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First impressions: The cavernous dining room at 1-year-old Restaurant Bulgaria seats about 190 people. With burnt orange walls, red and white cloth table coverings and black iron chairs, the Northwest Side restaurant has a modern Eastern European feel. There’s a bar at the back of the wood-floored restaurant plus a stage and a large video screen on a wall in the middle of the room. Racy music videos from Bulgaria beef up the ambience in the evening, even when live music is not playing.On the plate: Authentic Bulgarian dishes reflect the location of this Black Sea country that borders Greece, the former Yugoslavia and Romania. There is an emphasis on meats, such as beef, pork and chicken, which may show up on the menu as broiled steaks, braised shanks, grilled kebabs, sauteed organ meats, sausages, chops, etc. Appetizers include lamb sweetbreads, mushrooms filled with bacon, cheese and garlic, plus chicken livers with onion. Vegetable salads (eggplant, roasted peppers, potatoes, etc.), soups, omelets and cheeses are also menu standards. Most food is fairly heavy, blending Mediterranean influences (salads with feta, olives and tomatoes, for example) with Eastern European touches (such as the slow-cooked meats). A couple of the dishes on the menu bear the moniker Shopska, a reference to a Balkan ethnic group and a style of food.

At your service: Our server was helpful, prompt and able to describe most dishes fairly well.

Second helpings: Shopska salad is a fresh mixture of crisp lettuce, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, cucumbers and pungent feta. Tripe in butter features surprisingly tender morsels of beef tripe showered with a melted mild cheese called kashkaval; it perks up with a squeeze of lemon. Shopsko gyoveche offers a hearty little casserole dish full of baked feta, egg and hot peppers. And though it could have used a bit more spice, we loved the dense “bears footprint” thick beef and pork burger filled with mild white cheese and pickles then served with french fries, cucumbers and tomatoes

Take a pass: The beef tongue appetizer offered a bountiful supply of the meaty organ in strips but they tended to have a one-note flavor. The dry cured meat called pastarma was a little too dry and chewy for our tastes.

Thirst quenchers: Options include a full bar with about 10 Bulgarian wines as well as coffee, tea and soft drinks.

Price range: Appetizers $2.50-$10.50; soups $3-$4; salads, $2-$12; entrees, $2.50-$15; coffee and soft drinks $1.50-$2; desserts $1.50-$5.

Restaurant Bulgaria

(2 forks)

4724 W Lawrence Ave.; 773-282-0300

www.restaurantbulgariachicago.com

Hours: 11 a.m. -11 p.m. daily

Credit cards: M, V, D

Noise: Conversation-friendly when there is no live music.

Delivery: Within about a mile.

Ratings key: 4 forks, don’t miss it; 3 forks, one of the best; 2 forks, very good; 1 fork, good

Reviews are based on anonymous visits by Tribune staff members; meals are paid for by the Tribune.

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