Mado: User Reviews

OMG. Absolutely positively horrible.
By Killerchic2 from Lincoln Square, May 27, 2008

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I had my friends birthday party there and it was embarrassing. There was a huge group of us- everyone left hungry and broke. The only decent part was that it was byob. I will never go back.

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Put this on your "to do" list!
By CityGirlFoodie from Uptown, May 21, 2008

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Mado is a must-do! I had the porchetta with salsa verde and arugula. THE best pork I have ever had - seriously. It was so succulent, I could've easily ordered a second. For dessert I tried the chocolate tart with creme fraiche, again I was very pleased. The servers knew the food well and were friendly. I would highly recommend this cool restaurant to anyone who wants a great meal at a hip new place.

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mado, the food was very average and too much money
By asiegel from wickerpark, May 11, 2008

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bland, I wanted it to be great, but very slow service , small, way small dishes, and the dishes were poorly presented !

They will be out of B in one year

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Big Disappointment
By Kate from Streeterville, May 8, 2008

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We had high hopes for this new restaurant given the talent behind it, but were very disappointed. First off, the restaurant smelled too much like a wood burning oven. So much that we felt like our clothes smelled of it when we left. We had about 5 apps in total. The bruschetta with beans was hard to eat as the beans kept falling off. The tuna was tasteless and everything else seemed like it needed more seasoning. We were so disappointed with the food that we didn't stay for the entrees and went in search of better dining.

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Totally Underwhelmed
By Katie K from Lakeview, May 7, 2008

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I was excited to try this place after reading about it everywhere in the past few weeks. I got the feeling that it was going to be like Lula Cafe, with all the emphasis on organic/locally-sourced ingredients, etc. And the BYOB was definitely a plus.

What a disappointment! I ordered the sunchoke appetizer, guanciale crostini and the small portion of the tagliatelle with ramp pesto. The food was very plain which I would understand if there were actual flavors that shone through. But that was not the case for me. The sunchokes tasted like raw potatoes. The crostini was just hard french bread with a tiny sliver of guanciale. The pasta was the worst of the bunch. About 4 minutes short of al dente, it was almost inedible. Other items ordered by our group were the rotisserie chicken which was very salty and rather unappetizing looking (it looked more like a boiled chicken than a grilled one) and the halibut which also looked and tasted unremarkable.

The room is very plain, with minimal lighting, which was fine, but it uncomfortably warm. Evenutally, someone opened the front door in an effort to get some of the breeze, but it didn't help. The music was terrible, too, very distracting to my group's efforts at conversation.

On the plus side, it's relatively inexpensive and the BYOB option is nice. But the food is definitely boring and not well-prepared. The service was inattentive at best and it took forever to get our check closed out. I wouldn't go back.

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Definitely will be back for more!
By Bee from chicago, May 5, 2008

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This place is great! Simply stated, fresh, seasonal ingredients from antipasti to dessert-everything on the menu is wonderful. The wood grilled trout was by far the best fish I have ever eaten. I have also tried the rotisserie chicken, which was delicious, tender,and juicy, as was the hanger steak. Don't leave with ordering dessert-the date with ricotta was so devine-I have never eaten anything like that. The metropolis coffee is excellent, too! I"ll definitely be back!

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service disappointing
By jolynne from lakeview, May 3, 2008

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We were looking forward to trying out Mado, but were disappointed in the service (or lack thereof). Though we made a reservation, our table wasn't ready so we were told we could eat at the bar. It was clear no specific person was assigned to wait on us so we grabbed whoever we could to order and though they were generally polite, we felt like they were almost doing us a favor to wait on us. The food was ok but service and organization in general can be improved significantly.

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great start
By R from evanston, April 28, 2008

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was thrilled to check out mado this weekend. there is certainly room for improvement, but it totally lived up to expectations. the space is nice, the servers are good, the food was beautiful. everything is really pure and straight forward and non-gimmicky. a couple of the things we tried weren't perfect - sunchokes and fingerilngs a bit underdone, pork and beef a bit oversalted. but everything we tried (which was a lot) was tasty and well-thought out. look forward to going back soon.

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You Need to go and Try Mado
By Cliff from West Town, April 25, 2008

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Start with the freshest ingredients; add some culinary basics and a whole lot of creativity and you’ll end up with what’s being served up at Mado. Presently BYOB which just adds to the restaurants charm. Chef makes his own salami, he wood grills his meats, and he talks to his tables. We’ve been twice since they opened last week. Best dish thus far hands down was the lamb loin but it will not surprise me if I change my mind the next time I’m in trying something completely different. Fair pricing, good portions, sharing is encouraged to insure you get to taste as many things as possible. Enjoy.

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