Mango

Mango is a cult classic for those who dig a little south-​of-​the-​hemisphere flavor. Imagine the best salsa verde you’ve ever had (grandma’s secret recipe), flavorful, fresh seafood ceviche and life-​changing desserts. Between me and three family members, I think we ordered at least 8 rounds of the salsa verde and asked for more to-​go.
Mango is a great option for those who have plans downtown or want to celebrate a special event at a unique location. Every member of my family had their birthday there last year, if that’s any indication of our obsession.

Unilocal helped us to find Mango. It was the first time we were eating Peruvian food. Such a lovely experience. We sat at the bar and had mojitos with the plantain chips (love them) that were served as bar munchies, while we waited for our table. In no time they got us seated in one of the booths. The dining part of the restaurant is nicely spaced out and decorated well. Our server was a young and pleasant lady who helped us learn the pronunciation of our dishes. We ordered the grilled chicken skewers for starters and as our entrèes, I had the Chicken in the creamy walnut and parmesan sauce while my husband had the pasta tossed in pesto. My dish was more flavourful and tasty. For dessert I ordered the chocolate cake which was a little dry and my husband had a sorbet which was ok. I would like to come back here again and try out the other dishes.

This is my go to spot but last night (was a draft sitting in my box… this is from April) my service was not typical of the usual. It was Saturday and kind of busy. We waited like 10 mins after we were seated for our waitress to come over so yes we had time to look at our menu. She came over and asked if we still needed time to look at the menu and we said no but she still walked away? Okay so we finally flagged her down to get our order and I ordered an appetizer called Solterito and let me tell you, it is a party in your mouth! From the tangy citrus dressing to the crispy fried potato strings… everything just meshes together so well. Dont tell anyone, but I actually ordered another one because it was sooooo good lol must try if you like quinoa. Im not a big fan of the new location. The old one looked better inside but its def still Mango. Food is still great!

The burger was juicy and had a lots of flavor. I was extremely surprised how delicious it was. Chips & pesto was a good start to the meal.

My first visit to this place that I’ve wanted to try for a long time. When we sat it was explained that the owner is part Peruvian/​part Japanese since there was some sort of mass emigration a century ago to Peru. It was explained to us (almost too long of a speech which I am generally not a fan of servers doing) that everything was authentic and we then proceeded to run down the drink and food menus.
For drinks, I got the Pisco Sour and my wife got a Mocktail of a Mango Mojito… they can turn any drink into a mocktail fyi.
We decided on the Causa de Salmon app — served cold but decent and certainly big enough for two people.
Entrees were the Lomo Saltado and the Pescado a la Chorillana. The Lomo was positively awesome… every single thing on the plate was delicious, my god I could eat that rice and onions for weeks with no problem. My wife’s fish was equally as good according to her.
Skipped dessert because I was too full, but it’s a beautifully large space, and for a Monday visit it was very busy, apparently there’s a convention in town.
The service was a bit lacking I must say as there were long periods where water went unfilled and plates weren’t cleared. I would still go back for that Lomo Saltado it was phenomenal.

I enjoyed my dinner here, and was very satisfied with our dinner choices. I look forward to future visits here.
Drinks — Sangria and caipirinha were both delicious.
Ceviche — oversized portion, but it’s priced for its large size. Ours had mahi mahi, shrimp, mussels, and octopus, with chunks of sweet potato on the bottom. The mix was delicious and we thought it was worth the price.
Aji de gallina — chicken in a complex yellow pepper nutty cream sauce served with rice on the side. I love strong and bold flavors and thought that the dish could be a little more bold with spices. It tasted just a tad muted but still delicious.
Lomo saltado — the beef tenderloin was very well cooked and tender. It tasted more traditional Chinese than Peruvian Chifa perhaps because the sauce wasn’t as vinegary. But hey who am I to nitpick when I scarfed this dish up? Overall, it was great.
Plantain chips and salsa verde were immensely delicious. We couldn’t get enough of them throughout our meal.

This place was busy. We sat at the bar since we didn’t want to wait. The tostones with the salsa verde was very good. We ordered the chicken soup and the fried seafood and Yuca dish. Both very well made. For me, the fried platter needed a sauce to go with it. The ceviche looks very good, I will definitely try that next time.

My first time to Mango was a couple of years ago and I loved it then. Upon my return to the new location I am not as impressed.
Empanadas seemed to have been baked and reheated in microwave to order.
Staff was not very I knowledgeable about wine or specials.

The service was slow and the food was good but not worth the high prices. There are several other restaurants in the area that have much better seafood that doesn’t taste like it’s been frozen for as long.

