Café Ba-Ba-Reeba was Chicago's first Spanish-style tapas bar when it opened in 1986, and this Lincoln Park hot spot (with a sister location in Las Vegas) is still ahead of the curve. Start your evening with Ba-Ba-Reeba's new pintxo platter — six double-bite-size tapas for $8.95 or $1.50 each. Pintxos are all the rage these days in northern Spain, from the Basque country to Barcelona, and are perfect for a light meal to supplement your drinking. Make sure you get dibs on the goat cheese croqueta and the short rib stuffed piquillo pepper.

You may have to wait for a table on a weekend night, but hold court with a tasty pitcher of sangria — Chef Gabino Sotelino's original family recipe from Galicia — especially if you order the paella ($10-$13), which takes half an hour to prepare. The extensive tapas menu lets you nibble between four categories: vegetables & cheese, chicken & pork, beef & lamb and seafood. The most popular choices in each category are highlighted on the menu. Don't miss the spinach & manchego stuffed mushrooms with creamy side sauce or the beef tenderloin served with potato chips and blue cheese. Ba-Ba-Reeba’s tapas range in price from $3.50 to $11, so your evening can range from inexpensive to a splurge depending on how much you nibble.

Ba-Ba-Reeba also offers wine values on Tuesdays (all tapas have a partner in the wine family) and occasional cultural events from flamenco shows to paella cooking classes to Spanish art presentations by the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Average cost: <$10

Centerstage Reviewer: Jacob Wheeler