This is a real deal Puerto Rican restaurant. Slightly chaotic (in a good way!) service and ambiance. The food was sensational. I got the mofongo con lechon, tostones and rice and beans. Some of the best Puerto Rican food I've had in the contiguous 48 states. Even rivals stuff I've had on island. 10/10, 5 stars, 100% fresh. read more

La Bruquena - Mofongo con Lechon - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Cuando visitamos el area de Humboldt Park, decidimos comer en la Bruquena. Quedamos sumamente satisfechos con el servicio que nos dieron, y la dueña del local nos trato como familia. Yo comi arroz blanco con habichuelas y cuajitos con tostones. El sabor tremendo. Mi esposa comio mofongo con camarones a la criolla. El mejor sabor de comida que hemos disfrutado. Recomendado 100%. read more

This is probably one of my top Puerto Rican restaurants in the city of Chicago. The prices are great (for example, the tembleque dessert is such a beautiful price and sooooo delicious. It was my first time having tembleque and I really liked this version) and the food is so good. We got a jibarito and mofongo, as well as an alcapurria and bacalaito. The bacalaito is sooooo good and I would come back just for that. read more

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La Bruquema is the epicenter of everything Puerto Rico in Chicago. The food the friendly home style service is great. The food is simple to the point Puerto Rico all the way, from the Carne guisada to the Chuleta Can can La bruquena transports you back to the Island. read more

La Bruquena - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great food . Friendly service. Good music . Amazing comforting atmosphere. I highly recommend the food, the place and the service. read more

La Bruqena has an awesome vibe very lively, the establishment is decorated very nice. BUT the food & customer service were terrible. Everything fried had old oil taste, the grilled chicken entree was very bland. The woman who served us just didn't have a good attitude. The whole time we were there she never brought us water or anything unfortunately I would not recommend nor return. read more

Hello last night I was there with my friend and kids . We didn't get no water or bread or butter . The lady who was our waitress was mostly at the bar helping service the drinks too the people there who were there customer. The food wasn't all that well I had too go ask for a spoon and we had too ask 2 times for the bill . This place isn't that all hyped too be like people in the neighborhood be saying . read more

Heard great things about this place and decided to drop in to see if I would be transported to PR. It was packed for the outside patio but the inside was empty. Very narrow but tons of space in the front house and back house for larger parties. We were sat but it took a while to be noticed and served let alone given water and a menu. When we finally received all that, we had been sitting close to 15 minutes. Our sever took our orders and I wanted to try their jibarito meal ($12). Took maybe another 20 minutes to bring out our food and as you can see, the meal is very small. Not worth the $12 but I will say it was tasty. I left hungry but my tastebuds were satisfied. Not sure if I'd return because I wouldn't want to spend all that time waiting but I'd recommend trying it once. read more

La Bruquena - Jibarito meal - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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One and done. We were looking for good PR food and found this spot. The places was juiced, we were sat all the way in the back and kinda forgotten about. The service sucked and the food was mediocre. The appetizers were good. The fried chicken was flame it was juicy and flavorful. The lechon was dry and the food lacked flavor. Make sure you check your bill before paying for double charges. read more

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The food was good but the service was not great she looked Like she didn't want to work or was bothered by us even though there was only one person there and was already leaving . Then a few men came in look like regulars that come to hang out there and all were just gossiping all loud not a good look for patrons when they're new to the establishments. Won't be returning read more

We were craving some Puerto Rican food, we came to the try out La Bruquena 1st time trying it out. I was not disappointed. The food was great. It wasn't greasy. We had some Tostones a Jibarito meal (it was small then other places) but the flavor was great, had it with white rice and a couple ofDrinks. read more

La Bruquena - Medalla beer and Mojito - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Food was OK. Service was good. There was no AC when we visited. We ordered the pulpo salad, pollo guisao, and masita frita.

