Went here with my girlfriend while we were restaurant hopping. While we only stayed for an appetizer, the menu looked pretty awesome...especially the oatmeal shake!? For an appetizer, I'd highly recommend the ceviche.
After seeing this place on tv I have been waiting,waiting and waiting to try this place. Being at home, pregnant I just had a craving I couldn't resist. Placed an order online. got the infamous pepito sandwich and some empanadas. I probably would've enjoyed it better if it wasn't kind of cold. I had high hopes for this sandwich after reading the reviews and watching them on tv. Â The empanadas were petty good though. Overall it was just ok, did it hit the spot?no, but it was descent. not sure if I will give them another chance yet.
Review Source:Pre-order Pizza for dine in? Sure. But, pre-order Irzau for dine in?
Making our way back to the burbs from the museum campus with an overtired 2 year old, my wife and I had a craving for Irazu. On a whim and 10 minutes away, we called to see if we can pre-order our food.
Our order was taken.
When we arrived, we were treated like rock stars! We were instantly identified on the way in and led to a reserved table with high chair. As we were taking off our jackets, our two casado dinners was served immediately! Unbelievable! Â Haha! Someone from another table glanced over and was like, what did you order??
Can't say enough about the accommodating, down-to-earth, good customer service.
GO HERE.
Recently I found myself in Irazu for lunch on a chilly February Saturday. Â When I say "in" I mean inside the outside seating area. Â It's not cozy, but I guess if it means seating double the people and eliminating waits, I guess it's okay. Â Most people kept their coats on and tried not to think about how the average high in February in Costa Rica is 76 degrees. Â But I digress.
We started with the chips, which were good but not great. Â Unfortunately, I ate many, many of them anyway. Â We also ordered the chifrigo, vegetarian style, and it was good. Â I appreciate any time beans are whole and not refried, and the avocado and pico tasted fresh. Â I also appreciate any time my husband will acquiesce and order something without pork just for little ol' me.
Since I'd had a dream the night before about a fish taco truck, I had those on the brain. Â I ordered the tilapia taco platter, which was great, except it arrived with a mountain of onion on top. Â It was easy to remove, (I am an anti-onionite) and then what was left was simple and great: tortilla and a decent amount of fish. Â The sides were plantains, rice and beans (again, not refried - yay!) and cabbage slaw. Â It was a happy plate.
Then, in spite of the chilly weather, my hearty companion ordered an oatmeal shake. Â He offered me a little and man, was it good. Â Really sweet - possibly too sweet - and cinnamony and addictive. Â Worth getting cold belly for. Â I was surprised to see that some people drink them along with their meal instead of after, but to each his or her own.
The other thing to note is that they are cash only. Â This is inconvenient for me, as I am from the future and already live in a cashless society, but luckily my husband had some cash. Â I believe there is an ATM in the inside-inside if you are in need.
Overall, a solid 3.5.
My wife and I, along with another couple, had dinner at Irazu on a Friday night. This was  the first time that I had Costa Rican cuisine, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was great, the service was fine, and the wait was long. It took a solid 45 minutes after ordering our food before it came out, which I found disappointing because diners around us who ordered after us were getting their food much faster. But we killed some time by sharing an oatmeal milkshake, which was amazing. I suppose the wait was worth it because the Casado that I ordered was phenomenal. Overall, we had a good time. Keep in mind that Irazu does not take reservations and is cash only.
Review Source:Went there today for lunch with 15 members of our monthly ethnic dining club none of whom had ever been there before. Food was wonderful and servings plentiful. Although oatmeal shake didn't sound that good I figured I would try it since it was one of their specialties. And...special it was! Very very yummy. All of this could stand on its own but the service was the best of all. Omar managed to keep all of our individual orders(did not opt for the family prix-fix offered-this time) and checks straight. Â He did it with a smile and an extremely engaging personality. The food was great but Omar is a true asset to the business - give him a raise!!! Sure we will all be back!
