Pampas Argentine Restaurant & Steakhouse

Great food and great service. Try the beef empanadas to start and the skirt steak. A good option out on the west side.

I ordered the Parrillada. I asked if we could order it for one because my husband and I eat very small amounts. The waitress goes ok the Parrillada Completa. I said no the Parrillada for one. She says okay the Parrillada Completa for two.
We are in America. The melting pot. If you cannot comprehend English, you should not be waiting tables with English speaking patrons. I will not be back. The food was just okay. There was nothing outstanding or memorable about it. When we got out food, it was 30 minutes later before she checked on us again. Poor service. I will not be back ever!

Horrible service & food. If you want very bland, oil drenched meats then come here. Terrible margaritas, very disappointed with the service & food. Boyfriend & I ordered the meat platter for 2 & we were both extremely displeased with the taste.

We were hoping to find a great steak outside of Chicago. Mission failure. Though we asked for medium rare, everything seemed well done. We ordered salads upon arrival since another reviewer recommended, when we found that salads came as an entrée side we asked to just have them as the side but we’re told that since they put them in prior to entrée ordering we’d have to pay extra and choose additional sides. The drinks were nothing special, way too sweet. Next time we will just head for the city since it us sane pricing but much superior fare.

Food had no flavor-​2 people had steak one had short ribs–
Virtually indistinguishable-seasoning?marinade? No just a cheaper cut of meat overcooked, a few pieces of bread and some equally bland rice-​prices were high for the low quality we got
So disappointed

The empanadas are wonderful. I wish I ordered more of those. Took 2 of my sons, they loved the empanadas and the chimichurri! Ask for extra, the steaks were cooked to order, no surprises. Good food, not too expensive, and the empanadas were so good! Server attentive and kept glasses filled and the food came out in a very reasonable amount of time. Highly recommended. The server gave me a container of Chimichurri to take home on top, great stuff. Desserts sounded great, but we were too full.

Very good Empanadas and the skirt steak was excellent. A little out of the way, but worth looking for.

This was a good place. I truly enjoyed the empanadas; we order the beef and the caprese kind. I liked both but my favorite was the beef. My friend and I also had the entraña meat plate (we have an Argentinian friend who had recommended this in the past). It was delicious but the mashed potato was just ok. The best part was the dessert. I was not disappointed at all, I had a good flan but my friend had a fantastic chocolate cake! I had to take a slice home! Overall this was a good place. Don’t go with the expectation that this is exactly like Tango Sur, because it is not. Tango Sur is more like fine dining and Pampas is more casual. I like both places but each has its own personality as reflected in their dishes.

Love this place! My friends go there often, and they took us to try the empanadas for lunch. The best empanadas I have ever had!!! They’re baked, not fried, and the dough is freshly made and delicious! We shared several kinds, including: ham and cheese, flank steak (Tucumana — my favorite!), spinach, chicken and caprese. The owner Hugo was also our waiter. He was very kind and attentive and remembered our friends well! Can’t wait to return! P. S. The flan is OUTSTANDING!!! I was going to try just one bite but ended up eating more than half, haha :) Couldn’t stop! :)

They serve excellent steak and authentic Argentinian food. The cheese appetizer is also fantastic.
Service is great. They are very attentive.

Un restaurante Argentino en Elmwood PK, Excelente reataurante, comida deliciosa, empanadas sabrosas, excelente restaurante para celebrar tus eventos especiales.

