Rumba

I experienced Rumba before they moved and I had a Groupon for the Tapas for two with two drinks.
The Mojitos were very refreshing and made just right it didn’t taste like a mix… so I would say they have a great mixologist.
I loved when the Salsa dancers came up and start dancing then tried to teach us to Salsa, I can’t say I could keep up… lol, I don’t want to lie I had more than two left feet and when I tried to give up and sit down one of the ladies came and got me to get back up and try again.
Now, I still didn’t do any better but it was lots of fun.
We did end up buying a couple of more drinks and two more Tapas because we were still hungry… lmao
Although, I enjoyed my experience I won’t be back because it is a tad bit out of my price range to spend for mini dishes, but I wish this establishment all the best and I say everyone should experience this place at least once!

This place is CLOSED
I called and left a message on their answering system in regards to making a reservation first week of March… I emailed through their website in regard to making a reservation… I called the day that I just decided to go for it and drive out to check this place out. the phone saiid the number doesn’t exist!!! What. I just left a message a few days before. okay so I thought bad customer service and probably phone problems… Ive heard sooo many good things about this place I just wanted to check it out… We drive out to the place, the doors locked, the signs are down, demolition inside… Safe to say they are CLOSED… I just wish that their website would have told me this before I drove out!
I don’t like to give 1 star reviews but I was very disappointed! If they ever reopen I hope to improve my rating.

Unfortunately, I can’t comment on the food because I haven’t eaten there. I can’t comment on the drinks because I haven’t drinken there. I can’t comment on the ambiance, because I haven’t even stepped foot in this place. BUT I can say that I will never dine here. I have been calling Rumba for over a week to make a reservation. I’ve e-​mailed. I’ve left voice messages. No one answers the phone, and no one returns calls or e-​mails. Not a good business model, and not someplace I would choose to visit.
UPDATE: I was so frustrated, that I gave away the Groupon that I had bought for this place. Last night (Feb 29) was the last day to redeem the Groupon. My friends showed up without a reservation, and the place is CLOSED. They are reopening in July at a different location. Of course, this isn’t indicated on their website or on their phone system.

R is for removed. Yes, it’s in River North, but it’s a dark area of town.
U is for unload that piggy bank! Expect to spend atleast $ 50pp here for dinner.
M is for mojito. Yum, you gotta try one!
B is for booyah. It’s what you’ll say when you bite into an incredibly juicy churrasco steak. No booyah for the potatoes, which were underseasoned. The plantains get a half booyah bc they were satisfying, but not hot.
A is for ambiance. It’s all about mood lighting, live music, and energetic service.

I loved the ambiance, the music, the energy and the food. Not very impressed with our second round of drinks, which were very watered down — across the board for our entire group and the slow service. Our waitress took so long to come back after initially checking in with us that we ordered drinks, appetizers and entrees all at the same time, which made for a hurried dining experience. Other than that, we had a blast.
I ordered the crab cake and the empanadas, which were scrumptious — so flavorful and fresh. The salsa served with the crab cake was bursting with flavor and made with super fresh cilantro and tomatoes. The empanadas were fried just right, but I got one with beef filling, which was not mentioned on the menu. Good thing I am a «beef eater.» My husband ordered the volcanic seafood dish, which came with lobster tails, shrimp and mussels on a bed of mashed plantains. He got one mouthful of chicken, which seemed a little out of place in that company. But again, super flavorful and yummy.
For drinks I ordered the rumba punch and my husband ordered the gran marguerita, both of which were so good the first time around that we ordered round two. That was a mistake and money wasted. I could not taste any pureed strawberry or rum in my second drink. The same with the mojitos and vodka cranberry our friends ordered. When we told the waitress about the lack of vodka in the vodka cranberry, she told us that the cranberry juice was very thick! Wonder how that explains the lack of vodka, but anyway.
Another disappointment — the dessert. The coconut crème brûlée was cold, without the crisp layer on top (I forget the technical name for this) and the chocolate luva was mediocre with a too sweet frosting. Not what you would expect in a restaurant with such a lovely menu.
A word to the wise, later in the night, the exit and periphery of the dance floor seems to overflow with single, not-​so-​appealing men who made random statements as you walk by. A little off-​putting. so… with the good and bad all laid out for everyone to read, let me say that I had a wonderful night with good food and wonderful energy. A great place to go with a group of friends!

