Excellent all around service and food! The only issue we had was it was cold where we were seated but I'll make sure to dress warmer next time we visit during cold seasons because this restaurant is now one of my favorite places to eat authentic Spanish cuisine. I would definitely recommend them to anyone, the food here is exceptional and our waiter was the same, he was very knowledgeable and friendly. The ambience was very nice and cozy, perfect for date nights and for hanging with friends. I love this place! read more

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We came here to celebrate my wife's birthday. We made reservations but unfortunately had to wait for a table to free up. Service was a little bit on the slower side. It took forever to get our first dish and then towards the end it seems like they forgot to bring out the last dish. We started off with their sangria, and then ordered their Patatas bravas, euro bacon, queso de cabra, and their Paella Negra. We were really pleased with all the dishes. The Paella Negra came with green peas, mussels, calamar, pulpo, and langostines. They use squid ink to make the rice black. I ate paella twice when I visited Barcelona, and this version is the most similar to what I had in Barcelona. Not quite there yet but hopefully I can find something locally. This version I will say was really tasty. The euro bacon was probably my wife's favorite. Stuffed dates wrapped with bacon. The queso de cabra was one of my favorites. Love the bread and the goat cheese inside the tomato basil sauce. And the patatas bravas. It's really hard to mess this one up. Everyone does these different, some make it a little spicier, some add aioli, here they offer two versions. One with aioli and the other with the spicier paprika sauce that isn't too spicy. They should swap out the paprika to cayenne. And they only offer one version and that is with both the aioli and the spicy sauce in the same dish. Overall we were really satisfied with all of the dishes and we can definitely see ourselves returning in the near future. read more

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This dinner was so horrendous it felt only comparable to a Real Housewives' scene. I came here for a belated Valentine's day dinner with my girlfriend and we were harassed by a woman that was COMPLETELY overserved. As we were just seated next to her and her date, they were being served another shot and she she started by really drunkenly yelling how she liked my dress and how sexy I was, which only continued to escalate over the next 15 minutes as she yelled across the tables in a constant loop about how she wanted to take me home and that "everyone in the restaurant here wants to take you home" "I can't stop staring at you" "you're such a sex kitten" while clawing in the air at me. During this time as we're trying to order and ignore her/deflect as much as possible she also pulled down her shirt and bra to flash us and the general restaurant, and then also broke a glass trying to cheers us (her date then kept drinking from the very broken glass that's how wasted these people were). It all culminated with her coming over to me to ask to hug me, and her and her date stumbling and knocking their melted ice bucket allllllll over my legs and staff had to help physically walk her out. They offered us a new table and moved our sangrias and first plate while they cleaned up the mess, and then we were pretty promptly ignored for a while without water or new menus until after another 20 minutes when we finally flagged down someone else for those. When we were finally checked up on at our new table, we were told they were only accepting kitchen orders for 5 more minutes (it was 9:40, when we made our reservation for 9pm we made sure they were open till 11 so we'd have at least 2 hours! It's tapas!!!!!) but whatever, we rushed to put in the second round of tapas plates and dessert at the same time. Even though other tables were still there and it was only a little after 10, we were getting pushed to box up as we were still eating and ended up being out the door by 10:30.... NO COMP for ANYTHING. Not even the dessert! In fact, we got LESS complimentary offerings than they usually do when guests haven't even been sexually harassed, spilled on, and moved across the restaurant after food and drinks just arrived. We were given complimentary shots the first time we dined here, and it seemed like this time the couple harassing us got free shots that night, but they didn't even give that to us and properly apologize. I thought they understood that we were being nice and patient about a huge scene. If they had taken this seriously and even just comp'd a dessert or sent a small offering I would have felt more respected, but to be charged full price after such a horrendous and upsetting evening felt pretty insulting. I've worked in fine dining before, and when the average bill is 100$/person, you comp much more for much less. We were just so shaken and shocked by the whole evening that we left that night without disputing that and resolved to call during a slow time next day. So, I call the restaurant and I'm being given the runaround when I'm asking for a manager to talk about the experience and ask for a refund. They say they won't have a manager present for days but "he'll call me." I call back again in a few hours... the manager was there and in fact he was my server!! He claims they didn't know anything happened, but he was present for enough and when I pushed back on what he witnessed he backtracked and conceded! Nobody would give me the contact information for the owner (it seems other reviewers have been given it before for to resolve issues) but they say he will review the cameras and call me the next day. Next day no call... I call again to check in, get someone that was very nice and I do believe advocated for me, but the owner has this employee call back to deliver his message: they've reviewed and that while they're sorry that happened to us, we accepted the new table and dinner service was completed so there will be no refund of any items but if we come in again we'll get 20% off - Oh thanks for letting us come and only spend another 160$ at your establishment. The owner (who is a former lawyer) said the tapes are for courts reviewing overserving, so I guess he wants us to report the overserving instead of offering a refund! I've really been trying in good faith to get some resolution with upper management/owner privately, but it doesn't seem like the owner cares that they let a lesbian couple get sexually harassed by their belligerently drunk guests. read more