This was our second time here and today is Mothers Day with my husband and two children. We were pleased to arrive before the rush, but by the end regretted our decision. THE SERVICE WAS TERRIBLE.
We understand they seemed short staffed, but that’s just poor planning. At the very least use staff that are friendly to serve the public. We spoke the same language and it made no difference!
We were forgotten about over and over and over again. No one brought us bread with chimichurri (until we asked for it), drinks took forever…
The food tasted great… that much we were pleased to report. but both the empanadas were burnt on one corner (black, ok!), my Churrasco steak was not cooked to order. The only saving grace was the chef who we think is the owner who came and took my steak back to cook it longer and apologized. The Don Pedro dessert was fit for an alcoholic. nothing like the menu described (pure alcohol with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some crushed walnuts in a short glass – no caramel). When I asked the waitress where my dessert was, she told me «oh I forgot about you».she forgot about me – A mother on Mother’s Day!
We can understand the style of Argentinian service as maybe being laid back and not rushed – like another review read… however our experience was far worse. We were consistently ignored and then had issues the entire time with our food and dessert orders.
Can all this be attributed to lack of staff? Maybe.
Bottom line:
We want to make this a regular destination because we love the taste of the food, but this service issue makes us second guess whether or not we will ever return or recommend them to anyone else.

This place is GREAT! Very unique dining option for the area. It’s a very charming and intimate place. Each time we’ve gone in the owner has waited on us. Great bar selection as well! Just keep in mind service is more laid back than your typical American restaurant so not the place to go to when you’re in a hurry. I hope this place remains in Elmwood Park forever!

So much potential, food is horrible, service was ok, atmosphere was bright but very boring place. Definitely not a steakhouse

I was a bit worried as we walked in seeing as there were only two patrons dining. The waiter, which may have been the owner himself, warmly greeted my friend and me.
We both ordered some Tucumana empanadas for an appetizer and the Pechuga de Pollo la Chimichurri (Grilled chicken breast) with mashed potatoes and Papas Fritas Provenzal. The waiter brought us the empanadas as well as fresh bread and two types of Chimichurri sauces. He explained that in Argentina, Chimichurri is eaten on bread, not empanadas, to really appreciate the flavors. I followed his advice and so glad I did because he was right. The sauce and the fresh warm bread were out of this world good. The empanadas were deliciously amazing. Then our entrées arrived, not thinking it could get any better, we were blown away!!! The chicken was juicy and tender, the mashed potatoes were fluffy and flavorful, and the fries were equally wonderful.
The food at this restaurant is orgasmic! Yes, that good! I’m so happy we stopped in. I will definitely return soon.

I would always drive by this Restaurant and always would say I would go and I finally went last night and I’m glad I did. We were on our way home from the movie theater in Melrose Park and finished our night with Parillada for 2. If you love meat this is it! The Sausage, Short Ribs and steak was awesome not to mention the pork loin! The chimichurri was great also and we loved their spicy salsa. It was different but good and spicy but not the type that is unbearable. We tried a few Pampanadas and they were good also. My favorite was the Tucumana (might have misspelled) and my wife loved the Spinach and Ham and Cheese Pampanadas. The service wasnt bad either considering some of the reviews i read. It was pretty empty and the manager/​owner took care of us and was very polite and attentive. Definitely would go again!

So let’s start with the actual restaurant, it has a nice atmosphere, but the whole restaurant felt like it’s made of ice because of how cold it was inside. The waitress seemed very annoyed with any question that we asked her or any request, not only that but it took her about 10 minutes to bring us drinks and take our orders. the steak was okay, the chicken was dry, the ribs were more fat than meat and the pork was okay. The sides were lukewarm when the waitress brought them but because the restaurant is so cold all of our sides got cold fast. The empanadas were good but very overpriced. The flan was horrible. Overall we won’t be coming back to this place because the lack of flavor in the food and the inadequate service.

