del Toro

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star



Restaurant: del Toro
Location: 1520 N. Damen

Over the holidays I checked out Wicker Park’s newest place to be seen – del Toro. We were there for my wife’s birthday, and though we sat there and ate for almost three hours, it didn’t feel like more than 30 minutes. Since the night (and the holidays) was such a whirlwind, I’m gonna go ahead and make this review a whirlwind in del Toro’s honor.

THE SPACE
del Toro is in the old Mod space, but you’d never know it (well, I guess you would since I just told you and if you knew where Mod was, then you’d realize this was in the old Mod space, but that’s not what I meant). They gutted the place and totally re-everythinged it. If you’ve ever been to Mod, stop by del Toro and try to figure out where things used to be vs. where they are. It’s a fun game. And I like the new space. And we sat in the VIP area in back.

THE ATMOSPHERE
For sure a scene to be seen type of place. But I liked it. My wife tells me there were lots of hot women there, but I didn’t notice since I was gazing in her eyes all night. But I’ll take her word for it.

THE SERVICE
Good. Bad. Weird. Our server was extremely friendly (almost in a creepy way). He stopped by often, but he would stop by, and take like one order, then go put it in, then when he came back he would have to take more orders. It was bizarre. But that’s what happens when you’re doing Coke/X/Weed/Meth at the server station.

THE DRINKS
I don’t really remember. I think that’s good. But I also don’t think they were very strong and you had to drink a lot of them. I think that’s bad.

THE FOOD
Kind of like the service. For sure had it’s ups and downs. It almost felt tapas style, but not because that’s how they serve it, it’s just how we ordered it and how our server served it. Again, he would be in and out with orders, so we kind of got everything sporadically, which is probably why we were there for three hours. Some people would get their apps at one time, and we share them. Then someone else would get their apps, then we’d share that. And, unfortunately, entrees were the same way. About half of the people got theirs, ate, and then the other half got theirs. I should have been more annoyed, but no one really seemed to mind, and since everyone was sharing everything, it wasn’t a big deal.

Some highlights of the food:

Fried chickpeas – I didn’t touch them, but everyone loved them, and my sister was craving them days later.

Bacon Steak – not sure how else to describe it. It was like a steak, but made with the bacon cut of pork rather than a steak. Really, I guess it’s more like a pork chop than a steak. All I know is that it was like a giant piece of bacon, and that made me happy. I loved mine, but I’ve also never had one before (I’m told by another friend that he loves this stuff and has had it at other restaurants). Another guy on the table got one, and he hated it and didn’t finish it. I think I remember him saying his was too fatty. Is anything really too fatty? Well, besides me. Anyway, it was small, but enjoyable.

Prosciutto like meat – I promise in 2006 I’m going to start writing more stuff down and stop going on memory. Anyway, I’m pretty sure that del Toro had Serrano, which is a Spanish ham, rather than an Italian one. Either way, it was pretty good. Tasted more like ham than prosciutto does. Not good enough that I’d go out of my way to order it again, but I ate three pieces of it, so it wasn’t bad either.

Grilled Calamari – this was calamari (one of my favorite things, especially when it’s fried) stuffed with, I believe, pumpkin ceviche (again, I’m going to start writing this stuff down). I almost don’t want to tell you about it and just want you to go and order it, but that seems mean. When it came out, it was the whole calamari. I’ve never seen a whole calamari (since it’s usually cut up into little pieces). It was bizarre. It looked like a science project, but one you eat. It didn’t help that it was topped off with squid ink, so it looked like it was bleeding. Most people at the table couldn’t even look at it, and my wife was a little freaked out. But, that didn’t stop us from eating it. And it wasn’t bad. The one problem was the squid ink. This is my second experience with squid ink, and the one thing I know is that it makes everything very, very fishy. And not Sopranos fishy, but Chicago River fishy. It’s just too much. Without the squid ink, I would even recommend this dish, but with it, forget it. I think the best part was when my wife ate the head (the part with all the little tentacles (remember, calamari is just a small squid)). I think two people vomited at the table, and another girl started crying and rocking back and forth. It was a little disturbing to watch. The whole thing felt like an episode of fear factor.

PRICE
I have no idea, since it was my wife’s b-day, and everyone at the table split the bill. But I think it was like $50 a person. We did have lots of drinks and two bottles of champagne. I’d have to go again to decide if it was too pricey, but also not sure it was worth the price.

And there you have it. del Toro. I’d go back there for drinks, maybe for dinner, if someone else was dying to try it out. High-five with a manly ass slap.


UPDATE: I went back to del Toro recently for a friends b-day. My feelings didn't change. Still love the space and stuff, food is still just very average. I did like the fried calamari dish (something like Fruturi Mezcala). Pork chops were very below average. Also, the scary grilled calamari weren't nearly as big as the first time I went. They were more like little slugs this time, so no one got too upset. And they tasted a little better this time because there was less squid ink. So there you have. I can now for certain say del toro is just very, very average.