Review Carnivale - Chicago

This place is awesome. The service is on point, the atmosphere is so fun and colorful, and all of the food absolutely delicious. Chef even came to check how the food was. I'd definitely love to come back here. I'd love to see one of the performances they have.

such an amazing experience the place is so beautifully decorated & the staff was very friendly, quick, & kind. The food was amazing!! So much flavor, their menu has a number of options as well as halal options! The music and ambiance was very warm and refreshing. The food took little to no time to come the service was so fast!!

We came here to celebrate my daughter’s 16th birthday. Everybody had a great time. The food was decent. The service was great. Their desserts were delicious (especially the chocolate cake). This is the type of restaurant you should experience. They also give us complimentary cotton candy and caramel popcorn.

Overall 3.5 stars. The ambiance was very cool and the server was great (he was having fun, felt like he enjoys his job). The food was ok (over salted for my liking). I'd give it another try.

Food was delicious a bit pricey but overall it was good. This place is beautiful on the inside and outside! Very colorful and inviting inside. Couldn’t help but keep looking around at all the colors,decorations and pictures! Music was great. Our waitress was great very nice and attentive and mention great food recommendation. The Ropa Veija was my favorite! They also have valet parking as well.

The atmosphere was the best part! I felt complete awe while walking around, so colorful with a vibrant energy! Our waitress Geneva was incredibly sweet, upbeat and recommended delicious dishes! Started with some drink, i will say i DO NOT RECOMMEND the Cotton candy martini. Tastes like someone ate a lot sugar then spit into your mouth. But the presentation was cute. We were beyond impressed with our meals! I got the Brazilian churrasco which had so much flavor and my bf got the lobster paella which has SO much, there was leftovers 2 for meals! And who doesn’t want leftovers of amazing food!? For dessert we had the tres leches which was a full on presentation and display!! It was awesome to watch! And my bf got the chocolate cigar which i actually enjoyed a little more than the tres leche if you’re a chocolate person! Overall such a great experience and had a wonderful time! Will definitely be returning!

The food here was amazing!!! My server did an amazing job explaining all of the different plates! Also what he would recommend! Over all the place was an amazing vibe! Perfect place for a special event. My wife enjoyed it. Plus it was her bday. Which they recognize! Awesome job guys!!!

Everything was WONDERFUL! I brought my bf here on a date and it was everything I could have hoped for and more. The food, drinks, staff, and atmosphere was really amazing. I will be back when I am in town again! Food recommendations would be the seafood rower for two, cotton candy martini and Tres Leches which was so delicious.

This is one of my favourite places in Chicago to take out-of-towners to! Every serve we have gotten has not only been top-tier, but so friendly, funny, and welcoming. The food is nothing shy of excellent either, I’ve been here a couple times and every new thing we try has been amazing. The portions are always large, and the different flavours never fail to surprise us. It can be a little pricey, but only because you’ll want to try everything on the menu! Cannot recommend this place enough!

Located near Fulton market. Restaurant does offer valet parking which is great because you don’t have to waste time searching for a park. Take a few steps of stairs to enter the dining area. The setting and ambience is very nice, not super fancy where is stuffy but just really nice. I had a party of nine and we were taken care of very well. Our server was Óscar, and he was very attentive to our large table. As a bonus, we had the privilege of meeting chef Carlos and the owner Billy, who were all extremely nice. There were a variety of dishes ordered, and not one complaint. the cotton candy martini was amazing and so was the Caipirinha. Highly suggest those for drinks. We had several appetizers, but I must say these shrimp quesadillas are by far the best out of any I’ve ever tried. We ordered lamb, paella , with and without meat, seafood platter. Everything was delicious and I highly recommend this establishment.

The food was fair enough and the desert was Great. I've had bigger bang for the buck but with out a doubt this place has charm. The atmosphere was beautiful colorful and welcoming. The service was top notch attentive but not over the top. My family and I had an outstanding experience.

First visit in the longest of time. Went for brunch, with kids, so totally missed the evening Carnivale vibe but loved the interior/decor. The food was really good, and plentiful! Planning to go back for dinner or the Drag Brunch!