3.5 stars. I came here for my anniversary dinner. It was easy to find street parking right in front but we might have gotten lucky. The drinks are good and the food was good too but the food took so long to arrive. They brought out each item individually but it's small tapas plates so my husband and I would finish our tapa and then have to wait another 10-15minutes for the next item to arrive. It was pretty ridiculous. I've never been to such a slow tapas place before. And our waitress would disappear for awhile so I couldn't even ask her the status on our food. read more

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After reading the positive reviews of Little Madrid, we decided to give it a go tonight. Our server was friendly but spread too thin...she apparently covered the restaurant and the bar. We didn't see a lot of her. The food was honestly a disappointment. It was fine but each dish was a long ways from its Spanish counterpart and so many classics were missing from the menu. More puzzling was how did balsamic vinegar work its way into so many dishes?? Odd. The tab was $360 for four. Buy yourself a bottle of Txakoli, a baguette, some good European butter and decent anchovies, and you'll be much closer to Spain than you can get to at Little Madrid. read more

We had a lovely time at this restaurant. It also happened to be the celebration of them being in business for six years and so it made for a very lively dining experience. On this occasion, there was live music and a flamenco dancer. It was very entertaining and brought a really cool atmosphere to the restaurant. For this evening, my friend had made a reservation for a table for three. When I arrived, we were promptly seated yet. It was very crowded in the restaurant so service was very slow. It took at least 25 minutes before I was able to even put a drink order in so that was a little frustrating. Anyway, once our table was served our overall experience was good. For the evening, we decided to share the deal they had going on, which on which was a bottle of red wine out of Spain for $30 a bottle. We ended up splitting two of these bottles between three people. For tapas, we got the albondingas, Euro bacon, charcuterie board, and we also got the Shishido peppers. We really enjoyed the Albondingas which are also like meatballs and the charcuterie board. We also really like the peppers as they were flavored with this seasoning. That was really unique. The whole table was not convinced on the euro bacon. While they look very fancy and tasted delicious to me, others thought they were overly sweet. We finished the evening off, ordering a slice of the basque cheesecake which was being featured on the restaurant week menu. That was really delicious. We definitely enjoyed eating that with glasses of our red wine. I did think that the pricing for one slice of cheesecake was over the top $18 is slightly ridiculous. Overall, the ambience was nice. The live music was really good. We also enjoyed seeing the flamenco dancer who was Mail and he's from grease actually. Another fun thing that occurred that evening as we got to hear the owner speak about why this restaurant is important to him, and we also got some shots of sangria straight to the mouth which was for a fun entertaining table event all at all I would come back to this restaurant for tapas and drinks. read more

