Pulling up to this place, you might think to yourself "ummmm....so why did we decide to try the place in the rundown strip mall??". Â But don't worry, you made a great choice to come to this restaurant! Â Like most Mexican places, they immediately bring out the chips and salsa. Â I like my salsa really spicy, so I thought it could use more spice, but not everyone does, so I understand. Â We also ordered some guacamole to eat with the chips, which was tasty. Â My boyfriend ordered the Angel combo which has a stuffed poblano pepper and half a portion of carne asada. Â I tried a bite of his stuffed pepper and I definitely got the spice I was looking for! Â It was really good. Â I ordered the Burrito Suizo with chorizo inside. Â I devoured 3/4 of my plate before I stopped and realized I just at a large man's portion of rice, beans and burrito. Â But, despite my disgust in myself, I still had room for a few bites of Flantastico for dessert. Â Definitely a must have to end my meal! Â The best part about this place is it's BYOB. Â We brought 2 bottles of wine with us and drank every last drop. Â Great service and flavorful dishes! Â Definitely give this place a try!
Review Source:Holy Guacamole!
I seem to have a tradition of going to Mexican restaurants for my birthday. So this last year, thanks to Yelp, I chose La Ciudad for it's proximity, prices, and BYOB-ness.
An excellent choice to start off a new year right!
The food was delicious. I recall the standout being the Avocado and Mango salad that a friend had, but every. single. dish. was tasty.
Service was fantastic, even before a friend notified them that it was my birthday. They were funny, attentive, and managed not to seem frazzled, even though it was a busy Friday night.
Oh boy is this place small though. We had a group of 5 and that seemed to be about as large of a group they could fit in (on a busy night like a Friday at any rate). But the ambiance was perfect, somehow intimate even though you could easily tune into the conversations at other tables, somehow happening even though I'm not really sure what that word means, and fun fun fun! Â
Plainly put, I loved La Sierra (the birthday Tres Leches cake didn't hurt) and I will absolutely return.
The first two times I went to La Ciudad, I was extremely satisfied and surprised by this tucked away spot. They supply you with a margarita mix for $10 if you bring your own tequila! This was a huge plus for me because I love a good margarita. But, the last time I went, I felt like I was drinking straight lime juice! It was so weird because we had brought in a HUGE bottle of tequila. Well, when they brought my bottle back, they had barely used ANY - and we ordered TWO pitchers. Needless to say, I did not get my $20 worth of margaritas that night and the service was pretty bad. We were constantly waiting.
I'm giving La Ciudad 4 stars because the food is, in fact, delicious and on most nights - the service is great. I definitely recommend anyone looking for authentic Mexican food to this place! The Chile Relleno and flautas are my favorite!
What a surprise. I'd say that if it wasn't the army of positive yelp reviews that led me here. However, despite the fact it was in a strip mall, I had high expectations for La Ciudad because of the reviews.
It's really cool and creative Mexican. I got Mexican Paella, which was great. I think this is a great place to go to if you're looking for something besides the more generic Mexican-American fare.
Came by for Sunday brunch and found the place near-empty around noon-thirty.
I had the fresh-tasting and veggie-filled Omletta Latina. It came with an okay side of diced potatoes with ketchup. Girlfriend had tasty chorizo tacos and refried beans though she says her rice tasted like it came from a box.
Good service that remembered to put my sour cream on the side and brought us additional lime slices when we asked for them.
Looks better inside than outside.
Cute and cozy interior. Â Food was decent. Â I thought the rice and black beans sides were above average. Â I also liked the chips although the salsa was not good. Â And I don't like being charged for chips and salsa. Â It was a little weird that four of us ordered carne asada, but none of us were asked how we wanted it prepared, and then they were all different levels of done-ness. Â I would probably go back because there looked to be some other interesting things on the menu.
Review Source:Really, really amazing food, and BYOB to boot!
Queso fundido was top-notch, and not greasy... which is rare. Â Great quality cheese and chorizo. Â The sopes are also delectable. Â The star if the night was the pork loin in tomatillo sauce, with mashed potatoes. Â Tender, tasty pork and some of the best mashed taters I have ever tasted!!! Â
So, why not a 5? Â The split plate charge ($4). Â Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate it for people who come in and split an entree between 2 people and get nothing else. Â $4 is still a bit high- but I get it. Â But we had 2 appetizers (@ $9 EACH!!) plus a pitcher of Margaritas, and split an entree. Â You made your $$$ off of us, don't go the cheapskate route and charge us a split plate fee.... and if you DO, how about actually SPLITTING the frikkin' plate?!! Â It still came out on ONE plate, so what was the stupid fee for??!!!!
So it was a sour ending to an otherwise fantastic meal. Â We will go back, but make sure we "play the game" and order one of our apps as a main course to avoid the $4 "idiot fee".
