may st. Café

Yummy all over! Yes, we love this place a lot! Much better than Del Toro no megusta. Awesome, staff and great food. I would highly suggest that you come here and try the yummy food! Great date place!!!

Fantastic! Not sure where to start, everything was so delicious. I was there on Valentine’s Day, pre fixe menu. The appetizers were incredible. We had the quesadillas which had a great twist that made them stand apart from the usual. The pork in the lechon empanadas was super moist and flavorful, and the dough of the empanada was so light… perfectly done. We both ordered the bone in filet. What a treat that was, even the one that was ordered well done was so juicy. Both were perfectly seasoned. By far the best steak I’ve had, hands down! Vegetable and mashed potatoes accompanied the steak. I typically pass on the vegetables but these were prepared so well that I cleaned my plate. The dessert was trio which was the perfect ending to an all around wonderful meal. I will certainly be returning to try all the other menu options.

Often I don’t write horrible reviews but when I do its deserving. This place worth zero stars and if you value your time and money you will not go here. First I set up a reservation on OpenTable for 730pm when I arrived I was told there was going to be a party of 24 coming in and they didn’t have a table for me. First this place is super small probably could only fit 30 which to me makes for a very uncomfortable dinner either way. I was upset why let me make a reservation online if there was a big party coming in? Manager gave me and my cousin a round of drinks while we were waiting, fine. Then we sit down smallest table ever and order my cousin ordered the steak I ordered lobster tail. Tostones were good, we also tried a horrible cream of corn soup. Food came out my cousins steak was rare and he ordered it well done. My lobster was so tough my fork could not cut into it. Just awful. Basically sent everything back and left to eat somewhere else. Honestly this place is disgraceful and I would never return. Take the chance if you want to but there are so many restaurants with better ambiance, food, and service for similar price. Why waste ur time?

This place is a nice jewel in Pilsen. The food is delicious and the drinks are as well. I’ve had the cocorita and the strawberry passion fruit nargarita. Both were amazing. As for details on the food, i dined in during a pre fixe menu for Valentine’s Day Weekend and got to try a few different things on the menu. Nto start the shrimp croquettes were really good. Very small portion but as a part of a four course meal, perfect. The salad was good as well minus the goat cheese. (Strawberries, jicama etc) as for the entrée the allen bros petite bone in filet was perfect! The cranberry butter was a very nice touch and the sides were solid. (Mashed potatoes and a veggie medley). The dessert was a small trio featuring the white chocolate flan and dulce de leche. It was very hood. The flan was very rich so i only needed just a taste and the dulce de leche was my favorite in this sitting.
I will say the service is pretty good as well. Servers were voth quick and polite. Also accommodating. I tried to come last week with reservations on open table but the venue closed early but treated us to drinks and dessert since we had just missed the kitchen which was a nice touch and made me want to give the food a try. I was not disappointed.
As for ambiance, sets the mood with good music and candelight in a small intimate setting. A rare find and i will definitely be back.

So sad. It has some level of potential but it is yet to be realized. The service is terrible. The wait staff will say demeaning things in Spanish. (Duh. There are lots of Spanish speakers in Chicago.) I would never go back. There are too many other places to go in Chicago where the treatment of customers are better.

Well, what can I say… another great dining experience.
This time we started with the guacamole; so creamy and rich — and the chips were perfect. The paella was so good we got another order to take home!
And the white chocolate flan? Heaven on a plate!
Thank you Mario, Carlos & Lupé for another great meal.

This place is a hidden gem! I’m just getting hip to this fabulous establishment. My dinner companion and I visited this restaurant the day AFTER the advertised Restaurant Week dates because they continue the RW saving through ²⁄₁₂!
Ambiance: We walked in the place to find it completely empty on a Friday night. Ok by us bc it felt like a private dining experience. The place was quaint and dimly lit.
Food: Fantastic! We had the 3 course meal for $ 33. We started with the Butternut Squash soup which was pretty tasty. I would’ve added a touch of salt, though. The ribeye was the next course and it was cooked to perfection and seasoned very well. Flan was the final course and quite delicious especially considering I typically don’t like it.
Service: Our waiter was attentive. It took some time for our soup to come out but the waiter said it’s because everything is cooked fresh.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and I just might go back before the RW special ends.