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We had an extremely frustrating dining experience at Little Madrid Tapas Cafe on Valentine's Day and unfortunately will not be returning. We had a reservation for 8:15 PM and arrived at 8:16. The hostess seemed genuinely surprised we were there and had to search around the jam-packed restaurant to find us a table. The seating was incredibly tight and uncomfortable, squeezed between other tables in a second room. I understand it was a busy holiday, but the setup felt disorganized from the start. Once seated, we waited 15 minutes with only a cocktail menu before anyone came over. When our waiter finally arrived, he asked if we were ready to order, except we had not been given any food menus. He scrambled to find a paper menu, which turned out to be a heavily reduced version of what is listed online. None of the pintxos shown on their website were available, and there was no notice anywhere (OpenTable or their site) that the menu would be limited for the evening. We ordered: * Pimientos de Padrón * Patatas Bravas * Ham Croquetas * Bacon-wrapped Dates The food was a major letdown. The pimientos arrived room temperature, with no char or grilled flavor. They were basically limp peppers with no seasoning. Even worse, they were served on a badly chipped plate, which is completely unacceptable from a cleanliness and safety standpoint. The dates were tasty, but only lukewarm, like they had been sitting out too long. The patatas bravas were the most disappointing. Instead of crispy potatoes, they were mushy, soft home-style fries with no bite. The sauce was oddly sweet and nothing like the paprika and aioli pairing described online. There was clearly no aioli at all. We did not eat them. The biggest issue is that the croquetas never came out, and there was not even a check-in or explanation. The drinks did not help much either. The Estrella beer was fine, but my sangria tasted like juice with minimal fruit and very little wine presence. To top it off, we had to wave down another waiter just to get our check because ours was too busy chatting with other tables. When we asked for the missing croquetas to be removed, the staff seemed confused and unprepared. When I mentioned we did not like the potatoes, our waiter looked shocked and immediately questioned "Why?" instead of listening or offering any apology. Even the ambiance was strange. There was soft instrumental guitar music in our room, while the main room had loud Bad Bunny and a party vibe. I love Bad Bunny, but the inconsistency was jarring. Small detail, but even the utensils were mismatched. I had a spreading knife while my fiancé had a butter knife. Nothing felt intentional or polished. We came here hoping for a special Valentine's Day dinner after seeing strong Yelp reviews, but the experience was disorganized, inattentive, and disappointing. We love tapas spots in Chicago (Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba is a favorite), and we wanted to support a smaller business, but this was a mistake. read more

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The food was ok some dishes were really good and some dishes were disappointing. So they had different size tapas 1-2 people and 3-4 people I believe. The tapas that were 1-2 people were maybe for 1 small child. It was pretty crazy how small the portions were even for tapas. The gambas al ajillo was delicious but it only had like 6 tiny shrimps. The euro bacon was bacon wrapped dates, it only brought 2 pieces but to be fair it tasted good. Patatas bravioli was potatoes in a spicy sauce with aioli drizzle it was good. We had ordered pulpo a la gallega but they didn't have it and we ordered pulpo a la plancha. That tapa was from the larger tapa menu and it was still small. And last we got the huevos rotos. It was 2 fried eggs over a few cured meats and burnt potato chips. The chips were terrible and were burnt and soggy somehow. The worst part was the wait time. When we walked in they told us 30-45 minutes for a paella so we didn't order that. The restaurant wasn't really busy but everything still took long. We eventually asked why none of our food was coming out and she said the huevos take a really long time to make. 2 sunny side eggs over cured meats and potato chips shouldn't take take long but it took like an hour in a half. The waitress was nice the restaurant was clean food was ok. Worst thing was small portions and the wait time. read more

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Came in on a Friday night after looking for nearby restaurants in the Andersonville neighborhood I was staying in with friends. Little Madrid's was within walking distance and had availability for reservations and good reviews so it was the choice we went with. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to see a flamenco and Spanish guitar performance would be occurring the night of our visit and opted to sit inside to enjoy (they also offer outdoor dining on the street). Our table enjoyed the following (mostly standard) tapas amongst ourselves: - Albondigas - Croquetas de Francisco - Patatas Bravioli - Spanish Tortilla - Pulpo a la plantxa None of the dishes were particular standouts to me though if I had to pick I would probably go with the albondigas. Every Spanish tapas place I've been to puts their own unique little touches to most of these dishes and although Little Madrid's was cute none of the dishes were particular standouts to me. The interior of the restuarant was cute but service was also a little hit or miss. Again, it was a Friday night and they were busy so that may have something to do with it. Not sure that I'll be back as there are there are other tapas spots in Chicago I enjoy more (i.e. Ba Ba Reeba over in the Lincoln Park area) but you won't have a terrible time if you do go (and maybe even a surprise flamenco performance). read more

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I've been here 2x. The first time was better. This second time I went, I felt the menu did not have as many options. There's your standard tapas dishes but they did not have a lot of beef tapas. We ordered a dish and they brought out the wrong one - and we told them but they did not offer to exchange it or take it off our bill. They kind of said oh well. So service was ehh. I don't need to go back. When it is busy it is a bit crowded and loud. read more