I love to dance, but if you saw me in the club, you’d keep your distance. I enjoy making geometric patterns with my hands and dancing spastically with a straight face. I’ve been told it’s very «German,» which is reason enough to stay off the floor. So when I was invited to Rumba, I wasn’t sure I’d fit in with the crowd.
Thankfully, the music was great and my dancing partner was gracious. I managed to pull off a decent merengue after studying the gorgeously-​dressed clientele for a few songs. I cautiously attempted to salsa, but I need a bit more experience before I take a partner. It has to be natural and organic to reach its fullest expression.
Rumba is a fantastic club with ridiculously kind staff. The coat checker even allowed us in without a cover charge, as we stopped in earlier before the dance floor opened. I enjoyed a number of perfectly mixed gin & tonics and felt more capable of Latin dancing than ever before. For an invert from Riverside County, CA, that’s certainly worth five stars.

It’s a girls night my girlfriends are still talking about. We arrived around 8:30pm, checked our coats at the door and were able to snag seats at the bar. The bartenders were amazing, part of the reason my gf’s still talk about our night at Rumba. They made amazing martini’s, kept our water glasses full, chatted us up about the dance lesson at 10pm to make sure we planned to get our butts out there and learn a few steps and were just plain attractive… well my friends would use other adjectives.
After sampling every martini on the menu (there were only about 4 ranging from $ 10 – 12) it was time to get moving on the dance floor. That night was pretty crowded and the dance floor wasn’t that big to begin with. It was like being at a wedding were everyone actually got on the dance floor for the electric slide or macarena.
The instructor went fairly fast, but it was the same 5 – 6 steps repeated in each dance and the next dance she taught built off some steps learned in the previous dance. The salsa, cha-​cha, rumba, samba, merengue, and bachata are all ones I think I learned (if learned is the right word)…it all happened so fast. When we took a break, our seats were still open at the bar.
Coat check, no cover if you get there earlier enough, friendly bartenders, good drinks, clean bathrooms, live band playing music all night, latin dance lessons and dancing continues well after the lesson ends… what more could you ask for?
Where would I spend another Saturday night in a heartbeat? Shakin’ my rumba @ Rumba!

I was feeling very anti-​motion or not feeling the rhythm you might say, when I woke this day. It felt like I was in a vast tundra when all of a sudden my date recommended Rumba!
It began well I ended up getting «rock star» parking in front even though I was fully prepared to valet but then a uneasy feeling occurred while walking up to the entrance. It felt like a club based the entrance and the overall layout. If there was ever a Afro-​Cuban feel, I guess this would be it. To be honest it does seems more like a club then a restaurant, the tables are even all set up on a dance floor except for booths which enclose the dance floor. Then the medium sized stage was ever so present. No worries from me about the décor but I was worried about the food.
The service seemed distant to me, not bad but not really giving that same energy as most places. Our waitress was at least smart enough to stagger our tapas (tables are small) unlike the table next to us who had a different waitress. They struggled to fit everything all at once.
So to recap, not feeling like movement, up for the parking, down for the décor, and about even for the service… I was back to stillness. Then the food…
It was a Groupon «special» menu, you got to pick from an array of tapas that were mostly different from the main normal menu. Might sound like a bad thing but I can assure you it wasn’t.
Queso Frito en Fuego– Chihuahua Cheese Rolled in an Herb Encrusted Breading then Skewered and Fried, Served with Chef Benjamin’s Fiery Dry Pepper Sauce and Guacamole. Whoa… What is that tapping sound?! It’s my hands tapping the table to a beat because these little suckers were brilliant!
Spicy Citrus Steamed Mussels– Three Quarter Pound of Fresh East Coast Mussels, Steamed in a Medley of Citrus Juices, White Wine and Cayenne Pepper, Garnished with Fresh Cilantro. Damn… Then the table was moving, I was asked «Nick do you have to use the washroom (you know doing the pee pee dance)?» I said no my feet, they are a movin & shakin!
Not sure what they called it but it was a Cuban flair pizza. The crust was a mix between Phyllo dough and Pillsbury roll-​out dough. The crust was layered and complimented the chicken, black beans, tomatoes, and avocado. Tasty… My arms just started swinging from side to side like they just didn’t care.
Then I took a sip of the BEST Mojito in the city. Suddenly I was up and my hips they were a shakin & jirating all over the place. If you could only see me now, I’m dancin’, I’m dancin’!!
So if you feel in a rut you need to RUMBA!
P. S. Also check out Saturday night for a bit of the salsa (non-​edible. Well, then again…) stuff and other nights for live music.

