Mercat a La Planxa

Don't miss this one! A feast for the senses!

Other than underwhelming service in bar before being seated, a spectacular experience. Fantastic food but waiter was incredibly knowledable, read us well.

The Sunday Brunch is wonderful, with many options. My favorite is the Mercat Benedict, but don’t miss the Bacon Wrapped Dates.

Terrible service from everyone we encountered from checking our coats to our waiter.

I love bacon-wrapped dates, but theirs were special. The garlic shrimp was also special. A wonderful dinner.

We have been to Mercat many times, always consistently good. This time it was exceptionally delicious! Glad to see it remains on top of the game.

All of the courses at Mercat are interesting and unusual compared with most other restaurants. We had the larger tasting menu. All of the 9 courses were excellent, except the octopus was a bit tough.

Great service, yummy sangria, dates, tomato bread, steak, lamb and choc dessert all great. Pretty expensive, but fun night out.

Our first time eating here and one of the things that attracted us was the interesting cocktail menu. There are traditional Spanish tapas in addition to some tapas with a special twist. Everything was delicious. The Crema Catalana was outstanding. Our server was also excellent, highly professional, extremely attentive, and helped make the meal a wonderful experience.

Great place to share food and enjoy wines and family time.

Food and atmosphere was really great. My only complaint is that one person in my party has celiac, so she needs gluten free products. Our waitress stated every time food was placed, they would let us know whether it was gluten free or not. Staff definitely didn't do that with every dish, so that was a bit aggravating. Other than that, experience was good.

Not a good experience. Felt rushed to order drinks and food. The good: bacon wrapped dates, bruschetta with tomato jam and ham. Not good: meatballs, potatoes with aioli. Flat bread was ok but way overpriced.
There are too many good restaurants in Chicago. Won’t be back.

The setting was nice for dinner, but food was not. Only good item was the ham and fig salad. The meat in the paella de carnes was very dry and tasted bad. The pulpo con pastas was also not good. The pa amb tomaquet was too moist and tasteless.

Good food, but overpriced. There are better options

We could all talk and here each other while enjoying an awesome mix of meats, fish and veggies. The octopus and scallops were awesome as was the secret and the fried peppers. Loved it all. All four at the table left happy and sated. We will be back

Had been here once before for appetizers and cocktails before a show, and decided to entertain a longtime client and her husband here this week while in town. Everything from the wine to the tapas to the entree was amazing! Truly a spectacular dining experience!

The service was great and the food extremely tasty. Genuine Spanish food, the paella made me feel like i was in Barcelona. I will definitely be back.

Food was great and service at first was good. Later on though, we were forgotten.

I keep coming back whenever I visit Chicago. That's an endorsement. I didn't find it quite as good this time, but I shall certainly come back again

Excellent!

Dined before a theater performance. Restaurant was empty at 530p and service was quick. As the restaurant got more crowded, service slowed down, including a forgotten order we later canceled. Besides that, great dinner; food is very good. All dishes from dates, shrimp, potatoes, ham croquettes, bruschetta. All tasty and delicious. The olive oil cake was excellent. Sangria also good. Very good food here. Ambiance is nice. Open kitchen is nice backdrop. Great consistent food.

Good excellent ambiance

Service was slow but breakfast was good.

We shared a few tapas plates. We enjoyed the variety and being able to order more or less as we went along.

Absolutely delicious! My family and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A couple of my friends recommended this place to me, and I was extremely disappointed by the experience. We ordered a smoked salmon potato omelette ($18). It came with no sides, and the portion was quite small. The lamb burger ($18) came with a side of fries that was overly salted. The service was mediocre and one waiter was outright rude. We were seated down, but didn’t really like our seats so when the waiter came over to pour us iced water, we asked him if we can move to the table close by the window. His response? Yes, but only once. We didn’t really give him a response because we were in shock. Why would you make such a comment to your customers? It’s even unacceptable if I am at a fast food joint, let alone a proper Spanish restaurant that’s inside a hotel! I would not recommend this place!

Food is very good but the waiter was not very attentive. We didn't feel that we were warmly cared for.

Mercat La Planxa does a great job of capturing the Catalan-vibe of Barcelona. The room is beautiful with a warm ambiance and the food does not disappoint, with a mixture of traditional and re-imagined tapas. It's well worth the money!