We went here for my mom's 70th birthday. The food was delicious and the service was amazing! Big fan of the nonalcoholic and blanco sangria. Happy Hour was great - an opportunity to taste a little bit of everything! read more

Wow. Joaquim is just wonderful, he knows his wine and food. But he was alone in a restaurant with 10 or more tables and was the host, server, and bartender. After all that he was still charming and helpful. There was also a gal delivering food, and bussing, and helping in so many ways. I'd come back for him and her, and for the food. I'd tell the owners/management that they're the ones sinking the ship. read more

Everything we tried was good, and a few items were fantastic! We tried the blood sausage, white asparagus, and patatas bravas (interesting version but great), which we all loved. We also had the calamari (not very flavorful and the batter reminded me of fast food onion rings) and the meatballs (nothing to write home about). Wine selection is good, and if you time your visit right, they may shoot sangria into your mouth from a leather pouch (beware of spillage). read more

Went on a Saturday evening, it was very busy. Tables are very close together and unfortunately we were sat at HORRIBLE spot. People were squeezing by our table, that was by the door. Our waiter was good, recommended a few dishes, unfortunately he did not tend to us very well. He took a long time to check on us and we were going to order a paella, but it was going to be 40 minutes and at that point we were done. I will definitely be back but at a less busy time. The sangria was DELICIOUS!! read more

There is free street parking on the Sunday which was nice. The place is bigger than it looks from the outside. The place was pretty empty for Sunday lunch, and the servers did not rush us when we chilled for a while. We tried their Restaurant Week menu. While it tastes fine overall, somehow the tapas were not very memorable. There is the olive oil anchovy. There was more than 1 dish with potato chips which filled us up. There are not a lot of tapas places in the city and the place definitely has potential to be popular. read more

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This place was so good!! We tried a lot of things and all were phenomenal! Presentation was fantastic! Tried the Agua de Valencia cocktail-so tasty. Highly recommend this place. Our favorite was the patatas bravioli. Dug in so fast forgot to take a picture. Will definitely be going back! read more

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My friends and I visited this place for brunch on Memorial Day weekend. We were not planning to dine at this place however since most places were closed due to a long weekend, we were glad to get some food at this place. The place had outdoor and indoor seating, we decided to sit outside as the weather was kind to us. This is a BYOB place and there is a liquor shop right next to the restaurant. We ordered a lot of vegetarian and seafood tapas. We ordered patato bravas, paella (vegetarian and seafood) and shishito peppers. The food was honestly disappointing. The paella was very cheesy which was a bit weird to me, and the taste wasn't that authentic. Shishito peppers and potatoes were too oily as well. I am giving this place 3 stars only for ambiance and good service, the food wasn't that great. I don't think I'll visit this place again! read more

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I came here to celebrate Restaurant Week, and I was still 'flying' high from my trip to Spain. There are some other 'regular' Tapas places in the city but I wanted a change of scenery so we picked Andersonville. After a long trip on 3 buses, I arrived a little early for my reservation for 3. I sat and ordered a glass of wine, tempranillo.. It was very quiet for a Saturday brunch at 1pm, but I was happy to see that. The host seemed to be serving double duty as waiter. I went to the bathroom to wash my hands, and a picture of a famous Spanish woman (sorry I don't know who she was) was on the door to indicate 'Women's' room. It was clean and neat but no soap or towels! The host told me to use the Men's room with a picture of Julio Iglesias. At least I do like him! When I ordered the wine, the waiter handed me the 'Happy Hour' menu, and I asked if it was Happy Hour. He had a nice Spanish accent so I did not quite hear his reply, but it sounded like 'yes'. The décor of the place had some authentic feel to it, esp the street signs and fans posted on the wall. The happy hour price was $7, the menu read $9 or $10 but the bill showed up as $11. Not a problem really but maybe a lapse in communication. The Restaurant Week menu for $30 brunch consisted of Patatas bravioli, anchovies with olives, tuna with potato salad, bacon wrapped dates, and mini serrano ham sandwiches. That's a nice deal, I did not add up how much it would cost a la carte, but everything tasted fine! Not great but very good. Our party of 3 split a pitcher of sangria, also very good, but not very strong. Dessert was not included but we enjoyed the churros and dipped warm chocolate. The waiter chatted with us about our trip, and it was a good overall time. There was a 'hospitality fee' of $9 on the bilI. Is that a holdover from COVID? I don't know if it was on the menu but a warning would have been nice. The prices on the receipt were a little higher than the menu, but it is a new year. if I were in the area I may go back; it's such a long way from me, but I admit I liked not being squeezed in like the other tapas places. read more