Giving this place 3 stars is hard because the food was really terrific. Possibly the best Mexican sit-down restaurant I've been to in Chicago. The issue is that both me and my dates orders were incorrect. She was somehow given a vegetarian meal while I had one meat substituted for another. We didn't complain because it was so delicious. Everything was cooked and flavored perfectly.
I would have given them at least 4 stars if the orders were right. The staff also seemed overwhelmed. The service wasn't rude or dismissive, just over-taxed and therefore sub-par.
I will give them another try though.
I'm a foodie (I hate that term), and cooking is a serious hobby. Â Suffice it to say, I'm pretty critical of restaurants.
My partner and I met a friend for dinner at La Ciudad last night. Â I was craving a good mole and our friend suggested this place. Â It was outstanding. Â I'm hard-pressed to think of a time I enjoyed Mexican food more. Â Everything from the salsas to the fried ice cream dessert was above expectation - the decaf coffee was even good. Â Their mole was quite simply the best I've ever had. Â I'm very pleased to have a new restaurant to add to my favorites - especially one so close to me.
It's not the cheapest dinner, but it is moderately priced for what you get. Â I'm very happy to give this restaurant my highest recommendation.
It was quite a disappointment for me.
True, it was a Saturday and the staff seemed overwhelmed. I went with two friends, and we were offered a tiny table by the kitchen. Nobody gave us menus until we asked. We shared a decent combo appetizer. Then we were ignored, and waited over an hour for the main courses. The food arrived only after I said we had to leave in 10 minutes. Overall, we were in the restaurant 1.5 hours, and we had to wolf down the main dishes in 5 minutes. There were two or three empty large tables, apparently reserved, so the restaurant was not even full. I don't know; maybe if you come with a big group, they pay more attention to you.
The food was extremely bland. We had high hopes after the first bite, which was hot, but it turned out that that was it, they must have sprinkled some hot sauce in one spot, the rest seemed devoid of any spices.
The place itself is nice and more upscale than most Mexican restaurants, but I don't think I'll be back.
I love this place. It's BYOB. When I started drafting this review, they didn't have a corkage fee... now they do. :( This doesn't detract them that many points, but it' still a bummer. Everytime I keep coming back to this place it gets more and more expensive, and the portions get smaller (though they still are huge, but comparatively to what I've had before... it doesn't even hold a candle!)
Everyone here treats you like family, mostly because they ARE family. It's very authentic, and surprisingly classy for a Mexican place. I wasn't aware there could be Mexican fine-dining, but this would be it-- at pretty good prices. My favorite thing on the menu to eat is the lamb chops with mole, because it smells DELICIOUS. The presentation of the lamb with mole is kind of odd, but ends up smelling great.
They also have delicious tres leches, but it's getting smaller :(
Its true that the run down strip mall this restaurant is in should not be a judge for what you'll find inside the restaurant: A cozy atmosphere and friendly staff.
Before I go off on a rant, as reviews often do, the bottom line for me: its a friendly BYOB place that i feel bad giving an eeeh review to, but....the food was not great, ok, but not great. Would only return with a big group that loves BYOB.
I mostly tried the seafood dishes, so perhaps veer away from those and it might live up to the raves. Pricewise was just a touch high for the quality.
This place is so nice I had to review it twice. Â My wife and I come here all of the time. Â My favorite Mexican place in Chicago. Â Excellent brunch and dinner. Â This place also makes my favorite tres leches cake. Â Also very good salsa. Â For dinner I recommend the Chile Rellenos and Angel Combo. Â Plus they have horchata which is sadly hard to find in the city.
Review Source:BYOB has been the make or break deal lately for my group of 30+. Well with such a large party it's hard to find places that will accommodate us let alone save us some $ on liquor. Luckily, La Ciudad was able too. Very cute interior decor and friendly workers.
With such a big party we were forewarn that we would have a limited menu, which is great, so it won't take long for our food to come out. However, most of the options had mole sauce in it and not one of the people in our group really enjoys it. I tried it once and didn't like it had a taste of it here and still can't enjoy it.
Also our plates were taken quickly which is great to clear up space, but also it became a little pushy. They asked people for their plates when some of them weren't even done.
I had the queso fondido con chorizo and really enjoyed the fullness and flavor of it. The complimentary chips and salsa was decent, but thumbs down for extra charge after the first batch of chips. The tortilla soup was very bland, it's a vegetable soup with tortilla strips dumped on top. Others had the steak and enjoyed it, but avoided the mole.
Maybe if I come back I can try other things on the menu besides the overwhelming options of mole.
Do not be fooled by the strip mall.
La Ciudad is a true gem, and I have no doubt I will be back, bottle of red in tow.
