We had one of the best Dining experiences last night here. Everything was fabulous . We tried a lot of different menu choices . We will return and recommend read more

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Another unique venue in Rick Bayless' portfolio of amazing dining creations, Bar Solano fills an opportunity for a low key speakeasy atmosphere with different cocktails, incredible food, and friendliness abound. Try the "Guacamole" cocktail (yes, a liquid spicy avocado and tomato delight), explore the food menu for plenty of sharing dishes like the taquitos, ceviche, or fried chicken, and cap off the night with the donuts. You won't be disappointed. Lively music of various genres and a cozy feel make this a spot you need to get to before it becomes impossible to get into. read more

Bar Sótano - Guacamole cocktail - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Cute little hideaway behind the Frontera Grill. Entrance is in the alley next to Three Dots and a Dash. Our waiter was great, super nice attentive and gave us good recommendations! Drinks are delicious and lots of Mezcal options! Every dish we had was great. Vegetable mole was a little salty, Paella is to die for! Smoky flavors bring the paella together! It comes with a good amount of chicken and shrimp ratio. You definitely need a reservation here on weekends. Don't assume you can walk in and get a table. Definitely will want to come back as the menu gets updated let season. read more

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Ok, the new patio at Bar Sotano is seriously awesome! We were there tonight, and the vibe, cocktails, food and music are soooo good. AND, the service from the managers, to the bartenders, and our fave server Max Deneau was flawless. We ate Chef Rishi's ceviche, lamb tacos, chicken tostados, charred broccoli, soft shell crab tacos, and a dessert quesadilla that I hope stays on the menu! We can't wait to go back. Did I say it is also fun to be there? Call now to get a table 312-391-5857! By the way, we loved going to the inside space, and this patio is a fantastic addition, especially during this time of Covid-19. And they take every precaution for everyone's health! read more

You enter this place from an alley and walk downstairs into a different world! The drinks we started off with were great and then we did the tasting menu and it was fantastic! Every course we got was so flavorful. The chef even came out to present the Mexican paella! The chicken skin served with the paella was something I never had before and was sooo good. I can't wait to come back here and try everything else on the menu. read more

Creative menu designed w Oaxaca food from Mexico in mind. We particularly liked the tacos ahogados (carnitas tacos soaked in tomato salsa) . Aguachile tostada had a nice spice w touch of lemon. Bone marrow was OK. Best part was dessert : chocolate doughnuts are hand made, dark chocolate, rich of flavor and made us think of hand made doughnuts from small towns in Mexico. Lastly, friendly and helpful service. read more

Spent quite a bit a money but the service wasn't good. They were were only interested in turning the table although we were still consuming drinks. Will not be coming back. I took my wife and mother there for a nice evening out and the service at the end was horrible. Was told they needed the table although we were still drinking and eating. read more

Very excited to try out Bar Sotano after reading reviews and news of the opening. Upon entering, the atmosphere is trendy and dark with an open kitchen. Unlike other small space restaurants, the tables are spaced far enough apart so that you can enjoy your own conversation. The menu incorporates unique flavors that we were excited about, but unfortunately ended up being let down. We ordered: Raspberry Sotol cocktail: just okay, needed more acid to balance the other flavors Cucumber Serrano cocktail: not spicy at all for being marketed on the spice stall portion of the menu Orange Pasilla cocktail: not spicy, almost syrupy from the combination of tequila and amaro Overall, the cocktails were way over priced (up to $18) for the size and experience For food, we ordered: Scallop and Shrimp chamoy: good unique combination of flavors, but unfortunately had 4 shrimp and 2 pieces of scallop - mostly jicama which was very disappointing for the price Taquitos: tiny portion, very salty - but delicious broth Aguachile: fresh and balanced flavors, small portion for the price Overall, Bar Sotano is suffering from the trendy River North syndrome - too small portions/high prices, and trying to be more trendy than satisfying. Would recommend checking out Lena Brava or Cruz Blanca and skipping this one. read more

The food was actually great. Our server was very friendly. However, I went here with 2 friends (3 people total). Beware that there is a 20% service fee - this does not include a tip. We almost did not tip at all as we saw the 20% fee and first thought this was the gratuity. I asked the manager about this and he said this is for the employees to get better healthcare. I was a waitress and understand that servers rely on tips for their wages. I always tip 20+% but 40% is outrageous. The manager refused to take the service fee off the bill even though there is no note of this on the website (or menu that I saw but I could have missed this). If anything, the staff is getting screwed because half the customer's looking at the 20% surcharge probably saw this and thought gratuity was included. This is a Rick Bayless restaurant - they should be paying their staff fairly without prying on the customer. I think this is morally wrong and most people don't want to be rude and ask questions (especially in a large group or on a date) so will pay without asking questions. Please speak up and get the word out as this is not right to sneak such a large fee on your bill. I have never written a review before but will never go back here due to the manager's response and making me feel guilty because they are not paying staff properly. read more