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Little Madrid Cafe in Andersonville is a hidden gem for group tapas! Come with friends to try lots of dishes. In order of favorites Housemade sangria with fresh fruit. Worth getting carafe, both alcoholic or non-alcoholic available. Bacon wrapped dates MUST GET!!! Could've eaten 2 plates by myself Meatballs - waiter recommended & so glad he did! Jamon & cheese croquettes were huge with a fondue like filling! Garlic shrimp gambas - If I had a soup spoon with more bread, would've eaten all the sauce on its own Patatas bravas in spicy tomato sauce Shoshito peppers Seafood paella - order early, takes 30 min. This was the only underwhelming dish. Very attentive service, cool decor that feels very Madrid authentic. read more

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Delicious food, wonderful staff (Joaquin is amazing!), great atmosphere. Skip Baba Reba and come here for a way better experience! Cheesecake was amazing for dessert too. read more

Fabulous food, amazing selection, so friendly, we are definitely going back. If you haven't tried Spanish food, this would be the place to go. read more

A secret rendezvous with your mystery partner not meant to be seen in public. That's the vibe here. It's dark and slow this Wednesday night. The sangria is excellent with a touch of ginger ale( can't prove that). The albondingas( meat balls) and the tortillas were good. Unfortunately I was disappointed with the mussels(mejillones). I suspect it came from a can - not uncommon for Spanish but for $15 and the abundance of fresh mussels here why a can? The gambas alajillo tasted sanitized. I also did not like the FADO music . I'm sure some people like the melancholy mournful tunes - I'm just not one of them. The music made this 3 stars it was borderline 4. read more

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Aw man, I really wanted to like this place. The restaurant is lovely and the server couldn't have been nicer The problem was the food. Food was OK at best. Studied abroad in Spain and have frequented many tapas restaurants over the years so have a lot of places to compare this to. Mushy flavorless tortilla española and very bland patatas bravas were so disappointing. Pulpo a la plancha was slightly better but ok at best. We really didn't have anything deserving of a good rating . 3 stars is generous but it was a pleasant atmosphere and we had a fun night with friends despite the food. read more

Amazing food and service! The ambience was great and quite apt for a date-night especially. The basque cheesecake was to die for! A must-have. read more

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Over priced for the amount and quality. Two of us went there on a Sunday afternoon and while the salad was great and one of the tapas was pretty good one the Espárragos en Alioli (white asparagus with aoli) - which is $14 - tasted so-so and only had five pieces. We ended up spending $70 ($60 + tax + 5% fee) before tip for those four dishes. The 10.25% Chicago restaurant tax is not the restaurant's fault, however, the 5% hospitality fee was not mentioned by the server and I certainly don't remember seeing it on the menu or any signs. read more

Little Madrid Tapas Cafe - Esparragos en Aoli (White Asparagus with Aoli sauce) - I do not recommend. - Spanish Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Oh my goodness, this place is amazing!!! Special shout-out to our server, Nicolas, who was extraordinary all night. My friend and I had never been here before and we had an absolutely wonderful time. Everything we ordered was amazing. Amazing!!!! My favorites included the Euro Bacon (topped with strawberries! Omg!), patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo, and like 900 other things. So good, SO GOOD. I love that they are BYOB and I cannot wait to return! read more

