Nacional 27
(312) 664-2727
325 W Huron St
Chicago,
IL
60610
41.8946
-87.6367
Neighborhoods: Central, Near North Side
Reviews & Ratings for Nacional 27
33 reviews
What users are saying:
Showing 1-10 of 33 reviews
RIP-OFF... AVOID THIS PLACE !!
by RobertTurner
July 07, 2008
My friends and I had a BAD experience here and we would NEVER go back. The food was very uneven in quality. Many of the dishes were simply left on their places... we couldn't eat them. I have had tapas many times in good Latin restaurants, but I've never had tapas I simply couldn't eat before. The service was also VERY BAD, and all the wait staff and hosts were rude and had a bad attitude. Finally the prices were WAY MORE than they should have been, especially because the food was not good. And WORST OF ALL, they rushed us out of there so our table could be used by others who were waiting, so we didn't even have a chance to watch the dancing, which we had wanted to do. All in all, this was a VERY BAD restaurant experience for all of us.
- Pros: Atmosphere is kind of nice, but that's the only "pro" here
- Cons: EVERYTHING... food, service, price, value, etc.
Haven't had good food in a while, until N27
by badjuju
June 13, 2008
I always feel I can write better reviews when my parents are in town. We end up looking for nice new restaurants and everyone orders different items on the menu, giving us a better chance to truly taste a variety of items on the menu. First off, great setup, great ambience, great lighting. Had a patio which would be nice in the summer. Wine list impressive. I was surprised at how affordable those bottles were. I regret not trying a bottle, because I was eyeing the mojitos already.
Now the food. This is what wins it for this restaurant, original, themed, saucy food. We started with the mojitos (don't be too original, stick to the N27 mojito, it's good). I read good reviews for the ceviche but I felt they weren't anything to rave about. Good, original, fresh is what they need to be at baseline. But I wasn't overly impressed, maybe because my new standard now is this amazing ceviche I had in Costa Rica. It will be hard to beat but I honestly can see how people could like the ceviche here. It was very well presented, first of all, and it tasted good but it's my fault for having had something too good before. So definitely try it yourself. The meats were excellent. Can I say that again? Excellent! The market fish dish was great also but the filet mignon and Australian lambchops were well cooked and well seasoned. The sauce and sides were perfectly complimentary and very flavorful as well. Portions were all the right size. Made for a very enjoyable dinner.
For dessert, we had the flan > guava cake > creme brulee. Disappointing coconut creme brulee. The next time I come here, it will be for the ambiance, the mojitos, and the meats.
Waitstaff... very nice host. Our waiter did his job but didn't add any extra. Which is good because we had not particular requests and he didn't come ask us every 3 minutes.
- Pros: Meats, mojitos, ambience.
- Cons: Desserts
dance the night away by linda B. at InsiderPages
Contributor
April 16, 2008
The food here is decent, but not worth the price. However, it's a great place to salsa the night away! After 11 p.m. (I think) the dining tables are packed away and they play great salsa, merengue, and other types of Latin music. It's lots of fun.
Viva Nacional27
by rorr11
March 27, 2008
3 of us went on a Wednesday night. Sat at the bar for a few drinks (hard to get service), then went to a table. Good service and recommendations from the friendly staff and the food was excellent! Portions could be a bit larger, it was hard to share some of the tapas choices between three of us. Lots of fun, good atmosphere.
It was a few years since the ast time I was here but I'll definetly be back again.
- Pros: food, atmosphere
- Cons: bar service
Amazing Experience - Highly Recommended
by davis676
February 19, 2008
My girlfriend took me here for my birthday. She told the staff in advance that it was my birthday and they treated us so well that it was almost overwhelmingly. To start, the food is good - try the calamari. We both ordered from the market menu and were not disappointed. They brought out a dark chocolate creme bru le that was delicious. The service was just the right amount of attentive yet not overbearing. The drinks were tasty and strong - try the mojitos. The wine list was impressive and we were very happy with an inexpensive Argentinian blend unlikely to found in most places.
For those who have not had a good experience here, nothing can be said - it happens to the best restaurants. I would highly recommend Nacional. The atmosphere is very relaxed, not stuffy, elegant and well-thought out. I will now change my pants since they are now moist from the gushing review just written.
Fabulous food and drinks!!
by mer80smile
February 06, 2008
My boyfriend and I went to National 27 for dinner last night...we were a little apprehensive because we saw some bad reviews...but decided to try it anyways. We both love tapas, and me being Hispanic I am very picky! But we loved this place! The grilled lamb tacos and smoked chicken empanadas were amazing. We also got the mojito flight.....best mojitos in the city..hands down! For an entree we selected the Roasted Organic Chicken and Grilled Smoked Pork Tenderloin Adobado....they were delicious! The service was great and very helpful..they even started us off with a mini appetizer on the house! We will definitely come back here!
