Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!

Super cute place, love the vibes and it kinda hard to snag a reservation on short notice so I'd plan ahead as it's almost always crowded when I go.

All the tapas choices are pretty solid you can't go wrong but the stand outs for me were definitely the Brussels sprout salad! And if you can, get the paella.

I tried the sangria flights and the white peach was definitely my fav, will just be getting a pitcher of that one in the future!

Sangria is amazing. Food is outstanding! Had a great time and you can't beat their specials they offer!

I am very happy to give my most recent experience at cafe ba ba reeba a deserving 4 stars and not a generous 3. The service and quality of food for the past couple years had gone down hill but, thankfully whatever happened between July 2023 and Oct 2023 has worked wonders for this place in the best way possible.

Service was timed out well and there weren't hour long waits in between receiving items. I was here with a group of 4 on a Sunday for lunch and starting from the hostess to our server the staff members were on top of their game and did great. Everyone was friendly and seemed happy to be there.

We ordered the chicken and veggie paella and placed that item in right away as we know it takes about 40-45 mins to prepare. We also got a pitcher of red sangria which was perfect for 4 people. For tapas my fiancé and I shared the fried calami which was flavorful and cooked well. He is not a fan of calamari and I was very shocked to hear him say this was the best calamari he's had. We also had the stuff mushrooms which we both enjoyed.

Overall I am very satisfied and happy that I will come back. I probably will stay away from the brunch items but I'm thankful I didn't axe this spot from my foodie list.

Delicious tapas! The decor and atmosphere was also very cute and inviting.

We came here over the summer with a large group of 15 and they did a wonderful job accommodating us. All of the dishes came out correctly and labeled clearly for some of my friends who had a shellfish allergy.

Everything we tried was very tasty with complex flavors. My favorites were the octopus, papas bravas, goat cheese/tomato with bread, brussel sprout salad, piri piri chicken and seafood paella. I also tried the beef empanada which was good, but it did not stand out.

My party of 3 made reservations for 11:45am on a Saturday. It was pretty crowded inside and the ambience was nice! Fun restaurant to dine at.

We shared the brussels sprouts salad, beef empanada, ham croquetas, and the paella mixta. My favorite was probably the beef empanada since I love foods with a puff pastry! Service was great and food came out really quickly.

You cannot go wrong with anything you order from here! Everything is tapas styled so it is great to share.

The deviled eggs, brussel sprouts and beef tenderloin toro are notable items to try on the menu.

If you like sangria they also have amazing homemade sangria pitchers. The red sangria is outstanding.

This is hands down one of the best Spanish tapas places in Chicago!

Awesome happy hour! I was in the Lincoln Park area waiting for a walking tour to begin and feeling a bit peckish, decided to hop into Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba to grab a few small bites before spending the next 90 minutes traipsing around the area.

I sat at the bar and was pleasantly surprised to find that I had sat at the bar at the right time of day to take advantage of their Happy Hour specials.

At just $1.50 for pintxos and $3.50 a pop for tapas on their HH menu, I decided to order a bit more than I planned to try a little bit of everything.

I ended up going with the:

- caña de cabra cheese crostini
- deviled egg
- ham croquetas
- spanish meatballs
- patatas bravas
- and the catalan-style crystal bread

With the exception of the crystal bread, I absolutely loved everything (the meatballs and cheese crostini being my favorite and incredibly flavorful).

Service was extremely fast (dishes came out within minutes of ordering) and the bartender waiting on me was a big help in assisting me in my selections.

This place will be one of my go-tos when I'm in Chicago now.

Amazing brunch!!
Highly recommend getting the sangria pitcher and splitting everything. It was so fun trying all the things; there is such a variety!
My favorites were the chorizo wrapped dates, tomato sauce / goat cheese dish, peri peri chicken, and patatas bravas. The waffle battered chicken stick was also surprisingly amazing. Cant wait to go back and try more!
The service was excellent and all the food comes out so quickly!

Wow, what a find! The prices are unbeatable. We tried the tomato goat cheese dip (out of this world), chicken skewers (pretty standard fare), and the patatas bravas (fantastic). We also shared a pitcher of guava sangria, a special for the month, which was infused with tequila - absolutely refreshing. Just two cups in, and I was already feeling the buzz.

Great atmosphere for hanging with friends and getting some tapas. Even though there is such a wide variety of tapas, I ended up only getting the patatas bravas. These were so crispy and dipped in a flavorful sun-dried tomato aioli. Also got the paella de mariscos. Plenty of seafood in the dish, all three being cooked just right. The rice was moist and tasty. The only thing missing was a little more spice, but other than that it was so good. Lots of food for a reasonable price, definitely worth trying.