Cafe Bolero

Amazing! Love the shrimp appetizer, sweet plantains and paella! Also try the mango margarita. packs a punch! Not your traditional water down variety!

The credit card machine was broken and it was «cash only».. Still, all-​in-​all it was a good dining experience. Prices were reasonable and the salads were fresh and crisp

We went to this place Saturday night, and it was a wonderfully fun experience! My friend had been before, and he highly recommended it. First of all, parking was relatively easy (which I really appreciated!) It is rare to find a spot where you don’t have to pay additional parking, use a valet or inconvenience yourself with a City meter. We parked across the street on Western, went in and were quickly seated.
Our server (Juan Carlos) brought the good time with him! He was a riot, knowledgeable, and made the entire experience that much more hilarious. We ordered the Croquetas and Platano Rellenos (we split them between beef and chicken) for our appetizers. Absolutely delicious! The sauce that came with the croquetas kept being requested for the rest of the meal lol… it was great!
I ordered the Lechon, my friend ordered the Pechuga de pollo a la Parilla, and my sister ordered the Bolero Combo Platter… all very good! The food was served quickly, hot, and well seasoned. The meats were tender and moist. I added a bit of the «sauce» to my roasted pork, and the seasoned butter (that came with the bread) to my yucca, and it was perfect! The next day my leftovers were even better :)
Overall, it was a night for enjoyment and flavorful food. Great atmosphere, good food (nice-​size portions) and reasonable prices. I’ve heard they have LIVE Cuban jazz (on Tuesday nights), so I’m planning to go back! I’d recommend you stop by.

The ceviche here is probably the best I have ever tried. The mohito was perfect. The rest of the food was awesome. Service attentive. A very comfortable dining experience. We finished our meal with coconut flan and a cafecito.
A great meal. Will definitely visit again.

Really enjoyed my dinner at Café Bolero. I went with the Rabo Encendido. Its oxtails simmered in a tomato based sauce w/​congri and yucca. It was FANTASTIC! Really good service as well. Definetely recommend!!!

My friend and I tried this place out because I had a $ 25
certificate and we loved it. It’s a couple blocks away from my house which also appeals to me.
I had the ropa vieja and he had the stuffed green peppers which were excellent by the way.
Nice romantic ambience. Low Lights. Very Cozy.
I didn’t encounter any weirdness about using the certificate and I most definitely had no problem with slow waiters. Everyone was nice.
I am ready to go back on Tuesdays for some Latin Jazz.

I would have given Café Bolero 4 stars had it not been for the awkward waiter. The food was delicious, but the over all experience was marred by our strange waiter.
I went to Café Bolero on a Wednesday night around 8:30 and the place was pretty busy. We had reservations but were told to wait for a table once we got there. The place is very cute. A great place for a date. Low light, beautiful red and orange hues. It was casual, cozy and can be romantic. The waiter thought so too. He kept trying to charm my sisters and I with really bad attempts at jokes. He also stuck around a little longer than was appropriate.
Anyhow, we got to ordering:
I ordered the Boliche (beef stuffed with ham and sausage). It was pretty dang delicious. They give you 3 giant pieces of beef. It was enough for 3 people, however, I had no problem finishing it. Shameful, I know, but it was so good! The beans and plantains were also very tasty. The plantains were a perfect sweet break to all that savory and sauce.
One of my sisters ordered the Chuletas Puerco (fried pork chops). I had a taste of it and was impressed. I’m not a fan of pork chops but the way these were done was really good.
My other sister got the chicken breast. That too was really good. Very tender and tasty.
At the end of our meal we decided to order mussels since we were starving (HA!) They were amazing. The white wine and garlic sauce they were cooked in was delicious. I couldn’t stop dipping the bread into the sauce.
So you see the food was really good. The only thing that would stop me from going back would be the waiter. He was VERY nice but was hanging around at our table too much and for too long. My sisters and I were hardly able to focus on the meal and each other because either he was there or because we were talking about whatever weird thing he said to us or did.