Came for a dear friend's birthday dinner. We were promptly seated and wine and beers were promptly opened and put to chill.
The salsas were yum.
The guac was great.
Chicken Quesadillas were hearty.
Avocado and Mango salad was DEVINE.
The servers were entertaining and so much fun!
Tres Leche Cake for dessert was great, as was the serenade of Happy Birthday.
BYOB.
And bring your appetite.
Wonderful date night spot.
What a fun place for Mexican food. Â A friend suggested this place for a group of 6 of us, so we decided to check it out. Â The staff here is so friendly, I arrived early with another friend, so while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive and for a table, the staff got us a couple chairs and brought us glasses for our wine that we brought (this is a byob). Â The food here was very good and flavorful. Â I ordered the tostada dinner with rice and beans, very good. Â I also enjoyed the chips and salsa which they served three kinds of salsa, all very good. Â At the end of our meal, our server even brought out a huge slice of cake for our table to share. Excellent food and excellent service.....check this place out!
Review Source:I have been to this place 2 times, once they were super busy, another there were barely any people there. Both times...the food was absolutely delicious!
I love that it is BYOB and the waiters are attentive. The ceviche is delicious, the enchiladas are AWESOME. I would encourage anyone who loves Mexican food, to try it, it's not like any burrito king or anything like that, definitely better quality!!
Yeah, the neighborhood isn't the best, and if you are bothered or concerned by that, then go when it's not prime time so that you can park right in the small lot that they share w other businesses.
Excellent authentic Mexican food here. I would call this place fine Mexican restaurant. Â I was impressed on my first time here. Salsa.... ground up using blender.... resulting in much more flavorful dips. chips are great, not so hard like most places.
Horchata, best I have tasted! Ceviche (old school made with tilapia) best I have tried. Chille Rellenos - slightly better than most restaurant but not the best. Service is great, comparable to high end restaurants.
Location? Hmm.... This restaurant does not belong here, in a neighbor surrounded by CHA subsidized high rises... you will see many shady individuals hanging around the block when coming to this restaurant. Â If you don't mind going to this type of hood. The food here is exceptional, a bit expensive but the high quality more than makes up for it.
This place really is a diamond in the rough of Uptown. From the outside, it doesn't look like much but the inside is very trendy/modern.
I went during lunch so the service was top notch considering it was me and another couple eating in.
I ordered the chicken taco meal with rice and beans. I loved that all the ingredients were really fresh. I really enjoyed the rice, considering it's hard to find a place that makes good Mexican rice. The beans looked well prepared... they didn't look like they came from a can like most Mexican restaurants. The chips and salsa were soo good too. The chips tasted like they were freshly made, nice and warm. I loved the red salsa! I devoured all the chips and salsa!
Ohhhh, and the best part...the high class Horchata in a wine glass. Not only did it look good, but it tasted fantastic! So freshly made. It's also hard to find a place that makes good Horchata that's not all watered down.
Glad I finally found a good Mexican place besides Fiesta on the north side. Prices are reasonable too. And, they have a parking lot!!
I can't wait to go back for the desserts...the pictures on here look yummy!
The location is not the greatest, BUT worth checking this place out!
Service: Â Friendly, very attentive and attractive.
Food: Â Delicious. Â Food cam out and I was jealous of everyone's dishes, not that mine was bad. Â I will definitely be returning to get the bacon wrapped shrimp dish.
Drinks: Â Who doesn't love a BYOB?! Â We brought beer and they put it some in an ice bucket and the rest was stored in a fridge and brought out without prompt. Â The best part, I think, was some of our party brought just tequila and the staff took it and made house margaritas!
Ambiance: Â The inside is cute. Â Nothing super fancy, so it's not stuffy, but far from your hole-in-the wall drunken Mexican joint. Â They also affixed a really adorable patio in the front.
Worth a try.
This place makes my heart melt.
The servers are super attentive and friendly, the food is delicious, atmosphere is nice and it's BYOB. I've eaten here with large groups, on dates and for breakfast and each time has been great.
It's just around the corner from my place and while most people think it's in a  "sketchy" area it's got a good vibe. I'll eat here over that dog food at Ceasars or El Mariachi in happy-Lincoln Park-Lakeview-land any day!
La Ciudad is the best Mexican restaurant period! Â
The Staff
Hugo, the owner, is the nicest most genuine individual I have ever met. Â He makes you want to come to La Ciudad just to come see him. Â The other wait staff are very prompt and friendly. Â
The Food
La Ciudad's food is amazing. Â Large portions at a great price. Â I have tried almost everything (we are regulars and go a few times a month) and the food is amazing. Â Is it better than Frontera? Â No, is Frontera's food better than La Ciudad, maybe a tiny bit, but not for the price. Â
The only Con
The area leaves much to be desired with a very dangerous feel. Â
With that being said, we risk our lives day after day just for the experience/food at La Ciudad.
