... does Big Star seriously expect me to check in for my reservation and say "Hi, it's me, the person who called you out on your false advertising?" I'm not doing that. Plus, customers shouldn’t have to argue back and forth to get what was advertised to them in the first place.

If Big Star doesn’t want to serve a discounted menu on weekends, they should make that clear on the Restaurant Week menu instead of telling customers two hours before their reservation start time. I work in the hospitality industry myself, and I’m shocked that Big Star would mislead their customers like this—especially during Restaurant Week, one of the most popular events of the year.

TLDR: Big Star falsely advertised a $15 per person meal in order to upsell a $45 per...

First time at Big Star was for drinks, but recently I went back for lunch and got a chicken taco, al pastor taco, a walking taco with “barbacoa”, potatoes taquitos and a Jamaica drink (no alcohol, which you can add to it but sadly I was on lunch during work, so I wasn’t able to).

Let’s begin with flavor. The chicken taco was cooked in a bright green sauce that tasted similar to “salsa verde de casa” which if you’re Hispanic like myself, we use it to top things such as eggs, chicharrón, beans, etc when eating. It had a kick to it but nothing too spicy (and I’m one known not to be to much into spicy foods). The al pastor taco came with caramelized onions and small chunks of pineapple to add that authentic “al pastor” style taste. This taco was a bit too sweet for me. My favorite thing ordered was the walking taco, which is a mini Fritos bag filled with beans, cilantro, onions, and melted cheese. I added barbacoa beef. The beef definitely tasted well marinated. So, I definitely recommend trying the barbacoa on anything while being there. And lastly, the Jamaica drink had a lemony taste to it with a slight carbonated fizz to it. A great refreshing alternative to a sugary soda option.

It is definitely hard to find parking close by even if you decide to pay to park close. Sadly, the attention to customers from staff when first arriving (at least for that day) was not right away, it did take some time for anyone working there to seat us ( and there was a host standing near the door entrance while not being busy).

Overall, Big Star has surprised me for a win. I will definitely be returning for walking tacos and the Jamaica drink (maybe I’ll even go for a “tipsy”...

Never been here before and looked at the menu before hand, anyways I dined in yesterday with my sibling and we’re both vegetarian. We came here because they have vegetarian options and plant based meat tacos. We’re in Chicago mind you, Chicago has some of the best plant based options available. And most restaurants have awesome plant based products, dope! Anyways we ordered with our server and I literally told her about three times “May I please have the plant based Al pastor tacos” she said yes Ofc. I confirmed with her a third time, “the plant based tacos pls” and she gave me a thumbs up and said ofc! The food runner drops of the food and says veggie al pastor and I’m like cool. I take two bites and I start to inspect the tacos. ITS ACTUAL meat!! I was so disappointed and upset because I told her three times and my brother too that we’re vegetarian!! Anyways the food runner was actually the manager and he goes and speaks to the server and said she didn’t hear that or any mention of it. EXCUSE ME?! I was shocked that she literally lied and the table next to us heard that too!!! I’m just upset at the fact that she didn’t even come over to our table at all to apologize or anything ! She acted like nothing happened and the manager took care of our bill even tho we didn’t eat anything but those two bites. Long story short, won’t be coming back here. The manager didn’t even seem to care either other than taking care of the bill which I was NOT gonna pay for anyways...