They seated us in what felt like an arctic tundra. When we raised the issue, we were dismissed and it was chalked up to us being in an “old Chicago building” and nothing was done. It got so bad we said we couldn't take it anymore and they finally moved us. Shocker, there was an entire warm section next to us that we could have been moved to! And we noticed an unused space heater and plugged that in ourselves. It was just astounding how little anyone cared. We all thought the appetizers were great, but the monk fish main was absolutely inedible. We don't think it was cooked and the sauce was incredibly salty, and I love salty food! I've been wanting to check this place out and have seen great reviewed, but I sadly won't be back.
Stacey
We had the best dinner. The food was great, John our waiter was awesome, the maitre'd was amazing. I can't say enough good things! We can't wait to come back!
Chyna
I visited Mama Delia for Chicago Restaurant Week and had a fantastic time - I will definitely be visiting again. The service was exceptional (Thank you Stephen!), and the ambiance of the restaurant was comfortable and beautiful and interesting. The food was delicious and the wine and sherry were a really fun accompaniment. I was also able to overhear another server for a different table and they also seemed very knowledgeable about the food and beverage selections.
Eric
Our server Andrew was really helpful! We had come earlier but my girlfriend got sick before dinner so we had to leave in a rush. They were very accommodating and even offered to pay for our drinks when we came back! Incredible experience!
Karen
Arguably one of the more authentic Spanish restaurants in Chicago. My sisters and I decided to try their Restaurant Week Menu Saturday night and it's a great value for the quality of food we ate. We had to wait about 15-20 minutes for our table to be ready but the hostess was fast to get us seats at the Bar while waiting. I had a taste of Vermouth and the friendly bartender made a very refreshing and inventive drink with a crispy Jamon on top. It's a tight squeeze inside, but its decor and ambiance is reminiscent of the tapas crawl establishments all over Spain. The Tapas style food definitely were made Spanish-style, the Chef sourcing his ingredients straight from Spain according to the very capable wait staff. You have to try the Pork cheek, transported me back to Seville. The marinated Anchovies (Matrimonio dish) was like straight from Mercado Anton Martin in Madrid. Will go back again, in fact already made another reservation.
Cecilia
Delicious food, amazing deal for restaurant week. We were seated upstairs and unfortunately it was very cold. I'm not sure the insulation is good up there. But otherwise a lovely experience!
Vanessa
I've been to Mama Delia in the past and loved the food, ambience, and service. This past visit we went on the first night of restaurant week and the place was not nearly as special as my first visit. Service was not good, wrong food arrived at our table, the quality of jamón was not great. It was nice in theory to try the tasting menu but in practice I won't be back during a busy week like this. There's a cute speakeasy on the second floor — that was a fun surprise!
Brandie
It was a bit cold( very cold night outside) though there were heaters around I noticed most people wearing their jackets and so were we. Not sure if the restaurant could do anything about this as the window was huge probably will return when it's warmer to enjoy the food and it and the service were good.
Rogelio
We have been to Mama Delia numerous times and it was one of our favorite restaurants. We were seated in the 3rd floor area and the room temperature there was 53 degrees as we walked in. It was extremely cold to the point that most of the guests were eating with full winter coats on inside the restaurant and scarfs. I asked the waitress numerous times until she finally brought an area heater which got the temperature near us to around 60 degrees at best after an hour. Very unpleasant experience. That room should have not been used at all. The waitresses were freezing and constantly warming their hands in the area heaters. Not sure what was going on but it was obviously a big problem and it made our dinner very disappointing. Would not go again!!
Brianna Villanueva
Recently went back with my friends to see our regular bartender Christian but was saddened to find out he stopped working there due to unfortunate circumstances. Service was still okay, however since Christian being gone, it’s felt stale and robotic - missing that touch of personality that our favorite employee always brought to our experience. Food was still amazing as always!
