I liked the experience at Bacaro. Â The menu featured interesting foods and preparations, the service was excellent, and the wine list was good. Â Coming from Chicago, I'm spoiled with the level of cuisine we can experience on a regular basis. Â Although this restaurant wasn't quite on the level of Chicago, it was very, very good!
Review Source:My daughter took me here for Mother's weekend and it was an amazing experience. Â I consider this restaurant to be the best of the Champaign area and want to go back the next time I visit U of I. Â The service was attentive and the recommended Pinot Noir was perfect,. Â We completely indulged in the delicious food offerings and got take home for my daughter who has to endure school food on a regular basis. Â Be sure to check this restaurant out!
Review Source:Second trip to Bacaro.
Prix fixe dinner for two with the cheapest bottle of wine on the menu.
$145
We left hungry, and shaking our heads.
Walked across the street to Esquire and had dinner again.
When McDonalds could have profitably sold me 145 hot hamburgers, don't let me actually leave hungry.
I took my girlfriend here on our first date, and I could not have asked for a better experience. Food was excellent and the atmosphere was very warm and pleasant. Portions were reasonable, but not huge. Wine is half price on Sundays by the way! Definitely a great dinner date location.
Review Source:This is the perfect place to stop in after a long
day of visiting family and friends. Not too noisy,
good food, and any beverage you like. We didn't
order entrees just appetizers and salad. They
still sent out an Amuse-Bouche and sliced baguette
with olive oil. Nice. We wish we would have been
hungry enough for a full dinner but we had been
eating all day long. Next time I think I will budget
my stomach space and leave some room for Bacaro.
You should too.
Not only is the food amazing, but the service splendid. Â The server was knowledgeable and able to recommend items. Â She could talk the talk! Â I'm not going to embarrass myself with trying to revisit the foods and their special ingredients, but it was all delicious. Â We had oysters, sea bass, pumpkin cake and pressed coffee with Frangelico. Â We also had a wonderful bottle of wine. Â The view from our table of two, looked out over a busy and entertaining Walnut Street. Â This is now our new favorite restaurant. Â It was also very easy to make a reservation on the iPhone. Â We had set out that night to go to Biaggi's. Â I'm glad that they were too busy to take our reservation for two. Â That led us to Yelp to find another white table cloth, Italian style restaurant. Â Anybody can do Biaggi's; Bacaro's really stands out.
Review Source:I felt decidedly underwhelmed and overcharged.
The chocolate cake was the only item that I consumed that lived up to the expectation or the quality implied by the pricing. Â The soup was merely OK and the spaghetti completely underwhelming (bland, in a runny sauce) and a huge disappointment. Â I also felt that I was missing a spoon to easier roll the spaghetti in, and I don't really see the point of being given a knife instead. Â Finally the Malbec I ordered (by the glass) simply shouldn't be on the menu in a fine dining restaurant.
To complete my negative experience, everything on the menu was 2 to 4 dollars more expensive than the already high prices posted on their "sample menu" online. Â To be fair, the service was fine (although not extraordinary) but obviously couldn't compensate for the rest.
My partner and I went here for our anniversary and got the chef's tasting menu + wine pairings. It was probably the best meal I've ever had. Every dish was perfect, and every pairing was perfect. I've never been for a normal dinner off the menu, but I probably will eventually. I'm happy and impressed that a restaurant this nice exists in this little town.
One complaint, and not really their fault: A few times now I've walked past to see people in bright orange Illini sweatshirts and other "lay-on-the-couch" attire eating dinner. I can't believe someone would go to such a nice place dressed like that! Put on a tie, son! Or at least a button up shirt. Maybe Bacaro should have a dress code.
I wish I could give Bacaro five stars. To be fair, there's a lot to like about it. The quality of the ingredients is high. The ambience is great too. The servers are among the most professional in the C-U area. The food is genuinely sophisticated. However Bacaro's commitment to local, seasonal ingredients, while being one of its strengths, is also one of its greatest weaknesses. The menu at Bacaro is constantly changing based on what ingredients they stock. This tends to result in inconsistent dishes whose preparations are constantly changing. Of three visits I've eaten some bad, ok and great meals.
