Little Madrid Tapas Cafe

Review summary

1. V

   Vipin

   Chicago

   6 reviews

   5.0

   6 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Took my FIL out for his birthday to little Madrid. We had a variety of tapas. The Albondigas, Calamares fritos, patatas aliolo, euro bacon and gambas al ajillo were excellent. The croquetas de pollo was outstanding. Probably the best thing we had there. We rounded up dinner with some valenciana paella and tostas, which we had to take home since the tapas filled us up pretty well. The cafe was tightly packed and noisy, which reminded us of our vacation in Spain. A definite must go if you're craving tapas or want to enjoy Spanish food without having to buy tickets to Madrid!
   

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2. JL

   JessicaL

   Washington DC

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   First time eating there. It was very busy on arrival. The front room is packed. But cafe feel.
   

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3. L

   Luke

   Chicago

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 16 February 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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4. A

   Aleksander

   Chicago

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on 16 February 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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5. M

   Miguel

   Chicago

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on 15 February 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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6. J

   James

   Chicago

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 15 February 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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7. D

   Doug

   VIP

   Chicago

   5 reviews

   4.0

   5 reviews

   Dined on 15 February 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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8. K

   Katherine

   Chicago

   2 reviews

   2.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 15 February 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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9. D

   David

   VIP

   Chicago

   4 reviews

   5.0

   4 reviews

   Dined on 15 February 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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10. T

    Tim

    VIP

    Chicago

    50 reviews

    5.0

    50 reviews

    Dined on 14 February 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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