Free parking, excellent value and portion for 2016 Restaurant Week. A different entity from the May St on Grand that closed long time ago.
MENU — brunch is a better and interesting menu. Dinner is standardized with Loop/​Michigan Ave [high!] prices. Notorious for changing the ingredients of printed menu without notification.
ALLEN BROTHERS — my first steakhouse that acts like a spokesperson without the licensing fee. Pretentious? It’s good to know that May St supports a local Brickyard business, but the local butcher is sustainable as well.
MAY ST WINTER GREEN SALAD — a delicious busy salad (sautéed pears, blue and grape tomato, garden fresh herbs, spiced nuts and berries with a fresh herb pineapple champagne balsamic dressing). A meal in itself. The flavors do complement each other.
RIB EYE STEAK — great flavoring with so so meat quality. I was looking forward to the mushroom side that was replaced with sparse grilled veggies.
WHITE CHOCOLATE FLAN — the creamiest, heaviest flan I ever had in a way that two small slices is all you need.
DRINKS — great price ($ 8 – 12) and ingredients. GUAVARITA is unique. It may have too much ice, but it melted and blended well after meal.
SERVICE — Gloria is endearing as she calls everyone «princesa». Feels like you are in Disney World.
On the other hand, the Male Specie who answered the phone has serious issues. I called to ask about the 2^nd course menu — steak, fish, chicken or veggie? Huffy and puffy when I asked what Pina De La Playa meant. Who serves pineapple as a second course? Ridiculous when he told me to check the menu online while on the phone. Why bother re-​reading the published menu if it was changed? He took my name and phone number for reservation that was never entered. Despicable Person!
VENUE — severely cluttered. Table by the door is cold as there is NO curtain and cold air comes in whenever the door is opened.

Was curious to try this place a few weeks ago because it was on the OpenTable list for Restaurant Week, and I’m up for adventure. Though being in the middle of an industrial expanse which is deserted at night, if has aspirations of grandeur. Service was super personable and attentive, rather formal and proper. I was sad that they were out of chicken mole, so I ended up with a steak which was decent. The online menu seems pared down from what was presented me, which seems like a good move if they are going to avoid running out of things. They made me a very delicious virgin margarita, not on the menu. I will probably go back to try the brunch.

The food and drinks are creative but seriously over-​priced. I grew up with mole and the chicken mole michuacan was over-​salted and had a bitter aftertaste. The chicken itself was overlooked. And I really hate a margarita mix margarita passed off as authentic. But I could forgive all that if the mole wasn’t $ 21! Much better Mexican elsewhere at that price-​point. And a lot at far more reasonable price points.

I came here with my mother and a friend after work. The food was just okay and very overpriced for the quality. All of our drinks were extremely weak, especially the ‘May st house margarita’. We had the queso with chorizo, which was greasy in the middle and hard around the edges. The environment, however, is decent. I think it’s a good spot for friends after work or even for a nice date. I also enjoyed the guacamole. Overall, I’m glad to have given this place a try, but there are much better Mexican restaurants in Chicago.

Went to May Street Café on New Years Eve had the $ 50 prefix menu. This included four courses the first course was a tilapia ceviche it was very fresh and not fishy at all. The second course was a pumpkin and cranberry soup it was delicious. For the third course I have the lobster with a side of mushroom risotto and steamed vegetables my wife had the bone in filet which was also served with mushroom risotto and steamed vegetables both main course is where cooked to perfection and was very very good for dessert we had the flan it was a small bite but just enough our friend had the chocolate cake which was light and equally delicious. All in all great romantic restaurant small but very personable felt like I was eating in someone’s house. Oh and off street parking and good mix drinks. Reasonably priced. For this caliber food.

Had dinner at May St. Café for the first time and I was exceptionally impressed by their amazing customer service (specifically Juan Carlos) and their food portions. I shared a paella with another person and there was still plenty leftover. The drinks are equally amazing and will most definitely go back. The owner stopped at every table to make sure everyone was okay and this level of customer service adds a personal touch to all guests. Most def five stars!!!

First time and had an Excellent dinner! Started with the quesadilla — yummy, and a glass of Cabernet. Wanted a good steak (missing Carmichaels) and was not disappointed. Also tried the paella — made to order — and it was so good! Okay, I have to agree with some of the other reviewers, they did not have some of our first choices, but being open minded we chose something else and tried a new wine, recommended by Juan Carlos; it was better than what we wanted (and no, it was not more $). The staff are friendly and warm and the chef, Lupé, is talented. We will definitely be returning to try other options… but I would be very happy to just have the paella and a glass of wine! (We sat inside not on the patio.)

We wanted this to be good — we all like Allen Brothers, and we all liked Mexican food. But unfortunately, there was some big missteps here that I really can’t get over. I’ll start by echoing other people’s comments — they run out of lots of stuff, from entrée items to the alcohol they need to make signature cocktails. Just seemed odd.
We ordered the brie and pear quesadilla, which was pretty good, and the guacamole. I liked the guac: lots of lime, not a lot of onion, but unfortunately, the chips they brought were quite greasy… and to boot, their fryer oil was old and trending towards rancid. Not good. I kind of suspected it and then finally got a chip that might have sat out a little long and that burst of bitter oil flavor was pretty unpleasant.
For dinner, I had a small ribeye, which came out thin and nicely cooked, with good beef flavor, but it was unfortunately very over salted. It’s kind of tough to get a steak oversalted for me, but this succeeded, perhaps owing to its thin-​ness. Other diners had petite filets, which were inexplicably cut in to very small pieces. Not quite medallions, but small chunks that were then also over-​seasoned and a little improperly cooked.
I just wanted better. There are so many places to get a steak in the city that my tolerance is low when it’s not well done, and I have to say, it would take me a lot to go back when I think of all the places I know I can go to get a good steak. I was hoping the «Mexican» angle would be a bonus here, but it’s unfortunately overshadowed by the mistakes.