I went back on a Tuesday night, and i had a completely different experience.
First off, we were gruffly welcomed by a waiter who seated us at a tiny and scrunched table an inch away from the door, so I was freezing the whole time. A couple that came in after us was seated at a nice, 4 person table in the middle of the room and away from the door.
Our waiter came by after a while and asked us if we decided on drinks. We said we hadn’t looked at the drinks yet, because we were so hungry, but we did order an appetizer (Platano Relleno) first thing.
Our appetizer arrived and the waiter asked if we were ready to order. We said yes. I had the Milanesa de Pollo and my husband had the Boliche. We also ordered drinks at this time — sangria for me and wine for him.
We waited a while, and groups arriving after us were served their drinks, and even some of their dinners. We saw what I thought was our food placed in front of the people at a neighboring table. The diners looked at the food and called their waiter back, saying they didn’t order these items. The waiter took the food away. About five minutes later, the same food was served to us — they had gotten the tables wrong. Now, I understand mistakes happen, but then they go ahead and serve us the food that they had already placed, and left, at another table?
When our food did arrive, we still didn’t have our drinks. The waiter who brought us our food was not the same guy as who took the orders, so we asked the other waiter about our drinks. No apology, nothing, he just asks us what we ordered. A few minutes later, we had our drinks. Our waiter never mentioned the food or drink mix up to us.
As for the food, I thought my dish was just too heavy with the onions and the hubby’s was just kind of dried out and not very flavorful. The appetizer was pretty good and the meat in the plantain was well seasoned.
We used an online coupon for $ 25 off, which made me feel a little better. As expected, they did add 18% to the bill for gratuity. Even though I was expecting it, I wish they hadn’t to make up for the bad service.
Overall though, I didn’t enjoy myself. We won’t be back anytime soon.

Well we wanted to stay local but keep it saavy. We went on
to find a place that would fit our likings. Fortunately they were having a deal $ 10 for $ 25 when purchased in advance.
We came here on a Sunday around brunch. Parking was easily found on the street. We walk in and hear cool… and what i am guessing is Cuban… music. We were seated in a adjoining room with a fully stocked bar. This restaurant would have an estimate of about 15 tables. We got to meet the owner who was FULL OF ENERGY… or other things.
I came here with my man friend and his roommate, and their friend. They got us pumpernickel bread with a herb butter and this sundried tomato onion… salsa? Anyway that was good. We started off with the combo appetizer platter. It came with those potato balls with beef in the middle, tamale, a pork salad thing (not my fav), and this deep fried ham thing. The potato balls with beef were good but everything else fell to the way side. We should have just ordered that separately.
Funniest thing about our dining experience was my man friend asked the owner for his dish recommendation, the owner hugs him and kisses him atop his head and says, «ok im going to take care of you… do you trust me?» HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Anyway. I ordered the arrachera-​how can you go wrong? Well I didn’t. It came with rice, plantains, and black beans. YUM.
Our friends ordered the picadillo which looked not too appetizing but was apparently delicious. It also came with rice, plantains, and beans.
My man friend got the chef recommendation: Goat meat stew. Which was allllright in his book and mine.
Decent place. A tad pricey and i am sure this can be easily fixed, I hope.

I went here when I first started working in the area and loved it. The ropa vieja was decent but the bread and herb butter was amazing and the only reason I decided to go back.
The second, not so great. I ate my food and went to pay with a credit card and she said the machine was down. The only cash I had on me was a $ 20 bill. So I gave it to her (my meal was $ 10). She then told me that because it was still early, mind you 12:45, they didn’t have change yet. What kind of joke was this? What even was worse was that she wouldn’t give me my $ 20 back when I told her I would run to the bank across the street and get change for it. She could have at least gave me a voucher for a free app or something that may have helped me get back.
The place is overpriced in the first place and to make me pay $ 20 for a ropa vieja sandwich is ridiculous.

