Carnivale Restaurant Review

The food was amazing, as expected. I was a bit annoyed that we had to wait at the bar for a while before being seated even though we had a reservation.

This place is awesome! Great Latin food. They have delicious Mojitos. Live music on certain days. A good place to take a date. Prices are moderate but nothing too crazy. Parking is tight but they do have paid valet. Try the Ropa Vieja!

Do not go for a group. Despite not being busy, it took them a very long time to get checks. Waiter was inexperienced and very short on patience. When told we had very little time left on our meters, his response was "put more time on them". At the end he gets 20 percent gratuity so service is not that important.

Loved the atmosphere! Extremely well decorated all thru the restaurant. All staff are focused and attentive to your needs.

I went in for a tour and bought a gift card. Will be dining in June. Reviews coming soon. However place looks like tons of fun. Very great customer service

Despite the tasty food and nice service, this was a terrible experience. We had made a large reservation which people bailed on. However, because the reservation was so high we were still forced to order the tapas dinner.

This was $45 a person not counting drinks. Even though our party size was smaller we were still obligated to eat the premade tapas dinner because it was "already prepared". What?

The bill for 2 with one drink each came out to $150. This is acceptable? For anyone reading this, you're cool with paying that for tapas!? Not full dinners. Tapas.

This was my first time here and I never plan on coming back. From being forced to eat off a menu NO ONE wanted to order from to being over charged for a miniscule amount of food, this was pathetic. I say forced because the guy who set the reservation up would have been charged a fee to his card on file had we decided to just leave.

Oh, and lastly, we had two children with us. They too were charged the full $45 rate. Honestly would not recommend for any reason. Nothing in the above review is excusable.

In short: this was bullshit. The amount of food did not equal 45 a person for ten people. Children were charged an adult rate. Total bill was around $700. This was absolutely terrible.

Had an exception been made or our food not "already prepared", I'm sure the experience would have been something else.

This restaurant is the perfect restaurant to have a peaceful relaxing meal. They have the best yucci.

CARNIVALE-- Ambience is gr8, food is good, prices aren't bad.... service at this visit was not good... waiter not attentive!

Amazing place and people !! Beautiful decorated nice atmosfare.

Good food especially coconut shrip!

The food was bad for a work function. Nice thought but they didn't treat us right

My waiter was so nice tonight. He was attentive but not too pushy. Food arrived in a timely manner. Food was not worth the price at all. I still tipped our waiter because even though we hated the food he still tried to put a smile on our faces by providing dessert on him aaand that was gross too thank you Louis!

I came here on Valentine's Day with my husband. Although we had reservations we had to wait about 25 minutes. The service was great and our waiter was very informative on the menu since it was our first time there. The Arracherra is very delish, I highly recommend it! I would return here again to try more from their menu.

It has a lot of color, but its amazing. My wife and I went there for a date and loved teh food and the atmosphere. We will definitely go back.

Threw my wife's 50th birthday party there. It was spectacular! Great! Wonderful! Reserved a party room. The food was... WOW! Great! Service was very good. Atmosphere was lively and energetic. I'd highly recommend this place. 5 stars not enough.

Omar was an excellent waiter and the food was fantastic

Very awesome place..
Great food and drinks.
Nice vibes.

Study the menu before you go, it helps when ordering. Well it helped me.

Attended a private party and thoroughly enjoyed the unique design and characteristics of the space. Food was good and service was excellent. Space was small for the inclusion of DJ and dancing.

Beautiful decor delicious food Great for a date night

I love this place! The salmon avocado toast is divine! Service was great!

The ropa vieja is the best appetizer you'll ever have. They recently changed to use friend plantains and it's amazing. Have been coming year for years and is always good for business lunch or dinner in the main dining area.

We had a great time at Carnivale! It's a great experiance with great food! The guacamole was awesome!

Mother's Day buffet is great for a family with small children

This is a really fun, bright, playful restaurant that serves great Latin-fusion cocktails. Great margaritas, and I suggest sharing the ropa vieja as an appetizer. The Senator's Chicken was delicious, but if you have a small appetite like me, it will be way too much for one meal and doesn't really reheat well the next day. It's completely worth it if you go in there with an appetite though!

Attended a corporate event so can't speak to the pricing, but what fabulous food and atmosphere. When we left the upstairs party, I really wished I had been invited downstairs where it looked very lively. I would be a regular if I lived in Chicago.

We had an exceptional server, felt like we were celebrities. Love, love that place.

I went to a magic show and saw he magician do a crazy trick to a dude in the crowd. After the show I thought I'd ask go talk to the guy. Turns out this guy was a huge gem and owned this restaurant. All around it was a great experience, unreal food, atmosphere, etc. This guy is now my idol having evidently lived a truly beauty life.

Don't miss this one... What a nice place. Fast service, friendly and priced Right.

Haven't been back in over a year now but I miss it! Mind Blown by my steak and the bottle of wine selected for us for my wife's birthday. Hooray for Carnivale! Gotta come back soon, some time over the holidays.

