La Vaca Margarita Bar

Reviews 4

LI

lindsay macdonald

The once gem of Pilsen has turned into the place you should walk on by... theres plenty of better places to spend your money. I have been a loyal patron of La Vaca for 2 years and my latest visit was the straw that broke the camels back. Service here has always been pretty awful, so that was no surprise, but the food has always made up for it. However, the food has also gone down the drain now too - and if imaginable, the service has reached an all time LOW. Unless youre here for the $10 michelada, turn around and keep on walking to a place that actually cares about their patrons. One of the best parts of La Vaca is their awesome patio, except when you come in and ask to sit out there and are given the simple reply of, "no." When we asked why- we were just returned with a blank stare. We decided to stay anyway because we thought the food would be worth it... it wasnt. While sitting at our inside table, we watched the same hostess who told us we could not sit outside, seat table after table outdoors. By the time we left it was nearly full (it only had about 2-3 tables when we got there). I guess we werent cool enough to sit on the patio?? Who knows, but we definitely felt like it was personal, especially since no reason was given. Prior to this visit, the last few visits have been awful too. Some examples: I sat at least 45 mins before a waiter greeted me- he only came over once I started putting on my jacket to leave. Nearly every time Ive had to BEG the waitresses or waiter to pay as they were super inattentive the entire time. Food takes over an hour for tacos. Drinks take a long time too and dont think about getting another because no one will come around to ask when your glass is empty. Also, why did they change their chipotle salsa? It used to be creamy and awesome and now it just sucks. The fish tacos used to be amazing, now theyre just ok and small. The steak upset my stomach after eating it - something is just off. OH and now they charge for chips- even though youll need them when it takes an hour for 2 tacos. I almost forgot this!! DONT ORDER FOOD FROM GRUB HUB youll order it and get an email 20 minutes later saying it will take over 3 hours to complete. Im SO DISAPPOINTED! This place had everything it needed to be great (minus good service, thats never been a thing), but they just dont care. Not coming back anymore- tired of being disappointed.

TE

Teefah D.

Located in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago on the bustling 18th street strip, La Vaca proves that small family businesses are golden. Inside, you get a sense of authenticity, the brick walls are red and rustic. Mexican tradition is spewing from all around and its only right to take a moment to take it all in. The weather permitted us (me +1) to take advantage of the outdoor seating so our gracious host gathered the menus and lead the way. Once outside and seated it did take about 10-15minutes for the waiter to check on us. We did not even have a glass of water. This was a little disheartening considering the restaurant was not very busy on this particular evening. We actually had to flag a waiter down from another table but after that the staff did make sure we were more than okay by checking up on us regularly. We finally got our water and I was impressed that the restaurant reused clear, glass liquor bottles as their water jugs. Way to be eco-friendly! We started with chips, pico de gallo and guacamole. The guacamole was unbelievably spicy and soo very good. I could only have a few bites before it was just unbearable. My +1 however, enjoyed every bit of it. Next on the menu was a pitcher of margarita reasonably priced at $16. La Vaca offered standard flavors (raspberry, mango, tamarind, etc.) and also allowed us to mix flavors. I would recommend one pitcher for every two people seated at your table. The pitchers are small compared to other margarita bars Ive been to in the city but delicious nonetheless. We were only stopping by for margaritas so we really didnt delve into the menu other than ordering chicken nachos. Again, I have to say it was delicious! Surprisingly though, the guacamole served with the nachos was not spicy at all so jalapeno peppers were added to the order. Our total bill for this evening was $28, not including tip. La Vaca, Ill be back!

TO

Tony Rizzo

This is a difficult review to make, as the food and drinks are great. Almost enough for me to go back. HOWEVER. My girlfriend and I ran into a few problems with their service, enough to make me laugh! First, they sat us at a table that was still very wet from being cleaned, our menus sticking to it etc. When we asked them to dry it off, they "dried" it with a wet towel. Lol. We ordered a mango margarita pitcher, frozen... from 2 different servers. So, we got a lime margarita pitcher, on the rocks. We were about to just drink it when I noticed the waiters at the bar looking our way, concerned. They brought us the right pitcher. Great! Thanks guys. Well... After we ordered our food, more people came to take our order. We got our food, but my girlfriend got the wrong tacos. When they took them back, another waiter came to take her order... again. So my girlfriend had to wait for her tacos while I sat there with my food in front of me, politely waiting and letting my food get cold. When we were done eating, finally, we asked for the check. Two more waiters came to ask if we wanted anything else. We waited so long for the check I had to go ask for it. I just dont understand the reasoning behind allowing so many different people to wait on one table, when all this does is create miscommunication. Who ever runs the place either doesnt care about the chaos or lacks the mental capacity for the task. It makes the wait staff look like idiots, though probably not all of them are. But there definitely are some weak links there... its not rocket science, you just have to do the job right. And people do it right, every day, all over the world. Why cant they? sorry, not going back.

LU

Lucy Landa

Food was okay, salsas are very sour but have potential to be delicious, drinks are good specially the frozen mango margaritas with chile, however, I noticed this mixes come straight from a gallon (artificial?), Pitchers very small. In regards to service..... VERY BAD service, very unorganized, servers dont make eye contact to acknowledge you, they passed us by like we were invisible. My experience was not too pleasant in that sense, I had to be waiving at 3 different servers even when they were in front of me to ask for more drinks or the check, etc. I dont doubt servers are nice but they need training in customer service and multi-tasking and handling several tables on busy times, their attitudes immediately changed, they did not seem to be enjoying their work. We felt uncomfortable to ask for something without feeling like we were bothering them. The mans bathroom was not in service, therefore it was only the womens being used. It was no multiple bathrooms/toilet, just one small room with a line of customers waiting outside. The bathroom was unsanitary, and I dont only refer to the constant use, but there was dirty containers with some pieces of chips on the floors inside the bathroom right next to the toilet. yikes! I have been there a couple of times, and noticed the place is popular and full all the time, its good to have places to mingle in the Pilsen area, have a drink after work without having to go North Side, I think Management shoud consider hiring more people, a busser maybe so servers can focus on providing better service, (who knows), Hopefully this helps! :)