I've come to love El Che located in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood quite a bit. It's an Argentinian steakhouse with great food tucked between Green Street and Peoria on Washington. I was really excited to learn that El Che has a sister restaurant in West Town: Brasero. Brasero is a Brazilian-inspired/South American steakhouse that focuses more on wood-fired steaks and some seafood dishes, too.
The interior of Brasero is beautiful. It's dark and moody, with a similar warmth to El Che. The restaurant feels very open with lots of seating, a well-designed bar, and a great view of the open-concept kitchen. Brasero has a solid happy hour menu on their website that's available 5-7pm every day at the bar, and all night Sundays. It's a good option to try some of their cocktails and dishes.
While everyone we interacted with was very friendly, the service did feel a little chaotic. We had three different people come to our table after the first waitress who initially seated us and took our drink orders. It could have been that they were just low-staffed for the night, but the meal also felt slightly rushed. Unfortunately, the pacing of the whole dinner felt a little off. We loved the main course (the most important part) and dessert but thought the appetizers fell short. Overall, it was a good experience. El Che is what I prefer out of the two for overall experience. Here is everything we ordered:
Cocktails - Hibis-Kiss Margarita and Caipirinha: Brasero has a fun cocktail menu with a limited, but creative list. I went with the Hibis-Kiss Margarita which wasn't overly sweet, which is what I tend to prefer. Both cocktails were refreshing and well-made.
Hamachi Aquachile: This hamachi dish with a green apple aguachile captured our attention right away. The quality of the fish was good. I liked how the fish was cut very thin, but I don't think this had as much flavor as I was hoping for. It was also a relatively small portion. I thought this dish was just ok, and I'd want to try the Yellowfin Tuna Crudo on the menu next time.
Pao de Quiejo: These traditional Brazilian cheese puffs are made with cassava flour and cheese, giving them that chewy, pillowy texture. Ours came with a side of pineapple habanero jam and catupiry cheese, which had a consistency similar to cream cheese. I enjoyed the pineapple habanero jam paired with the cheese puffs, but the dish was a bit cold. That might be intentional, but I think a little more warmth would have made it better.
Wagyu Beef Tartare: The first time we went to El Che, we ordered the beef tartare and loved it. It was creamy, flavorful, and served with sourdough bread that was fluffy on the inside and perfectly toasted on the outside. So naturally, we had high hopes for Brasero's version. Unfortunately, it fell short. We were expecting more flavor and the texture was firmer, chunkier pieces of steak rather than the smooth, creamy wagyu consistency we were expecting.
12 oz Wagyu Picanha: The picanha was excellent. It was cooked perfectly with a great sear on the outside, and came with seasonings, chimichurri, and a Brazilian pico on the side which all paired very well with the steak. This was definitely the best part of the meal.
Crispy Papas: This was one of the standout dishes of the night. The crispy potatoes paired with tangy pickled onions was a great combination, and the sauce tied everything together. It was packed with flavor and I'd definitely order this again as a side with steak.
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