Visit 1:
Had halibut with some kind of crust in a mint-gazpacho. The fish was fresh and of excellent quality. This was frustrating however because the fish was coated in a greasy crust that became soggy from the fish sitting in the mint gazpacho. The gazpacho was also greasy and was not pleasantly minty. What could have been a complex, herbaceous broth, wound up tasting like greasy mouthwash. Fantastic ingredients but badly executed prep.
Visit 2:
Valentine's Day prix-fixe. Three courses all of which were delicious. The appetizer was some kind mediterranean type salad if I recall with olives and I think preserved lemon. Delicious and fresh! My main was halibut again, with some kind of vanilla saffron sauce. The fish was perfectly cooked and the sauce was complex and homey. My girlfriend got the steak and it was of great quality with a strong preparation to match. The dessert was a chocolate torte with blood orange sorbet- good flavors that were well-executed.
Visit 3:
Pork loin with mustard spaetzle. The spaetzle were delicious! I could eat that spaetzle every day. The pork however was DRY. Really, really dry. I was trying to conserve the mustard sauce on the plate in order to make sure there was enough to get on each slice of pork. It was that dry.
So in closing out of three, expensive visits, the food has been good maybe 1.5 times- with me being able to say I enjoyed one complete meal (valentine's day) and the side of one of my mains (the spaetzle). If the food was consistent, Bacaro would be an easy 5-stars. Hopefully they can strike a balance moving forward between rotating fresh, seasonal ingredients and maintaining a consistently-executed menu.
FANTASTIC!
I've been wanting to go to Bacaro for awhile, but my husband and I have been too busy. Â We finally made time last night.
Atmosphere: 5 stars. Â Great atmosphere, dimly lit, very nice.
Service: 5 stars... we found the service to be extremely high caliber without being
snooty. Â We ate at NOMI in Chicago a few weeks ago and the service was comparable. Â Quality and Kind... just the kind of service we adore.
Food: PERFECT. Â I'm not a "foody" but I adore good food. Â The octopus was the best I've ever had. Â The gnocchi was incredibly savory. Â My husband tried the steak and I had the lamb special. Â Both were FANTASTIC. Â
Wine suggestion: 4.5 Stars. Â Wine was good, not great. Â I'm not sure if we failed to describe what we wanted. Â Would be nice to have some descriptions in the wine menu. Â We've been to several nice restaurants in Chicago that provided descriptions of at least a subset of wine choices. Â This is such a minor point though.
We did not eat dessert as we were stuffed.
I can't say enough good things about this very very special restaurant. Â I'm just disappointed we took so long to finally get around to eating there. Â We will be back... this is now my favorite restaurant in Champaign Urbana!!
Flavors were generally ok, but the pork and rabbit were overcooked and the scallops weren't seared properly. Â Also, the portion sizes were a bit large: we'd have preferred more quality and less quantity for the price.
Update: we returned a second time to a much better meal. Â The lack of consistency should be a big concern for the owner, though.
Awesome. I went here with my boyfriend on our 2 year anniversary and we totally spoiled ourselves. The food was interesting, nicely presented, perfectly portioned and delicious! We had the chef's tasting menu and I'm so happy we did. There were things that the waitress brought out that I would have never thought to order but ended up loving more than the others. I'd definitely recommend this place!
Review Source:I rather enjoyed Bacaro. Â It had a really nice atmosphere, quality food, and good wine.
I was impressed that time was taken to talk to my wife and I to find a wine to pair with both of our meals. Â The pairing was correct and the wine went well with our meals. Â It was somewhat amazing also the fact that it wasn't a very expensive wine that was suggested.
This is a very good place to eat in the Champaign area. Â The reason I gave it 5/5 (instead of 4/5) is because even though the food is a little over priced in my mind, the service, atmosphere, and location lend to it receiving a 5/5.