Great atmosphere wonderful food an elegant dining space a must go to space bone appetit

My brother and I visited this place this weekend for their brunch.

Omgosh!! The place was beautiful and that is the reason for the one star.

The food selections weren't conducive for vegetarians nor was the food good. The food was lukewarm, and even the gravy had meat in it and it was horrible tasting. The only foods that were tasty was the smoked salmon and the little narrow cups of Greek yogurt fruit and with the mango sauce.

This place was crawling with unsupervised kids who were playing with this Donut Rack.
They were touching all of the donuts at the bottom.

Germs!!

Overall, my brother and I weren't pleased with the outcome of this place and will not be returning.

Food was good, a little pricey, but creative and not overly spiced. Very cool atmosphere.

I really like the atmosphere the music and the food I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to go this restaurant

Carnivale is definitely a Chicago staple the ambiance is superb, the menu well also not disappoint you.

Amazing vibrant decor, delicious latino-infused food, and very cool presentation! Did you know a whole new menu got rolled out? Guess what tried it yesterday, it s very delicious! On a side note highly recommend Angel the waiter he is so comical, knowledgeable, caring, understanding and one of the Best servers I ve had at a Chicago dining experience yet! Definitely recommend the charred octopus appetizer, the seafood tower with butter, and an appetizer of buttered corn. Be sure to try the cool cocktails from cotton-candy to so many unique selections. The tres-leches dessert was absolutely superb. If you like espresso, try the espresso martini as a desert drink totally delicious! Carnivale is a great place for date-night, birthdays, first-time in Chicago, and really any time.

First time here & I will definitely be back! Awesome service, food, drinks & desserts!

The dessert is better than the food (especially for the price). The desserts made it worth it!

Tasty drinks & awesome appetizers. The seafood with rice is delicious.

Great for groups. Love the beer selection. Somehow they make a chimmichuri sauce that I'd want to integrate into a milkshake. That stuff is delicious. Can be loud.

Great food, atmosphere. A little disappointed the brunch menu for restaurant week was just the nnormal menu. Waiter was nice but waited long time for him to check on us and give it's the check.

Great food, great atmosphere! Would recommend for any occasion!

The food was great one dish was wrong but it was still enjoyable, the free cake and cotton candy wasn't a bad touch

Festive, Flavorful and fun! Lively colors and atmosphere make Carnivale a great spot for upscale latin dishes. Large assortment of ceviches, and cocktails is a great way to get the evening started. Love the decor. Come for dinner, stay for dancing!

Wow. Delicious food, fun and festive atmosphere, definitely a unique place that makes for a thrilling dinner experience.

Great wedding venue. Was a guest and the food was excellent and drinks tasty. Servers were friendly and a fun venue.

Expensive but cool restaurant. Definitely a fun atmosphere.

Cool colors and great food. Awesome environment. And great desert presentation with the cigar desert

I just had Carnivale for appetizers adn liquid courage before a meeting last night. I still think the restaurant is BEAUTIFUL. however I hated the ceviche tasting platter. Like, I HATED it. I felt like if I wanted raw fish, I'd go for sushi.
But I really enjoyed the beef & plantains appetizer. That was yummy and very obviously totally fattening.
The caiparinhas were two thumbs up though. After the second caiparinha, I was slurring. .... a good slur. Nevertheless a slur. :-)

The food and experience was fantastic. I brought my wife here for a birthday lunch. She's from Panama and i thought she would enjoy some of the latin inspired dishes. Like the oxtail empanadas and the ropa vieja! The other in your face feature was the interior design. Something i think everyone should experience. Even going to the restroom felt like i was trapped in a mysterious world and fell into a rabbit hole.

The corn on the cob was amazing! The seasoning and sauces were great! The ambiance was sexy, nice afterwork spot. The mushroom flatbread is to die for! The valet is only $5 and the manager even stopped by our table to see if we were enjoying ourselves, definitely try this place.

My wife and I had a great birthday dinner experience at Carnivale. My wife emailed and called numerous restaurants about my food allergy restrictions and Carnivale was the only one to get back to her and ensure they could accommodate us. When we arrived they had my restrictions already written down and had suggestions ready to go on what I could eat. Thank you to Carnivale and staff for making my bday dinner great !

Freedy was our server, ask for him if you can! He made our night, thanks Freddy!

Tasty food! Loved it this place can t wait to go back!

Really nice place. The dishes are great! I had really good time there!

The food was great and the host and waiter was very helpful and polite when ordering our food. I highly recommend this restaurant !!

Amazing food . Worth the price. Atmosphere is kind of loud because of all of the music.

The food is amazing, great Latin American fusion cuisine. The place itself looks amazing. Not cheap but definitely worth it.

Great experience and great service. Great way to spend my 1st fathers day

The atmosphere is fun, energetic, and creative as well as festive. The wait staff was super informative and attentive. The food was fresh, delicious, and reasonably priced. I highly recommend this food experience