I’m a stickler for service, hence only 2 stars.
Food = EXCELLENT.
My wife took me out here for my b’day last night. We had reservations for 8 pm. Got there by 7:50. Yet had to wait 25 minutes (which I understand. Thursday nights are busy here but still, having a reservation and yet having to wait 25 min. Not sure I accept that.)
Service was VERY SLOW.
Our server was in my opinion was very rude in the beginning. We had a groupon for the place but had decided we’ll order additional things too. To start with, once the server noticed that we have a groupon, I felt treated like I was inferior. Kind of like a favor was being done to me.
Furthermore, my wife’s a vegetarian. He pointed out what our menu would be and claimed there is nothing vegetarian on the menu. Oddly enough, there were 2 items in a separate menu that had the exact same name with a «circle» next to them which indicated they could be made vegetarian. I questioned the server about this and he then said it has some bacon bits on the top but they can do it without it if we wish.
I understand that tapas meals are to be paced out relatively slowly. We got the first one after 30 min. The remaining 3 we got at once after nearly 20 additional minutes.
By the time we were done eating and ready to order dessert, it was 9:35. It became 9:58 and I had to leave cause I needed to add money for parking so told him to just cancel the dessert and bring the check. He said he’ll pack it «to go.»
BTW, when I entered the restaurant around 7:50, it was busy. By 8:30, the crowd had reduced by over 50% so I can’t even say that my server was «very busy.»
Food however was terrific but I won’t go there again because of the lousy and slow service.

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would.
Where do I begin???
I made a reservation for my birthday party here and had one of the worst nights of my life.
When I made the reservation, I asked if we could bring our own cake and alcohol. They said fine, but there would be a cake-​cutting and uncorking fee. I said fine, thanks for letting me know. End of conversation.
The night of my birthday, we all come and start ordering appetizers. We look around at other tables, see how big the entrees are, and decide to order just enough to split. Our waitress is useless – we need to ask her repeatedly to bring us water and bread. Some people at the table didn’t even have place settings or glasses, and it takes forever to get those, too.
When she finally comes to take our entrée orders, she then tells us that the restaurant’s policy is 1 entrée per person. I ask her why she decides to mention this now, after we’ve filled up on appetizers and already decided to split entrees. She tells me that when I called to make the reservation, that I was told about the entrée policy. I told her that nobody ever mentioned that to me. She continues I argue with me until I ask to speak with the manager.
The manager, Marianna, comes, and proceeds to argue with me. She says that she personally made the reservation and that she remembers telling me about the entrée policy. So I did a little test. I told her that my husband made the reservation and that if she told him, maybe he forgot to tell me. She said that oh yes, she remembers speaking to my husband and telling him that. Really, Mariana? I made the reservation, not my husband, and now I’ve just caught you in a bold-​faced lie. She then agreed to let it go and let us order how we wanted. I thought the matter was settled.
A few minutes later, she came back and announced that she’d changed her mind, that she can’t let the entrée policy thing go because we decided to BYOB and that the restaurant is already losing money because of us. Really? You’re losing money on charging $ 25 to uncork each bottle? Save the BS, lady. She then said that those of us who didn’t order their own entrees would have to pay $ 10 per person. Excuse me? Where did this imaginary charge come from? I was almost in tears at this point. I told her do whatever you have to do, but give us our check and wrap my cake back up, because we’re leaving. She refused to take off the $ 10 charge per person and threatened to call the police, so we just paid it and left.
We had a better time at home over tea and cake than we had at that sorry excuse for an elegant restaurant.
Readers beware!

