Thirteen Pins Tapas + Bar

Poor 13 pins, getting hated on. I completely disagree with the reviews it was dirty. Absolutely, untrue. The downfall of this place is it suffers from a little confusion and lack of patrons. So no, it's not serving Spanish tapas. They're Filipino small plates. And yes, it's fairly new and might not have worked all the kinks out. And maybe the water tasted a little funny, but they serve root beer, how cool is that? The way I see it is all this place needs to do is pick a direction and go for it. I'd love to see a real Filipino restaurant in my area. We have such a large population, but it's so hard to find pancit outside of my church's parties. 13 Pins, forget the liquor license, small plates, and nightclub theme decor. I say go wholly Filipino.

As for everyone else, don't go expecting Linea food or decor. It's a new mom and pop place that still needs to work out the kinks. Just check it out!

Track that was spinning as we waited for our table. "I'm horny, horny, horny, horny" For real, no bullshit. You'd think it was a gay club and I kind of hoped it might be so we could ass up on some cheap booze. However, it was not.

It was an arduous ordeal. Lackadaisical service at best. The food.. well, couldn't wait. Couple pricey drinks and then just bounced.

I was looking for a Filipino restaurant to blog on my food journal and Thirteen Asian Tapas popped up as a recommendation. For a first pass, I decided to get something to go because I was not certain that during the time that I had placed the order if the restaurant was going to be filled to capacity. Much to my surprise, it was empty. The person behind the bar had mentioned that the restaurant gets a lot of business through the week. Then again, it is the Irving Park area that isn't close to Lakeview where all the action is.

I had ordered three dishes: adobo, ginger chicken, and inasal. All three were nicely priced and delectable just the same. As tapas goes, the portions were small along the lines of a lunch portion. They were not bite size, though.

Because my food blog is lacking in Filipino representation, I shall have to return for the on-location dining experience because the food that I had was noteworthy enough to mention on the blog. Plus, I will have to photograph the experience. For take-away, I was pleasantly satisfied.

Horrible. Please do not go here. A friend of mine was clearly too drunk to be served. I asked the bartender to cut her off twice. She not only ignored me and continued to charge my friend hundreds of dollars but began to hold up a finger in my face every time I came to the bar. Clearly are only concentrated on making money. Over it.

Not a good place to go at all. Work for a dj there just didn't even look like a club and wasn't very clean.

New to the neighborhood and was looking for a place for dinner. So when I came across the menu for this place, it seemed like a good choice. Used Groupon to place an order, went to pick it up, and no one even noticed I walked in. Some man playing pool finally noticed me and said "can I help you? "... which is a bizarre thing to say in a food venue, I said I placed an order for pickup. He said "ohhhh, ummm.." then yelled to the back some other guys name. Then this man holding a cigarette came out of a curtain and said you want to order? I said no I placed an order under Adam (my friend placed it under his name) on Groupon, he then replied "our tablet got stolen. Who's Adam? What's Groupon? I have no clue if these people are living under this confusing dive bar/tapas thingy or if they're just crap. Either way, I will never go back to find out.

1. The bartender didnt know what Fireball was. After she told me they didn't have it, I pointed out that it was right behind her. After two failed attempts of guessing which bottle it was, she finally picked the right bottle that said "Fireball" on it. Then it took about 20 minutes to close my tab.

I came here a long time ago when they first opened. I was pretty excited to have a new restaurant in my hood. They had local art on the walls and it had a cool vibe. The food wasn't bad, but not that great either. I went a couple more times for drinks and had a so-so experience.

Then I returned for dinner last Tuesday and boy was I disappointed. I honestly don't know how they're still in business. No one is ever in there! I arrived and smelled cigarette smoke. (Later they sprayed some air freshener which grossed me out...) It took a while for the waitress to come over and take my order. When she brought our beers the caps were still on and she didn't ask if we wanted glasses. Amateur hour? I don't really care about the beer glass, but with there being only two other people in there, you think they would've gone the extra step.

When we arrived, there was no music. Then they turned on the radio like full blast so my friend and I could barely hear each other. For a place that was super slow, it was just totally out of place for there to be blaring music. We asked her to turn it down and when it didn't happen she said she didn't know how to turn it down...

I asked what tapas were the most popular. It took her a minute to say "everything is good." OK great. Whatever. When we were ready to order, my friend tried to get the waitress's attention. She was over at the bar and saw him waving. She stayed behind the bar and rudely asked "what?". She finally sauntered over to our table and that's when we decided to just pay our bill and head over to ole reliable Golden Nugget across the street.

Recommended alternatives nearby:
Food/Drinks:
- McNamara's
- Smoque (BYOB)

Food:
- Hot Woks Cool Sushi
- Shokran Moroccan Restaurant
- Golden Nugget
- #1 Chop Suey

Drinks:
Joey's (if you're desperate for a cheap beer)

My Filipino husband was really excited to try this place, so we stopped in to place a carryout order. We were the only people in the entire place on a Saturday night. That right there should have been a red flag. It took 30 minutes for an order of tapsilog. What he got was a few really dry strips of meat with rice. I have never known him to be so disappointed by Filipino food. We won't be back.

I would like chime in - HOW ABOUT A LITTLE CONTEXT PLEASE, PEOPLE??!

In a neighborhood currently served by a Golden Nugget AND Joe E's "Unforgettable" Lounge, you might do well to cut these folks a LITTLE slack. I'm not suggesting you give them a 5 star if you didn't have a great meal, or even a two star if you hated it, but for CHRISSAKE, some people just need to relax a bit.

I have absolutely no affiliation with these people, and found the service slightly klunky it that makes my review more "legit".

But please, people, stop treating every f-ing meal like you're Phil Vettel, because clearly, most of us are not (hint: it's "mussels", not "muscles"). And if you don't know who Phil Vettel is, then stick to reviewing gas stations and Starbucks, or write that favorable review of Golden Nugget that you've been putting off (yummm!! meatloaf included mashed potatoes AND gravy).

Take a good look around your neighborhood - with the exception of Smoque (how did our backwater neighborhood get such a great place???), we are pretty lucky, frankly, that a goddamn restaurant even OFFERS olive oil with the bread. Feel free to pack a bottle of truffle oil in your purse that your mother-in-law gave you for Christmas if it makes you feel better.

Again, vote with your dollars - if you didn't like it, don't come back. But if you're going to give a one-star review, for my money the review ought to include a detailed description of (a) vomiting or (b) gunshots.

Or else, we can all just look forward to the day the space is vacated, and becomes the neighborhood's 85th cell phone store, or another "salon" which also happens to offer "massage".