Cafe Marbella Tapas

Introduced our kids to Tapas at Cafe Marbella and had a terrific experience :)

If you like tapas, this is a restaurant you MUST visit. In addition to a large menu, there are specials. I love to start with the avocado salad special; it's amazing! And--while you're sampling wonderful appetizers and sea food--keep in mind that the goat cheese cake is to die for. Save room for a slice!

What's special about this place is that Chef Virgillio is always looking for ways to improve his creations. As a result, diners are always treated to something new--and interesting.

Over the years I've brought many friends to this restaurant. All have returned--with or without me!

Great tapas at affordable prices and a comfortable family atmosphere.

Everything was good. Not the best tapas option in the city but we all left happy

I love this restaurant because the food is different every time I visit. True, I always order the avocado salad special (thankfully, all my friends love avocado), but the courses that follow are always different. For example, while I'm not a fan of ordering soup in a tapas restaurant, Virgilio's clam bisque is to die for. And--I always choose several items from the specials. This week the fish in sauce was amazing. Finally, save room for the goat cheese cake. This week it's blueberry!

The restaurant is consistently excellent. A wide variety of high quality food. Our friends were very impressed with the selections. We'll be back!

Always great specials. The tapas on the menu are excellent as well.
It was a seafood night. We had shrimp in garlic, brandies mayonnaise shrimp, grilled squid and a red snapper with clams. Super fresh and delicious. The Spanish omelette and patatas bravos excellent.
We had a chocolate espresso sponge cake for dessert. Spot on!
The only negative is the meh interior but who needs sleek when the food is so good.

Cafe Marbella is probably my favorite restaurant. I love to begin with the avocado salad special and end with the goat cheese cake. In between, you can have countless hot or cold appetizers--in quantities to share--as well as a main course from Chef Virgilio's specials. We tried the scallops; wonderful!

If you're a fan of tapas, you need to visit this place!

Wonderful dinner of delicious tapas! Staff was flexible in accommodating one extra person in our party reservation. Hot and cold tapas, plus tapas specials, as well as fresh desserts and various coffees were all delicious! We had a wonderful group dinner!

If you like tapas, this will become your favorite restaurant. We ordered some old favorites--the avocado salad special, the salmon with blueberry sauce, and the wonderful goat cheese cake--but we also tried new things--the shrimp salad and pork tenderloin. We even tried a new fish as well as a mango tart. Everything was delicious. Virgilio is an amazingly creative chef! I strongly recommend this restaurant.

Great food, friendly staff and fun atmosphere. So many more menu choices I would love to try. The sangria was delightful. I'll be back!

We love this restaurant. Excellent tapas and a nice, reasonable wine list. Service is always good. We have always had a great meal here.

We have been going here for 7 years, and never been disappointed. Charming and competent staff and owners. Specials are a very good choice!

Food was delicious!

Wonderful service and excellent food! Went here for a birthday celebration and had such a terrific time.

This place is a hidden gem. Food is consistently outstanding. Have taken many foodie friends here and everyone loves it! Can BYOB on Tuesdays with no corkage!

Last night with family before leaving the city

Great Food. Will definitely be returning

Cafe Marbella is possibly my favorite restaurant in Chicago. I'm sure I've reviewed them before. We were there a few nights ago and had yet again a fantastic meal. Only thing I'll say for now is that the nightly specials continue to change and continue to amaze. Go there!

I love this place the food and service are all excelletn

I have been to this restaurant with friends on several occasions. The food wasn’t quite as good as before, but the place was really jumping!!
The owners of the place are so charming and attentive, it would be very hard not to keep coming back!!

Great place to eat. Usually not very crowded.

Great food. Our favorites were the artichoke salad, grilled squid, and potatoes bravas. Relaxing environment conducive to conversation. We will be back.

We love coming to your restaurant. The food is consistently good and fresh and the service is very on top of its game. The owner is very welcoming and greets us when we come in. The menu is amazing and the specials are different and creative. The only comment I would have is that sometimes it feels strange sitting in the main area with the lights off in the other room that is visible. We are happy that we found you. When we found Marbellas, we found our favorite tapas place!

Cafe Marbella is one of my favorite restaurants. This time I was having dinner with 3 of my high school friends. Everyone loved the food. We started with the avocado special salad and the stuffed avocado that's on the regular menu. Next, we chose 4 entrees from the specials: cod, salmon, chicken, and scallops. Everything was delicious. For dessert we split 2 slices of goat cheese cake. We also enjoyed Spanish coffee.

If you like tapas, you really need to check out this restaurant. As I told Maria, who owns this place along with her genius husband Chef Virgilio, he NEVER rests on his laurels. Instead, he tries new ideas. Who would have thought that blueberry sauce would work with salmon and that introducing carrot to a goat cheese cake recipe was a great idea?

Check out this restaurant if you like interesting food!

Food was excellent and there were many choices to please the palettes of a very diverse group of eaters. Please looks a little run down. It doesn't detract from the food or service, but it is hard to sit on a bench for a long time.

I've been to Cafe Marbella several times and it has always been great! We brought a group of 7 this time and I had made reservations ahead of time. They seated us right away, kept the food and sangria coming and best of all, did not try to hurry us out the door when we were done eating. We all tried each other's orders and everything was delicious. Some highlights were the Shrimp with garlic, avocado salad, grilled calamari and manchego cheese plate. We had a great time!

Food was absolutely delicious. Service was slightly slow but they were very nice. Did not try to rush our group of 7 at all.

Food was especially good this time. Had several of the specials, the pork mousse stuffed mushrooms, brisket, mushroom soup. All delicious!

One of those places you have to go to the food is awesome and the service is excellent

My first time here and it was really enjoyable from beginning to end. Service was genuinely friendly without ever intruding and the food was delicious! I can’t wait to go back and try more of the menu. And it was quiet enough so that you could have an easy conversation with someone at your table. This place is a real find!

We really enjoyed our meal. The tapas were imaginative and delicious and unique. They know how to cook fish. The service was very good. The price was reasonable considering how much work went into the dishes. I will be going back.

This is my 10th time here and the food selection (specials) are always fantastic with changing variety. The owners are kind and the food & service is great.

The food here was so scrumptious! My only recommendation is this: if you want to eat your tapas over a period of time, let the waitstaff know to stagger the delivery. We were served too many all at once.

We almost always have good food here and tonight was no exception. We like to bring our own wine and pay the corkage fee, but they have a full bar now. Had a variety of tapas, including clams and pasta, scallops, albondigas, and ribs in coffee bbq sauce. Enjoyed it very much.

Food was salty

I've been here before on weekend where the food was better in both taste and presentation. It was good but I wanted wow! I still will return.

Initial service a little slow, but they started to get busy. Tapas came out pretty quick. Food was good

Expect an amazing meal. The chef-owner is very creative. This week's sea scallops will be different from last week's--but equally delicious. There's always a new preparation.

If you like avocados, begin with the special salad that includes bacon and goat cheese. Try the warm portabello mushrooms, too. Then, check out the seafood specials. They're always wonderful. And--if you still have room--there's Spanish pizza on the back of the menu. Save room for the goat cheese cake: it's to die for!

Be aware that there's construction going on at Milwaukee and Bryn Maur, but don't let that deter you. If you're southbound on Milwaukee, you can make a u-turn and park in front of the restaurant.

They put their efforts into the food, not the decor. Worth a try to be your next favorite tapas place.