Chimichurri

I went in with big expectations because I had heard a friend raving about how good the food was. I arrived to the place around 7ish-​8pm and it was empty. There was this lady working the counter and serving. We sat by the front windows and with a table with dirty glassware. The service was alright. The food, well … Let’s say it wasn’t anything to rave about. The chicken empanadas was okay, it was a bit doughy. I had the lomito and it was decent. The meat was slightly dry and bland and some of the fries were still undercooked. I also tried the choripan and the sausage was nothing to get excited about. Maybe an aioli or spread would help give that sandwich some UMF to it… I’ll try again other day and see if it’s better.

I’ve lived in Pilsen for 10 years. Lots of good food, this place was my favorite ever for the area. Very sorry to hear it’s gone, they had great dishes, amazingly different pizzas, variety on menu, sweet prices… they were different in a great way and will be missed!

SO DISAPPOINTED to hear that this place is closed! The food, service, and prices were fantastic.

Came here with high hopes based on reviews but it was closed.
I have seen commercials in the cabs and bookmarked it. Was on a bike ride recently and decided to finally try it.
There were signs out front saying it was closed and that a new restaurant or deli type spot was opening.
Not sure but yea not open so do not waste your time.

We came here with a deal that didn’t include pizza so we had a lot of food! It cute but the service is super slow. I noticed not all of the tables had napkins, salt and pepper etc. It wasn’t busy except for the delivery service. That being said the empanadas were outstanding. We were mad that we only tried one each. But you also get warm bread, and we ordered entrees and a pizza. The empanadas came fast but then it was a long wait for our chicken dishes. He had the one stuffed with ham and I had the veg. He said he couldn’t find ham in it. Mine was ok but not hot. The potatoes were bland. Kind of a miss all around. Then we waited for a really long time. It was crazy. Our entrees were slowly boxed up and we sat. We had to put more money in the meter. It seemed like a crazy long wait for a cracker crust. When it finally arrived I was hungry again. Maybe that was their strategy because there was no apology for the really long wait. The pizza was pretty great. Unique to Chicago. I think we’d come back just for that. It is nice and cracker crispy.

I came across this place while driving through the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, looking for a good Mexican food. It was relatively new when I went there. We decided to check this place out instead. It’s a nice cozy little restaurant. The menu had interesting variety of Argentinian cuisine. I had their Chicken and Spinach & Cheese empanadas, Steak w/​Chimichurri and Deluxe pizza. The empanadas, chimichurri sauce and pizza were good. I definitely recommend that you try those items. They had good savory flavor and tasted delicious. The steak wasn’t good. It was average at best. It was chewy. It was disappointing. The Chimichurri sauce was tasty. Their Pizza had homemade taste. I liked it. I have had similar pizza at a different Argentinian place called Caminito Argentinian Grill and that was better. I didn’t have any room for the sausage sandwich. We also sampled their gelato and it tasted average at best. They had good variety of flavors but the texture of the gelato was icy (kinda like Italian ice), not creamy. It was to my liking so I skipped it. This is a decent neighborhood joint worth visiting for pizza and empanadas. I would give three stars at the most.

It seems some reviewers and tippers here are missing the Italian influence due to the incredibly high Italian immigrant population in Argentina. Considering it’s the largest Spanish speaking country in the world and it gained it’s independence from Spain many assume Argentine food should be just like Spain or Mexico but the Italian influence provides a great addition of flavors and methods that make Argentinian food one of my favorites.
When we entered this restaurant I was shocked to see the front windows fully open and the door to the kitchen propped open allowing flying creatures full access to the open food prep area. This is a violation of both the City of Chicago and Cook County health departments food safety code. I still decided to dine here due to the ten mile trek we just made to 18^th street to use our Groupon. And as a Groupon holder we were limited to ordering off a short menu on a ratty stained sheet of paper and not the nicely decorated plastic covered menu we were first given. Why limit a new customer to such a small sampling of options?
We started with two Empanadas (see photos). One was Ham and Cheese and the other Spinach and Cheese. Both were good and very full of ingredients. They may have been slightly over deep fried but it could also have been the thick dough.
A jar of Chimichurri Sauce was placed on the table. I loved the garlic flavor but thought it tasted more like basil than the traditional parsley and oregano.
The Gnocchi de Espinacas had the little potato pastas slightly overcooked but the sauce with pancetta was simply amazing. Overall this dish was more enjoyable than the typical Italian offering.
An entrée of Pollo al Blanca was very rich. The spinach stuffed chicken was big and flavorful and the cream sauce was really good even if a bit rich. The side of mashed potatoes was a little dry but flavorful and just the right amount of homemade lumpiness.
The flan was more firm than we like and the addition of a super sweet strawberry syrup (see photo) completely changed the flavor of a typical flan dish and made it rather undesirable.
Our waitress could have been more attentive. We had to ask for drinks twice and she didn’t really care we were new customers. For only having three tables of customers she could have been much more attentive.
The art within the restaurant was great. Seems it was all by one artist and changed out every couple months. The art would make me want to return to see the next batch.
The bathroom wasn’t very clean and the soap dispenser was empty. Makes me ponder just how clean the employees hands were.
This could have easily been a five star experience if the restaurant were cleaner, following food safety code, and had better service. I may return but will pay more attention to cleanliness and food safety before deciding to stay.