My friend and I were out biking all day, and on our way back we HAD to stop and get some food. We parked our bikes outside of the restaurant, and a very intoxicated man (granted 3pm on a Friday) stumbled out and then as we entered, he basically demanded we hold the door for him.
I thought he was just a drunk customer… but I must have been wrong. He asked if we wanted to sit inside or out, we chose inside and he said «alright.» He walked back outside, drink in hand.
There was no one else working it looked like. We waited for 15 minutes without seeing anyone… so we got up and walked out. As we unlocked our bikes, the drunk man stood up from his table outside, looked at us, and held up his arms as if to ask, «why are you leaving?»
Uhhhh…seriously?

Either the oppressive heat made me think of Cuba or I didn’t want to break a sweat trying to cook something, but either way, we ended up at Café Bolero, and a Living Social thingie just sweetened the deal.
I wavered between 3 and 4 stars on this one, and I’m kind of thinking the crusty bread and garlic butter pushed me into the 4. I was thinking about how I wanted some more of that today while I was eating my leftovers.
Mojitos were good, and refreshing though not super strong, not that I needed to get wasted, but you want to feel a little something. Then again, I did also down about a pitcher of water, so, that might be on me.
We started with salads, and while mine looked a little wimpy in terms of vegetable color, it tasted pretty decent, though I might skip it next time since my entrée came with a little salad on the side. Arroz con pollo was very flavorful and the chicken was moist, and there was enough of it for me to be eating it again for lunch today. It didn’t compare to the memory of the stellar arroz con pollo I had in a tiny hole in the wall in L.A. about 6 years ago, whose name I forgot, but it was definitely good. My companion enjoyed his stuffed peppers, and part of the reason we bought the LS deal was the variety of veg. options for him.
My one nit-​picky nit, is that while the service was friendly enough, once we got our entrees, we really didn’t hear much from our server again, and would have probably ordered more drinks or dessert if he hadn’t been so scarce.

I had been wanting to go to this place for a while. I finally went the other day and we had a
Gift Certificate.
Upon entering, I was content. The place seemed cozy and kinda romantic. There was outdoor seating which was looking pretty adorable. I ended up sitting inside, at a window. As soon as I sat down I quickly noticed that there were a swarm of nats near the window. I believe they were hanging out with the dying roses that were placed at my table. I called the host over and he took care of it. Even came back to clean up the window.
Problem solved.
Then the waiter arrived. He seemed nice, but he was sort of pushy. We ordered drinks and then presented him with the
Coupon. He looked at it and (literally) tossed it back onto our table in a frantic manner saying, «just leave that damn thing there». Then he scurried off to get our drinks.
We sat in awe of the entire scene for a minute or so. I really didn’t want to hate this place but it was not going very well.
The food came. It was awesome. I wish that was enough to make me want to go back to this place, but that waiter was lacking in some major manners. The whole experience was super weird. Not fun.
I would suggest going to 90 Miles. It’s better food and nicer wait staff.

Good service, good drinks, good meal — see, I’m not hard to please, am I?
I brought The Young Lawyer into the hinterlands of Western Avenue for a Cuban treat last night. A gentleman with a bald head was our very enthusiastic greeter and waiter. He started by giving us a quick but thorough review of his menu recommendations.
We got water and bread with butter and a spicy tomato spread quickly.
The Lawyer ordered a Modelo beer and I had a margarita. I was not asked the usual salt/​no salt question, but I didn’t care. When the server brought out our drinks, he said that Bolero’s margaritas were especially good, because grand marnier was added to them. You know what? He was right. It was a very good margarita.
We each received a small cup of complimentary black bean soup. Very good!
The Lawyer ordered Ropa Vieja for his entrée. That is flank steak that the menu says is simmered for 5 hours in a roasted pepper, tomato and garlic sauce. It came with rice, black beans and sweet plantains. No stop watch came with the Ropa Vieja, so we can’t be sure of the whole 5-​hour thing, but he said it was all very good, and he cleaned his plate. His mother would be so proud!
I had the Ensalada Bolero, without meat added. Not only was the presentation beautiful, but it tasted really good, too.
I had a cup of the house coffee, and that was good too.
They do have live music in the back room on Thursday evenings, but we didn’t poke our heads in there. I know it was going on, but I can’t tell you much about it, other than that there is no cover charge.
And we even got a parking spot directly opposite the restaurant.
All in all, a good choice (yay me!) and a good experience. I would definitely go back again.