The cocktails are amazing and food is superb. Great collection of tequila and mezcal-focused drinks. Service was excellent and servers were super knowledgeable about the various options and helped us decide on the perfect selections. Highly recommend! read more

First of all, love how discreet this place is. We came here for a business dinner of 15people. We made the reservation and loved how organized the process was. When we got there we already picked the plates for the family style meal. The ambiance was sexy, but not to sexy. But let me talk about the MARGARITAS!!! This place uses the GOOD tequila. I loved the margarita, actually everyone loved them. We just could not get enough of them. The food was good and flavorful but my favorite was the Paella (mmmmm) and mussels. The portions are generous. I would love to go back and try other things on the menu. Now let me write about the service. I did not need to ask for anything at any point of the evening. The servers were so alert and attentive. No One needed to ask for water, more food or anything like that. If my margarita was empty there was another next to it. I loved that! The servers were not only friendly, professional AND on top of it. It's things like that, that will have me going back for more. read more

Bar Sótano - Our menu for the night. - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We really enjoyed our visit. The food was outstanding and the service was even better (thanks Jessica!). I have a gluten allergy and their menu is accommodating. My buddy says his margarita was top 10 for him (big compliment). All around great experience, will go back for sure. Rick Bayless is the king. read more

As someone that has lived in the southwest and in Mexico for a while I can tell you that this place is pretty authentic. Most of the dishes have the proper level of spice that is adequate to those dishes and are not toned down, which is a problem in a lot of "Mexican" restaurants here in Chicago. Service is amazing and the overall taste of most dishes we had was spot on. Taking off 1 star because we found it to be just a little overpriced given the quantity of the food and the bone marrow was missing something. It was good but it was missing something compared to other bone marrows in the city and authentic ones from Mexico. I'll definitely be back in the near future- did I say service was great?! read more

This is a nice dimly lit bar perfect for date night. I am a big speakeasy bar fan. If you are looking for a place with music (that is not too loud) with good drinks and bar snacks this is the place! You receive a complimentary welcome shot to begin the night. Most of the cocktails contain Mezcal (duh) and they are unique. The taquitos were my favorite they came with a spicy tomato sauce which was delish! The chilaquiles were okay... I felt that that the sauce was a little too buttery. It was missing a slight kick to it .. maybe a little more spice. Overall, great experience. read more

Bar Sótano - Chilaquiles - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Outstanding cocktails and service. We didn't have the food but looked delicious. I had the "Al Pastor" cocktail and will definitely order it again. Can't wait to come back to this spot in the basement. read more

Great new place, on our go-to list! This place is a great Mezcal bar, with some wonderful and unusual food- makes up for the lame tourist trap Frontera has become! Apart from the great drinks, great food and what has to be some of the craziest and coolest music around, the service was the best we've had in a long time. Very helpful on the selections/recommendations, cleared plates and glasses immediately and very friendly! This place is definitely a must-try for the adventurous! read more

I came here with a group of 5 and we ordered a bunch of plates to share for the table (pretty much everything here is shareable except the tacos): Oaxacan Drinking Snacks: 4.5/5 Roasted Bone Marrow: 5/5 Plancha-Charred Broccoli: I actually didn't try this one because there wasn't a ton to go around, and I've never been much of a broccoli person. But the rest of the table said it was very flavorful. Baja Mussels al Ajillo: 4.5/5 Charcoal Grilled Kilgus Lamb Chops: 5/5 Chilaquiles: 4.5/5 Mexican Paella: 4/5 Everything was good but most dishes fell a tad short of perfection. The chicken chicharrón that came with the paella was a big miss for everyone at the table. The biggest miss of our experience, however, was our waitress. She seemed to be in such a hurry with us and unhappy to accommodate. As she was taking drink orders, I took an extra moment to think about my drink order, and when I looked up to order, she has already walked away. Pretty bizarre to only take 4/5 drink orders at the table and assume the last person didn't want a drink, especially when they were looking at the drink menu. She was then super quick to take menus away from us after we had just ordered a paella for the table, thinking it would take longer to make so we wanted to put that in first while looking through the rest of the menu; clear drinks that were still unfinished without asking; and blatantly ignore our requests to remove any cilantro garnishes from the dishes as we had a couple of people at the table who were in the category of those that think cilantro tastes like dish soap. I usually don't care much about service as long as it's decently ok, as I am much more focused on the food, but in this case, the waitress easily brought down an otherwise 5 star review to a 4 star one. read more

Stopped by for happy hour and this was delightful. The space was very inviting and fun. Staff was great. We had the fried chicken tacos and the al pastor skewers along with palomas, one with tequila and the other with mezcal. The chicken was amazing - perfectly flavorful and juicy. The al pastor was a bit disappointing and forgettable. Palomas were solid. read more

Went her for my BF's bday. The Mango Chamoy Margarita was DELICIOUS, I highly recommend it. Food was salty. Everything we ordered was salty. Dessert was decent, but nothing to rave about. read more

Drinks drinks drinks food! Make a reservation. I know it says walk-ins welcome but do it if you can plan ahead. Get the taquitos. Also any ceviche. The bread salad is hot af. Do you like burgers? Really good one here but I don't like the yucca fries because I don't like yucca. Cocktails are lovely - the lemongrass and the chamomile root beer bitters drink are my favorites. Drink your face off and eat all of the things. read more

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20% service fee on a party of three. So expect to pay 40% including tip on your total bill.