Little Madrid Tapas Cafe - Euro bacon! - Spanish Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I am ashamed that I have lived around Andersonville (Lincoln Square) for almost 6 years, and this is the first I heard of Little Madrid. Having visited Spain a few times in the last couple of years, I can say this is the real deal!! The food and vibe were simply fantastic. You can tell that the people who worked here are super passionate about what they do. This place is great for date nights and dinner with friends. It's BYOB, which in mind is a plus. We ordered the Albondigas, baked goat cheese, both the ham and chicken croquettes, gambas al ajillo, patatas bravioli, and shishito peppers. Everything was super delicious. I especially enjoyed both croquettes. The albondigas were super tender and melted in your mouth. The potatoes were crisp and freshly hot, and the sauces were addicting. If you're there long enough, you might also catch some surprise entertainment! We will definitely be back! read more

Little Madrid Tapas Cafe - Ham croquetas - Spanish Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Tonight we had a delicious selection of Tapas at the Little Madrid Tapas Cafe in Andersonville. Little Madrid has a seal of authenticity from a Spanish restaurant association. We started out with the recommended albondigas. They were soft and delicious and covered in a wonderful gravy that was poured over at serving. If you do not eat pork, be sure to let the server know because there was sort of a chorizo/ ham hash on the potatoes served with them. Next we had a huge octopus leg that was grilled to perfection and decorated with squid ink and another delicious sauce. Finally we had chicken croquettes with pimenton and aoli. We finished off with an orange cinnamon pudding much like creme brulee which had a burnt augar topping. More circus as a hot iron plate was placed on the sugar topping To caramelize it! Service and ambience were great! read more

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Haven't been to Spain so I can't directly compare but nonetheless food was fantastic. And this was a busy Saturday night. I'd venture to guess squid was never frozen. Cooked perfectly. The Euro Bacon dates had layers / depths of flavor. Then croquettes were fried perfectly and so creamy. The off menu shrimp carpaccio was beautifully designed with edible flowers and greens and delicious. Served on a chill plate - nice touch. Service though.....needs help. Hostess seats us with no menu. 10 mins before the server arrived - busy night totally understandable. Runner brings water but without glasses...ordered 2 diffent bottles of wine but the waiter poured the 2nd bottle in the used wine glass....first dishes came out - no silverware. Had to ask for silver ware and got for and knives with 1 paper napkin. Had to ask for more napkins...this is a tapas restaurant....and it would be nice to get a new plate once in a while, after several plates of tapas, flavors get mixed. Ordered a dish based on waiters recommendation and was completely different from what was described... Again a busy night but it would be nice if the waiters would be able to describe the dishes, maybe even a history of the dish. This isn't a burger shop, this is a destination restaurant for foodies. I will be coming back to try the other dishes but hope the owner sees this. Maybe a less busy weeknight might be best? read more

Service was attentive. Ambiance is cozy. The sangria was very good with plenty of chopped up fruit. Some food dishes were good. Their papa bravas and the octopus was delicious along with the goat cheese plate. We also ordered the seafood paella. That was not great. It was very salty and for a $40 plate it was very disappointing. read more

I meet up with a friend, the service was incredible and we both left very satisfied, we got some tapas then Paella, then desserts... everything was so delicious!!! read more

We went for happy hour and ordered off their happy hour menu. When we got our check, everything was priced much more than what the menu said. We were told that the prices changed and the new printed menus would be available next week. They made no effort to inform us of this before we ordered and our tab was much higher than anticipated. All they could tell us was contact our owner because he's a lawyer. It was not the wait staff's fault. They should have just pulled the menu and train the staff better. Food was great, but definitely disappointed and probably will not be returning. read more

Service and attention were excellent however food was average and frankly overpriced IMHO. Maybe I am spoiled from having enjoyed how good Cafe Iberico from 20-30 years ago . Brought a couple for our friend's birthday. Opened with the meat and cheese board appetizer . Cheese and meats were fresh but lacked inspiration. My plate was albondigas. Flavor was off for me and also the meatball fell apart when touching with a fork. Wife had the octopus. The bottom of the octopus was charred and had a charred flavor that my wife did not care for. Calamari was good and the best item we ordered was the vegetarian paella however it was $28 for an individual serving. Lastly, for some reason it says live music , however there isn't live music. Oh, how Chicago needs a great Spanish restaurant like Cafe Iberico used to be 20 years ago. Oh well. Que sera sera read more

Little Madrid Tapas Cafe - Albondigas - Spanish Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

