February 1, 2011

Cafe 28

Cafe 28 is 28 minutes from my house. Straight down Damen on the 50 bus. Plus, I sprinted down Irving Park Road when I got off the bus that was 10 minutes late, while wearing my new jeggings and boots. The boots are comfortable enough to run, by the way. That was a nice pleasant surprise--that my running places was not held back by my new shoes (unlike my patent leather pumps that tore my feet to pulp the first time I wore them to Takashi).

We went to Cafe 28 on Friday night. It was a good find. Super cozy, good service, and one of those places that you know that your hair will basically smell like Cuban pork sauce after you leave (in a good way). Café 28 is a family-owned restaurant established in 1995. Their restaurant specializes in Cuban and Mexican style with an eclectic Latin twist. An interesting combination that you certainly don't seem to see in that neck of the woods on Irving Park road. When we arrived, the place was bustling. Without a reservation, we sat at the bar for 8 minutes and then were seated. I love places that can do that, where you aren't screwed if you don't have a reservation already (aheeeem, Girl and the Goat, I'm looking at you!).

We had ceviche, baked goat cheese, then the table ordered duck and pork. I tasted the duck, which was actually pretty delicious. The ceviche wasn't anything special, but I feel like I'm pretty judgmental of my ceviche, so I'll let that one slide. It just seemed a tad "ketchup-ish" to me. Everything else was good including a tasty side dish of Sweet Potatoes that I ordered. Rich flavors, large portions, and good sauces. Plus, as expected, the Malbec was TASTY as hell. I love tasty wine. I drank the crap out of that. By the way, this venue is also BYOB but there is a corking fee of $10.00 per bottle. I think that's kind of a rip off personally, and read that on the site prior to vising sans my own wine, because the bottles there aren't too expensive (and it ends up not saving much money unless you have a specific bottle of wine you'd like to drink, I'd just recommend going with something they have on their menu). I recommend this place! Do it! Plus it's by a ton of public transportation including the Brown Line.


Here are the specials of this week from the Cafe 28 Website:

Starter: Fried Artichoke hearts with a Cilantro aioli

Salad : Fennel, Cabbage, Cranberry, Romaine and walnuts.

Soup: Fabada ( a classic Spanish white bean soup)

Entree: Risotto style Paella

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