Absolutely Gorgeous Place Downtown Chicago All Staff were Excellent Waitresses And Waiters Super Friendly And Knowledgeable Of The Menu Food Is Amazing Atmosphere Amazing It’s Hands Down A Vibe

Me and some friends went there to celebrate her mother s birthday. We had a reservation and we were seated within 5 minutes. Our waiter Sebastian was excellent! He took our order without a pen and paper. Excellent memory on that guy. We ordered the appetizer it came quickly and then we ordered our entree and the food came out so fast. I loved the music and the atmosphere. It was a fun experience. Well worth the money we spent.

Had a fantastic night here with my partner for our anniversary. The place is beautifully decorated , extremely colorful, just has such a fun chill vibe and there’s so many photo ops! Our waitress was impressive and so friendly and attentive. The food was wow especially the appetizers the calamari it was well made, not too salty like other places! Great ambiance, easy to have a conversation as the music was not overbearing, and was lovely chill music! My partner had the salmon and I had the seafood paella for entrees and those were cooked to perfection. Had a fantastic anniversary date night here. Only reason I’m docking one star is I had reached out to carnivale weeks ago about doing something special for our anniversary ie decorating the dessert with happy anniversary or even a free dessert, like other restaurants do. They acknowledged they would but when we got there and through the night nothing was acknowledged. Wasn’t a big deal but would have been nice as my partner likes those kinda things and would have appreciated it. But that didn’t dampen the mood, it was an overall great night and will definitely be back!

My group of three arrived at this beautiful entryway of a restaurant! I love the colorful and lively, yet refreshing, painted floors and walls. Our reservations were for 30 minutes later, yet we were seated right away. We were met with our server quick enough for a Friday night. She checked on us just enough times. Not too much, and not too little. She was pleasant and made great suggestions, which can be helpful when you're an indecisive person like myself. Two of us ordered of the Chicago Restaurant Week menu. I ordered the chicken croquettes, which were way better than expected. The sauce that's it home! I wish there was more or that they were larger. My main course was the Boliche, which was a cut of pork loin on top of a bed of plantain chutney. My only complaint is that the pork was slightly dry but overall super tasty! My dessert was the coconut cheesecake, which I'm not sure that's what I actually got? I didn't get any notes of coconut, and the sauce was supposed to be pineapple, and I'm pretty sure I got mango. Although it was still delicious. I was impressed with how the staff was on top of everything...such as clearing our table of plates, water refills etc. The ladies' bathroom was super clean and fun to visit. I would absolutely love to return, especially if there is a show involved! I can't wait! Thank you for a great experience!

We had a work dinner at this venue and it was wonderful. They had a private space right off the main room with curtains that allowed access to the greater restaurant with some privacy as well. The servers were so kind and attentive. The food was truly amazing and with our private event/menu set up in a very easy to serve family style way. On top of that, there was impressive live entertainment. Definitely recommend!!!

Just an FYI...the show is every Thursday between 7-9pm. We missed it by a day (we went on a Wednesday). We plan to go back again for the aged steak on a Thursday to catch the show.

We attended an anniversary party here and had a nice private room toward the back. Our food had been ordered by the party host and hostess so I can’t say that I had a choice of my entree. I actually was unsure of what each platter that was passed around the table contained, but it was good. Some items quite spicy, which I definitely enjoy, and most platters held a combination of food such as meat, vegetables, rice, grits. Each platter was bit like a big casserole. I was told we had pork, salmon, Amish chicken, and beef. First course was a sweet version of calamari and a kale Caesar salad. Churros and cannoli for dessert. The atmosphere was festive and fun and the service was fantastic. I’d like to return to order from the menu and read about exactly what else is offered. I would definitely recommend Carnivale as a place to celebrate almost any occasion. Great location too.

I had been to Carnivale for diner and had like it so when I saw they were having a mother’s day brunch I was excited to take my whole family (total of 7). Little did I know that brunch would be your regular breakfast food like at local breakfast restaurants. I never thought the buffet would not have some of the traditional food that Carnivale is known for. It was too expensive for eggs and bacon and waffles and not a good representation of the actual food they serve. For me Mother’s day brunch would have been so much better if the food wasn’t Americanized as it was. I could have just gone to IHOP for much cheaper. I would strongly recommend changing the brunch to include at least some items that they are known for like ropa vieja, empanadas etc. It’s fine to have the omelette station but it should not be what it is for the price that it is.

Was there last night for my hubbys birthday. Atmosphere was great, the dj was jamming, everything looked beautiful! The food although was a hit or miss. The steak, nothing fantastic. The lechon was ok , not at all like home cooked penil, but the grits were to die for! Yucca dish was very good! We had two appetizers, the ceviche tasting was soooo disappointing! BUT the ropa vieja appetizer was very good (was recommend by our waiter) nothing knocked us off our feet but nothing was un eatable either 😂 hope this helps.