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION Incredibly rude to my disabled mother. They demanded to see "service animal paperwork," because the owner (/manager?) supposedly also had a service animal, yet did not know the only two legal questions she should have appropriately asked When we told her the responses to the legal questions, they told my mom "its the restaurant's prerogative on where to seat you, and I am telling you if you want to eat here, you have to eat in the back" and walked away. I did not realize we were back in the Jim Crow era and needed to be segregated! Straight from the ADA page: A. In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person's disability. Next time, educate your staff! read more

Thankfully La Bruquena was opened late at night. Most places had already closed and we were getting hungry. The dining area is relatively small with only about 6 tables. It took about 15 minutes to finally put in our order, despite it not being busy at all. We came here for one thing and one thing only. Their Jibaritos. A steak sandwich, but instead of bread it's substituted with a sliced flattened fried plantain. A very delicious sandwich with cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise and tomato. It also came with a side of rice. But unfortunately, I didn't care for it much. Some rice pieces were hard, tells me it wasn't cooked properly or the rice was old. I have yet to try a decent order of Puerto Rican rice. I keep hearing Puerto Rican rice is the best, but haven't tasted one. I will continue searching though. I refuse to give up! I'll keep it on my list to return again and give them another chance with their rice. The jibarito was good, but I feel like I've had better. read more

La Bruquena - Jibarito with a side of Puerto Rican rice. - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Ambience: 5 Value: 5 Food: 3 Service: 2 Really sweet restaurant with a happening patio on a warm, late summer evening. Seems like locals hang out here for a couple bottles of beer. Live music, very friendly people! Affordable prices. I had a pastelillito (beef) and it was my favorite thing. Crispy but not dry and tasted homemade. The chuleta can-can (authentic Puerto Rican pork/chicharrón) was not great. It was drier than I would have liked. The sweet plantains were fairly flavorless. I would have liked to have some kind of sauce to add some flavor. I've had this dish many times around Chicago and in Puerto Rico and I wouldn't come back for the can-can. The server was very friendly and told us it was his show-he was the only server on a Saturday night! I understand there are shortages so didn't have too high of expectations. I would have loved for a steak knife to eat my pork as the whole table shook when I cut it with my dull cafeteria knife, and a glass of water and asking if we wanted another drink would have been nice, too. read more

I don't know why the ratings for this place are so low. It's a great hole in the wall place. My classmates and I came here after our service learning activity. I ordered the mofongo relleno y camarones. It was DELICIOUS. I also tried some of my friend's food and everything was tasty. The server was great and let us practice our Spanish. read more

La Bruquena - a plate of lasagna and a bowl of soup - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

3 star food but 5 star atmosphere! For an authentic and fun Spanish culture dinner, come to this spot and enjoy the show. All night an adorable man sings, while a boy plays the drums by his side. At certain times, the regulars will get up and dance and play their own instruments as well. It's amazing to watch and get involved in the fun party that happens at dinner. Not much English is spoken here, but that's the best part! Super authentic feel. As for the food, nothing really stuck. Everything was yummy and fried, but lacking of true flavor. We started with a big appetizer plate that had a little bit of everything- mostly fried items with plantains. Plantains are delicious, and the Puerto Rican's use them in every sort of way possible. For entrees to share we had the momfungo with shrimp, lechon Asada (my favorite!), and pasteles (boiled plantain dumplings). I wasn't a fan of the pasteles but the momfungo and roasted pork were tasty. Overall, my friends and I had a fun time here! I would love to explore more Latin restaurants in the area! read more

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Never again it was the worst service ever. The food was nasty. We didn't get water or our drinks two hours later. And an automatic service gratuity for 3 people like really all the tax's to my god read more

La Bruquena - Poor service - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

It's a hot Sunday afternoon in July- me and my daughter check out La Bruquena... The jibaritos were good even though they didnt have steak so we went with lechon. We asked for no mayo no cheese...guess what? Yep we got them both, fine we scrape it off. After flagging the waitress down for some water she brings us 2 tall glasses of water but it was warm water!!!! It feels 100 degrees out can I plzzzz get some ice????? Nope cause she was no where to be seen. Ugh! I like the food just not the service. We probably wont be back read more