The order of Tapas ranked from highest (10) to lowest (1) on scale was as follows:
9 = Setas al Horno - grilled mushrooms, great variety & excellent taste $15
8 = Tomaquet - bread with oil & tomatoes, very tasty, 4, 1/2 slices $7 , waiter told us there would be 6
slices
7 = Datiles Con Almendras - bacon wrapped dates, good flavor & nice crisp & cheese sauce $10
7 = Embutidos Ibericos - selection of Spanish cured meats, 3 different types sliced nice & thin $20
6 = Boquerones - Spanish white anchovies, nicely paired with the olives & citrus $10
5 = Pulpo Con Patatas - Spanish octopus, confit potatos, smoked paprika- didn't taste burnt like below dish
$18
4 = Patatas Bravas - spicy potatoes with smoked paprika aioli, aioli tasted more burnt than smoked $10
9 = Paella De Mariscos - paella with seafood, really enjoyed $68
9 = Pitcher Red Sangria - refreshing & flavorful $48
Total bill for 2 without tax or tip $206
Main reason for lower review was the waiter. We specifically asked him how many pieces of bread we would get for the $7. He told us 6 peices. Since we saw it at another table and it smelled delicious, we ordered it. When it finally came out 3/4 through the meal, it was 4 peices. We were served 3 tapas plates by another server, who dropped the plates quickly before we could ask him to identify the 3 different Spanish cured meats. We did stop him later & asked about the meats & bread. We finished the first 3 plates wishing we had the bread to sopp up the sauces & waited a while. Our waiter brought the next plate without the bread-again! We asked about the bread and he said " Oh, you wanted bread?" Then he mumbled something about the broiler. There was a longer wait & then 2 plates along with the bread was served. Then the paella was served.
The service was perfunctory at best. The waiter appeared distracted.

Fun venue, good variety of tapas selections, some we liked better than others. Spanish wine list so, if you're not a Spanish oenophile you'll need to rely on your server or his friend who knows the wines. We got to taste small samples of some different wines before we ordered ours. Overall, would go back again -scallops and shrimp were really good , octopus and wild mushrooms not so much. Plenty more to order we didn't get to. This was our second visit and we will be happy to return.

amazing experience, very good food, and service,of course i will recomended

Fun little convenient spot for pre- or post-Auditorium event. Small plates from the tapas menu were delicious and perfect for sharing. Service was a little inconsistent but overall, it was a good time.

Outstanding food and service. I got 5 tapas - everything was delicious.

We Had A Nice Time. Experience was average. We expected more from all the Reviews we had Read. I think that the Tapas scene in Chicago Is Very Competitive and Personally Feel there are Others we Enjoy More.

Mercat is one of the best tapas restaurants in Chicago. I make it a point to go every time I’m in the city.

Terrible service. Waiters go MIA for long periods of time. Need to ask repeatedly for a glass of wine. One dish never arrived
Gambas and patatas are the best dishes. Every thing else is average at best. Paella is on the salty side.
They try to pass off Shishito peppers for Padron peppers. When I pointed this out, the waiter replied that they are basically the same. Not true at all. False advertising.
Decor is nice, but the lighting is so poor that you can't tell. The lack of lighting makes everything look dingy. Too bad.

Food is tasty but menu is s but hard to understand - it’s as if they are trying too hard to make everything with so many ingredients and complex.

Also I appreciate ambient light in a restaurant but it’s dark - they could use some small table votive candles.

We were seated immediately since we arrived timely for our reservation. The person who waited on us was knowledgeable. He was able to make recommendations for new dishes since we are very familiar with tapas. Halfway through dinner we lost sight of him. Thankfully, his co-workers stepped in. Would still recommend restaurant. Food was delicious and well prepared. Rosado sangria yummy. Decor amazing.

Mercat never disappoints. We make a point to eat here each time we visit Chicago.

Food was good, we had the paella and it was tasty. Our server seemed very rushed/distracted every time she stopped by but she was attentive and did a good job. We tasted the sangria before ordering and glad we did as it didn't taste very good, opted for wine instead. I think it's kind of expensive for what you get but it is on Michigan Ave. I honestly prefer other Spanish restaurants but it's a solid choice it you are downtown.