Review Source:This is an updated review of Irazu. Â I've upgraded it one star for the following reason:
I was blown away at how quickly the owner of Irazu (Henry) contacted me after my uneventful experience with my casada dish. Â He personally contacted me and refunded my meal. Â This goes to show how much the owners actually care about the feedback from the diners, and always want to make a lasting impression. Â
What blew me away was he even personally mailed me a small gift certificate to Irazu. Â He took the time out of his day to make sure that all his patrons have a good experience, or at the very least, give it a shot. Â Job well done to Henry for being an awesome owner.
I saw this place in food network. Â I ordered the pepino sandwich with extra mayo, hold the onions, beans and cheese. Â It was delicious. Â I forget the name of the pork nuggets, but I got an order of those. Â The cook gave me a delicious bowl of dipping mayo which really cooled off the hot pork nuggets. Â It is BYOB which is ok cause we brought a bottle of rum and mixed it at the table. Â I'll be back soon for the steak sandwich and hopefully try something else tasty.
Review Source:I absolutely love this place - for me, it's one of my top 5 restaurants in the city as far as value for what you get. Â I love every meal I have had here, but this particular review is for the meal I had on Saturday night, which was their family-style prix fixe menu.
I had no idea they even offered this, but for large groups, it is mandatory, and it's terrific. Â For $18.50 per person, you get a Chifrijo appetizer (basically pico de gallo with black beans, fried pork and rice) and a salad to start. Â The main course is giant bowls of chicken, steak, plantains, gallo pinto and grilled vegetables, which was more than enough for our party of 12. Â As if that wasn't enough, dessert is an oatmeal shake for everyone, which tastes an awful lot like horchata and when rum is added, tastes phenomenal.
It's hard to ask for much more from the only Costa Rican restaurant in the city. Â Authentic food, BYOB, and reasonable prices. Â I'll always make a point to return here.
Last summer I stumbled up on this place completely famished and frustrated. Â Our first dining option didn't work out, and this was our "plan B"......What an amazing surprise this was!!! Â I literally can't WAIT for my next visit!! Â
Things I love:
it's in a convenient area, but not "in the belly of the whale" in terms of chaos
the service
the food
the server educating me on the menu items (I'd never been to Costa Rica)
the liquor store literally across the street to make the byob SUPER easy
lazing on summer evenings on their patio
their "no fuss" approach to really good food
it's literally STEPS off the blue line
Things I don't love:
Ummmm.....
Ummmmmmm......
I got nothin'
Just delicious. And I didn't even have the oatmeal shake! This is only because the kitchen closed in the middle of our meal...I suppose it WAS 10:45. We were quoted 45 minutes for a table for 6 on a Friday night and it was ready in 30. There isn't really room to wait at the front of Irazu so we went down the street to grab a beer and then were chugging/paying our bill to get back as quick as possible for our table.
We started with the guacamole and the chifrijo which were both delicious. We also ordered several empanadas and each couple had one. We ended up with the steak and potato and loved it, everyone else enjoyed theirs as well. For dinner, I had the Pepito Sandwich with hot peppers. NOM. I'm casually obsessed with sandwiches and this one was a dream. How can you go wrong with steak, onions, cheese, that tasty Lizano sauce, and hot peppers?! You can't. You just can't.
I can't wait to go back and have this sandwich again. Other members of our party had burritos, the Casado, and other plates of veggies and meat. We all left happy and full. The BYOB component made it a lot of fun, we basically closed down the place (sorry to the waitstaff, thank you for your patience!). Additionally, you can't beat the price point ($20 a person with tip) and no corkage fee. Can't wait to return!
We order from Irazu weekly, never had a bad meal from empanadas to tacos to sandwhiches, I could literally drink their pico de gallo. Have to leave a review because our order was messed up, and I thought it was quite respectable that the owner called us to personally apologize. So along with having great food, I will keep going back to know that I'm giving my business to people who deserve it and truly care about quality customer service!