In town for a few days so as usual, checked Unilocal for tasty options nearby. Once again a hit!
I stopped by Mango at around 330 so I dined on the lunch menu. They have an avocado vegetable salad that was simply amazing. Half of a fresh avocado piled high with what they call a «creamy vegetable salad» on a bed of greens with a light citrus dressing. The flavors were complex but delicious.
Then for a main course a dish with tender beef tenderloin, stir-​fried with sweet onions, tomatoes, lots of garlic and Peruvian spices. This is also served with a garlic infused rice that was simply amazing. (Especially if you LOVE garlic)
On top of all that they serve fried plantains with a house made salsa verde that again is full of flavor and has a great kick.
All this for about $ 25. Great food for a great price, only surpassed by awesome service. If you find yourself in St. Louis, especially downtown, Mango is a must on the foodie list!

They have a nice Latin Peruvian menu here, they have many quality traditional dishes served Ina wonderful atmosphere. Has a upscale feel, but not too much of upscale prices.
–Plantain chips and their salsa to start off with was very delicious and hard to stop eating.
–Ceviche rotates, had the halibut one. Has a lot of flavors in it and may be different from others you’ve tried. Definitely try this, one of the signature items of Peruvian cuisine.
–The empanadas where more calzone dough like, very nice touch.
–Had a chicken dish with a cream type sauce, it was very good.
–Tried the traditional steak and fries dish which my wife got, the steak was excellent.
Good place to go if you want to try a different style of Latin food that you really don’t find in many places.

Really delicious. Just the type of place us DC residents were looking for. This is an upscale (but still casual) peruvian restaurant. Most peruvian cuisine we have experienced have pretty much been holes in the wall. All very good, but this was a much nicer experience.
When we arrived we were given some plantain chips and salsa verde. The salsa verde was SO good.
I ordered a sangria and another eventually. It was really very delicious as well.
For appetizers they had a chicken wing special. The wings were amazing! The server really sold us on the wings by telling us how amazing they were so we ordered some. They really needed to be on the regular menu all the time. My husband has been talking about those wings and how he could just go sit at the bar and eat those wings again!
For an entrée I chose the lomo soltado. It was really very good. The meat was so very tender. I have had lomo soltado wasn’t as saucy as I have had… but it was still very good. I also ordered a side of plantains. They were really very good.
We checked out a dessert menu but in the end just didn’t have the room for it.
Service was great. Some great recommendations by our waitress. Check this place out! You won’t be disappointed.

Great food, nice atmosphere, friendly staff.
Menu has a lot of great options without being overwhelming and the Peruvian flavors are a very welcome change of pace. I had a beef tenderloin special that also cam with brussel sprouts, shrimp and some kind of potato au gratin type item. Everything was very flavorful and well prepared, however the 3 shrimp were a bit small for a $ 35 entrée. Overall a good experience and will return.
Also, the place is huge — looks like they can definitely accommodate large groups.

Sweet Plantain dessert with cinnamon ice cream: 5 stars– this is amazing. Get it!
Quinoa salad appetizer: 5 stars — I don’t usually like quinoa but this beat my entrée.
Aji de Gallina: 3 stars — good dish but nothing special for the price. Tastes similar to the inside of a chicken pot pie. Serving size is enough for 2 people
Mango sour: 4 stars
Empanadas: 3 stars — tiny portions and nothing special

Mango is one of my favorite restaurants in STL for lunch, dinner, and happy hour. The food is consistently good and the ambience is always trendy/​pleasant. I cannot get enough of the plantain chips with dip that they serve right when you are seated (they’re free). The service can be spotty, however. There have been two or three times when our server wasn’t attentive or the wait time for our food was ridiculously long.
Happy Hour: I love the happy hour specials here. It’s hard to beat $ 5 drink specials, $ 16 pitchers of sangria, and $ 5 appetizers/​small plates. The passionfruit martinis are delicious and I have nothing but good things to say about the small plates on their happy hour menu. The pitchers of sangria don’t look very big, but I think you can fill 6 – 8 glasses easily.
Lunch/​Dinner: I like to order the jalea mixta (fried seafood), empanadas, and various grilled skewers for sharing. My favorite items on their lunch and dinner menus include the Causa de Salmon (potato cake with salmon), the Ají de Gallina (shredded chicken in a creamy sauce), and the Pescado a lo Macho (Roasted mahi mahi).

So, I love love Peruvian food. I spent some time down in Peru and the history, culture, and people are so beautiful. In addition, Peruvian food has a lot of fusion flavors (lots of Chinese/​Japanese influence, Spaniards, and many others). Chifa’s or Peruvian/​Chinese food is very common down there — so I was slightly sad when they didn’t have one dish (that is soooo common in Peru and a lot of Peruvian restaurants I have been to in the States have) to show this fusion. But– this place truly deserves 4+ from the service to the food in STL.
Pros:
1) Free plantain and verde salsa chips. And it was delicious. Ask for more!
2) Lomo Saltado — This is the Peruvian staple. Beef tenderloin with rice/​veggies/​fries. I absolutely loved this dish.
3) Aji de Gallina — Another chicken Peruvian staple, but this was very rich for me. Be aware that there are nuts in this.
4) Solid plaintains
5) