The Munchie Report: Emilio’s Tapas in Chicago.
The significant other had a thing to attend in Chicago. I tagged along for a me-cation. Me, the pool, good reefer, and a comfy king-sized bed. It was fabulous. We go to Chicago frequently and usually find pretty good places to eat. We were only there for one night this time. On the recommendation of a local, we went to the famous Emilio’s Tapas.
Emilio (chef and owner) is from Grenada, Spain. The food was authentic af. They also had a wonderful wine selection.
We started off with a bottle of Garnacha and ordered the Cazuela De Pulpo. It is a marinated octopus with peppers and sherry vinaigrette. We have been trying octopus for years. We have tried it at a Greek restaurant in Chicago, a sushi place in St. Louis, and on multiple other occasions on our excursions. It took Spanish at Emilio’s before we liked it. This octopus wasn’t chewy or weird in texture. There was a lot of flavor from the citrus and fresh herbs. Really good and so happy to finally find octopus we like.
Next, we had Fruto Del Mar (shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, and fish with cilantro cava broth) and Dátiles Con Tocino (bacon-wrapped dates with red pepper butter sauce).
The Fruto Del Mar was soooooooo good. Each piece of seafood was perfectly cooked and the broth was amazing. I enjoyed the scallop in particular but I usually do.
I don’t like fruit (I know it’s weird) and I have to say I enjoyed the date wrapped in bacon. It was salty and sweet. The bacon was a great texture and the red pepper sauce balanced the sweetness of the date with heat. It was a very good dish.
We decide to go all-out and ordered many more plates of delicious food.
I’m going to list all of them because they were ALL fire! If you go to Emilio’s Tapas I would suggest anyone of these amazing delicious dishes. Munchies. ZZZTTT.
-Setas Salvajes Con Amontillado- A mixture of different and delicious mushrooms in a sherry sauce. Great Dish!
- Carne a la Pelayo- Flank steak, garlic potatoes, veggies, and blue cheese sauce. This is an entrée. We split it and it was also amazing. Red meat and blue cheese is one of our favorite combos. The steak was more well done than I’d like.
-Pincho De Solomillo a la pimento- Beef rolled in cracked pepper with caramelized onions and horseradish sauce on the side. Simple but delicious.
-Caracoles Emilio- Escargot on top of crunchy bread served with tomato sauce and aioli. Okay. We’ve never had snails before. If you have never had escargot, this is the place to try them. They cover them with so much texture and amazing flavors that you can taste them but don’t really get any slime or grossness that you would expect. I honestly don’t know what bad escargot is like, but I’m sure this was fire. Go to Emilio’s for escargot
- Queso de Cabra al Horno- Baked goat cheese in tomato sauce with garlic bread. Creamy, spicy, and satisfying.
We really enjoyed the food and the service at Emilio’s. The waitress knew everything on the menu…. which, bravo. It’s huge. She made great recommendations. We appreciate the diverse cuisine that Chicago has to offer and we are so glad we made it to Emilio’s Tapas.
