La Veranda, our private dining space that overlooks the main dining room of Mercat. Seats 30, reception-style can hold 60 guests.
View Private Dining DetailsOur waiter Dante made our experience. He was so helpful, knowledgeable and patient. Our food was delicious- everything he recommended we loved.
The restauarant is technically part of a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel (The Blackstone), but it has a character and style all its own. There is no chance of this looking and feeling like a generic hotel dining room.
There are many possible combinations one can create, depending on size of group, hunger level, curiosity, and budget. A dozen or so creative Tapas selections are available, plus 4 or 5 paella dishes, hearty meat entrees, sizeable dinner salads, and other large-ish appetizers.
Food is excellently prepared, and modest not only in portion, but also price. Service was very quick, but not rushed, and the server was very helpful in guiding choices. The manager told us that the bacon-wrapped dates have been on the menu for the entire 10 years the restaurant has been open, and our feeling is that their place on the menu is secure for another 10.
Amazing service, we went for an anniversary and they gave us all kinds of complimentary plates, highly recommend!
Great food and service was amazing. Great view as well.
Surprisingly good food. Much better than reading the menu on line. All dishes were excellent.
We were in Chicago for a weekend and wanted to grab some small bites on a Saturday evening. We weren't in the mood for a full course so we just ordered a bunch of tapas. 8 plates for 2 people. It was spectacular food . The garlic shrimp tapas were so good we ordered a second one. We were a little disappointed with the dessert. We ordered the creme brule or a variation of it, it was good but I've definitely had better.
With a reservation, the host made me sit at the bar and wait for my friends who I later discovered had been seated without me on my reservation... Then, the food was slow and we had to ask for two dishes to be removed from our order when they never showed up. It's too bad, but the service has been sketchy each time I've been there. I am not inclined to go back.
Service was very friendly,food was very good nice wine selections
Early dinner with out-of-town friends before a 7:30 curtain. Very quiet at 5:15, but became more lively as it grew later. Diego was an attentive and warm waiter who gave good advice about wine, food, and quantities--the last was very important when ordering small plates--and sequenced our selections well. Food was uniformly good. This was a return visit for the hosts, but we left puzzled as to why it had been so long since our last visit. A very enjoyable evening.
The food was absolutely delicious and the ambience just right. Naomi was an excellent server and very knowledgeable about the menu. We’ll ask for her next time we go to this restaurant.
Best Spanish restaurant in the U.S. The Secreto Iberico pork is one of the best meat dishes I have ever had.
Overall, the best things were the sangria and that staff. The food and is mediocre and often much greasier than we expected. The exceptions were the olives and the scallop dish - both delicious.
Best authentic Spanish tapas in Chicago. Almost like being in Barcelona! Try the bacon wrapped dates for sure!
Great food, great service. Decor is a bit tired, but not distracting. The bar was dead when we arrived at 7pm on a Saturday, which was a bit unusual. It did pick up as the evening progressed. This place has amazing food, if you like Spanish Tapas. We will be back!!
I visited Chicago April 2-6,2018. Decided to have dinner at Mercat a La Planxa with a friend on the last night of my trip. We had sangrias, mushrooms, albóndigas and crema catalana. I loved everything that night, the delicious food, the drinks, the service, the place... Would love to come back if I ever get the chance!
We have been at Mercat a half dozen times and the food is usually excellent. This time the Polpo (octopus) was a bit rubbery and that was very disappointing. Everything else was very good.
Love this place!
We had the servers choice and were not disappointed! The food was varied, creative bountiful and really tasty. The service was beyond great- courteous, friendly, helpful and some generous additions on the house. We had such a great meal and a great time. I would recommend!
In our attempts to avoid a noise and an over the top bill, we landed on Mercat to celebrate Easter. Wow! This place truly delivered not only on fulfilling our goals but also delighted us by the quality of the food. Our party included carnivores, vegetarians and vegans.....all of us where happily fulfilled by the brunch menu. If you want to check out an unexpected pleasure for brunch then I highly recommend Mercat a La Planxa.
Some food very good, some salty, greasy.
