bartaco Hyde Park

Reviews 4

JE

Jennifer Macmenomay

I heard great things about this restaurant and was excited to try it! We did call ahead seating for our party of 4 with an arrival time of 7:30. Upon check in, were told it would only be about a 10 minute wait since we called ahead, which was fantastic for a Saturday night. After waiting 35 minutes, we began to get concerned and again checked in with the host, upon which we were immediately seated. We were greeted, ordered drinks and appetizers, which were brought in a timely manner. We then filled out the card as directed to order our meal. Half of our partys food arrived shortly thereafter. We waited an additional 10 minutes for the rest of the food and then finally checked with a server who said that the food delivery was staggered but the rest of the food would arrive shortly. Another 10 minutes, still no food, so we again checked with a server, who said that the kitchen lost the order but they would have it out ASAP. Another 10 minutes and the rest of the food finally arrived. The manager came over and apologized and said he would comp the food that was brought late. He then noticed that my husband and I had not eaten our food yet. We explained we were being polite and didnt want to eat until everyones food had arrived. He then offered to comp our meals also. Unfortunately, when we received the check, only the meals that were delivered late had been comped. We didnt feel like waiting any longer, so we just paid the check and left. I probably would have shrugged all the mishaps off, but the food was not all that great. The chips were soggy and the tamales were dry. The beef was chewy and underspiced, while the chicken was overspiced. The guacamole and salsa was good, but overall, I was not that impressed with the food. Usually, I give a place another try after a rough start, but I dont feel that this restaurant offers enough taste or value to warrant another try. :(

AL

allison nielsen

I came into Bartaco on a Friday night. Retrospectively, I feel like this was probably a mistake since the place was so busy. Every table was packed, which I find honestly really surprising for the Hyde Park Village area. Anyway, because of this, and because I was dressed like I was going to a college beginning English class (sweats and a hoodie), I opted for takeout. I ordered three tacos: the chorizo, the pork belly, and the pork pastor. I also ordered a side of salsa since I usually go pretty HAM in the salsa game. Takeout was relatively quick. I was in and out within 15 minutes. Tacos were $2.50 each, with the pork belly being slightly more expensive. Now, onto the tacos. These tacos are very no frills. The chorizo taco was seasoned to perfection, its flavor and spiciness amplified by the copious amounts of hot sauce I put on the taco (after taking a bite of the taco without hot sauce, mind you). The pork pastor taco was just okay. I thought it was a little dry and it paled in comparison to the other tacos I ordered. Now, onto the most important part of my taco order: the pork belly taco. My only complaint with this taco was that there was not more pork belly. I could have eaten it all night. It was a little crispy and seasoned and it was just really delicious. The crispy pork belly variety has always been a type of pork belly near and dear to my heart, so this one didnt disappoint. The chips and salsa that came with my order were alright. Their salsa is a green salsa, and it tastes pretty fresh. The chips were terrible though. Not good. Service was friendly and fast. I would love to come back and sit down with some friends if I was ever in the area again! I would give my experience 4.5 stars, but for the sake of Yelp (and because of the pork belly taco), I am rounding up.

AS

Ashley P

Delish tiny tacos, the whole bill was a bit over priced, but the guac was TASTY and the two-bite-tacos were so good. The falafel ones were good, except they give you no heads-up that they have spicy sriacha inside, and I am super sensitive to spicy. As you can see in my photos, we had something like 7 tacos, including fish tacos, falafel tacos, shrimp tacos, oyster tacos (deep fried). We also got a large guacamole for $9 for the 2 of us as an appetizer as well as to top off our tiny tacos. Very brief, no descriptive menu, and you fill out the card on the table and put that in the holder when ready to place order. I really liked that they had a little dragonfly card to put in the holder to signal when you needed the waiter, more places need to do this. They also give you tiny glasses for water BUT they do one of my favorite things by leaving the entire caraffe of water for you. This place was huge, but wasnt too busy for a Tuesday evening. I wasnt feeling too well, so I just had 2 tacos, but couldnt finish the falafel taco (tzatziki + 2 falafels = perfect) because it was too spicy for me. They sat us next to this huge, and incredibly loud party, I dont know if it was because of server zoning or what, but I much would have preferred somewhere more quiet, than in the center of the loud AF bar area. The music is also incredibly loud here, so if you are sensitive to over-stimulation, bring ear-plugs. Overall it was pretty tasty, but not much bang for your buck. Wed come back again and try some more tiny tasty tacos. Maybe on a night we want to be a purposefully loud/party night.

LE

Leah Rutberg

Overall much less impressed with this place than expected. No host or hostess there when my party of 2 walked in. Waited a good 5 mins to be greeted, this was Tuesday night mind you at 8pm. Cant imagine what it would be like on a weekend. Food was much more sophisticated than the average local taco joint. Decor, cleanliness, all good, except that the space design is such that one walkway from bathroom to the exit door is so narrow that you have to walk around if anyone is standing in it. Seems like a fire hazard. Again noting this as a problem on a Tuesday night vs Friday. Move over a few inches or expand the wall on one side, or get tables that dont take up as much room. Taste of food and variety of taco options was to my expectation and the cheap price of the food was shocking. Redesign menus with minimum food prices of 9-12$/entree and youll might limit the crowd. Now the service is what was lacking. When you hire a bunch of children with absolutely zero culinary know how, who assume their guests dont know what pork belly is, who hang out with one another and talk at the service station, and dont pay attention to good customer service, you get 3 stars, if that. Train your wait staff. Why spend so much on every other aspect and then slack off at the labor. Its often an oversight and here it was obvious. Food is better here but the service is not. If you want to sacrifice service for food, well this is your place. Also Im guessing to tell you go for lunch instead. I also agree the music was super loud that you can barely hear the person next to you.