La Bruquena - Wepaaaa - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Disappointed, I was so excited to go eat at this restaurant on the day of the Puerto Rican parade 6/10/23. What a HUGE disappointment, the food was horrible and extremely expensive. They served us on paper plates. The topper was NO WORKING Restrooms. WTF is that about. They were not prepared for the festival at all. Extremely disgusting!!! Never ever would I or my family go to this Shit place again!!! read more

This is a simple, family owned restaurant in the heart of the puertorrican sector in Chicago, Humbolt Park. Don't go there and expect fine dining, because this is not what this place is about. What this place is about is home cooking. Simple well done authentic puertorrican meals. Today we had jibaritos which is a steak sandwich were fried squished plaintains have substituted the bread. Really good. Curiously this dish was created in Chicago by Chicago puertorricans. In PR this dish is barely known. I had the special that the owner convinced me to have. Chuletas CanCan. A fried thick pretty big. (Enough for two big) pork chop with the skin of the pork. Very, very good. The chop was $14. Not bad at all considering that this was served with rice and beans and lettuce and tomato on the side. You should give this place a try. read more

Street parking as well as a lot ... but know that the parking lot is ill configured, like it should have the a way out if they have the spots angled, normally u drive into and reverse and then go forward to exit. But your entering and exiting the same way but the parking spots aren't easy to maneuver out of it's just weirdly used space. It's cute little spot, I went in and ordered a sandwich and the picture is what came out, tasted good so I kept it and I also was running late and just wanted to grab something quick to eat, it was all very flavorful. Customer service was met with a smile, in Spanish so wasn't an issue for me but just saying... Appears to be family owned and frequented by long term visitors, lil group of men having a conversation, sitting in the patio, it had a nice lil vibe. Some musical instruments say organized to the side so I assume at night it becomes a little lively, I went for early early dinner. read more

La Bruquena - Not sure what they use or how they make regular ppl n bean- beans taste good! I don't like nothing normally but black beans. - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Nice hole in the wall place with a very active vibe and an outdoor seating area. Happened to be my first time getting Puerto Rican food and was stunned by how delicious it was! Ordered Bistec Encebollado which came with some delicious plantains and well marinated beef. Steak was a little dryer than I'd like but otherwise great. Also happened to coincide with the People's Day parade celebrating Puerto Rican pride so lots of dancing and drinking happening that day. Was a fun time! read more

La Bruquena - Bistec Encebollado - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Well how does one start off when you are hungry for PR food and your regular spot is closed? Well, you just come to La Bruquena (pronounced BRU KEY NAW). Ive been coming here for quite some time and of course I am rarely disappointed at all. The food of course is on point and super authentic, as my family is Puerto Rican and we cook like this at home. But sometimes you want to have someone else's cooking and that's what I decided to on this cold and dreary day. La Bruquena boast really good food and although they may be a little slow in delivering the food to the table but they are still good regardless. I mean, if you want true authentic food then of course you have to come by and try La Bruquena as this is as authentic as it comes. I would suggest to try the appetizers (carne frita, papa rellena, and others) and i can tell you, you will not be disappointed. On other times you can hear live.music but you have to ask as that is different days of course. The ambience is simple and beautiful so you will know its Puerto Rico. read more

Taking some salsa lessons across the street, in between classes we popped in to grab a bite. The decor is very Puerto Rico. Waitress came right away and asked for drinks, she made some recommendations which I thought was very thoughtful. She then came back with menus, I had a lechón sandwich which was a amazing. I will definitely come back. read more

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Wow what fantastic food. Family owned business, amazing family. We were celebrating a 30th wedding anniversary and they treated us like we were part of their family. Definitely recommend the sampler appetizer, sandwich de biste, pork chop and well you really can't go wrong with anything choice. read more

