Location review insights for Illinois, United States, Restaurants

A bit overpriced but cool atmosphere

⭐ 1 out of 5 stars Not the Italian experience we expected We were really disappointed with our dinner at La Bella Trattoria. There were fruit flies everywhere—on the food, in our wine—it was honestly hard to enjoy anything. The atmosphere felt chaotic and loud, with club music blasting instead of anything remotely Italian. Our main course came out almost immediately after the first, and there wasn’t even space on the table. It felt rushed from start to finish, and having three different servers made it confusing and impersonal. The restaurant is attached to a hotel, so people are constantly walking in and out, which makes it feel more like a lobby café than a trattoria. To top it off, they were out of the red wine we ordered and pushed us into another bottle that was about 50% more expensive. Between the flies, the noise, and the lack of authentic atmosphere, this was a complete miss for us.

$40 for 3 mini buttered white bread rolls filled with average lobster, wines are overpriced. nice area of sidewalk tables, very cramped bar area full of noxious sexist white guys.

1. book or reserve in advance, likely to be busy, during Lunch hrs/Evenings and Very Busy Weekends! 2. Decor is Just about it, with a Motif of Greek panels, in the main hall 3. Very simple seating, Main hall is rather tight with tables, prefer the smaller hall connected thru 4 stairs 4. Outdoor sitting is there, but check on phone if open or Not. 5. Drinks -- Ok, nothing so special, good for a Office Lunch... ask them to have less Ice. 6. Starters :: Order the Cheese starter, they light it up before up, a small slab of Greek Cheese, but unique and nice experience. Meat ball starters, Prawns starters are good. Quantity 2 starters for 3 diners is best! Starters taste : Semi Authentic Greek, Mild to Medium spicy, more authentic available in Chicago..... 7. Entrees: All are good, experience them over a few visits. Cooked generally Mild to Medium. Quantity : above average, better to have 2 for 3 diners, else you will need ToGo packs. 8. Service /Cleanliness : IN spite of packed restaurant, Service is FAst, and with courtesy ( the wait time for the 1st service visit is very less compared to other restaurant's in Fulton Area. After order preparation time:: Quite fast ( to me it looked like , the similar dishes are ordered, and may be the Kitchen prepares the basic or core items in bulk) 9. Not a place to while your time, more or less, Diners around you will be leaving table in about an hour.

After reading reviews looking for a restaurant in the area, we tried a few other places (only to be told we’d have to wait an hour) before we “settled” for Mario’s. “Settling” couldn’t be further from the truth. Our server Drew was excellent. The food was superb (try the chicken marsala). We absolutely enjoyed our evening here and were disappointed we couldn’t return (our trip was too short).

Food is good, service at this location is incredibly awful. Pickup orders are not placed on the pickup rack for some reason; instead, they are on a rack only accessible by employees who completely ignore you while you are obviously waiting at the counter. I waited 10 minutes while my already prepared and bagged food got cold. The employees behind the counter looked at me and others multiple times, but couldn’t be bothered to check with us. In fact, they actively ignored our requests. What’s the point of the pickup rack? Either place the ready orders there or assign an employee to monitor the pickup orders. I would not order from this location again.

Review rating: 1.0

This was my second visit, the first about three years prior, which was fun, price worthy, zero complaints meaning my daughter’s request to celebrate her birthday there was well received. We did not order dessert. Mercat is located in the Blackstone Hotel, a classic Chicago Hotel on Michigan Avenue. The restaurant is multi-level with fantastic views of Michigan Avenue. It’s a masterpiece of restaurant design with big booths, small romantic tables, almost all spaces have a view of something, and it feels exciting to be there. Mercat is billed as a Spanish restaurant and from my first visit it was. Today we have other influences with some irksome or technically wrong. You do not receive any bread to enjoy your tapas with to slurp up the sauce. The Jamon Serrano Croquettes had no ham in them and the potato stuck to the roof of my mouth being gluey. The croquette must be barrel shaped, so they cook evenly but these were suppository shaped and did not. Empanadas are not Spanish which is fine but the short rib beef inside was dry. It lacked vegetable and had a bland flavor. Chimichurri is Argentinian and my 5 guests thought it was bitter, overpowering, not smooth, multiple comments. Sauce around Patatas Bravas similarly so. The amount of Spinach Salad, about a 7-inch pile for $17 felt like abuse. Good though. I try not to comment about money on places like this because they are expensive, just this seemed excessive. The flat bread was great but very well cooked and burnt around the edges. The beef pinxtos were fine but could not be described as tender. So where have all Chicago great tapas places gone? In today’s market the tapas concept is to deliver profits as costs are astronomical in downtown Chicago. However Tapas are usually found in working class places, yet here we sit in opulence making the whole thing incongruous from the outset but even this would be acceptable if the description, menu and food was not error ridden. You can do what you like price wise, but everything has to be perfect. This was far from it. I could go on.

Review rating: 2.0

A bit overpriced but cool atmosphere

Signal: 0.0%

⭐ 1 out of 5 stars Not the Italian experience we expected We were really disappointed with our dinner at La Bella Trattoria. There were fruit flies everywhere—on the food, in our wine—it was honestly hard to enjoy anything. The atmosphere felt chaotic and loud, with club music blasting instead of anything remotely Italian. Our main course came out almost immediately after the first, and there wasn’t even space on the table. It felt rushed from start to finish, and having three different servers made it confusing and impersonal. The restaurant is attached to a hotel, so people are constantly walking in and out, which makes it feel more like a lobby café than a trattoria. To top it off, they were out of the red wine we ordered and pushed us into another bottle that was about 50% more expensive. Between the flies, the noise, and the lack of authentic atmosphere, this was a complete miss for us.

Signal: 0.0%

$40 for 3 mini buttered white bread rolls filled with average lobster, wines are overpriced. nice area of sidewalk tables, very cramped bar area full of noxious sexist white guys.

Signal: 0.0%

1. book or reserve in advance, likely to be busy, during Lunch hrs/Evenings and Very Busy Weekends! 2. Decor is Just about it, with a Motif of Greek panels, in the main hall 3. Very simple seating, Main hall is rather tight with tables, prefer the smaller hall connected thru 4 stairs 4. Outdoor sitting is there, but check on phone if open or Not. 5. Drinks -- Ok, nothing so special, good for a Office Lunch... ask them to have less Ice. 6. Starters :: Order the Cheese starter, they light it up before up, a small slab of Greek Cheese, but unique and nice experience. Meat ball starters, Prawns starters are good. Quantity 2 starters for 3 diners is best! Starters taste : Semi Authentic Greek, Mild to Medium spicy, more authentic available in Chicago..... 7. Entrees: All are good, experience them over a few visits. Cooked generally Mild to Medium. Quantity : above average, better to have 2 for 3 diners, else you will need ToGo packs. 8. Service /Cleanliness : IN spite of packed restaurant, Service is FAst, and with courtesy ( the wait time for the 1st service visit is very less compared to other restaurant's in Fulton Area. After order preparation time:: Quite fast ( to me it looked like , the similar dishes are ordered, and may be the Kitchen prepares the basic or core items in bulk) 9. Not a place to while your time, more or less, Diners around you will be leaving table in about an hour.

Signal: 0.0%