Mambo Grill

01/06/2008 Posted by mrspolich

My husband and I made reservations for a Saturday night. We were seated promptly when we arrived. The food looked, smelled and tasted great! The service was quick and polite. We didn't feel rushed and enjoyed the atmosphere which was energetic, but still comfortable. I have never written a review for any of the restaurants that we find online, but the Mambo Grill was an exceptional meal at a reasonable price.

Pros: Menu,

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11/13/2007 Posted by misviejo

The food is here great. The atmosphere is very relaxing and cordial here. Everything is clean. I highly recommend going on an "off night" because you tend to get much better service. That's the only drawback here is that the service sometimes falls below standard levels when they get busy. For example, we came in with a party of 10 on a Friday night with reservations and the first round of drinks came just fine but for the second round, we were waiting until the ice cubes melted down to water. I've been before on a Tuesday and Wednesday and not only is the service much better but the food somehow comes and everything is timed perfectly. This can make all the difference because the food is great in general and we haven't found anything bad on the menu at all, although one piece of fish was not enjoyed by someone in our party of 10 but he is super-picky and was from the west coast and used to getting it fresh within hours of being caught off the docks. I will say that their prices recently went up a little bit and it didn't go unnoticed, but since the quality is there in the food, it is still a good value. Parking of course stinks in this neighborhood in general so you've got to factor that into the price of dining to some extent.

Pros: Great food, good value, good service on "off nights"

Cons: parking stinks, service on a busy night is not the best

02/03/2007 Posted by megancoughlin

My experience at Mambo Grill was great from the beginning. I called on Thursday night to make a last minute reservation for Friday night. The woman said she would squeeze us in at 7:00. When we arrived at 7:00 our name wasn't in the book, but the woman remembered me and sat us right away. Our server was very friendly and attentive. Our drinks (Mojito and sangria) were great. The food was DELICIOUS. I had the chile rellenos (which don't come with a side, so I ordered the beans and rice.) I also tried a shrimp dish and the bbq salmon - both of which were also very tasty. The next time we have out of town guests, I won't hesitate to take them to the Mambo Grill. For all the bad restaurant experiences I have had in Chicago, this really made up for it.

Pros: Great service & food. Yummy drinks

Cons: Extremely loud on a Friday night

12/17/2006 Posted by dulloa

THE FOOD IS GREAT HERE AND SO ARE THEIR DRINKS!! I CAME FROM NYC TO EAT HERE SINCE MY FRIEND HAD RECOMMENDED IT .... SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT BUYING A PLANE TICKET JUST TO EAT HERE AGAIN!!!! THE SERVICE WAS GREAT TOO!!!

Pros: EVERYTHING

11/14/2006 Posted by nkflyers2005

This is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. Everything I've had here is delicious. If you like spicy food, then you will definitely enjoy this restaurant. The pan-seared chicken dish is amazing and there are ocasionally good drink deals on days other than saturday. The atmosphere is enjoyable with the latin music playing, but the place is pretty small so it can get crowded.

09/17/2005 Posted by bethn2

Although the menu and water were slow to come, I felt extremely rushed through my entire meal. My soup arrived less than 5 minutes after the chips and salsa, and then the entree arrived before I was halfway through the soup. Black bean soup was good. The Camarones were just okay. I didn't realize I hadn't been served bread until I was getting ready to leave. Needless to say, I was out of there in about 30 minutes. Too fast for a $40 meal.

05/02/2005 Posted by maorimama

This place took all 16 of us and seated us at two tables next to each other. The service was a bit slow but we attributed that to trying to serve 16 at once. Though slow, our waitress was attentive and answered all of our questions. Her recommendations were spot-on. The plantain crusted halibut, crusty pork with jalapeno mash potatoes, and the chicken with coconut, cilantro and lime were all tender and flavorful. We loved the Dominican Bombas (shrimp and potato dumplings) and the steak and pineapple kabobs. (That steak was very tender.) Mambo Grill managed to impress 16 foodie/cooking buddies who came from all over the United States for a weekend in Chicago. Bravo Mambo. We will be back.

Pros: food, atmosphere

11/11/2004 Posted by aquarian1252004

This what Chicago calls the best latin food in the city? Just because they play salsa music, serve mojitos, & have spanish style ambience does not make it the best latin food in the city. I was very dissapointed especially since I had high expectations. Some of the signatures of latin food is that it is bursting with flavor, seasoning, and spices like adobo, mojo, etc. I chose the guava mango chicken, based upon the description I thought it sounded exotic and appetizing. Boy was I wrong! There was nothing extoic, guava or mango about this dish. It was nothing more than bland plain old bbq chicken that I could have made at home. As someone of Latin decent I am ashamed that they could even call this unedible meal latin. Wake up & get a clue Chicago!

10/06/2004 Posted by wacquij

My family and I went there (mind you we are a Mexican and Puertorican) We wanted to try a different place that offered some variety! There was six of us and we all ordereda different dish. The paella was a MESS! It was a soggy tasteless disaster! The plantain crusted fish dish was so dry and bland! The pork dish tasted like it had been prepared with last years frozen and reheated pork! Latino food is suppose to have great rich flavor and this place was such a joke! The prices were too high for the disgusting things they serve!! We all left hungry!! We hardlly touched our plates!!Please do yourself a favor if you want to experince great Latino food try Las Tablas or Lalo's you won't be disappointed! This place was just full of mambo jumbo!!! YUCK

Cons: , high prices, no parking

04/10/2004 Posted by djmk1234

If Mambo Grill can do anything right, it's their mojitos. Perfect combination of limes, mint leaves, citrus rum, sugar, and soda water - shaken with ice and voila. However, the food is really quite inconsistent. Appetizers fare well except those Brazilian steak kabobs, a collaboration of steak mush and pineapples hang weakly from a kabob stick. If anything, go there for lunch or wait after you go out for dinner to have the chocolate chipotle cake - sumptuous, cathartic experience. Enough said.

Pros: service, dessert, mojitos