The Fugazzetta Rellena is so good, and the staff is very welcoming and knowledgeable. I will definitely be returning.

Chimichurri is a relatively small place located in the heart of pilsen. I’ve been there several times with my family and have had fairly good service. The waiter is always different, but they are pretty friendly. The menu is a bit limited, I have had the empanadas and pizza. They are very fresh and the chimichurri salsa is very fragrant and always tasty. I wish they offered more desert choices, the gelato is sometimes old and then there are cookies. It is also a BYOB place and has available seating no matter what time or day it is. I don’t think it’s vegan friendly though. Do recommend! ^_^

I ordered a pizza and empanada for delivery from this restaurant with GrubHub. I wish I had looked over these reviews sooner, because I was underwhelmed. There is no sauce on the pizza I chose (Deluxe), but I did like the crust (Argentinian specialty gourmet crust). Maybe if i had ordered what everyone else recommends (Fugazzetta Rellena pizza) I would have been more impressed.
The beef empanada was good and very fairly priced for the size.
I probably won’t be ordering from them again, as the price was fair but the pizza was slightly below average. They also had a $ 4 delivery fee, and were later than the latest quoted delivery time.

Can you say Monday through Friday, $ 7 for buffet? Not bad but what I will say is that the number of times are limited during the buffet. I guess it’s to «lure» you in, but so what– I am still trying to breathe after that lunch!
The two meats today were chicken and the other was bistek with various peppers and veggies. Extremely well seasoned and tender. The chicken also had a nice adobo seasoning that I still can’t figure out.
One of the nice things about this spot is that it was only 12 and we had great seats in the middle and of a small establishment, it really made for a nice and cozy setting. All in all I have to be honest so I will say this: if you are an Argentinian establishment, some soothing Argentian music sounds more authentic than Daddy Yankee or screaming Pit Bull. i enjoyed my afternoon but at so much that I feel a coma coming On.
Cash or credit card is accepted and I didn’t check I it was BYOB!

Chimichurri still edges out as my favorite local pizzeria, but it seems like in the last few months the crust preparation has changed… the thin crusts aren’t quite cracker thin anymore. Hey Chef, can we have that super thin crust back? Look at the first pic I posted here. THAT is a winner. Still delicious, though.

I ordered from Grubhub. After initially quoting me an hour for delivery, I got a revised time of an hour and a half. Props for updating me but I’m not that far. An hour and a half? Anyway, I liked their veggies being very large. However the pizza itself had a feel to me like Papa Johns or Dominos. It didn’t seem really made from scratch. I got the special one which was sausage, pepperoni, onion, mushroom, and peppers. The peppers were red. Not that it’s a big deal, but I was expecting green. The pepperoni was pretty thin and the sausage was bland. In looking at some of the pictures on Unilocal!,my pizza didn’t look like that at all. It wasn’t bad, but I think there are much better pizza options. I’d say very average pizza but not gross or anything. Knocking off a star cause of the extremely long delivery wait.

Food here is good. I’ve had delivery 3 times from here now. They only get 3 stars because of service. The girl answering the phone barley speaks English and its super hard for her to get the order right. Each time I’ve had delivery I’ve spent like 20 minutes trying to get her to understand what I’m trying to order. Chimichurri put someone on the phone that can get orders out accurate and quick.

I’ve been here 3 times– once to dine in and twice for carryout. I’m looking forward to going back for a steak dinner.
Food: So far, I’ve had their empanadas; the ham and cheese was delish! My husband loved the beef one. Also the choripan (a traditionalArgentinean sandwich made with chorizo) was really good too. What I found most unique was the Fugazzetta Rellena Pizza. Living in Chicago and married to a pizza enthusiast our standards are pretty high. It’s double crust pizza with ham and mozzarella cheese, topped with onions, tomatoes, olive oil and a drizzle of tomato sauce (we had to order more sauce) but overall it was good and very flavorful. A different take on pizza for sure :)
Service: On a scale from 1 – 10 I’d give it a 8. A little slow, but friendly. I think they’re still getting the hang of their space so I can respect that.
All in all — its definitely a breath of fresh air for Pilsen!