Amazing authentic food and excellent service. Our server mike was awesome too! The drinks were so good too!

Sadly, I have to give one star because I cannot give zero. If you make a reservation you will never get seated. After being told that "our" table had paid and we would be seated shortly... 1 hour later no table and told that their policy is to give people 2 hours after paying to occupy a table. Sorry. Never coming back. Treated very poorly. Kudos to the manager at Frontera for finding us a table. read more

Cocktails were fine but Frontera Grill (same owner, same property) had better drinks and a much better food menu. I'd recommend Frontera Grill over this bar if you have the option. read more

We went to Bar Sótano today after a gym class. Drinks were good, my friend really liked her pastor tacos and the smashed avocado tostada was good as well. We ordered the seafood paella, for $46, it consisted of inked rice w/ peas, 3 slivers of avocado, 4 shrimp, 4 2 inch pieces of octopus. Server said the dish would serve 3 people! Then they charged us an automatic 20% service charge - bc of pandemic? Our total bill was $191, with the 20%. I do not recommend this place, especially if you're looking for enough protein to keep you full for a while! Ended up picking up langostinos (shrimp) from el Barco after we left this less than mediocre place. Will not be going back. read more

I had high expectations for this place and I am happy to report it delivered! Yes drinks are a bit pricey but this is River North and you are paying for quality. We also tried their take on charcuterie and the carnitas spread with pickled feet was absolutely delicious! I am not adventurous eater and when I saw pickled feet I was a bit nervous but I am so happy I gave it a shot! read more

I've been to Bar Sotano twice and have thoroughly enjoyed it both times. The food is an interesting twist on typical Mexican fare and the cocktails, especially if you're a mezcal/tequila fan, are fantastic. I haven't experienced a hiccup either time and look forward to going back. Oh, and make sure to order the popcorn... read more

Stopped in for drinks and apps on our way to dinner. Wish we would have just stayed for dinner here! It was so yummy and the jalapeño grapefruit margarita was amazing! Will definitely come back! read more

Only qualm was the prices, but I understand it's River North and it comes with the territory. Food, drink, and service was great. Had the Paella, Fried Chicken, and Tacos of the day. Delicious. read more

Cool atmosphere and good service, but the cocktails were overpriced and they didn't taste good.

Loved loved loved the food and drink. I had their version of a negroni and I also love the complemtary Paloma sip. The barbacoa tacos were nothing short of sublime. Of course, it's too loud. read more

The cocktails and service here are A++. I ordered the seasonal platano infused mezcal cocktail and it was perfection. I would say that is a must-try. My friend ordered a raspberry cocktail, and the server warned her it would be on the dry side. The raspberry flavor really shined through. Our server was so attentive and friendly. We sat at the bar and the food preparation looked delicious. The place is cozy, and for a Tuesday night it was getting crowded fast. We went in without reservations and were seated right away read more

Great new place. The drinks are super unique and food is delicious. Try the taco drink if get a chance to explore the taste buds.

Went there before a concert tonight and didn't have high expectations due to some of the bad ratings . Let me be the first to say, those people must of not known good food or enjoyed cocktails. This place hit the spot for unique delicious cocktails, nice ambiance , helpful and nice staff, and delicious food. Great spot for drinks and a bite for a date . Highly recommend . read more

Wow! A hidden gem down a side alley. The drinks and food are very creative and delicious!! Kudos to our bartender, Patrick.

I have a great appreciation for how informed and educated the staff was with regards to the variety of mezclas. My wife and I wanted two completely different mezclas and they were able to guide us in the right direction read more

Food and drink was excellent. They tack on a 20% service charge and expect you to tip on top of that. I'm not paying an extra 40% on top of my bill. read more

I love entering from the alley, the lively atmosphere, and the knowledgeable servers. The sound level is high energy, which, to me, is the only downside because it can be difficult to converse. I had an amazing Mexican red wine while my family had a few cocktails. The Ceviche was outstanding, as was the Tlayudita. We all agreed that the Taco del Dia was the best taco we'd ever had. We ordered more of everything and had Donas con Chocolate to end the meal. Rick Bayless is a genius. read more

Solid spot for a drink and a snack, but prices are too high for what it is. We had 4 cocktails, 1 was great, the others were good but nothing crazy. Loved the jalapeno grapefruit. The food was good and nice portions for a light snack or small dinner. Good oysters, snacks were fun with the grasshoppers but the peanuts had no flavor, pork taquitos were good with a nice spice to them. I'd be back but not a place that's a rush to visit or will be a place I visit often. read more

The bar is in a basement so it's dark and loud. I found the vibe pretty uninviting. Then I'd say the food was good, but nothing really special. read more