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| - I enjoyed my meal at Bacaro, but I have a hard time justifying the price. On the whole, the food was very good, but the overall experience fell short of my expectations for other dinners of similar quality that I have had elsewhere.
First, the atmosphere of the restaurant, while nice, did not strike me as anything special. That said, this could be a product of where I sat. Even though I placed a reservation close to a week in advance, I found myself sitting at the table nearest to the kitchen with my date. While she had a view of downtown Champaign and the restaurant's interior, my own view was of a row of temperature controlled wine racks and a junky-looking electrical socket near the kitchen's entrance.
For the appetizer, we had the pizzetta, which didn't strike me as anything special: just bread, cheese, grape tomatoes, onion, and bacon. Our entrees-- the braised rabbit and the grouper-- were better, but as others have mentioned, the portions were quite small, even for a restaurant focused on contemporary fine-dining. Thanks to a bottle of wine and a second helping of bread, nobody left hungry, but with the final bill clocking in at close to $120, it was hard not to walk away with a sense that some of that money could be better spent elsewhere.
Ultimately, in giving Bacaro three stars, I am rating it in the context of other "fine-dining" establishments. The restaurant's chefs clearly know how to cook, and their wait staff is very well trained, but I don't think that either the food nor the space warrants the price that they have set on it.
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