Little Madrid Tapas Cafe

Review summary

1. L

   Luke

   Chicago

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on February 16, 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   When a place can’t invest 5k to remodel a bathroom but charges you $140 for a few appetizers and the waitress has an attitude the whole time you know they don’t care.
   

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2. A

   Aleksander

   Chicago

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on February 16, 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Sorry to say but it took 2 hours for all our food to come out. We were asked by different servers on four different ocasiones what our order was, it took them 45 minutes to get us a glass of wine. Once we got our items the quality was bad. Our croquetas were completely empty. The octopus was rubbery and the paella wasn’t even close to a real paella.
   

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3. M

   Miguel

   Chicago

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on February 15, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   I didn’t know this hidden gem was in Andersonville! I had a great experience dining here on Valentine’s Day. It was busier than usual but it was a great time. The Paella Valenciana was great and our waiter gave us great recommendations on what to order. I would definitely come back here to dine again! Thank you for the great experience.
   

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4. J

   James

   Chicago

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on February 15, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We got the valentine's day special meal with the vegetarian paella and it was pretty tasty!
   

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5. D

   Doug

   VIP

   Chicago

   5 reviews

   4.0

   5 reviews

   Dined on February 15, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   We had a lovely Valentine’s dinner at Little Madrid! Our server was friendly and our small dishes were divine! It was jam packed, though, which is why I won’t fault the restaurant too much that our final dish (the paella) took a very long time to arrive (and was only luke warm). The anchovies, meatballs, charcuteries board, and croquettes we had prior to that were amazing (as was the wine from Ribera del Duero), so by the time the Paella Valencia arrived we were pleasantly full, anyway! We’ll definitely be back (on a less busy night)!
   

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6. K

   Katherine

   Chicago

   2 reviews

   2.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on February 15, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 5

   I was so excited to try this place. I lived un Madrid for 6 months during college and loved it. I was so disappointed by our experience at the restaurant. I will say, I think a fair portion if the negative aspects were due to it being Valentine's Day. The experience of eating out on Valentine's Day pretty much anywhere is not going to be like a regular day. However, there were some aspects of the experience that made us decide not to give it a second try on a different day. Positives: the hostess was good and our table was ready on time for our reservation. Our server was pleasant. I loved the overall ambiance of the place. The staff was clearly working very hard Negatives: it was very crowded (difficult to sit down and move around the dining area) and the chairs were extremely uncomfortable. The server was not very attentive. We had to waive him down to get a second drink. The appetizer we had was good, just a little small. The main course, the chicken paella, was dry and tasted like it had not been made that day or had been sitting on a warming plate for a long time. The churros we had for dessert were so undercooked we couldn't eat most of them (raw dough on the inside). The drinks were fine. The bathrooms are what caused me not to want to try again. They were filthy. And the soap was so watered down it was barely usable.
   

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7. D

   David

   VIP

   Chicago

   3 reviews

   5.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on February 15, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Great Valentine's date restaurant. We enjoyed the meal and atmosphere. Great Sangria and loved the Spanish meatballs.
   

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8. T

   Tim

   VIP

   Chicago

   50 reviews

   5.0

   50 reviews

   Dined on February 14, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   A perfect Valentine’s Day dinner. Great food and ambience.
   

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9. A

   Aviva

   VIP

   Chicago

   7 reviews

   2.0

   7 reviews

   Dined on February 8, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 2

   We ordered many dishes (all the popular ones) and everything was boring, under seasoned, uninspired. Me and my 3 friends have traveled the world and especially love tapas which is why this meal was so disappointing. We sent multiple dishes back with food left on the plate. This is tapas, and the plates are small. For example, we couldn't finish the meatballs because no one enjoyed them. When we ordered our food, our server didn't tell us that multiple dishes only came with three pieces (croquetas). Had we liked the food, we would have been upset that two people were sharing one of the portions. A decent server will offer the option of sending a 4th item. No one asked us why we weren't eating/enjoying the food. The server delivering the plates consistently reached across one of our friends faces to put down plates on the table. They could have just walked around the table to place it in between us. It was awkward and felt rushed. We each got one drink and it was $50/pp. We won't return.
   

   Little Madrid Tapas CafeResponded on February 9, 2025

   Hola Aviva We’re sorry that our tapas, true to Spanish tradition, weren’t to your liking. As for the number of meatballs, we served 4, we understand that the math of tapas can be an unexpected challenge. For future visits (should there be any), we’d be happy to offer suggestions to ensure everyone at the table enjoys equally. We appreciate your feedback on the service and will take note to avoid any hazardous plate-flying maneuvers over the table. Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to explore new flavors, though, of course, it’s not always love at first bite. Wishing you better luck on your next culinary adventure
   

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10. D

    Dr . Elpidio

    Chicago

    11 reviews

    5.0

    11 reviews

    Dined on February 8, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4

    Thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. The tapas (Euro Bacon and Albondigas) were excellent. The Paella Brunch (2pm – 6pm) was very good but not great. Service was excellent. I highly recommend eating here.
    

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