Just a note, the review is mostly about the terrible SERVICE.
1) They ran out of clean glasses, so the waitress told us it would be a 20 minute wait before we could get served tap water. Or, we had the option of just buying bottled water for $ 2 each. Are you serious? (My fault — this should’ve been an immediate red flag, but I stuck around because everyone was raving about this Argentinian place).
2) I ordered a spinach salad and asked her NOT to put the bacon in. She brought out the plate FORTY minutes later with a shit ton of bacon sitting on top of the salad.
3) We came here really wanting to try the pizza. Oh, but we never got a chance to because she apparently «didn’t know» we had ordered the deluxe pizza. Wait what??? We thought it was strange that the pizza didn’t come out with the rest of our food (especially since the wait for the grilled chicken and the spinach salad was long); but, we just assumed it would come out within the next 10 min or so. Twenty minutes into dinner I ask the waitress where the pizza is and she goes, «Wait, you ordered something else too? I didn’t know you ordered the pizza.» Were you not listening at all/​writing down the information when we were ordering? Oh right, no you weren’t.
The waitress at least offered to give us free gelatos, but I was honestly too pissed/​annoyed at this point to stick around any longer. Never coming back.

I ordered the Fugazzetta Rellena Pizza with Gelato. It was ok. The ingredients were fresh but they need to work on adding more flavor and ingredients. it was very very doughy. I also ordered the chicken empanada which was good.
Overall the price was decent and I would try this place again. Maybe I’ll go for the cracker style pizza next time.

I tried this place for the first time today and I can definitely say I’m going back! Had a spinach empanada it was good, I want to try the chicken next time I go. Had the sausage sandwich choripan, very tasty. Service was awesome, Angie is a wonderful waitress and checks on you frequently. Gelato was just ok, I could do without. Will be back soon to try their pizza and steak!

I am always excited when a new restaurant opens up in the area. Chimichurri is one of almost 5 new restaurants that opened up on 18^th St. in Pilsen recently. Yay me!
The signage outside reads, Steak, Pizza and Gelato. Lol
I’ll take one of each, thank you very much.
Visited for dinner about 6:30 on a Friday night. This place is BYOB. Love these kinds of places.
The Place– clean, quiet, could use some more décor for a more comfy feel but overall it was a nice place. It has those window that open all the way, that’s cool.
The Service– good server and friendly, bill was correct. We used our American Express. They took Amex. Some places don’t, that’s why I mentioned it. ;-)
The food– I ordered the Fuggazzetta Pizza. I don’t even like pizza but I read other Unilocal reviews and decided that sometimes you just have to say F%#*’ it.
The server explained to me that it wasn’t a deep dish, it wasn’t stuffed nor was it a thin crust. It is more like a layered pizza of ham, mozzarella, onions, olive oil and some tomato… and it’s not stuffed or deep dish??? Okay, give me one of those!!!
I loved the pizza!!! The crust was light and medium thick but not heavy. Perfect!
It’s the last thing on the menu I thought I would be ordering but so glad that I did. It was a 12″ (smallest size they had) and after two slices, the rest went into a box for tomorrow morning eating.
The BF ordered the house salad. It was very sizable and he thought it was tasty. He also ordered the steak with bell pepper and Chimichurri sauce of course. I had a taste and the steak had a flavorful marinade on it with a hint of spiciness. I would have liked it a little more red myself though. It was a nice sizable piece of thin steak for the price, it was accompanied by potatoes, and a piece of bread. The actual plate could be bigger, the BF rested his bread on my plate so he had room to cut his meat. Lol.
Dessert
Do not leave without having a scoop of their Gelato!!! I mean it. Walk right up near the register and pick your flavor. Not sure what flavor you want, ask to sample a few. You’ll be stuffed but you just gotta fight it. I had the Dulce de Leche, it was delish!!! Tired the Cherry ice and that was refreshing. There was at least 10 flavors to chose from so you’ll find something good.
I will be back, there’s more on their menu like calamari, empanadas and chori pan sausage. There are salads and sandwiches too. I am for sure going back for the pizza (and I don’t even like pizza!) and the gelato and bringing some alcohol next time. Did I mention to try the Fuggazzetta Pizza? ;-)

Ordered the deluxe pizza which had sausage, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms and green pepper. It was pretty tasty. The sauce is made of crushed tomatoes instead of traditional pizza sauce, which I liked. The dough is made in house and is great. The sausage is really yummy, and next time I’ll probably just get that on my pizza. The pepperoni was different from normal — I don’t know if it’s a special Argentine pepperoni or what. It was good, just different from normal. My dinner mate didn’t care for it.
The pizza was filling but light and didn’t weigh you down. I’ll be back for more, and I’d like to try the steak. They also have gelato, which I’ll be trying next time.
Also, they’re going to start delivery soon.