Haha, came to review this place and realized I reviewed it four years ago, when I ate the admittedly boring student prix-fixe. Hopefully they don't do that anymore. Since then I move to Stockholm and then New York City. I was back in the area for a few days and decided to try Bacaro again. It was really very good. Yes, despite the fact that there is a lot of mediocre food in the area, it's not the area's fault. Champaign-Urbana has fantastic terroir. There are many producers nearby making food that is world-class and Bacaro uses these ingredients to great effect. I LOVED the goat cheese salad and my rich creamy risotto. Fried sweetbreads were luscious. My boyfriend's chicken with chicken liver was delicious.
I guess the only complaint is that the prices here are the same as in NYC...
Pretty good food but a bit pricey for what you get. Compared to higher end restaurants in Chicago the food here isn't really that expensive and the quality is generally very good. However, there are many places in Champaign which both cook well and charge lower prices as well (usually ethnic food though).
Seating is limited and parking can be difficult to find but there's really no doubt that the food served here is the best in Champaign.
My date secured us a reservation here for Valentines Day.
Pretentious. Server was snooty, bar man was snooty. The patrons also the same. Crammed seating.
It was crazy expensive, I understand local farm products, different menus, blah blah blah..but in Central Illinois? Seriously, $28 for a chicken leg? No thank you.
The prices were a turnoff and the food was OK, maybe we picked the wrong dishes.
The whole time my date and I were staring at this couple that did the at the time $98/person tasting menu...one YOUNG lady and a very old man... and they were a riot so I guess we had fun watching them. Other then that, Meh.
Hmmm, what to say, what to say. Â I came here for dinner the other Sunday night, place was quiet but very nice in terms ambiance. Â The menu was very nice. Â The service was excellent. Â The food would have been good, even excellent except the chef was very heavy with the salt, every dish was salty, excessively so. Â Not enough to send it back but one more grain of salt and I would have refused to eat it. Â My companion suffered the same fate. Â
The wine list was either very expensive, they did not have it or Slovenian, not sure what's up with that. Â We ended up drinking beer because we could not find anything we liked. Â I'd give the place one more try just to see if perhaps this was an off night.
To the other raves comparing this place to the top restaurants in NY or Chicago I would say "oh please"! Â It was good, showed promise of things possibly greater but comparing it to a dozen places I could name off the top of my head in either city Bacaro was good but at these prices it should have been better.
Nice, elegant, cozy place to dine.
Nice menu with a good mix of local farm products (veggies) and very fresh menu.
The food was a little salty but very original and tasty.
Service was a tad slow and not timed well but it was very busy.
Service is the only reason it was rated a 3 but the food is a 4.
Bacaro has been through some subtle but incredibly effective changes. I am happy to say it has taken back it's rightful spot as both my favorite and simply the best restaurant in town... and one of the my favorite spots anywhere. As I mentioned previously the decor and staff are superb, but Chef Thad Morrow is now to be seen frequently in the dining room, and is doing a much better job of maintaining food standards than than the previous Maitre D'. Food is now flawless, and portion sizes have increased somewhat too, which for most was a welcome change. There is also a new Bar snack menu, which combines comfort-food with nouveau twists, like spicy homemade pork crackling! Bacaro could compete on a world stage, and do very well.
Review Source:My only complaint was the waitress was a complete moron.
I am very forgiving of servers too, being a former one myself. She had no idea what was good on the menu and just kept saying "Im a vegetarian." With that being said, in Champaign, I haven't had a better meal. I had the veal and it was wonderful. I can't recall much else but in a town without much choices other than the usual college fare, this ranks up there.
I'll confess that after nine years I never took the time to sit down in Bacaro for a meal before last night. Â I always preferred Radio Maria, Escobar or some other place for a nice meal. So before we set out on a Friday night for Bacaro, I decided to Yelp it and I was (and still am) very suspicious of a few of the reviews.
Here was a place with lots of 1 & 2 star reviews and yet a couple of 5 star reviews, written in great length and gushing detail by Yelpers for whom this was their only review. Â So who writes their first and only review in great length and never mentions anything they ordered, just summarizing it as an excellent restaurant, then never subsequently reviews any other restaurant? Â I may be a cynic, but it raises red flags....