La Bruquena - a plate of rice and chickpeas - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great Puerto Rican food, one of the oldest Puerto Rican restaurants in the city. La Bruquena has been in this locations for years. Don't look for anything fancy. Don't look for a fine dinning, Is real Puerto Rican food! Eat the jibaritos, but also be adventurous and try the pollo guisado or Carne guisada. Or come during a weekend and have a great parcha and rum....or parcha without rum and dance a little bit, the ambiance is wonderful the weekends. I read more

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Me & husband wanted some Puerto Rican food so we decided to head to Division street. I'm glad we did. We passed by this place so many times and never tried it so we decided to give it a try. So glad we did. It has a cool, laidback atmosphere. There were 4 guys and a ladies sitting down. The female who was sitting down was the server. I asked her if we eat here; she said u can eat, drink, dance do whatever u want. I loved her reply. We sat down and she came with menus. She took our order and told us food will be out shortly. She came back with the chicken soup which was delicious. It had potatoes in it. Very tasty. We both ordered the jibarito steak sandwiches which came with rice. Soooooooo tasty. I am full for the rest of the day. The server, Cookie, checked on us and asked how we were doing. We felt at home. U will too, but Cookie only works in the daytime hours. She'll make u feel at home. She told me that the cook is 81 years old. She deserves an award. U can tell someone with experience knew how to season the food. read more

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Worst place I've ever attended. Noone is paying attention to anyone owners look like they were drunk bartender definitely was drunk unprofessional. Disorganized waited about 1 hour 30 minutes for food and when I arrived food was still not ready. Wasted my time coming here. Don't even bother to stop here for real burger King taste better. Worst Puerto rican place ever. I give this place negative stars no stars. read more

4 stars for the food 3 for service 5 for the history La Bruqena is the oldest continuously operating Puerto Rican restaurant in the city of Chicago. Came here with a large group, many of whom were really familiar with Caribbean/Puerto Rican food, however our waiter was very patient and informative giving us lots of suggestions and explaining minute aspects of put a Rican food culture even showing our group a mortar and pestle and explaining how mofongo is prepared. However the food wasn't all brought out at once, rather people got their food as it was ready, so even if you hadn't gotten your food yet you had to sit and watch as other members of the party ate. For some reason my meal came out last, so I was forced to watch everyone else eat their meals before I got my food. My meal was worth the wait, very flavorful and tasty and at only $12 an excellent deal. A gem of Humboldt Park but be prepared to wait! read more

La Bruquena - Pechugas de pollo con mofongo - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We popped in here for a Margarita while walking down Division to Riot Fest. The interior is bare bones. The bathrooms are marginally clean, at least. The bar looks like someone's basement. The Margaritas are terrible - too sweet and tart in that "margarita mix" type of tart. I'm not sure there was any booze in my drink. That's a $7 drink? I don't think so. Food? Yes, there was food there, and we might have had some if not for . . . You were obviously trying to draw in the Riot Fest crowd, and it might have worked had you not been BLASTING shitty Tom Petty music out the windows, up to 11. Clue: empty patio on a nice day. We might have gotten a snack or two, but the music was awful. Clearly, we are okay with loud music, we're on our way to Riot Fest, that wasn't the problem. It was the BAD, mainstream, classic-rock type music blasting that was the problem.. Why not play Riot Fest type music or hey . . . some cool Puerto Rican music! There were some Conga drums, why not have someone playin' 'em? What a concept! read more

Small, family-owned restaurant. Fantastic food and drinks. Why go to Puerto Rico when you can go here? Extremely authentic.

First off all the freaking waiter Yuriana need to learn how to attend customers with her rude ass. Pay attention to the orders! It took them to bring us food an hour, then the food was extremely disgusting. I will never ever go back to their restaurant. If you like to be treated like shit, then that's your place to go too. Also the only reason I paid the bill was it seem they needed the money more than I. Bad experience, bad food, and bad horrible service from the waiter read more

