Valedor — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I love the Robey. One of my favorite places. Amazing staff. Amazing food. Five out of five stars every time. Since I heard about Valedor I’ve been dying to go. Got dressed up on this awful snow day, hoping maybe we could snag a drink at Valedor.

Couldn’t snag a reso but the website states in bold letters how walk ins are “welcome.” Doesn’t feel that way. No hostess at the stand when we walked in and four people were awkwardly standing by chairs to the left. The lobby was otherwise empty. We saw two open stools. We were almost shocked ! Just our luck ! So … no one is saying anything so after staring at these chairs in disbelief we just proceed to pull out the chair. So strange that the party of four hovering by the other side of the bar couldn’t just say (hey those are ours). Suddenly a man rushes out and said those stools are taken. No problem (we apologized and were embarrassed) but I am not not sure why there was no host at the door (and sorry we assumed bar stools were first come first served…like any other normal bar). The hostess finally appears and curtly hands us a menu says “it shouldn’t be too long,” but doesn’t even estimate a time (also sat two ppl who walked in after us). Over all tone wasn’t friendly and had no awareness that … maybe she should have been manning the host stand instead of shaming people for thinking two bar stools were open.

Just felt deflated and over it at that point. I’m sure the food and drink is good and probably all is well if you have a reso. That said, the hospitality was lacking and walk-in’s are clearly not...

So good! Will definitely be adding to my happy hour roster. The space is beautiful Sit in the middle if you can so you can really appreciate the decor. Visually mesmerizing with the animated monitor.

So let’s get into the drinks. I went for a random Thursday afternoon happy hour. We started with the passionfruit sakerita and the house margarita. Let me tell you it was sooooo good. We did end up getting maybe 4-5 more margaritas cus that one really took it for me. The Miss Fresca was also very good just a little sweet for me. I asked if the waiter (Harrison) could add a little more yuzu and he was so accommodating (pay Harrison more!!!) 10 out of 10 on the drinks. The sakerita I will say, although my favorite flavor, it was a lil small for $10. The other drinks I think were a decent size for the price.

Now let’s talk about the HH tapas. They have shishito peppers, gouda katsu, and crispy salmon. Of course I had to get all three chile, at $6 a piece uhhhh YES. They were also so good, and we did have to get some more of the salmon and the peppers. The gouda was good (8 out of 10), but it’s really just fried cheese it’s a lil heavy so I had to let that one go. The salmon tho was so flavorful, and the peppers had this sauce that was oooooh I wanted them to bring some bread afterwards. 11 out of 10 on the peppers. 10 out of 10 on the salmon. Anyways highly recommend! I love finding new HH spots. Yall will...

I consider myself a foodie and have been to many Chicago restaurants and I can honestly say this meal was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. First thing to know is they have an amazing happy hour that also coincides with their Cantina Hour. During Cantina hour they pass out free tapas for your table to sample of items that aren’t even on the menu (which is kind of a bummer because all the samples were amazing!). And the happy hour was a great deal too and it’s daily which weekend happy hours can be hard to come by in Chicago!

The cocktails here were unique and delicious. With Valedor being a cocktail lounge their food menu was small but mighty. They have an incredible fusion of Japanese and Mexican cuisine and I ordered almost everything on the menu and loved all that tried.

The ambiance is dim and intimate, making it the perfect date night spot. My only issue was instead of the calming music you would expect at a cocktail lounge on a Saturday night, they were playing a movie which was not the vibe for a Saturday (although I had already seen on IG that they play movies throughout the week) so that would be my only recommendation for change. Otherwise the service was great and so was everything else about my experience. All in all I would absolutely recommend checking...