The 2 stars says it all: Meh.
The mojito was super tasty, really well made, but the food was simply meh. And pricey meh at that.
I live less than 2 blocks from here, and I will not be going back.

I always seem to end up here at least once a year and never feel like it was a bad choice.
With a last minute Invite from a lady to join her and two others on a Saturday Night, I headed on over. Sorry bro, little more exciting than you and your back porch.
Rolled in about 8 PM and found the place filled but not overcrowded, the ladies waved me on over to have a seat. Nice thing about being the last to arrive… food and drink all ready there. Sat down and dove right into the Empanadas, Bread and Sangria.
Main Course found a Seafood Paella, Stuffed Pepper’s and the Palomia… only disappointment was the Palomia, probably not due to poor execution but more along the lines of not really what I was hungry for.
First Date, Drinks/​Apps on the patio, or meeting with Friends/​Family this is a fine place to bring anyone s the selections ranges from Safe to Adventurous.

Not bad for my first taste of Cuban food. We started with some tapas – the Bolero combo platter which consisted of stuffed potato balls with a bit of ground beef inside, ham croquettes, plantains stuffed with chicken, and tamal. All the tapas were a bit on the bland side, but the ham croquettes and potato balls were my favorite. The tamal was my least favorite because it just tasted really, really bland.
For a main course I would highly recommend the fried pork chops in BBQ sauce – perfectly cooked, flavorful and absolutely delicious. It was served with white rice and sweet plantains which pairs really well with the sweet BBQ sauce. Overall, a positive experience with friendly and attentive service.

Decided to finally try this place after passing it so many times. It was an early Sunday afternoon and not many people were there.
Place itself is nicely decorated and even though we were sat next to the cold window there was a heater right above that kept us warm.
Service was also good as well.
For food we got cuban sandwiches and the bolero combo platter.
Cuban sandwich: Good sandwich. I am not an expert on these sandwiches, but I did like it especially for the price.
The combo platter was good overall though I didn’t think some items were as good as others. Definitely the potato balls and croquettes were favs from that dish.
Good service and good food at a good price. Definitely warrants coming back to try their entrees!

Nice little place on the corner. We were the only table there.
The bread with the garlic butter was good.
I order the Chillindron de Chivo — Goat meat stew basically with black bean rice and yucca. I thought the goat meat was tender and had a nice flavor to it. I’m not a big fan of beans so I swapped rice with my guy. The yucca was just ok… not much flavor.
My guy had the Palomia — Thin sliced steak. I took a small piece and thought it was bland and a bit tough. Plaintains were nothing special.
Service is almost non existence. My guy wanted a water refill and the lady that sat us and our waiter was at the counter eating. She saw my guy raise his glass and she just nodded. The waiter came with our food and then came back to refill our glasses. Didn’t see him again til he gave us our check.
It was ok, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back here.

My idea of a perfect Chicago evening…
Café Bolero. A balmy breeze with promises of summer. Patio tables set aglow by candlelight and torches. Warm + friendly service. Complimentary bread served with decadent garlic butter. Cuban tapas– try the combo platter (potato balls, ham croquettes, tamales, and chicken stuffed plantains). Modest prices.
And they make a fantastic rendition of cevapcici– grilled housemade sausages served with feta cheese, marinated peppers and onions. Apparently the owner is/​was married to a Slavic woman, and he added the cevapi (the only non-​Cuban food item) to pay homage to her roots.
ADORE.