So, we set off to do our own independent research: Â Three people on a Friday night. Â The place is full, we get one of a couple of available tables, with no reservations. Â The waitress was wonderful. Â My first requirement to enjoy a restaurant experience is good service, and she was great. Â She knew the menu, she was unequivocal when we asked her what she liked. Â She kept her distance and watched us for cues, never interrupting a conversation and never rushing us nor ever making us wait.
The wine list is huge, the drink list is equally huge, but both are very pricey by Champaign standards. My wife's martini was a very full glass, all the way up to the "c" section as we Assembly Hall fans would say.
We had a risotto special with fish "for the table", one mixed green salad, and one fried pork belly starter. Â The pork belly was $10 and was the size of a large marshmallow in the center of a 12 inch plate, humorous by its dinkyness. But good, like a chunk of fried bacon fat.
Then we had three entrees, all were very good. Â Mine was the grouper ($28) and frankly I don't recall my companion's meals because we also knocked down one martini and two bottles of Cote D' Rhone between the three of us. Â The Cote D' Rhone was $28/bottle and the lowest price wine on the list. Â Several other wines could be had in the high $30's, and then the rest of the list was north of $40.
One apple pie ala mode later and the three of us were out of there for $192 before tip; and she was worth the $40 tip we left, so by the end of the day it approached $77 per person.
So if you start a Yelp review at a three, this place gets one more star for having a great server, one star for being in DT Champaign and being beautiful inside & out, including cloth hand towels in the loo. Â Then I'll knock one star off for being too pricey for the market, but if Yelp allowed half-stars I'd give Bacaro 4.5.
I have had more consistently amazing and memorable meals at Bacaro than any other restaurant in Illinois. Â Bacaro continues to define the Italian aesthetic of minimalism while utilizing local fresh farm products with a midwestern voice that speaks of regional agricultural values more than any other modern middle American restaurant.
Bacaro has been a pioneer of local cooking in Illinois for nine years and has also supported local farmers long before farmers market culture was cool and "local" was a marketing term and Chili's featured "organic" produce.
One might be inclined to draw similarities between Bacaro in Champaign and regional French cooking in Burgundy, Basque restaurants in Northern Spain and Italian restaurants in rural Marche. What do all of these places have in common?
Each are located in rural farming communities featuring creative Chefs who are utilizing traditional techniques along with a bounty of fresh, healthy, locally available ingredients in an inspired and innovative way that showcases the soul and terrior of the region.
Bacaro may be one of the most relevant regional restaurants in the middle of America along with Michael Symon's Lola in Cleveland and Proof on Main in Louisville.
Bacaro is a restaurant that goes the extra mile for their guests utilizing locally raised organic meats, house made cured proscuitto, fruit and vegetable marmelatta, as well as a plethora of the seasonal vegetables.
The emphasis here is simple: clean, pure flavors features some of the best ingredients available in 2009. From imported fish from Browne Trading Company <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brownetrading.com&s=889b3ce7d0657ad018e261bccbe2b77444de770a745f55258b3a44a4341284c5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.brownetrading…</a> to fresh produce from Spence Farms <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thespencefarm.com&s=c86e241bf57aa3c462d0b3cd1da419684688b3db7036e52ace4c58f58c757eb1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.thespencefarm…</a>, Bacaro utilizes only the finest ingredients.
Bacaro does not cut corners where quality is concerned.
The same cannot be said if most restaurants in the wolrd; especially in college towns.
I have read reviews that proclaim Bacaro to be expensive, yet I'm not sure that I understand the complaint, as I just see an amazing value in regional gastronomy amid a sea of indifference and corporate foodstuff.
Prices here are quite low compared to the same ingredients served at restaurants of the same quality just two hours North.
If you want cheap industrial food, Steak n' Shake is CU's preferred restaurant of choice and is open 24/7. Enjoy.
On to the wine, which is my favorite subject.
Along with Farren's and Timpone's, Bacaro is a pioneer in CU for quality wine presented in a smart and innovative manner.
Where else can you find a selection of quality artisan wines served in beautiful glassware in Champaign?
Bravo to Bacaro for towing the quality line with regards to beverage service and not succumbing to the pressure to dumb down their creative selection for the masses! CU deserves more than Jameson and PBR.
