Cafe Iberico - Best Spanish Food in Chicago

In Chicago, one place to go for Spanish food is Café Iberico. Café Iberico is located in the North Loop area at 739 N. LaSalle Street and is close to transportation and accommodations.

Café Iberico is known for Tapas, which are small appetizer sized portions of food. When eating Tapas, people generally get several dishes for the table and everyone shares. Café Iberico offers both cold and hot Tapas plates. Some of the specialties on the cold Tapas plate include Aceitunas Alinadas, which is marinated Spanish olives, Canelon DeAtun, which is a tuna cannelloni served with white wine sauce and Tostadas DePisto, which is toasted bread served with stewed eggplant, peppers and onions, similar to Bruschetta. There are many different cold Tapas dishes to choose from and all are very good. I recommend Jamon Iberico, which is manchego cheese and ham served on tomato bread.

Hot Tapas dishes include Champinones Ala Plancha, which are grilled mushrooms with garlic and olive oil, Croquetas DePollo, which are delightful little chicken and ham puffs, and Queso DeCabra, which is baked goat cheese served with fresh tomato and basil sauce. As with the cold Tapas dishes, there are plenty to choose from to suit all tastes. I recommend the Salmon Ala Pimienta as it was superb. This dish consisted of fresh grilled salmon with green peppercorn sauce.

Spanish food should not be confused with Mexican food. There are no tacos at Spanish restaurants. While many people make a meal of Tapas, others choose to enjoy a Spanish entrée, such as Paella, which is a Spanish rice dish that usually includes meats and vegetables and is baked in a special pan. Café Imberico offers several different paella dishes; my favorite being the Paella Imberica, which has seafood, chicken and pork cooked with the rice. Paella generally takes at least 45 minutes to prepare, so if you are ordering this dish, you should do so at once.