Samba Room

Love the spot, great people, staff is so fun and funny food is good but nothing new. lite a fire under the chef Pros: great drinks, cheap happy hour lots of fun Cons: menu never changes more

We started with some great mojitos for happy hour sitting right on Lao Olas, with real sugar cane. Moved into the dining room lit with candles and a great ambiance. The best arepas and a well done civiche to start dinner. We tried a flight of Latin Malbec wines and ordered one of the flights for dinner. The skirt staek was amazing, ask for a side of tomato mojo to dip the shoestring fries. The other dish was a special, must have, whole fried yellowtail snapper stuffed with rice. The fish came whole to the table head and all but, had no bones. We soon found out that this was a special most nights and were limited each night. Worth the drive. Don't forget the ""sweet endings"" mini dessert samples, and the cheesecake lollipops. We were able to valet right next to the restaurant for $6 and was able to walk around Las Olas for the night and came back to our awaiting car. Just so happens that it was a beautiful evening and Samba will see a return from us much sooner than later. Pros: food, drinks, parking more

OK, so they had some difficulty getting our check in order, but the shrimp tempura, empanadas, snapper &... more

OK, so they had some difficulty getting our check in order, but the shrimp tempura, empanadas, snapper & salmon were delicious... and our waitress ... more

OK, so they had some difficulty getting our check in order, but the shrimp tempura, empanadas, snapper & salmon were delicious... and our waitress ... more

Don?t let the image and decor fool you. The only latin flavor here lies in the name and the music piped through the insipid audio system. What they refer to as ceviche is a completely raw compilation of miscellaneous fish met with a 'dash' of lemon. What could have been a wonderful cut of chilean sea bass was deep fried ala BK, and accompanied by drizzled grease for decoration. The paella- an unimpressive collection of 'sea food' in the mushiest rice I've seen outside of a Gerber jar. And the service... our waitress made an appearance to take our order, returned well after the appetizers were served to bring our wine (the wrong, one of course), and I had to have the nearest bus boy charge my credit card in order to get out of there before the kitchen closed elsewhere. If this place was reasonably priced, I might consider the food and service moderately poor- however, the absurdity is that this combination of tasteless cuisine, poor attempt at chic presentation, and inapt service comes with a painfully high price tag. Pros: the night can only get better after this... Cons: food, service, presentation more

Don?t let the image and decor fool you. The only latin flavor here lies in the name and the music piped through the insipid audio system. What they refer to as ceviche is a completely raw compilation of miscellaneous fish met with a 'dash' of lemon. What could have been a wonderful cut of chilean sea bass was deep fried ala BK, and accompanied by drizzled grease for decoration. The paella- an unimpressive collection of 'sea food' in the mushiest rice I've seen outside of a Gerber jar. And the service... our waitress made an appearance to take our order, returned well after the appetizers were served to bring our wine (the wrong, one of course), and I had to have the nearest bus boy charge my credit card in order to get out of there before the kitchen closed elsewhere. If this place was reasonably priced, I might consider the food and service moderately poor- however, the absurdity is that this combination of tasteless cuisine, poor attempt at chic presentation, and inapt service comes with a painfully high price tag. Pros: the night can only get better after this... Cons: food, service, presentation more

I went here for my anniversary and it was wonderful. I had been here about 5 years ago, and it was everything I remembered. I love the lighting, and the curtains. The food was great and we had a very knowledgable waiter. We took his recommendation on the appetizer and was very pleased. The mini desserts were fun. I would eat here again but probably not a regular basis. I don't eat out much so when I do, I like to try different places. Pros: Ambience, wait staff, mojitos Cons: a tad on the noisy side more

The food and atmosphere are good, but the Maitre D was the pits. He was rude and unflexible. We had a dinner party of 14 and all were not there at the time of the reservation. Needless to say he actually yelled at a few of our guest and we should have left but we had to wait on the other guest. Overall... pass on it, not worth the hassle. Pros: Atmosphere, Nice price on drinks, Bartenders Cons: , Maitre D, Maitre D!!!! more

I was here back in January, and had a delicious lunch there! I recommend the calamari appetizer, which had a cilantro-mayo dip that was delicious! And they give you a HUGE amount of food. I had the strip steak which also tasted great. And the manager treated us to mojitos (light rum, lime juice, mint, and sugar cane) -- which were extremely refreshing and light. I wish I could come back in the evenings for the salsa dancing and happy hour. It's such a fun, hip atmosphere, and you feel like you're sitting in Havana with the beautiful mural and groovy Latin beat playing in the background. I found out there is another location in the Chicago area that I hope to check out soon! more