Trying to decide if the fact that my favorite part of the meal as the complementary chips and salsa is a bad thing or a good thing? Either way the homemade salsa was amazing!
The service was good and they even brought out limes for our 6pack of Corona's!
We had a sampler appetizer that was just okay but the Fajitas we split were really great and we both took enough home for lunch the next day!
I will definitely be back for fajitas on the patio!
Made the trek up here after reading all of the amazing Yelp reviews on this Mexican BYOB hot spot.
They have a free parking lot which is nice. Â This area is a bit shady though so be mindful of that. Â Its in a little strip mall which adds to the flair of this place.
They have a great little patio that has a fence around it so you are not bothered by the riff raff. Â
The staff is SUPER nice. Â Everyone was smiling and happy. Â Our server was really nice as well. Â Not the most attentive, but this place had a very laid back atmosphere.
We had the guacamole, some of the special empanadas, the diablos shrimp and the La Ciudad salad. Â It was all pretty tasteful, but nothing that I absolutely loved. Â Its totally cheap though so that is nice. Â Not to mention, its BYOB so thats good.
I thought the food was good, not great. Â The staff was super nice. Â The location was not really my scene, but fine for something a little different.
Overall, if I was in the area, I would probably stop in, but I wouldnt go out of my way to come here again.
Was invited by a couple friends to meet here for dinner. We pulled up and I was kinda put off as it was like in a tiny strip mall, but we walked in and it's such a cute place. Small, but very cute and most importantly BYOB!!!
We brought our own bottle of Patron and were only charged 10 bucks for them to make up margarita pitchers.
It's nowhere near the best Mexican food, but the empanadas were pretty good and the service was extremely friendly.
I would come back if I happened to be in the area meeting friends.
I would love to give this place 5 stars but my food took a while. However, when it came it was simply DELICIOUS. I'm not sure if the mole is homemade but it was the best I've ever had and I've been to a handful of decent mexican restaurants in the city. Ceviche was delicious and we received a free tres leches for the wait.
Kind of wondering what's up with the 220lb limit on the chairs, (sorry... if you're 215lbs and eat a burrito you're going to have to move to a bench). However, the atmosphere is GREAT FOR A DATE and the price is nice. I will be coming back!
I went here last week around 3pm with 2 friends.
Ceviche was ok. I prefer mine a little more tart (more lime) and more spicy. The empanandas were good. We got chicken, spinach, and shrimp. Then we ordered the combo meal. It was ok. I liked the ambience and you can't go wrong with $10 margarita pitchers! We had mango and it was good. Plus they gave us a slice of tres leches cake which was also very good :)
What a nice surprise. Â Everything from our waiter Hugo, to the delicious dessert was perfect. Â The food was fresh and great value, the large portion of fresh ceviche was approx $9, and the skirt steak was just done perfectly and was very flavorful.
They act like you are an important guest (we are!) and they are able to anticipate some needs:  a dropped fork was replaced almost before it hit the floor.  An empty  horchata  drink was refreshed immediately.  We asked of a glass of... Water was pouring while I asked. Â
If this is any indication of the zeal they have for their patrons, I will be moving in immediately. Â
See you soon, and keep the grill on for me
Came in here on a Friday night to a very unassuming location. Â When we arrived around 7pm, the restaurant was nearly empty and in less than 30 minutes, all but 2 tables were filled in this restaurant. Â (Chicago's finest were customers this evening, so you KNOW this is a good place, they don't mess around)
The food and service were excellent. Â The manager working this evening was extremely friendly and asked several times if we needed anything extra. Â The staff made sure our chips and salsa and water was always topped off. Â The food was excellent as well - a real bang for your buck.
I loved their cerviche! There was something different about it than other cerviches that I've had, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was. It must have been the spices they used.
I've been craving for some pozole, so I ordered their special-- chicken pozole. It was a large bowl of soup. Unfortunately, it wasn't that impressive, and so this colored my review. I really should have listened to my instinct and saved my tongue for something much more satisfactory. I thought the soup was a little bland, even after I put in all the garnishes. It was very disappointing.
What saved the restaurant from getting only 3 stars was their customer service. Our server was very nice. He spoke Spanish to my friend and I knowing that I was trying to learn, and he'd translate whenever I didn't understand. Then, at the end of the night, he gave us a complimentary dessert from his hometown. It was some sort of flan on top of chocolate cake. It was very good, even though my dining partner and I were both very full at this point.
My friend took home some chicken mole and subsequently told me that her Mexican boyfriend loved it, so I'm willing to give La Ciudad another try. Perhaps that's what I'll order next.
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