- Pros: Great food, amazing drinks
The worse customer service ever!!
by lovely626
December 18, 2007
Last night was one of the worse dining experiences of my life. From the rude hostesses, waiter and serving staff. Nacional made it clear that their protocol, is to make it your dining expereince as easy as possible for the staff -- leaving all the burden on the guest.
While the food was decent (nothing to write home to mom about) -- The expereience left me and my 9 other guessed greatly stressed. I would never waste my time or money at a restaurant with a staff that is severely un accomadating, dismissive, rude and down right condescending.
As someone who travels all over the states, as well as the world -- I have to say this was my absolutely worse service I have received in a restaurant !! Don't waste your time!
- Pros: The Mojitos are tasty
- Cons: The rude and unaccomadating hostesses, waiters and servers will have you leaving with a migrane.
Disappointing
by solovely3
October 07, 2007
The first time I had such a great experience that I wanted more. Unfortunately the second time wasn't the same. Please don't get me wrong the food was pretty good. We ordered from the Tapas menu. The dishes were heavenly. The Ceviche is fantastic. Although drinks were sub-par.
Essentially, the service was awful. Since we had tapas, my friend and I accumulated a lot of dishes. I understand it was a friday night but that does not mean you can ignore your guests. I saw very little of our server. The wine glasses still had large food particles. We found an Ant on our table. We told the maitre d' about this. He was apologeticand we were a given a complimentary dessert. The dessert-cinnamon donut with ice cream- was a nice gesture but it was a little too late...and, since the "donut" was far overcooked, it was not a good way to end the evening.
I liked the place otherwise I would not have come back. There were a lot of couples there and it was not too single friendly as from experience. I hope other people have better experiences but I doubt I will patron this place again
- Pros: overall ambience
- Cons: service
Worst Dining Experience Ever
by randyfontana
May 05, 2007
Last night was one of the worst dining experiences of my life. We reported to the hostess stand as soon as our party arrived. They not only struggled to find my reservation, they had the number of people in my party entirely wrong. We then had to wait another 20 minutes, while they prepared a table for us.
Once we were seated and served drinks, I received a phone call from the restaurant. They wanted to know where my party and I were at. I stepped away from the table to address this situation first hand. They didn't even realize we were already present and seated just 15 minutes prior.
The seating was absolutely horrendous as a couple of the chairs were in such poor structural condition, they were about to give out. In addition, the upholstery on them was beyond nasty. My suit was covered in filth from them not keeping the chairs clean.
This restaurant is in some serious need of improvement for the "caliber" of establishment they portray themselves to be. I had to have numerous conversations with the manager to address issues throughout the evening.
Although this restaurant has received the "Wine Spectator Award of Excellence" for the past four years, I wonder what the folks at Wine Spectator would like to think of them serving $100/bottle wine in glasses that were dripping wet inside and out with water. I was finally able to bring this to the Wine Sommelier's attention 20 minutes later.
It's clear to me that the owners of this restaurant (Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises) have done a poor job of managing this restaurant. This was a enormously disappointing and stressful dining experience.
Thought you had Latin cuisine...think again!
by vegitoboi
January 29, 2007
I'll admit I'm fairly new to this Latin cuisine style of food (and I'm not talking about burritos and tacos from a certain drive through place or ChipolFAKE or a TB(this place is a dump)K). i've been to Coobah on Southport and to Laguardia on Armitage. Both are excelent...for those everyday cravings for something Latin. But for those very special occations, this is the place to go. Their menu is has a variety of choices from 5 different styles of civeche (which you can try all at once if you choose) to truffle crusted filet mignon to the Florida grouper Huachinango; you'll want to try everything on the menu. Let's not forget a complementary "amuse" before your meal and the innovative drinks ranging from Sophia (sparkling wine from a can which is surprisingly good) to the "nuevo-popular" pina colada mojito made the right way by "mulling" the mint, surgar, and rum together. Make a reservation saying it's a special occation (mine being my 25th birthday) and get a dessert complements of the house. Make sure you bring you dancing shoes if you plan staying late night; on certain nights, the main floor is cleared out and the Latin sound busts out with the DJ playing the latest Salsa, Meringue, Bachata, and Cha Cha songs till early in the morning. Everyone needs some Latins flavor in their life and this is where to get it on that certain special occation.
- Pros: Good food, Good music, Friendly staff
- Cons: Moderate price for valet but cheaper than the lot accross from restaurant, prices are a bit high but worth the try, best to make early reservations especially on weekends for arrivals after 7PM
