Cafecito — Restaurant in Chicago

Hit or miss foodwise, with questionable service. The tables are shabby and the dining area is rather gloomy. Still, my wife and I had previously had a pleasant experience there on a few occasions. They serve inexpensive sandwiches, panini and cuban-inspired sides, including some plantain dishes and one refreshing specialty drink that I liked. However, on our last visit, after some wait, we were refused service by a rude staff member under a made-up pretext. Yes, you read that right: REFUSED, not delayed, ignored by staff or left waiting for an order. Definitely will not go back: there are plenty of good options nearby, both casual and fancy restaurants where customers are actually welcomed and treated with respect.

Now, about that last and final visit. We walked in around 8 pm on a Thursday. There were customers at one outdoor table and at 3 or 4 booths inside, a few clean tables and one full of dirty glasses but no waitstaff to be seen anywhere, except for a young man behind the bar busy with mixing cocktails. After 5 or 10 minutes, he came to serve drinks at the next table, then stopped by ours and told us in broken English that the restaurant was serving "to go" orders only and that we must leave. That did not make any sense, so I asked him what he meant. He asserted that no other staff showed up for their shift, that he was alone, and that he could not handle table service.

Nothing doing, right? Just as we got up to leave, though, a uniformed waitress emerged from the kitchen carrying an order. Moments later, another waitress came to take an order at booth 2, giving the lie to "no staff, can't serve you" allegation (two waitresses likely constitute a full shift for this location, I have never seen more than that). I pointed them to the barman, but he still insisted that we leave, while ignoring a polite request to speak to a manager to clear up an apparent misunderstanding. He kept repeating "go, go", and for a good measure, also insulted my wife, who simply could not grasp what was happening (he did say "I am sorry" in the end). In summary, wasted time, got insulted, did not get to eat. Oh, and according to the second waitress, the hostile barmen was the manager,...

I wanted to love this place, but it was not what I was hoping for. My husband and I were visiting Chicago on vacation and saw Cafecito had good reviews for Cuban food. Unfortunately the food was SUPER bland. I got the lechon platter for my meal and the pork definitely was not roasted.. it was sliced thin and fried, which I definitely wasn’t expecting. I didn’t even get a hit of any mojo sauce or any other spices/flavors used in Cuban food while eating the dish. The only decent part of the platter was the plantains. The croquettes were a HUGE disappointment. Nice crispy outside, but the inside was super bland and didn’t taste anything like the croquettes I’m use to getting at other Cuban establishments or from homemade Cuban cooking.

I think the worst part of the dinner was the service. My husband and I were waiting to be seated for at least 10 minutes. Within that 10 minutes one of the waitresses passed us and said nothing.. we thought she was just busy and was going to get back with us, but when my husband walked to the bar she was sitting there with another waiter just talking and was on her phone. When we finally got seated after asking to be sat it took another 10–15 minutes to get waters. Lots of waiting time when they really weren’t busy at all.

Be sure to go over your check before paying/tipping. A 20% gratuity was added to our check, which would have been fine if it was mentioned anywhere like other restaurants in the area point out in their menus. The only thing stated in the menu was that an 18% gratuity would be added to parties of 6+ people. Just me and my husband ate.. and I’m not sure where to 20% came from if it’s only 18% for 6+ people. Anyways, it wasn’t mentioned anywhere and they use a little handheld machine for payments, so it wasn’t seen on the first screen. My husband tipped another $10 thinking this restaurant didn’t automatically add it in, so for terrible service the waiter got a $25 tip.

Overall, not impressed with our experience and we won’t be back. I’m sure there’s better spots in the area for...

I am writing this review to share my recent experience at Cafecito on Chesnut. While the food at this establishment is good and reasonably priced, the service I received was absolutely horrible.

As a loyal customer who has been coming to this restaurant since its opening, I was deeply disappointed by the constant unkindness and rudeness displayed by the waitstaff at Cafecito. It is disheartening to see such a lack of good manners and respect towards customers.

However, my most recent visit was the tipping point. Despite thinking that we were familiar faces at the restaurant, one waitress gave us an attitude that I could not believe when we placed our order. Her behavior made me contemplate leaving the restaurant altogether. We ultimately decided to stay solely because of the food. Instead of addressing the issue herself, she chose to send two other servers to wait on our table.

I sincerely hope that the managers at Cafecito take into consideration the fact that customers primarily come for the food, but service plays a crucial role in the overall dining experience. While the food is commendable, the consistently poor service tarnishes the overall impression of the restaurant.

I must express my disappointment with the service at Cafecito on Chesnut. As a loyal customer, I had hoped for a more pleasant experience. I hope that the management takes this feedback seriously and makes the necessary improvements to ensure that customers are treated with the respect and courtesy...