YUCK!
First I must admit that we went to this establishment with a Groupon deal, but that’s now excuse for bad food and poor service. We purchased a Groupon for tapas and drinks, and well I guess that was too much for this place to handle. They had a «special» menu with a very limited selection of nothing more than greasy fried bar food. They couldn’t even get that right. Everything came out cold. I’m sure that there regular entrees may be a little better, but the quality of the food and service was so poor that I’ll never go back to find out.

Sin Sentimiento…
Porque vuelves a meterte en mi pensamiento…
Did someone say Friday night salsa dancing?!
Once I got over the $ 10 cover charge (alright, there’s a live band and a half-​hour group lesson at 10pm), it was time to make it over to the bar. Everyone in the bar was sipping either a margarita, mojito, or pisco sour, so mojito it was. Definitely not the best for $ 10, but I appreciated that the flavor of mint was balanced and proportional to the amount of rum in my glass.
One does not go to Rumba to be a wallflower, so it was off to the dance floor. The live band that evening was more merengue (complete with Pitbull [1] doppleganger) than it was salsa.
We were just getting warmed up, and then I was whisked away by a guy who was super-​passionate about dancing, getting me to do dips and all sorts of pro-​moves. For ladies who may be averse to having random guys pull them to dance — a majority of the men here are at the club more for the dance and music than to be skeevy. (Key word: majority.)
Shortly after bidding my Male Shakira farewell, the music switched to a DJ format. The venue began to get very crowded around 1am, so much so that there was little space to dance.
There is room for improvement in the coat check department. We waited patiently at the maitre’d desk (Rumba is also a restaurant), but there was no attendant. We asked a barback if he knew how we could retrieve our coats, as the coat check window was closed). He told us, with a slight attitude, that we had to wait. My friend, the super-​initiative waste-​no-​time young lady she is, barged right into the coat check area, where there was our attendant, just hanging out. Get to work, buddy!
What an incredible first Girls’ Night Out in Chicago! I didn’t think it was possible, but I’m actually making friends!
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This place is cool. The night I went with a girlfriend there was kind of a smooth jazz thing going on, which I wasn’t a big fan of. looks like they have different types of music, and live music is usually a plus.
However, the bar itself is good looking and seems to be full of pretty people. Nicely designed. I’d go here with a guy in the future, ‘cos it seems like a good place to make out in the booths — it was dimly lit with a sexy vibe.

Honestly, Rumba kind of has it all. If you go early in the evening, you have a dimly lit, quiet and romantic restaurant. Later on it turns into a high energy dance club, which you can read about from the other reviewers here, sadly we didn’t experience it the night we were there.
We went for my birthday and were seated in this huge semi-​circular booth that overlooked the main room. Our server was extremely attentive and personable, and brought us a treat after overhearing Andy talking about it.
My entrée was the Volcanic Seafood Mofongo, which was Shrimp, Lobster, Calamari and Mussels, simmered in a chipotle and sun-​dried tomato sauce, and served atop a bed of mashed plantains, crowned with julienne vegetables. This dish was excellent, and well presented. My only complaint was that the plantains were more «smashed» than «mashed», and there were some hard plantain bits mixed throughout.
We also ordered The Discovery, which was an appetizer sampler. This included an assortment of Beef Empanadas, Jerk Chicken, Coconut Shrimp and Vegetable Rolls, served with a Tomatillo and Pineapple Ginger Lime Sauce and Mango Glaze. Beautifully presented and delicious, my favourite was the chicken.
As previously mentioned, our server brought us a surprise at the end of the meal, and it turned out to be a slice of Bizcocho con Tres Leches. This is a yellow cake, soaked in sweetened condensed and evaporated milk and heavy cream. I am not much of a sweets person, but this cake was to die for. i would come back simply to order that.
All in all, pretty great. Thanks for making a lovely birthday celebration Rumba!