Some of my favorite Bacaro dishes have included fresh morels (hand foraged from woods near Springfield) with new olive oil, Sicilian sea salt and chili flakes on bruschetta; organic hangar steak with 80 year old balsamic (transcendental); and a fresh Spanish baby glass eel salad. If any of the other Yelpers out there know of any other restaurants in North America serving fresh (live) baby glass eels from Spain, please educate me.
Overall, I recommend coming to this restaurant if you are ready to have a great time and relax while celebrating the beauty of the sweet life. La Dolce Vita.
If you are a parent of a U of I student and hail from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami, Tokyo, Moscow, Seville, Paris or Montreal, you will feel right at home in one of the premier regional US restaurants.
Yes, you will pay for the high quality ingredients; yet one will certainly appreciate the sophistication of the presentation, sex appeal of the ambience and attention to conviviality of service as well as the value of the menu.
As a Chicago restaurateur, I can safely say that Bacaro is a culinary beacon in an otherwise dimly lit universe of Midwestern restaurants.
If you are a fan of <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lolabistro.com&s=e2afe6c5682a2c7f7847b6cd03db07117386439a613890cff62c256842cfdc01" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.lolabistro.com</a> or <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackbirdrestaurant.com&s=b81caa7806cfec8584db8ed55b1e8818c03bb4d5a1fa80006c66fe987cea17d3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.blackbirdrest…</a> or <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sorellanyc.com&s=f428e214c32cdb948cf91f1c9598c32501464de5f42a3aafd5cda499cab98f67" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.sorellanyc.com</a> or <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.proofonmain.com&s=1cd80e78418852a2096c744d7e214a37f19d56bfbf99c9c7172cf4f7401c2160" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.proofonmain.c…</a>, then check out Bacaro.
If not, I recommend you head straight to <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.steaknshake.com&s=e5a074ccc22a0fde971afc18b505f5f9300566473ee9cd0378884f3991448547" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.steaknshake.c…</a>
It is very inexpensive and has very large portions.
Enjoy!
I can't help but feel this Restaurant has fooled many.
While I've read the food described as "Authentic Italian," I felt it was anything but. Â I've been to Italy, and this ISN'T Italian...
I suppose the entire visit was lackluster. The decor had a lot to be desired, but the wait staff were great.
However, once we ordered wine (and, by the old menu at least, were supposed to receive the standard 4oz glass) things went downhill. While we were savoring the tiny portion in our glasses, the bartender was doing his best to overfill the glasses of the pretty girls at the bar. When questioned, we were told "they asked for doubles." Who orders a double Merlot?
We chose what appeared to be a special at the time: a smoked duck panini.
What arrived at the table was a glorified ham and cheese sandwich. No, I'm not complaining about the sandwich itself, but they had substituted ham instead of smoked duck, then claimed that I wouldn't know the difference.
I'm not sure if it was just this visit or the one that followed that biased me, but I'll never return.
Decent food, but not spectacular. The grilled watermelon salad sounded better than it actually was -- it was drenched with vinaigrette... Â Anyway, I had the scallop dish, which was cooked nicely... but slightly bland.
I think the wine here is better. had a really awesome special pinot grigio with literally peaches floating around!!! It was so great. I have to come back here  to try more of their wines. I think it's probably better to come here just for wine than for dinner
And like what everyone else said, the service was great!
Who would have thought that I'd pick a place in Champaign for my 600th review!... Well, Bacaro certainly deserves it: I finally went there for dinner last night (after wanting to go for several months), and I was wowed. I'm still salivating thinking about it.
I went there with pretty high expectations (I'd heard great things about it from several friends and coworkers): that's usually not a good thing as it makes it easier to be disappointed, but Bacaro did not disappoint. In fact, I'm happy to say that my dinner there was on a par with my best dining experiences in NYC.