Last night was my first time visiting. I loved the atmosphere but the service could have been so much better. The appetizers was good! We ordered the coconut shrimp and chips & guacamole! It took some time for our drinks to come, we actually got our appetizer before our drinks even came. We ordered our food and the waiter must have forgotten to put in the order because after we finished our appetizers, he stopped by 20 minutes later to asked did we need anything else...yeah our food. Of course we ordered dessert, I wanted to try the cotton candy that everyone was enjoying and the key lime pie. He took our dessert order, brought our receipt and never came back. 30 minutes later we flagged him down and asked what was going on with our dessert... he ran to the back came back 5 minutes later with our order. Our reservations was for 9:30 and we did not leave until after 11:50. We got our receipt at 11:09 and we didn’t get our cotton candy until 11:34. I guess because it was organic they had to extract the sugar from the sugar cane themselves. We spent an hour eating and an hour and some change waiting for food. Won’t be going back to this establishment anytime soon.

I came today for my friends birthday!! I order the cotton candy martini the ropa vieja appetizer and then The Lechon for my food! The waiter insisted that it was better then the arrachera I kept going back and fourth but he told me it was the better choice ! Well the food comes out and it just looked disgusting i didn’t want to eat it cause it just smelled and looked weird and knowing myself i knew i couldn’t eat it !! I told the waiter and he said i could bring you something else 5 Mins before closing ! I said no it’s okay i didn’t eat it and i was still charged lol for it !! Even after telling him that his recommendation was terrible ! And also the whole 6 cards only for a party of 15!!! Is insane !! Please fix that

I wish I could give more stars but a review should be honest. I gave 2 stars because I love the way the place is decorated. Beautiful bold colors, nice pictures, unique pieces throughout etc. However, after that it all goes down hill. I visited this establishment because my daughter was looking for a nice place to celebrate her birthday celebration (private). My daughter loved the place so we decided to have lunch so we can taste the food. It was 12:20pm. I had another engagement at 1:30, but since it was lunch I knew I may be a little late but not that late. Upon sitting down we were given guacamole and chips. Guacamole wasn’t the best but it was ok. We immediately ordered because we knew we had somewhere to be. By now it is around 12:35. We order off of the restaurant week menu. At around 1pm we were served our salads. I found it to be a long wait for just kale salads but that was fine. We figured our entrees will be following soon. Soon we noticed it was 1:20pm and we still did not have our entree. Mind you we ordered our food upon sitting down. Also, others have sat down way after us and they were served their food as we were still waiting. We motioned the waiter and he said it was on its way out. 10mins later still no food so we motion the waiter and inform him that we had to go so, he could box the food to go and we needed the check. I also requested for the manager. Now it’s 1:45 still no food, no manager and we were finally given the bill but it’s the wrong bill. I’m like what is going on here. The waiter brought back another check but it was still wrong. Me and daughter figured maybe they were taking some things off for the bad service so we just paid for what they had on the check and left tip. However, we still did not have our food. By now I go up to the front to ask for a manager. The waiter FINALLY comes back with the food bagged but we were still missing our deserts. With Restaurant Week, you get an appetizer, main entree and a dessert. Finally the manager came and we expressed how disappointed we were with their service. He listened but didn’t listen and just said, “lunch was on them”. This was very disappointing because my daughter was very impressed with the place and was really considering having her party there and now she doesn’t know. Also, we tried to eat the food shortly after in the car (we were starving) and with one meal (skirt steak with rich and beans) was awful. The beans were hard and the steak was tough and chewy, and with one of the dessert’s it was a very small piece of cheesecake as though they ran out and just gave me what they had left complained to the other one (me and my daughter ordered the same desserts) Not only was the service terrible but the food didn’t leave much of an impression either. You would think that service for lunch in particular would be a little better; I mean it’s lunch. Everyone doesn’t have hours to take for lunch. I have eaten at this place before and I don’t recall the food being bad so, maybe this was just a bad day. Either way, I guess I am glad it was on the house because it wasn’t edible anyway. I had to throw it away. The very small piece of cheesecake was good though. Very good actually.

