Tanta Cocina Peruana — Restaurant in Chicago

Great food ruined by terrible service and system! 1 star out of 5!

Came in on fourth of July with my girlfriend. Our first stop of our trip to Chicago. I had a reservation for 5 pm and just in time to enjoy their happy hour menu.

The host was friendly and helped us pick a table to sit down. The views were immaculate and the atmosphere was vibrant and modern.

Our first problem which was unprecedented was the fact that we couldn’t order off the happy hour menu because it was exclusive to the bar.

Then they told us that due to the holiday, they couldn’t honor their happy hour menu at the restaurant at all!

After so many contradictions, they finally allowed us to order off the happy hour menu but we had to move our menus/ drinks to the bar. Unpleasant and baffled situation.

Mind you, the restaurant had only 5 people dining in (including us)

Once we arrived to the bar I explicitly addressed my gratitude and apologies because we Were not trying to be complicated which was unnecessary since i was just looking for the happy hour menu THEY ADVERTISED.

To my comment, the barista just shrugged it off and did not acknowledged it. Very unhappy with that.

Didn’t think much of it since i thought maybe he hadn’t heard me so i went ahead and ordered drinks

On my reservation I specifically requested for them to do something special for my anniversary that day, which was not even acknowledged nor respected.

At that point our reservation had already been ruined twice and i hadn’t even taken the first sip of my drink yet.

I asked for a recommendation which we ordered: the pisco sour clásico and the ELCHINGON. The drink itself was nothing special but it was well presented.

The pisco sour had an overly smell and flavor of egg so we couldn’t finish it.

For our food, we ordered the ceviche limeño and the ceviche clásico.

The food itself is very good. Full of flavor and depth. The leche de tigre is just the right amount of poignant and citrusy. Had the service been better, we would’ve order more!

DISCLAIMER: the entree dishes on the happy hour menu are a-lot smaller than the normal dishes.

Not a deal breaker since they are almost half the price but something to keep on mind.

The barista was not attentive which was odd considering it was us and another gentleman at the bar.

Most of the water refills and conversations were done by the friendly busser.

When we had enough of the terrible experience, we requested the bill in which the barista responded with: “that’s it? only two little ceviches?! ” Which felt like a slap on the face considering he was one of the main reasons we were taking our business elsewhere.

We left with grace and left an undeserved 20% tip.

Would come back if the service, system was better but will stay away and opt for other great Peruvian...

I would give one star for how I was treated at the beginning of the experience but giving two stars since they tried to fix it. But I don’t think it was a good experience overall. The food was okay. They used the same side ingredients and plating for multiple dishes, so not a lot of creativity. Food was also pretty salty. Guess I should not have been expecting too much for this place. My friend and I spent over $200 between the two of us so it didn’t feel it was worth the price.

I went in today with a 5:30 reservation for dinner. I was seated on the second floor under the roof not on the open patio. It was a high top table. However we were there for dinner not drinks. I requested to be seated on the patio at a regular table. The hostess told me they were only seating under the roof not on the patio. However I did see a table seated on the patio already. It wasn’t busy at the time and the whole night wasn’t that busy. At least, there were multiple empty tables around me throughout the night. I was fine with where I was seated at the beginning.

However the moment I sat on the chair, my chair tilted and fell into the ground. Then I found out the tile under the chair was not fully installed and it was a piece of loose tile. And the floor under is hollow. So then I requested to be changed to the table I wanted. I think where I was had a safety hazard.

Then I was told they only have one sever so they couldn’t seat us where I wanted. However the table I wanted was actually closer to all the other customers. And we were all served by the same server. It didn’t make sense. I asked why is the other table seated on the patio next to the one I wanted. She told me because they were the owners. Then I said I will go talk to the owners then. After I said that, the girl got the manager. The manager eventually seated us where I wanted to be and offered drinks on the house as apology.

But honestly, I don’t think I will go back. I don’t think I was treated fairly as a customer. I also don’t know if the owner table was really the owner table. If yes, I don’t think I would go back to a restaurant that prioritize their own need over customers. And to be honest, I think we were close enough and they should have noticed what was happening. No one came over to say anything. Or maybe the hostess was BS and they were not the owners. Not sure what was going on and I did not get a reasonable explanation of why I was treated that way.

Server was nice and he actually apologized on other people’s behalf and it...

On Saturday July 20, 2024, we could have had the best dinner we have ever had in Chicago. Unfortunately, despite the most amazing food at Tanta/Chicago, which evoked my experiences in Lima’s Gaston & Astrid, La Mar, Panchita and Barra Calacha, it was quickly soured by the floor manager at Tanta/Chicago. He asked my girlfriend and I to vacate the table as we had been there for over 90 minutes!

Our reservation was for the rooftop at 6:15 pm to which we showed up promptly. It took the team about 15 minutes to seat us. We ordered cocktails and those took about 15 minutes to get to our table. Then the first dishes arrived, a Salmon Tiradito, which was truly the best I’ve ever had. Followed by a Classic Ceviche which was good. Then another 15 minutes before the grilled octopus arrived, also amazing. Then another 20 minutes for the last dish, the Amazon grilled Branzini which was truly the best grilled fish I have ever had.

It was my girlfriend’s birthday we were celebrating but before we ordered dessert, the floor manager came to clear the table and proceed to tell us we needed to move quickly as we had been at the table for more than 90 minutes and people were waiting to be seated. There are no signs and we were not told we only had 90 minutes to gobble our food!

I was in true disbelief on how this man had completely ruined an almost perfect evening! Out of the 90 minutes we were seating at the table, a full 65 minutes were waiting for the table or the dishes to arrive.

The food truly deserves 5 stars! The serving staff, who were most attentive and Swan, the waiter, who was consistently on target in everything he recommended was completely ruined by their manager who blatantly lied as there was NO ONE waiting to be seated when we left. There was at least one large table on the rooftop and several on the first floor that were empty.

I have been a fan of Gaston Acurio forever, I have his cookbooks, I visit his restaurants in Lima at least twice every time I’m in Lima. This man, who was rude and definitely not representing the Gaston Acurio hospitality and completely ruining their amazing welcoming culture.

I was so happy to find a Gaston Acurio restaurant in my new city but not sure I’ll go back as I don’t want to be mistreated again. Our dinner for two was $300.00, one would expect better treatment at such a fine and expensive establishment.

Re-training the floor manager as to NOT BE RUDE and NOT LIE is...