First and foremost: the food. My boyfriend and I decided to share a bunch of dishes. For appetizers, we ordered the fresh mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes and pesto, as well as the roasted suckling pig with homemade sauerkraut: they were both absolutely delicious (don't miss the suckling pig!). We then shared one entree: we got the braised pork shank, which came with sauteed spinach, mushrooms, bacon, and fig sauce: soooo good! The portions are not huge, but two appetizers and one entree turned out to be enough food. For dessert, we got the panna cotta with fresh fruit: simple but just as outstanding. That was some seriously great food!!
As Bacaro is also a wine lounge, their wine selection is quite extensive. We got a sampler of three wines by the glass for $14, all of which were pretty good. Not to forget the 10yo port we got with our dessert (very generous pour...), which was good also.
Service was great, ambiance was great (although it's a shame that the place was so empty)... it was really a great dinner (sure, it was not cheap, but entirely worth it!). By far the restaurant in Champaign, in my opinion. I'll definitely be back.
What one would consider fine dining - especially considering the fact we're talking about Champaign - Bacaro's boasts of an extensive wine selection and the best of traditional Italian cuisine. Â We ordered the smoked salmon appetizer, and, because I wasn't feeling very adventurous, chose the oven roasted chicken as my entre. Â Overall, I found both these dishes a little too salty (maybe the chef was just having an off night?). Â The portions are modest, but you would probably expect a little more for the price you're paying. Â They did have a decent cheesecake and the check came out with a couple yummy chocolate chip meringues, but overall I guess I was a little disappointed.
In consensus with what many others have said, service was very attentive, but I felt it was almost to the point of pretentiousness. Â Based on this experience alone, I would most likely not recommend Bacaro's nor dine here again, but I really don't want to dislike this establishment and would like to come back again sometime in the future and give it another chance. Â Until then, I say stick with Radio Maria.
I have NEVER ever had a bad dish here. The service was always so spot on, but then again that might just be because they know me.
I am always impressed with the ideas Thad's crew thinks of...and I am such a fan of ANYTHING the dessert Chef Allison makes, that girl is incredible!
Sure it is pricey, but it is mostly local products, which makes me more than happy to fork over more. They seem to be particular to detail, which is a plus to me!
The wine is top notch too.
Honestly, anyone who finds Bacaro pretentious must be insecure, or needs to be more social. Good Lord, fine dining people!! You pay for what you get.
ALSO!! Thad has also mentioned to me how he likes his business to have less seating so its about quality, and not quantity. RESPECT that!!
I think I need to save to go there again, so worth it!!
This place was a bit of a disappointment for me. Â I was really excited to try it since I heard the chef was an apprentice of Iron Chef Mario Batali (yes, I love the Food network).
The service wasn't great, and even though it seemed fancy, the decor wasn't all that great either.
The food is expensive (which I was expecting), but the pasta that I got was pretty bad and for some reason tasted a lot like bacon (which I wasn't expecting). Â Don't get me wrong, I love bacon, but not when it doesn't have bacon in it and isn't supposed to taste like that at all..
I definitely wouldn't go back here, but it was an interesting experience.
I had the 6 course tasting flight tonight at Bacaro and it was incredible. Â My friend and I ate and drank wine for 3 hours, and I felt completely taken care of but not intruded upon by our totally awesome, knowledgeable, helpful waiter the entire time. Â
100 thousand props to said waiter, who didn't give the check to my male dining companion just because there were two of us and my male dining companion was male.
I can't agree with the other reviewers about the portions; I was FULL by the end of the third course and still had half a meal to go. Â I think if I had even just ordered the linguini that was our 3rd course I still would have been full.
This is definitely a special occasion kind of restaurant, but I will certainly go back if I ever have a special enough occasion again.
Very expensive and not particularly large dishes.
If you're okay with this first statement, this place is a great place. Â The food is really good and the interior is very stylish. Â Also, the service is great. Â This is a very professional place that you wouldn't expect to see in Champaign.
Bacaro (pronounced bah-kah-roh') is a trendy little ultra-modern wine bar. Â The food is largely excellent, though portions are modest. Â Bartenders and waiters are generally quite knowledgable about the huge selection of wines they have, which is a great plus. Â And prices are rather reasonable, though not great.
Perching yourself at the bar for half-off wine and some dessert on Sunday night is a great way to enjoy the ambiance of this hip little place.