If a quaint intimate restaurant is what you're asking for. I challenge you to look no further than Little Tapa's Cafe Madrid. It reminded me of a favorite Argentinian/ Brazilian steakhouse. My friend and I ordered a pitcher of sangria..we both immediately remarked that it wasn't sweet. Our waiter went through the menu and offered us recommendations. The tapas we ordered were the shishito peppers in a lime vinaigrette sauce with paprika , Croquetas de pollo - it had a tasty comforting chicken cream filling and our favorite of the night ; the Albondigas -meatballs with Spanish fries (chips) were delicious and unlike anything I've ever eaten. I loved the gravy that accompanied the dish! There was an off menu item for dessert; a perfect birthday treat; a traditional almond cake with strawberries and drizzled chocolate. read more

Little Madrid Tapas Cafe - Croquetas de Pollo - Spanish Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The food, the ambiance, the surprise delights...we love Little Madrid! Today we had an absolutely amazing salad that included watermellon, watercress, pistatios, and a bunch of other things...you'll ind it on the menu, do not miss it! The Euro Bacon (bacon wrapped dates with majorca almonds inside) are so good that we ordered an extra couple or orders to go. Tonight, they have flamenco dancing. The decirations are great, the backgroubd music is perfect... And *do* save room for one of their fabulous desserts. read more

We recently went to our neighborhood tapas shop and we were absolutely blown away. First of all, it felt like we were transported to Madrid with the decor, ambiance, and staff hospitality. We felt immediately welcomed and ready to experience something truly unique. Second, since Little Madrid is BYOB, we were able to bring one of our favorite red wine bottles to enjoy with the meal. This helped us to have a fully fancy fine-dinning experience without the outrageous cost of alcohol. Which meant we could spend more on food...which we did! We ordered four tapas total and were delightfully plump afterwords between the two of us. Orders come as they are complete to ensure freshness. So the first to come out was the Euro Bacon, or bacon wrapped dates. We are BIG fans of bacon wrapped dates, but these were next level. The ingredients were high quality and the bacon was hefty and generous...just the way we like it Next came the croquetas de franscico, which was the recommendation of our wonderful waitress. This was probably my favorite dish. The perfectly fried dough with savory and generous iberico ham, bursting with ooey gooey cheese from the inside...just absolutely divinity in every bite. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Next we got the albondigas (Spanish meatballs) with fries and savory gravy. This was my second favorite dish. Delightfully savory, hearty, and umami! And the frites mixed with the meat and gravy was the perfect synthesis if you could get each in every bite. Finally the patatas bravas came out. Such high quality ingredients prepared with care. Who can't find absolute joy in fried potatoes with a spicy paprika sauce? This was pretty much our dessert and filled in any leftover cracks. Perfection. In the end, we walked away full from the four dishes. We had worried we'd need a fifth, but that wasn't the case. The dishes are not cheap, but that's because you are paying for fresh, fine, and delectable ingredients crafted with care, love, and a true essence of Madrid. We cannot wait to return to Little Madrid and writing this review/looking at these pictures has only sped up the likelihood of us going soon. Maybe see you there? read more

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Little Madrid Tapas Cafe is a hidden gem of the Andersonville/Edgewater area! We went for my birthday and everything was absolutely delicious! The staff was so fun and so kind. They really made it a special day. The ambiance was relaxing, warm and friendly. The food was absolutely to die for. The tapas were bigger than we expected so we got more than we bargained for. But taking it home is perfectly good, too! I can't wait to go back! read more

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Food was average at best except for Patatas aioli which was delicious. Albandegas was full of gristle. Salmorejo was sour and nearly inedible. We've eaten it several times in Spain so we have a basis to compare it with. Gambas was ok. Over use of garlic and nothing suggested the chef or cook had much training. Ensaladia Russa was sour and unpleasant. Service was sad as a brand new server could not understand much English and we had to constantly ask for the host to help us. We won't return. Chicago needs an authentic tapas restaurant. This isn't it. read more

The tapas at Little Madrid is the best in Chicago. The dining room is tight but cozy and comfortably sophisticated.

Stopped in for here Sunday lunch with my mom and the food was so good. We shared the spanish omelette and arugula salad with burrata -- divine. 10/10 recommend ! read more

Little Madrid Tapas Cafe - Arugula Malaguena Ensalada and Spanish omelette - Spanish Near Me - Chicago, Illinois