Review Source:My husband and I have never had Costa Rican food, but if this was it we are soooo in!!! Â Oatmeal and Guatabana shakes, plantains, their sandwiches, taco tico, Costa Rican rice, Casado dinner with the steak option and the Guy Fieri special came with a Costa Rican sandwich, small chifrijo (which OMG was so delicious, I almost took my husband's plate) and oatmeal shake...I honestly can't begin to tell you how much I loved this place! Â Also if you're a Vegan or just want healthy, they have such different options that you can satisfy anyone with their menu! Â You will leave full and happy! Â The wait staff and (I believe the owner was there) and they were SUPER friendly! Â For my husband's and my first time in Chicago, we were extremely happy to have found this place our last day in town and sad that we don't have anything like it in OH. Â If you are in Chicago...GO HERE! Â It's a must and you won't be sorry! Â Again, "Chifrijo and Oatmeal Shake" are a MUST for side options and you won't go wrong with anything else you get!
Review Source:Pros:
- Close to the blue line L- station
- The veggie burrito (minus cheese & sour cream, add zucchini) made my taste buds happy (too spicy with jalapeños and too big for one person), so good to share
   (thanks to follow Yelpers for the praise so I knew what to order)
- friendly service
- reasonably priced
Cons:
- the loud, annoying laugh by some guy at a near by table
- server did not write down everything and forgot a drink order until he was reminded when he brought our food
I will have to go back another time to try the oatmeal shake.
Recommended. You should try this place.
This place has the killer effects!
Small bites, big bites. Irazu.
Meat-lovers. Vegetarians. Irazu.
Specialty drinks and desserts. Irazu.
All of the above with speedy service!
Here's what we had on a bustling Friday evening: pepito sandwich, beef and potato empanada, and taco tico. We had our pepito sandwich with steak. I'm usually not a fan for onions and beans but these worked very well with the steak and Lizano sauce. The empanadas were flaky-crispy-licious! The taco tico were very petite but the mayo, ketchup, and Lizano sauce mix was refreshingly excellent.
Yes, these are very simple dishes yet oh-so-fulfilling! All for just $21! What can I say?! I'm a simple girl easy to please!
Note: The Yelp community has it that the Chifrijo and oatmeal shakes are to die for. I will have to make more trips to Irazu.
First off, the food was amazing and exceeded my expectations. If you have the option, pay the extra $1 and get the Costa Rican combo rice as your side. Â I ordered the first entree on the list, and the entire plate was delicious. The food was seasoned well. Also, it's byob and the ambience is fun.
I am docking it  for two reasons. First, the service was bad. Our waiter forgot to bring the ice bucket for our wine. He also was in a hurry and spilled salsa on my friend's coat. He then almost dropped the side of black beans all over our table. The other problem is this place has ONE bathroom (one toilet) for the entire restaurant. How is that even legal? Be sure to stop at the bathroom before leaving your house. AND THIS PLACE ONLY TAKES CASH.
We were told the restaurant does not take reservations even though the table next to us had one... The service started out horrible and only declined from there. We waited 30 minutes in the supposedly heated patio which was freezing to order and another 45 before we decided it was a lost cause. Instead of apologizing or offering any explanation out waiter, the hostess, and the supposed manager told us to have a great night. There's no chance I would attempt a second time at Iarzu.
Review Source:I debated giving Irazu 3 stars but the reality is I probably wouldn't go back. This was just 'meh' for me. I went 2.5 weeks ago with 2 friends on a Saturday night.
We figured there would be a wait, so we weren't surprised that we were huddled inside the covered patio. But it was a bit annoying there there were a few empty tables on the patio yet they were not seating anyone there. We waited at least 30 minutes and then were seated inside the restaurant. I couldn't wait to sit down because I was starving, and when I saw the basket of tortilla chips I was psyched. Unfortunately the chips were terrible. They were hard (overcooked I think, not stale) and had no flavor. Because they were in front of me I ate them anyway, but they were not good.
Supposedly the chifrijo is their big appetizer so we ordered the large for the 3 of us to split. This was never finished. As a proud member of the clean plate club, it pained me to see unfinished food but it wasn't that great. It's basically a rice salsa with fried pieces of pork. The pork was lost on me because all I tasted was chewy batter and it got stuck in my teeth. For my main I had the steak el tico. It was fine, nothing great. They upsell you on the gallo pinto which was fine but bland. My friend shared her oatmeal shake with the table and it was very tasty and surprisingly sweet, which is not how I would ever describe oatmeal.