We had a fantastic brunch. Service was phenomenal. Our group did not all come at once and our hostess was so patient. She made excellent recommendations and got the food to our table with a nice pace. It wasn't very busy when we were dinning, so we ended up staying for a while. The sangria kept us there even longer.
Very nice experience.
All of the tapas plates had amazing flavor! We even had sorbet at the end that was delightful. The only thing I would suggest is for them to make their tapas servings just a bit bigger especially, since each were a bit pricey.
One of my favorite restaurants in Chicago. Love the Chef's Tasting menu with wine pairings.
I was surprised that the entrance from Michigan Ave was closed and was redirected through the hotel.
The area for happy hour was small and intimate as was the menu. The gin & tonic drink was a lovely way to start the evening. A few drinks and tapas and everyone had arrived.
We followed up tapas with paella and the Secreto ham. The Secreto was beyond our imagining good and a reason for future visits.
We did not have room for dessert, another reason to schedule a return visit.
As usual, Mercat delivers with great food
We had the tasting menu and left the choices in the hands of the chef. Everything was fantastic!
Interesting tapas, lively atmosphere. Nice wauters
We have dined here 10+ times. It is nice to see a specialty restaurant survive in the South Loop. Unfortunately, the service was very slow and they brought several courses that were not ours. This was on a Friday night before several locals shows were playing in the area (ie, they should be better staffed for this). The food was quite good as was there interesting wine selection. I will give them another chance to fix their service. I hope they do because I do enjoy their food and vibe.
Had the family out for dinner before a Performance. Arrived at 545pm for a 6pm table and seated promptly after a drink at the bar. Great Sangria, but $12 a glass. Informed the server of our schedule and how far we had to walk for the 8pm event. Timing was great but then a 35 Minute wait for the $68 paella was really poor. Had ordered it at 6pm so server could figure it out but got it at 7:40 pm and had to move fast. Also, it was remarkably small for the price and too salty. Spoke with the manager as we rushed out but he didn’t care. Too bad because this place has potential.
Excellent cuisine!
Exceptional, I love the new menu!
Very nice, they gave complimentary dessert for my husband’s birthday!
The only thing that could have been better is the table we got. Would have preferred a better table location.
Beautiful space with chandeliers and view of Grant Park. Delicious food. Accommodating to my food allergies. Friendly helpful service.
I finally got a chance to try this place after hearing good things. We went for lunch on a Saturday before a matinee performance. Service was friendly and prompt. Food was very good, but not unique or exceptional (at least what I had). Sangria was great! Would definitely return for a friends get together.
Server was terrible. yelled at us for our order. Food took forever to come. We actually left before we received some of our entrees . Terrible experience. Ruined our night.
We were attending a show at the nearby DePaul theatre, so that's why we chose it. The service was terrific, our waitress was very attentive and very funny, she was awesome! The food on the whole was very good. We ordered a bunch of tapas, drinks, and a paella to share. The rose sangria was delicious! The tapas were perhaps a little slim on the serving size (4 bacon wrapped dates for $10? -- that's like $1 in food costs...) but all very good. However, the vegetarian paella was unedible. It was so salty we could barely eat it. We didn't return it or say anything because we were getting late for our theatre tickets, but I definitely wouldn't orderit again. I brought about 2/3 of it home and added about 4 cups of brown rice, and then it was ok. If we'd had the time I would have returned it. I was disappointed that a spanish restaurant didn't deliver on the one thing they should excel at. This is a gorgeous room, the service was great, and I would definitely come back and stick to the tapas, sangria and maybe a dessert!
We had a great time at Mercat. Only our 2nd time, we enjoyed a lot of tapas dishes and loved all of them. The croquets were our favorite and they went well with an exceptional garnacha we drank all night!
Went there on a weeknight with my wife, and we absolutely loved it!
Great drink menu, and a great selection of very creative dishes.
Highly recommend, and we will definitely go back again soon!
Excellent meal overall. It’s an attractive dining room with subdued lighting. Service was excellent and the food was delicious. The paella easily fed three especially after several tapas. It’s pricey, but worth the splurge.