I’ve been here twice now, and since some of the reviews are not that great, I thought I’d leave a good one to convince people who are not too sure… to go ahead and try this place, especially if you like empanadas & grilled meat!
It was four of us for lunch a few Saturday’s ago and we got there exactly at opening time. It wasn’t opened yet (wait staff was running late), but we were let in and seated. Overall the service was very friendly and helpful.
We tried one of nearly all the empanadas they offer and they were all AMAZING! The vegetarian ones were as good as the meat ones, with great seasoning & flavor combos. I’m thinking next time I go, I am just going to get empanadas and gorge. They were SO yummy! :D
For the four of us we got two of the grilled meat combo plates (for 2). Two of us were big eaters, and still we had left overs to take home for a snack or next day lunch! Personally, I prefer the regular sausage to blood sausage, but all the other meat was nicely cooked and seasoned. No, it’s not the best steak I’ve ever had, but it’s good grilled meats, and the chimichurri is delightfully spicy and meant to go with the meat so don’t leave that off your plate.
I live in the area and am glad to have this option for dine-​in every once in a while. There are other restaurants nearby, but none serves Argentine/​Southern Cone food.

Even though I drive past this place twice daily, I finally stopped in for dinner just the other day. It was good, but nothing to phone home about.
Interestingly, the Unilocal check-​in offer changed over the course of a day: what started as «save 10% off of your total bill» wound up later being «1 free glass of house wine». In the end, we wound up with the better deal (10% off of a $ 30 tab = save $ 3; TWO free glasses of wine = estimated value of $ 6×2 = $ 12), since they were nice enough to disregard the ‘limit 1 check-​in offer per table’. So that was sweet.
I tried one of the empanadas (ham & cheese), and wasn’t disappointed. Also, great chimichurri (2 kinds – a mild and a spicy) accompanied the bread at the beginning!
Our main courses were alright. My buddy got the chicken marsala and I, the breaded veal. He proclaimed his chicken ‘really good’, but the side of rice looked decidedly like chinese-​takeout fried rice, which we both agreed was uninspired. My beef was tenderized to the point of being shoe leather, and it was hella tough to eat. Good flavor, and terrific mashed potatoes to go with it. Their dessert flan was delicious.
Pampas advertises some halfway decent lunch specials, which I really ought to try someday.

I called first and told no reservations were needed by a less than enthusiastic person. On a Saturday night. So, my partner and I head in at 745 and 2 people are at the bar.
We were at the table with our coats still on because it was so cold, and got our drinks and waited and waited and waited for our lone server. After our drinks, we were told bread would arrive. which it did not. we ordered pampanadas or whatever they called them — and they were the same kind my friend buys frozen, you just bake them. Our server said they just don’t fry their empanadas, they bake them so they are pampanadas. hahahhaaha! good one. frozen pastries filled with pretty good stuff, but definitely not freshly made. although, she never said they made them, so, touché!
the raves online were for the skirt steak so we ordered it. after appetizers, no more drinks were offered, but the bread finally came.
however, only some of the dirty dishes were removed. 3 other tables came in and she was off fending off the weeds… so bizarre!
30 minutes now with no drinks or entrees, my buddy drops a fork and figured she would just ask for another one when the food arrived. the food arrives, and a thin sirloin steak all curly and bumpy because the fat was neither lacerated or trimmed shows up. SO TOUGH! i asked if this was a skirt steak, and the server said WE DONT SERVE SKIRT STEAK HERE. oh. ok. When I ordered it, why didnt you tell me that? I apparently mis read the menu. So, that’s cool, totally my bad.
however, she then tells me, the server that is, that this is a new york strip steak.
again, HAHAHAHAHAHHA! Can we get another fork? THis was NOT a strip steak, not from new york, but possibly from the back of a freezer.
hmmmm. about that fork… maybe. in about 15 minutes. I gave my buddy my extra fork. but definitely never asked if we ever wanted another drink
no flavor on the sirloin, no flavor on the steamed vegetables which consisted of 10 pieces of carrot, bell pepper, cauliflower.
OOOOOwwwweee Jethro! This possum is just fine!
Do not be fooled there is NOT a sald bar. And this is NOT a steak house.

I liked the salsa and chimichurri, the empanadas were decent but the salad and specially the meats that should be the house signature are little less than
ok… I have been in others Argentinian restaurants and I love their meats but this one was a disapointment… The service was ok though.