My friends and I will never be coming back here again. Came here for one of my really good friend’s bdays hoping it would be an awesome time and a fun experience, and unfortunately left extremely dissapointed. She had a party of like 14 people and it was super loud so we couldn’t really hear what was going on, the food was below mediocre and over priced, the place over crowded, but what really took us over the edge was the horrible customer service we received.
Half way through our meal, our incompetent server who we had to ask for bread several times, and just had a hard time getting her attention throughout the night, well she came up to us and said that every person is required to order an entrée. We ask her one simple question «why did you not tell us this at the beginning of the meal?», why is this being discussed when most people already ordered a bunch of appetizers and entrees. She then said she will bring over a manager, to which she brought a lady named Marianna who approached the birthday girl and was really rude telling her «rules are rules» and we apologized that there was some kind of miscommunication but she insisted that we have to have one entrée per person and weren’t allowed to share. Then I told her she is ruining our evening and that this is just ridiculous so she said she will let it go. 20 minutes later, she comes back to us and says «sorry, I just can’t let it go, there will be an additional charge of 10 dollars per person.» Wow, talk about rip off and a classless attitude. First she says she is letting it go, and then she comes back and changes her mind once agian being rude to the birthday girl, I mean who acts like that in a professional environment. She ruined all our night with her attitude, inconsistency and just plain rude demeanor, she lost the potential business of 14 future parties, we will not be coming back as there are many other delicious and fun places in the City.

Was well taken care of this last Saturday. There is no place, that I know of in the city, like Rumba. Live music, great cuisine and an attentive staff.
I am a seafood advocate and I have to mention the salmon. The only place, I know of, that actually has wild caught salmon. Does anyone know how harmful farm-​raised salmon is to consumers (all consumers, not just the top of the food chain) and the environment? Go to my other favorite website and find out.
I love Rumba.

The Poblano Chicken soup was outstanding.
Mojito was excellent!
I really enjoyed the atmosphere, but my server was not good at all. Ended up letting the manager know about him.

«And, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven» goes the count in the dance class at Rumba; a little bit of South Beach right here in Chicago.
We went on a Friday night (go early for dinner as the place is full by 10 if you don’t!) We arrived around 8pm and got a seat right on the side of the Brazilian wood dance floor. Sweet!
A couple of drinks later, our toes were tapping to the music of the live band that was playing everything from salsa to merengue to the love song of «Besame Mucho». I wanted to paint my lips red, throw on my sassiest dress and heels and be spun around the floor.
But for the moment, food was on our minds so dinner came first. I ordered the house salad (delicious with greens, pine nuts. goat cheese and balsamic dressing) and the sea bass with rice and tomatoes also very good. My friend opted for the bean soup (smelled great) and some lobster dish.
The only misstep of the evening was that our first course came out at the same time as our entrees. They sent the entrees back but it was apparent that they sat under a heat lamp until we were ready– and so they suffered in the final presentation. Oh well. Mine was still good– but my friend’s was just okay.
At about 9:45 they invite all new dancers to the floor to learn how to salsa. As the count of «one two three four five six seven» rang out over and over again, I noticed just how much fun the «newbies» on the floor were having as they laughed at themselves with even the men punching each other as men are prone to do every time someone stepped on someones foot, etc.
Finally, the big moment. After 10, the lights dim, the band comes back from break and it is salsa time! And I don’t know where the men are hiding up until this point, but they come out of the woodwork to ask you to dance with «no» not even being an option. If you don’t know how to dance, they will lead you. Tell them you are too tall and they say they like tall women (even though some could barely spin me as their arm did not reach high enough) Tell them you just finished dancing and they look so sad you just have to go back onto the floor. Wear your dancing shoes ladies as there is not an unpopular girl in the place given the ratio of men to women.
Know if you go that dinner ran about $ 70 with drinks (each) and valet parking is about $ 10. Also know that if you get there after 10 and are not planning to eat, there is a cover charge to get in the place.
Old, young, dancers and non dancers alike will have fun at Rumba. For where else in Chicago can you find a little hint of South Beach in River North? Oh– gotta run– they’re playing my song, «and one two three four, five six seven»!