I wouldn't suggest going out of your way to come here, perhaps delivery is the best way to go?
Oh, you haven't been to Irazu? Â That's embarrassing.
To be 100% honest, I've probably ordered takeout from here twice as much as I've dined in. Â Either way, the food is spectacular. Â In the warmer months, I'm much more likely to show up at their door, wine in hand, because it is BYOB after all.
In terms of vegetarian options, Irazu has some great choices. Â The veggie plate never disappoints and the veggie burrito is stupidly cheap and stupidly delicious. Â Get it spicy with plantains. Â
And the oatmeal shake? Â It's insane how tasty it is (and they can make it vegan!)
One of the restaurants in Chicago that I always want to bring people to.
The service is great. Always friendly, and the food comes quick. BYOB is free and they will open your beers and bring you an Ice bucket for wine.
The food is awesome. If you want something small, their sandwiches are filling and delicious. The pepito and Costa Rican sandwich are amazing. Â If you want a plate, I love the liver and onions, and their pork chops. They give you really good portions. The food is defiantly worth the price.
For the winter, they have heaters and a screen so you don't get too cold, but the summer is the best time to go and eat outside.
I can't begin to list all of the food I had here. Definitely try this place out!!!
I'm a bit torn between giving Irazu 3 or 4 stars. Â
Last week, I ordered delivery from Irazu. Â Note that they have a very wide delivery area so if you don't live close, don't assume you can't get Irazu delivered. Â I ordered El Tico with rib eye steak, and it was delicious. Â The meal has a little of everything: beef, rice, beans, onions, peppers, and plantains. Â The beef was a little chewy but I expected that given the price ($13.50) for the entree. Â All mixed together, it was a tasty and filling meal and enough for two meals. Â
My friends and I headed to Irazu again last night. Â Arriving at 7pm on a Saturday night, we waited about a half an hour for a table for three as they don't take reservations. Â We sat in the back room which didn't have quite as nice an atmosphere as the heated front porch. Â I again ordered El Tico, but this time it was a bit too greasy for me. Â I was almost grossed out. Â However, when I re-heated the leftovers today, it wasn't as oily and actually tasted better and was delicious.
We also shared the Chifrijo appetizer, and the pork flavor could have been a bit stronger, though I liked the crunchy texture and it was still plenty tasty and different than any dish I've ever had. Â We split an oatmeal shake which was delicious - tasted like oatmeal cookies and milk.
It's BYOB which makes it super affordable. Â We each paid $20 for plenty of food. Â Metered street parking is pretty easy.
My first few visits here were in the summer, and I didn't stray from the veggie burrito and oatmeal shake. The oatmeal milk shake is amazing - absolute perfection. I wonder how the other shakes tastes, but can't pass up the oatmeal. I've seen it very busy on the weekend, but almost totally empty on a chilly winter weeknight. The spicy dishes with beans, rice, and plantains warmed me from the inside out.
A really delicious, affordable meal. Plus it's BYO
I was expecting to be blown away but was not. Okay, the oatmeal was really awesome. Being filipino (and fan of eating Mexican and Puerto Rican), parts of the dish and those I saw amongst my friends were familiar to me and therefore was not that exciting. I'M NOT SAYING that Mexican food is the same as Costa Rican. But if Costa Rican is exotic to you then you'll have a great food experience. Definitely, the food feels homemade and true to being a Costan Rican dish.
Review Source:In between a 2 star and 3 star rating, decided on a 2 star. Â Yelp come on man, we need the half star rating.