I’ve been to this place many times, always enjoyed myself! Tried happy hour yesterday, never again! Service was rushed, the menu was VERY limited & the advertised “Pride margarita “ was not available! Due to the history though, I will go back.

This is my second time there the drinks were amazing I order arrachera I order medium rare when I got my plate as I was cutting it took my first bite I notice it very chewy I wasn't satisfied with the i was very surprise cause I've had it before and it was good and the pork wasn't the greatest either had a dry taste but other than that service was great.

Atmosphere was great And the waitress was very tentative to our request bud sadly that's all the positive all could say, the food was a huge disappointment and the drinks are badly made its priced reasonable for the location and decor but the food is just not up to par sorry.

Beautiful place , good food and entertainment . One downnside is the service . Our server was always in a hurry . He got the wrong order coz he was in such a great hurry and did not pay attention to what i said and he was annoyed that i told him that he gave us the wrong dish . Perhaps more servers will help . But the experience can be fun .

I had a birthday dinner with all my girlfriends and the service was amazing, the food was great, and the whole entire restaurant was amazing. I will definitely recommend it to everyone.

The place is amazing! We had a wonderful server and very professional. The manager was awesome helping us use the elevator so my wife can still use her scooter. The food is amazing as well.

This best part was the very polite waiter we had. The ribs I ordered were tough and over cooked. The margarita was watered down. The slaw and corn bread...not good. I will come back and try something different. If I don't like it, I won't be back.

I loved every bit of this place!!!! Please try the salmon with black rice omg!!!!!!!!�

First time here for Mother's day brunch.. the decor was amazing.. the food was ok. Can't wait to visit for diner.

Absolutely love Carnivale. I’ve been many times and have never been disappointed. Attended the Murder Mystery Dinner last night. We had a great time and the food was delicious as always.

Amazing service and food! Everyone was so kind and welcoming and the food was great! Will be back!

Abeyance, attention to decorating in multiple color and delicious food make this one of my favorites in Chicago. The grandma traveler.

Great food and ambiance as always!! Jerry our waiter was awesome!!

It was a great experience!!! My kids of all ages enjoyed their buffet and activities that were there for small children!

Food was delicious. Service was great. Best brunch i ever attended. Will do it again.

I like the place,the interior is spacious, clean, very unique & welcoming. & the food was great especially the appetizers & the service was excellent👌🏻 I’ll be back for sure.

Sabrina the coat check attendant was very gracious in making one feel welcome everything was okay was there for a private party

We went for our anniversary dinner! Food was amazing, great flavors.. deserts Terrific. Left completely stuffed

Good place to have dinner Food was good Service needs a little improvement

This Place is just Awesome!!!! If you haven’t been you are sadly missing out. Everything about this place is just Perfect. Will be back for more celebrations �

The food was 2nd to none! We were there for a dinner event and your staff really made us feel at home!! Thank you!

CARNIVAL Restaurant April 14, 2018 Music and food- food and Music combine with Roc, a wonderful early evening of dining. We started with the photo booth and then finding a table. From a wall for two, to a balcony for two, we are ready leave, and Roc point to a table on the main floor. Away we went. The appetizers were very good although the calamari was very good, not hot. The guacamole was very good GUACAMOLE Chunky avocados, cilantro, chilies, onion, garlic, lime, fresh corn chips also without the tomato cumin,and onion that graces our guacamole at home. The conversation with Maria was over the top. We talk about Red Light, Vivo(17 years) and Marché former restaurants on west Randolph. She worked at all of them. Then we speak Tim Griffin the general manager about the decor that reflected Red Light. The ceiling in the main area is 25-30 feet. The main course was a real dining with Baby kale, house-made caesar dressing, gochujang paint, sourdough croutons, shaved parmesan cheese kale Cesar salad Leonard had rack of lamb (Wood-grilled lamb rack, pastel de yucca, lamb ragout, butternut squash, Closed Loop Farm greens)..... Now to the end the meal was the key lime pie. To top off the night Brandon Ramsey knows my neighbor for high school ..... Brandon worked with use to find the table .. We will reruns with the posse ..... The music really move the event.... the music was high energy..... This was a wonderful, uplifting , and great time.. Woooooooow...💎💎💎💎💎 Shalom

First time going and I loved it. Great vibes great memories made. Loved how colorful it was. Just put u in the mood to have a great time. Food was great, service was amazing!!!!! Must check it out if u around the area

I love the place and the food and drinks

Too awesome, I had the best time ever!