Irazu

Irazu is a welcoming Costa Rican restaurant in Bucktown. This place doesn’t sweat the small stuff, evident by the large laminated menus, chalkboard specials, patio furniture, and a rambunctious crowd who are liquored up from a BYOB policy coupled with large pitchers of booze-friendly mixers. The plates are huge, and the dishes are generous concoctions of the same ingredients: rice, beans, plantains, peppers, cabbage, and your choice of meat.

Most importantly, their patio situation is A+. Really, what more do you need in life than friends, food, drinks, and sun? If you’re looking for trendy (or to pay with a credit card), go somewhere else. But if you’re looking to hang with some buddies for a few hours and get buzzed under the Chicago sun, Irazu is your jam.

Food Rundown

Patacones

Every culture has determined that if you slice something thinly and deep fry it, it’s delicious. For Costa Ricans (and most of the Caribbean), that’s deep fried plantains, and they serve it with a side of garlic oil.

Chifrijo

Costa Rican seven layer dip. It’s a mandatory starter to be shared.

Casado

Your choice of protein with rice, black beans, sweet plantains, an over easy egg, and cabbage salad. It’s simple, it’s delicious, and Guy Fieri ate this once, so it’s offensively large.

El Tico

Take the dish above and add onions, bell peppers and tomato. Yep, still good.

Pepito Sandwich

A large and in charge marinated rib eye steak sandwich with a zesty mustard. And it’s $5. Into it.