The guacamole was good, BYOB always a plus. Â
I ordered the El Tico and got it spicy. The food was just okay at best. Â It lacked flavor, even with making it spicy. Â Not sure how it can be a chef's favorite. Â
The meal wasn't bad but it was nowhere from being good.
really packed place on a weekend night! we waited 1 hour for the food but the main complaint i have is about the service
chifrijo
casado
el tico
pepito sandwich
empanada
oat meal shake
we were seated right next to the station where they dumped the dirty dishes and glasses. the servers were just throwing everything in there loudly and ruthlessly. of course one of the server spilled lots of wine on my brother's jacket, and all of our shoes. really?
never go back!!
Love this place more and more each time I go. No wait at all for dining room at all.
Started with a big bowl of guacamole and chips. I dug right in. Side of pureed black beans and lizano salsa completed everything.
For dinner I had the shrimp/vegetable platter. The plaintains are to die for. Shrimp was cooked and the sauce was tasty. Veggies were really fresh too.
You can't go wrong with anything on the menu. It's BYOB and there is a wine store across the street.
UPDATE: Almost immediately after writing my review, the owner contacted me to apologize for the service and told me to email him next time I plan on going and he'll make sure my experience is better.
A+ customer service here. I was already planning on going back because the food is great. The fact that he took a few minutes to send me a note, that's the type of thing that goes a long way.
Is it possible to get a legal patent on food? Â If so, Irazu Cafe could easily lock down and license it's Oatmeal Shake recipe! Â It is like drinking heaven...with just a pinch of cinnamon on top. Â So, so good!
And I haven't even gotten to the food yet! Â Their menu has a pretty wide range....and most importantly, they consistently deliver well prepared meals that are extremely tasty. Â I've never had a bad meal there! Â The staff is super friendly (cozy even) and treat you like family! Â No question...Irazu, at a minimum, is a monthly stop for me. Â
Here are a couple of my favorites: Â Gallo Pinto (with both plantains and eggs), Steak tacos, chorizo burrito, plantains, horchata (second ONLY to the oatmeal shake), arroz con huevos, vegetarian burrito (and yeah, I love meat...so this surprised me), and casado!
Enjoy.....and pura vida!
I've been to Costa Rica! The food here is far superior to anything that I had in Costa Rica. So I would call this a Costa Rican inspired restaurant.
Good environment if you are with friends, not so much if you're looking to have a quiet dinner for two.
The staff is great, everybody is usually very personable and work with a sense of urgency. They really seem to want to provide good service.
I like the dish named El Tico and I've enjoyed it on several occasions. I also enjoy their bistec encebollado (steak & onions). The portions are big and prices reasonable especially for the amount of food you get. So... If you have room for dessert then PLEASE have their bread pudding. If you don't have room order it anyway and take it home so when you do have room, it's that good! You won't be disappointed, in fact you'll thank me later.
FIN
Awesome place, The food is absolutely delicious! It was my first time having Costa Rican food, so I cannot speak to the authenticity. I went here for a birthday dinner with about 15 other people. The bday girl had some sort of family style dinner set up, which was awesome and came out to only $20 per person! Yes it is BYOB!! And yes the service was great!!
THE OATMEAL SHAKE: TO DIE FOR!!
Never disappointed when I come here. I always order the Palmitos salad with chicken. It's so good. Hearts of palm, beets, avocado on a slaw with vinaigrette.
Also good the steak sandwich, and favorite drink is agua de jaimaica with lime. .And my little guy approves. He loves their "giant"fries. Perfect for a warm day.
Great prices, byob, cash only.
I came here with some friends based on the recommendation of a friend who visits Cost Rica often. Â So, I'll take her word for it that the food is authentic, but I can only comment on how it tasted...delicious! Â I highly recommend the Chifrijo appetizer - it's a perfect starter with chips. Â We ordered a few plates to share, but I think my favorite was the shrimp/veggie platter, because it was topped with a really different, tasty sauce. Â
Plus, it's BYOB with no corkage fee...we definitely took advantage!
Ahhh Irazu....Irazu...Irazu. Â Everyone keeps telling me to come and check you out and I see how busy you are every time I go by and I keep putting you on my list of places to go. Â Finally I went. Â I went EARLY on Friday around 5PM. Â We got seated right away. Â It's a BYOB so we brought a six pack of beer with us. Â Thankfully we brought our own bottle opener otherwise we'd be screwed since our waiter only came to take our order and we didn't see him for the rest of the night until it was check time which I'll get back to because this is why I'm giving this place 3 stars.