This was our first time there and it was for a wine tasting dinner. The food was amazing in both taste and presentation. The cadence to how courses came out was executed perfectly allowing for full enjoyment of both the food and paired wine without feeling rushed onto the next plate. Service was spot on from every perspective, as each course was delivered an excellent description was given and during each course the team, shout out to Stephen, was making sure everything ran smoothly. The event was hosted by Olé & Obrigado featuring wines from Celler Pinol, Brooke always does an amazing job with these events and having another opportunity to enjoy Cristina talk about the wine making is always a pleasure. Looking forward to coming back in the future. Thanks for the wonderful evening!
Kendrick
Amazing Spanish tapas restaurant with an amazing Sherry list! Please check out this restaurant. Great vibe, good food, and amazing service, and good location.
Desiree London
It's taken a while for me to get around to writing this review, but my experience with Mama Delia has never left my mind.
We arrived with no reservation at around 7:20pm, and plenty of tables were open both inside and outside. Even though the place wasn't busy, it took a while before our server got to us.
First, we ordered a cocktail and needed more time to get the food sorted out but didn't expect to be ignored for the next TEN minutes when, again, it wasn't busy.
It would have been nice to be made aware upon sitting down that certain items on the menu were out for the day - specifically 2 of their paellas and the french fries. No french fries?! Apparently, their summer menu has limited stock (?)
(Cocktail) Bordel's World Famous Spanish Coffee: This took 25 minutes to get to our table.
Escalivada Flatbread: Alright.
Shishito Peppers: Not worth $12. Very salty.
Chuleton: Takes 40 minutes to prepare. We asked for medium and got something more medium rare bordering on rare in some cuts.
The service was seriously lacking in addition to the wait times for the appetizer and peppers. Our starters came out roughly at the same time, but it was still about a 15-20 minute wait. All in all, we spent 1.5 hours here, and actually eating the food was 1/3 of that.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Antonio Romero
Try dry Sherry! You'd love it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alex Aquino
Tried a plate while browsing at the Renegade fair. Paella has Socarrat, and the rice had a deep taste. The socarrat could have been a tad more caramelized, but still enjoyable.
They seated us in what felt like an arctic tundra. When we raised the issue, we were dismissed and it was chalked up to us being in an “old Chicago building” and nothing was done. It got so bad we said we couldn't take it anymore and they finally moved us. Shocker, there was an entire warm section next to us that we could have been moved to! And we noticed an unused space heater and plugged that in ourselves. It was just astounding how little anyone cared. We all thought the appetizers were great, but the monk fish main was absolutely inedible. We don't think it was cooked and the sauce was incredibly salty, and I love salty food! I've been wanting to check this place out and have seen great reviewed, but I sadly won't be back.
We had the best dinner. The food was great, John our waiter was awesome, the maitre'd was amazing. I can't say enough good things! We can't wait to come back!
I visited Mama Delia for Chicago Restaurant Week and had a fantastic time - I will definitely be visiting again. The service was exceptional (Thank you Stephen!), and the ambiance of the restaurant was comfortable and beautiful and interesting. The food was delicious and the wine and sherry were a really fun accompaniment. I was also able to overhear another server for a different table and they also seemed very knowledgeable about the food and beverage selections.
Our server Andrew was really helpful! We had come earlier but my girlfriend got sick before dinner so we had to leave in a rush. They were very accommodating and even offered to pay for our drinks when we came back! Incredible experience!
Arguably one of the more authentic Spanish restaurants in Chicago. My sisters and I decided to try their Restaurant Week Menu Saturday night and it's a great value for the quality of food we ate. We had to wait about 15-20 minutes for our table to be ready but the hostess was fast to get us seats at the Bar while waiting. I had a taste of Vermouth and the friendly bartender made a very refreshing and inventive drink with a crispy Jamon on top. It's a tight squeeze inside, but its decor and ambiance is reminiscent of the tapas crawl establishments all over Spain. The Tapas style food definitely were made Spanish-style, the Chef sourcing his ingredients straight from Spain according to the very capable wait staff. You have to try the Pork cheek, transported me back to Seville. The marinated Anchovies (Matrimonio dish) was like straight from Mercado Anton Martin in Madrid. Will go back again, in fact already made another reservation.
