Very confused about gluten free. Unsafe for me to eat. I shared my needs on reservation and when checking in.
Linda
We have enjoyed several special occasion meals at Mercat and always enjoy our experience. The dinner we just had for my husband's birthday was an excellent. We were greeted with glasses of Cava in celebration for his birthday, and concluded our meal with an outstanding Basque Cheesecake for dessert, all compliments of the house. The food was great, with the exception of the patatas bravas, which were just nothing special. Our server was so kind and helpful, and kept checking in with us to make sure everything was ok. Pulpo was perfectly grilled. Lamb chops arrived properly cooked rare as requested. This has become one of our favorite restaurants.
Michael Revlett
Wonderful venue and food! Samuel was excellent server and with a group of 7 we asked him to just bring us dishes for the group to share and nothing disappointed. Wine and drinks were excellent as well!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Neha
We reserved a table for a one-night trip to Chicago to celebrate our anniversary - would have been helpful to know ahead of time that Paella isn't served on Sunday/Monday. Still, the service, the quality of small plates, and the complementary drinks and dessert greatly made up for the initial disappointment. Would highly recommend going here, even for just drinks and small plates. Amazing service!
MaryAnne Ojeda
Amazing vegan paella. Don't worry they have another option for those that don't want only vegetables in their paella. The patatas bravas were amazing. Along with another stonefruit dish. The drinks are out of this world. And the service is impressive. Oh yeah churros and cheesecake were delicious! They also brought us a glass of bubbles as we were celebrating an anniversary. Love this place.
Nothing special. An ok choice if staying nearby and don't want to leave the hotel. The empanadas were flavorful. The ham croquettes were ok.
Osman
I enjoyed the experience. Server and assistants were excellent. Pulpo was perfectly cook and steak was incredibly tasty.
Annie H
The food is FABULOUS!!! Thank you for being a consistent go to for our trips to Chicago!! Thank you, Melissa, for helping us navigate the menu for gluten free…and gluten optional options! We LOVED our dinner!! Highly recommended!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Erika D.
Thoroughly enjoyed the frilled octopus and broccolini.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Jason
Very poor experience at our first (and last) visit to Mercat. Placed our order at 6.45, waited at least 20 mins to receive our drinks (only 2 of us) and received only the salad course in 45 mins out of a total of 6 tapas small plates. Service was just bad, unapologetic, slow and nowhere near good enough for the price charged. In the end we got most of our small plates in quick succession after 45 mins - the food quality was great! We still didn't receive the shrimp small plate we ordered.
Our experience was mixed. The room and our seating was very nice and comfortable. The food was wonderful. Our waitress was awful.... we had a hard time getting her attention when we needed it and items were missing from our tasting menu order. We had to be a show and I asked here up front to make sure our meal was paced accordingly ... we had more than an hour and a half to eat and yet were rushed at the end because the service was so bad.
Nadia Whit
Delicious tapas, attentive service. A bit pricey.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Octopus
Traveling O
Mercat a la Planxa is located inside the gorgeous Blackstone Hotel. Mercat specializes in Catalan tapas. Like the Blackstone Hotel, Mercat is elegant and sophisticated.
I ordered Dates wrapped in Bacon. It was The Bomb! Calamari was a tad fishy but very good. Service was amazing. Views are breathtaking. Overlooks Grant Park.
If you're handicapped, there is a small elevator in Hotel that will take you to and from Lobby.
Recommend reservations.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Francesca
The chicken, empanada, pork, potatoes, calamari, or all outstanding. The service was excellent. 
Ann
A trout and salad too salty; also needed to remind staff to bring a course - the trout after the paella was served & were told paella prep would take longer time .
Very confused about gluten free. Unsafe for me to eat. I shared my needs on reservation and when checking in.
We have enjoyed several special occasion meals at Mercat and always enjoy our experience. The dinner we just had for my husband's birthday was an excellent. We were greeted with glasses of Cava in celebration for his birthday, and concluded our meal with an outstanding Basque Cheesecake for dessert, all compliments of the house. The food was great, with the exception of the patatas bravas, which were just nothing special. Our server was so kind and helpful, and kept checking in with us to make sure everything was ok. Pulpo was perfectly grilled. Lamb chops arrived properly cooked rare as requested. This has become one of our favorite restaurants.
Wonderful venue and food! Samuel was excellent server and with a group of 7 we asked him to just bring us dishes for the group to share and nothing disappointed. Wine and drinks were excellent as well!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We reserved a table for a one-night trip to Chicago to celebrate our anniversary - would have been helpful to know ahead of time that Paella isn't served on Sunday/Monday. Still, the service, the quality of small plates, and the complementary drinks and dessert greatly made up for the initial disappointment. Would highly recommend going here, even for just drinks and small plates. Amazing service!
Amazing vegan paella. Don't worry they have another option for those that don't want only vegetables in their paella. The patatas bravas were amazing. Along with another stonefruit dish. The drinks are out of this world. And the service is impressive. Oh yeah churros and cheesecake were delicious! They also brought us a glass of bubbles as we were celebrating an anniversary. Love this place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Patatas Bravas, Basque Burnt Cheesecake, Charcuterie, Marinated Olives
Nothing special. An ok choice if staying nearby and don't want to leave the hotel. The empanadas were flavorful. The ham croquettes were ok.
I enjoyed the experience. Server and assistants were excellent. Pulpo was perfectly cook and steak was incredibly tasty.
The food is FABULOUS!!! Thank you for being a consistent go to for our trips to Chicago!! Thank you, Melissa, for helping us navigate the menu for gluten free…and gluten optional options! We LOVED our dinner!! Highly recommended!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Thoroughly enjoyed the frilled octopus and broccolini.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Very poor experience at our first (and last) visit to Mercat. Placed our order at 6.45, waited at least 20 mins to receive our drinks (only 2 of us) and received only the salad course in 45 mins out of a total of 6 tapas small plates. Service was just bad, unapologetic, slow and nowhere near good enough for the price charged. In the end we got most of our small plates in quick succession after 45 mins - the food quality was great! We still didn't receive the shrimp small plate we ordered.
Restaurantji Recommends
Our experience was mixed. The room and our seating was very nice and comfortable. The food was wonderful. Our waitress was awful.... we had a hard time getting her attention when we needed it and items were missing from our tasting menu order. We had to be a show and I asked here up front to make sure our meal was paced accordingly ... we had more than an hour and a half to eat and yet were rushed at the end because the service was so bad.
Delicious tapas, attentive service. A bit pricey.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Octopus
Mercat a la Planxa is located inside the gorgeous Blackstone Hotel. Mercat specializes in Catalan tapas. Like the Blackstone Hotel, Mercat is elegant and sophisticated.
I ordered Dates wrapped in Bacon. It was The Bomb! Calamari was a tad fishy but very good. Service was amazing. Views are breathtaking. Overlooks Grant Park.
If you're handicapped, there is a small elevator in Hotel that will take you to and from Lobby.
Recommend reservations.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The chicken, empanada, pork, potatoes, calamari, or all outstanding. The service was excellent. 
A trout and salad too salty; also needed to remind staff to bring a course - the trout after the paella was served & were told paella prep would take longer time .
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