I've eaten a pretty good deal of Puerto Rican food, and this place is definitely great! One super-unique thing is mentioned at the end of this review. FOOD: Very good lechon, and I ate some of the best habichuelas I have ever tasted. Couldn't tell what the secret ingredient is, but oh my goodness was it good. My wife had a jibarito and was very good. They apparently offer these really unique drinks on the weekends, one of which was a rabbit stew listed on the menu. Call or email them to ask ahead of time. SERVICE: Really good, very attentive. Owner came and intro'd himself to us. AMBIANCE: A lot of locals come here and hang at the bar or at the tables near the window. Good cultural experience. The design and layout is very nice, very clean, very well-kept. It's a bit trendy-er than "La Plena" which has more Puerto Rican murals on their walls, but there's still some art work around. They should have chosen between the music and 'Ellen DeGeneres' on TV - not have both running at the same time. Slightly noise-polluted. :-) PRICE: Not bad. We both ordered a soft drink, although no appetizers. After tax and a 22% tip, we made it out under $30.00! We parked on Washtenaw in order to avoid paid parking. ALCOH-NOG: Ok, so they make this egg nog mixed with vodka around the holiday seasons. They offered me a free shot of it. It was a sweet burn down the throat, that's for sure! They sell good-size bottles for $20. We'll be back! read more

La Bruquena - This is an egg nog and vodka combo (I think it's vodka) that they make themselves and sell for $20/bottle. - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I loved it here, felt like bein with Fam. Took a date there due to the original mofungo spot I found being closed...permanently and not noted on yelp. Scrambling to find a good place, sparing my impending embarrassment, we stumbled onto La Bruquena (I'm an Atlanta transplant but know PR cuisine due to travel/family). We walked in and immediately looked/ I felt like we walked into a family reunion. Everyone was cool, from patrons to staff and yes the food, took me back to utuado. My dates eyes rolled back as she began her entree and jokes, dancing and drinks later, we closed the bar with the staff, talking about PR it's storm recovery and humanity...I'll go back anytime as they're good people read more

The food was delicious and fresh. The jibarito plantain was crispy with right amount of garlic and meat tender and juicy. The service was quick for a very slow Tuesday night. I was skeptical of service and food quality due to other reviews, however it was a quaint location with yummy Puerto Rican meals. The appetizers list was very short, it did not include alcapurias, empanadas, or rellenos de papa. read more

La Bruquena - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Moved to Chicago from Puerto Rico and decided to stop by here and bring some family who was visiting from the island to get that "homey, island vibe" I remember visiting before and had liked it, however this experience wasn't that great. Visited on a Sunday and after ordering 20 mins later, the waitress informs us there isn't anymore "rellenos de papa" ordered three mojitos de parcha and got jugo de parcha instead, waitress informed us they didn't sell mojitos de parcha or coco which I thought was weird since I had ordered them not even a month ago. Service was slow, inconsistency in bar menu and food menu and there was absolutely no music at all. This place always has Spanish music playing... blah environment. La Bruquena... me fallaste. read more

The food I've tried is fantastic thanks to Abuelita. However the guy sitting at the bar whom I presume to be the owner is rude and seemingly drunk most times. Cant decide if I'll be back or not. read more

Came here last night to have dinner and catch up with a friend. We were greeted by our server after a few mins. Placed our drink order and by the time they were delivered, we were ready to order. I ordered the lechon asado plate with Arroz con gandules. When the food was delivered, we quickly dug in as we were famished. As I start to eat my lechon I notice it's cold, but bc the waitress was no where in sight and I was famished, I kept eating against my better judgment. Finally the waitress comes by and I tell her the pork is cold, she takes what's left of it, apologizes and goes to warm it up. Brings it back and I continue to eat. Service is meh... Food is blah at best. Needless to say I woke up in the middle of night with severe food poisoning, not blaming the restaurant bc I ate the cold pork against my better judgment but I'd rather go to a different Puerto Rican restaurant where the food is amazing, service is outstanding, and I won't get sick from cold pork. I might consider giving this place another shot but not any time soon. read more

Thank you, La Bruquena, for going out of your way to serve lunch to our large group. Food was very good and service was good, especially since there were so many of us. We appreciated that you explained your food and the cultural influences contributing to Puerto Rican diet. Everything worked out well. read more