Great food (ropa vieja), great drinks (mojito), great décor, great music, and great dancers. Another one of my «Let’s go get our groove on at _​_​_​_​_​_​_​» places.
Honestly, a place that is a hang out for the older, latin dancing gentlemen is a place for me. A lot of the older men are great dancers and can move me like I’ve never been moved before, not to be biased. This place has a good ration of young-​old and draws in folks from all cultures. The dance floor is roomy, the bar is large and is surrounded by a couple of TV’s. In case you’re having an off night.

TRUE story coming your way… highly irrelevant, but true!
Just knowing I’m going somewhere Latin-​inspired puts that special spring in my step… the special something being extra confidence!
So I’m walking to Rumba one evening and chatting with my best guy friend on my cell. I notice a handsome guy in a suit (maybe) noticing me too, and after a block or so, he taps me mid-​conversation and asks, «excuse me, but can I talk to you? You are ADORABLE!»
:slowly snaps Blackberry shut uttering something nonsensical resembling,“Bye, Bryan, something came up!”:
I turn to gaze at him with my best coy look, eyelashes fluttering and introduce myself. Guess what? He’s hot. And smart too. You can deduce quite a bit in a 6-​minute walk.
He walks me to my destination (don’t worry, we’re in River North with dozens of others walking next to/​in front of/​and behind us) and says he’d love to join my friends and me for a drink. Nice! Assertive. Then he asks, «is this a dance club?»
«Yep, sure is… salsa, later?»
The guy literally freezes and then runs off grumbling, «I can’t dance!»
Ah well, his loss! I love to dance. But it wasn’t always that way. A few months ago I quelled my dance nerves at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio and I’ve been a-​twirlin’ ever since. Or something like it!
This particular evening I visited Rumba for some Alex Cuba. I wasn’t drinking, I already had dinner and we didn’t end up practicing our salsa moves. Sounds boring, right?
Nope. Still fun. Even sans mojitos. And sangrias. And every yummy Latin libation under the South American sun. Remind me again why I was denying myself one of life’s delicious pleasures? Not doing that anymore… um, drinking is good fun :)
Everyone else enjoyed their drinks. I enjoyed the show and the pretty scenery. Really, Rumba is a looker. Four stars for now ’til she proves me wrong. But the crowd, the insides, and the one baby sip that I had? All spectacular.
To be continued. With alcohol, and minus the guy with two left feet, natch.

I’m a bit torn as to give Rumba a three or four star review, but I decided four is the most fitting for a place that is a glimpse back into the days of supper clubs, nightspots, ballrooms, and the like.
I was here with a group for a birthday party on a Saturday night. To begin, there are going to be far more people over the age of 35 here than you might think. Just because it’s in River North doesn’t mean it will have the typical River North crowd of aging ex-​fraternity members and cougars-​in-​training. You’re more apt to see well-​to-​do adults from many nationalities, plus some young adults as well.
Dress up here! You won’t find athletic shoes, t-​shirts and tank-​tops at Rumba. The place is decorated and laid out just like fancy nightclubs from years ago, with a 21^st century vibe.
The salsa dancing is a blast, but the small dance floor completely fills up completely, depending on what kind of dancing is being done. Open tables are nearly non-​existent here on a Saturday, so make reservations.