I enjoyed the food a lot. Â I ordered the Milanese and it was so good! The steak was cooked to perfection. Â The rice and beans were amazing. Â The portions are huge! Â My mom ordered the Casado and I had a couple of bites as well. Â It was delicious! Everything is better with an egg. Â We even said that we will definitely have to come back here again because the food was good.
Our waiter never came to check on us and didn't even deliver our food. Â We had to flag him down to get our check. Â Since Irazu is cash only we wanted change back, but I don't think he understood that. Â I had to tell two people that we were still waiting for our change. Â We waited for our change for 15 minutes until someone who wasn't our waiter finally gave it back to us. Â If you were so sure you were getting a $10 tip maybe you should have come and asked us how we were doing.
The food is good, but that waiter really irked me. Â Maybe I'll have to get it to go because I'll get better service at my own apartment.
The highlight - Chifrijo!!
I could literally eat the whole thing by myself. Me, the hubs and a couple of friends went here on a gorgeous Friday evening for dinner. This place is a trending spot and is crowded in the evenings. We had to wait for about 30-40 mins and when we were finally seated we started munching on the chips and tomatillo salsa. The chifrijo reminded all of us of Indian street food that we absolutely love and dove right into it. I got the veggie paella which was good but really enjoyed the casado, the potato taco and tostada. Too bad that we were too full to try the legendary oatmeal shake, but we'll be back for that!!
PS - Note that this place is BYOB and CASH only.
Love this place both to dine in or have delivered. Stumbled across Irazu after a week of living in Chicago, so knew very little about it. Â What a unique, delicious place! I love love love their sweet plantain, steak sandwich, and stuffed poblano pepper.
Their delivery service is fast and pleasant, so that's a positive feature as well.
In the summer months, they have a large patio, only downside is that it's across the street from the blue line, so a little noisy, but still enjoyable.
I would definitely recommend this place!
My pre-marathon meal consisted of this:
Tostones with pureed black beans & mojo de ago
Vegetarian plate (spinach) with gallo pinto and maduros
1 avena shake....
....the 1 avena y chocolate shake to go.
Service was wonderful. I had no wait on a Friday night at 7 pm; then again, it was just me. All the food was delicious, the tostones were crisp and hot, the veggie plate had perfectly cooked peppers and the gallo pinto was great.
As for the shake(s), I think that ordering one to go speaks for itself. It was just so tasty and made me wish that I could recreate that flavor at home.
Ps. This gave me the energy to finish the marathon. Talk about carbo loading! I probably ate 3 whole plantains that night.
Irazu handled the mishap VERY well. After calling management twice to "complain", they profusely apologized, and refunded my money. They even called and texted to keep me posted on my refund. In addition to my refund, they also sent me a $15 gift certificate in the mail.
At the end of the day, their food is awesome, value is unbeatable, and service is awesome. Everyone messes up from time to time (especially on a busy night) - and it's all about the way you handle the mistake. In their case, they handled it VERY well.
I've only tried one thing at this place ever and I keep coming back. Â My first time there the waiter told me to get the veggie burrito with chorizo. Â Sooo good. Â The hot peppers are nutzo hot though, so I'd strongly advise not doing that unless you're eating with someone who doesn't think you're manly enough. Â And then..you know..the only way to prove something like that is by eating fire.
The veggie burrito comes with extra stuff the regular burritos don't, in case you were wondering. Â And it's one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest altogether) large plates you can get there.
The oatmeal shake with soy is the gf's favorite. Â It's kinda like an oatey horchata. Â That sounded less strange in my head. Â Trust me, it shows up in a lot of reviews bc it's good.
If you come for dinner on the weekend, be prepared to wait...like an hour  That is unless it's raining.  Their waiting area is all outside and most people don't like to wait in rain, so the line basically goes away completely.
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