French double cream Brie and pear is just amazing! We ordered two because we could not get enough. Ceviche is great. Good drinks, ambience is pretty small and intimate. I love that this is so close to my neighborhood a solid 4 stars

This is hands down one of the (if not the) best restaurants in Pilsen. The menu is what you would want from a high end cuisine restaurant. Every time I’ve been there the owner has made me feel very welcome and has even bought my wife and I deserts and drinks. He is a good guy who had a great vision of a Latin Fusion restaurant and really adds to the soul of the neighborhood. If you are looking for a nice intimate spot, this is the place for you.

Run don’t walk this charming restaurant in Pilsen!
I am never surprised at how good the food is here. Mario is a genius!
I can’t begin to mention what I like best.
The quality is superb!

We returned to May Street Steakhouse to celebrate My Wife’s birthday, ⁰⁹⁄₀₄. I was so impressed our first vist with the excellent quality of their food, that I have been ordering from Allen Brothers. Whatever you decide to order, Executive Chef, Mario Santiago, will create your entrees to perfection.

I am not sure what to rate this restaurant. I did not understand why when you call in for reservations mind you no one is there please let the customers KNOW that you only serving on the patio and is HOT as hell so you are going to sweat like a sauna. The patio is on a busy street right next to some contraction place of some sort and is going to be flys all over your food. I was so disappointed because I was invited so I tried to stay as calm as possible and NOT complain because I was soooooo HOT and I needed a fly swatter. The server was very pleasant. Actually there was only one server that had to goggle everything
I order Lechon asado the neat was already green in color it smelled terrible my date told me to reform it but I figured this a Latin fusion place I probably not going to get my money back or if I order something else and send the dish back I don’t know what I am going to get back. No I did not eat it. I tasted the Lechon got back home with the most terrible stomach ache ever.
The margaritas tasted terrible no I will not return here sorry but I had a horrible experience I wanted to sit in a nice cold place not in a inferno

Honest review (not good) to many problems would summarize this place for starters this place always runs out of shit like always i think thats annoying. It was really hectic like we walk in no hello no hostess just awkwardly standing there the inside is really nice but the inside is closed so we have to sit outside fml the patio is really pretty but it was so hot outside not to mention its chicago so hello to the un invited flies that wont stop coming. The bartender omg if texting was her job shes be a billionaire cant put down her phone to save her life did i mention the drinks were garbage like if u cant make at least 1 good drink dont bother having a bar waste of money. The saving grace was the waiter she was so nice like she gave us a total of 4 drinks of all the problems that kept coming up like running out of food, being supper hot like she was amaizing all in all u could tel understaff the dishes were way to ambitious cause there were serious execution problems i wouldnt come back best mexican food libertad or mexique libertad is cheaper n best tacos bien trucha best things were chorizo mac n cheese, fajitas, flan i been here 3 times before just for flan it has jus really went downhill
Brie n pear quesadilla: really interesting it comes wit a chipotle sauce n sour cream that really enhance the dish its really good but problem the brie was really bitter to the point where i didnt wanna eat it anymore i believe either a crappy cheese or they used the Rhine which is bitter for what u pay for it was really expensive for basically nothing n the fact that it wasnt good
Truffle mac n cheese with chorizo: this was outstanding not as amaizin at kumas corners but it was great it was cooked perfectly not over not under then the flavor of it was outstanding really delicous then the chorizo wasnt burned n wasnt to spicy just perfect order it i couldnt really taste the truffle oil whenever i see that something has truffle in it i like it to be alot not jus a drop! love the rendition of like a latino mac n cheese
Escargot with strawberries: really interesting it didnt work for me it was one note of sweet and sour from the straberries it was really a cute dish though the escargot needed more done to it it was to plain it needed salt also a really rich savory sauce would have been perfect for a sweet n salty thing goin on
Cinnamon chipotle fajitas: so different and interest it was really rich and delicous u could really taste the cinnamon i never had anything like this it was wonderul one of the best fajitas i ever had. The chicken wws so tender like literly melted in ur mouth no knife needed omg it was the best dish of the day coulsnt be happier its a must order!!! It comes with rice beans n roasted vegtables the rice was the best condiment it was really good
Lechon asado: omg this was horrible horrible i coudlnt even pretend it was good it had no flavor what so ever so extremely bland like no salt or nothing its literly like they boiled pork n put it on a plate then it was extremely hard u could tell it was old like this was a waste of money
Chocolate lava cake: omg worst one i ever had its bascially a plain chocolate cake with jus cheap chocolate inserted into it (hershey syrup probably) so it was extremely bitter did i forget to mention the cake was old like supper dry if u blow on it itll diseapear the ice cream idk if it was home made just tasted like normal icecream nothing special wouldnt order again worst cake i ever had
White chocolate flan: it wasnt as good as i remembered it idk if its cause it was kinda old n the texture was off kinda hard or too much canela n cinnamon on top it was great but it didnt taste the way i remember really disappointed

