Nacional 27

Nacional 27 was the first new restaurant of Restaurant Week that we visited.

Tapas Course

Nacional 27 is part of the Lettuce entertain you enterprises.  Natalie has actually been there a few times but it had been about 14 or 15 years. 

They have Latin American fare and the restaurant itself has the look of a nightclub / fun scene from Miami

We ate from the restaurant week menu. The way it was written didn't elaborate too much about the food so we didn't know exactly what to expect but ended up with a lot of food that was all very tasty.

They brought us chips and salsa to start and we probably ate way too many.

Tapas course - there were 3 different tapas, chorizo empanadas, chimicurrri chicken tacos and Argentinian beef skewers.  Nick loved all of them and even remarked that he wanted to return and just try a bunch of the tapas and appetizers.

Latin Skirt Steak

Platter - This course was listed 2nd on the menu and we got to choose 2 items. We chose suckling pig and latin skirt steak (the other choices were chicken enchiladas, mahi mahi tacos and salmon with salsa verde), We were a little confused because instead of this being served after the tapas and before the entree it was served to the table right after the "entree" had been set down.  It is not like these were side dishes to the entree (they were independent dishes) so that was a little odd.  Both the steak and the suckling pig were nice but we would have liked them even more if they had been brought out earlier so we could have enjoyed them on their own.

Suckling Pig

Gaucho course - skewer of grilled shrimp and scallops (Brazilian type of skewer like at a Brazilian steak house).  The skewer came with rice and beans and a cactus dish.  It was very impressive looking as it was served to each table (the full skewer was presented at the table and food was removed onto a plate table side).

Final thoughts on Nacional 27:
Food - All of the food was very good.  Nick wants to return just to have more of the tapas/small plates.

Shrimp & Scallops

Service - the service was a bit weird.  We waited a while for our tapas plate, good thing we had the chips and salsa to tide us over a bit.  Then right after we were finished with the tapas another tapas plate was about to be dropped off at our table but we told them we had eaten that course already.
Then we waited a long time (long long time) and the skewer came out. We were really confused wondering if they had forgotten our second course but then they came out with those items right away. But it was weird that the pig and steak didn't come out sooner because so much time had elapsed.  We would have thought that due to restaurant week these dishes would have been a bit more streamlined (and quicker) in coming out to the tables.

Atmosphere - We had a reservation at 7 pm on a Saturday and were surprised that they were able to seat us immediately (since we got there a bit early).  Half of the tables didn't have anyone seated at them at that point.  But by the time we left (after 8) the place was hopping so people just get there a little later to have a crazy night out. Nacional 27 has a nightclub vibe and fun atmosphere.