Delicious food, amazing deal for restaurant week. We were seated upstairs and unfortunately it was very cold. I'm not sure the insulation is good up there. But otherwise a lovely experience!
I've been to Mama Delia in the past and loved the food, ambience, and service. This past visit we went on the first night of restaurant week and the place was not nearly as special as my first visit. Service was not good, wrong food arrived at our table, the quality of jamón was not great. It was nice in theory to try the tasting menu but in practice I won't be back during a busy week like this. There's a cute speakeasy on the second floor — that was a fun surprise!
It was a bit cold( very cold night outside) though there were heaters around I noticed most people wearing their jackets and so were we. Not sure if the restaurant could do anything about this as the window was huge probably will return when it's warmer to enjoy the food and it and the service were good.
We have been to Mama Delia numerous times and it was one of our favorite restaurants. We were seated in the 3rd floor area and the room temperature there was 53 degrees as we walked in. It was extremely cold to the point that most of the guests were eating with full winter coats on inside the restaurant and scarfs. I asked the waitress numerous times until she finally brought an area heater which got the temperature near us to around 60 degrees at best after an hour. Very unpleasant experience. That room should have not been used at all. The waitresses were freezing and constantly warming their hands in the area heaters. Not sure what was going on but it was obviously a big problem and it made our dinner very disappointing. Would not go again!!
Recently went back with my friends to see our regular bartender Christian but was saddened to find out he stopped working there due to unfortunate circumstances. Service was still okay, however since Christian being gone, it’s felt stale and robotic - missing that touch of personality that our favorite employee always brought to our experience. Food was still amazing as always!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
Restaurantji Recommends
This was our first time there and it was for a wine tasting dinner. The food was amazing in both taste and presentation. The cadence to how courses came out was executed perfectly allowing for full enjoyment of both the food and paired wine without feeling rushed onto the next plate. Service was spot on from every perspective, as each course was delivered an excellent description was given and during each course the team, shout out to Stephen, was making sure everything ran smoothly. The event was hosted by Olé & Obrigado featuring wines from Celler Pinol, Brooke always does an amazing job with these events and having another opportunity to enjoy Cristina talk about the wine making is always a pleasure. Looking forward to coming back in the future. Thanks for the wonderful evening!
Amazing Spanish tapas restaurant with an amazing Sherry list! Please check out this restaurant. Great vibe, good food, and amazing service, and good location.
It's taken a while for me to get around to writing this review, but my experience with Mama Delia has never left my mind.
We arrived with no reservation at around 7:20pm, and plenty of tables were open both inside and outside. Even though the place wasn't busy, it took a while before our server got to us.
First, we ordered a cocktail and needed more time to get the food sorted out but didn't expect to be ignored for the next TEN minutes when, again, it wasn't busy.
It would have been nice to be made aware upon sitting down that certain items on the menu were out for the day - specifically 2 of their paellas and the french fries. No french fries?! Apparently, their summer menu has limited stock (?)
(Cocktail) Bordel's World Famous Spanish Coffee: This took 25 minutes to get to our table.
Escalivada Flatbread: Alright.
Shishito Peppers: Not worth $12. Very salty.
Chuleton: Takes 40 minutes to prepare. We asked for medium and got something more medium rare bordering on rare in some cuts.
The service was seriously lacking in addition to the wait times for the appetizer and peppers. Our starters came out roughly at the same time, but it was still about a 15-20 minute wait. All in all, we spent 1.5 hours here, and actually eating the food was 1/3 of that.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Try dry Sherry! You'd love it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tried a plate while browsing at the Renegade fair. Paella has Socarrat, and the rice had a deep taste. The socarrat could have been a tad more caramelized, but still enjoyable.
Food: 5
Service: 5
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