Drinks were good. The waitress brought the wrong drink to us and we didn’t realize it until we took a sip. We told the waitress and she acted like it was our fault. My bf said he’ll just take it and we still had to pay for it.

Horribly over priced food! Fine dining prices when nothing in the restaurant calls for such. I had a 10oz. Ribeye which was WAY over seasoned and salty not to mention very over cooked. Service was OK but NOT fine dining service. These guys have something here but unfortunately its just not what they think it is. I’ve eaten better steak at Steak and Egger hands down!

I lived in Chicago for 33 years so I’m not sure how I missed this restaurant but I’m glad I found it. The food was well flavored and satisfying. Our party of three dined towards the end of the evening (90 minutes before close) but the service was never rushed. We had quesadillas, peppersteak fajitas, Abuela Ines’ Chicken Con Mole & May Street café & pineapple margaritas, a strawberry mojito, and poached per compote.
The chef and the owner treated us with a complimentary desert that he was hoping to add to a future menu. He seemed genuinely interested in our opinion.
There’s a patio with a view of an industrial park well past it’s prime but the food and flavorful margaritas are a good distraction from the unfortunate view.

I had high hopes when we went on a wednesday evening. my best advice would be — dont go on wednesday night :(
–they didnt have the appetizer we ordered.
–they didnt have 2 different beers on the menu, but brought out something else thinking i wouldnt notice… «oh we’re out of that»
–we wanted so badly to try the white flan. they didnt have any.
our server didnt have much menu knowledge or people skills for the job.
ugh.
that being said, what we did have was pretty good. maybe theyre strategy was to get us to come back for the items we actually ordered?

I so wanted to love this experience. But it was just okay.
Décor: Intimate
Service: Painfully slow, but there was only one server in the whole house. She was delightful and working her butt off (and was charming). I blame the slowness on whoever was scheduling servers.
Food: Okay. I was very excited about the brie and pear quesadilla as it was promoted as a best bet. Meh — next to no flavor.
Overall, it was a fine experience. But with so many wonderful choices in Chicago, they should step it up.
Price: very reasonable.
Unfortunately, I won’t be back.

Fresh tasty contemporary Latin cuisine in an intimate cozy space. The charming personable servers are delightful but not intrusive. Executive Chef Mario takes the time to personally walk the floor and welcome you during your meal.
Everything is home made and exquisitely flavored. We started with a fresh guac, outstanding house spicy tortilla chicken soup, followed by a slowwwww cook pork shoulder and shrimp scallop dish in a steamed coconut rice served in a pineapple.
Killer house Margarita’s! nuff said.
Private lot and easy street parking.

Disclaimer… I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, Latin flavors, or spicy stuff. I came here with a group from the office on a colleague’s recommendation. I’ve never ventured into the neighborhoods of Chicago beyond downtown/​near north, so driving through Pilsen was quite an experience. The exterior of this restaurant? Sort of eerie, especially when it’s dark and the middle of winter.
I was pleasantly surprised by the interior of the place. Cozy and welcoming, but a tad too dark for me. The service was outstanding, everybody was warm and inviting.
I’m incredibly picky when it comes to my mojitos, they’re usually too sweet or too tart, but the strawberry mojito was on-​point. Actually, it was probably one of the best mojitos I’ve ever had.
To start, we ordered guacamole, queso fundido, Caesar salad, truffle mac ‘n’ cheese, and a couple of other plates. As a main dish, I split the shrimp pasta with a colleague. Holy guacamole, everything was beyond delicious. How does a place like this have the best truffle mac ‘n’ cheese I’ve ever tasted?! I don’t even know.
I don’t have a complex palette or array of descriptive words that foodies use to describe their culinary experiences, but let me just tell you: the food at this place is damn tasty. And the service was great, too. I ended up taking the shrimp pasta to go and gave it to my dad to reheat for his lunch the next day. He, like me, doesn’t really like Latin foods, and was super hesitant about the dish. But that day, I received a text message from him telling me it was delicious. Who knew? I recommend May Street Café without any hesitation.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, the white chocolate flan and lava cake are to die for.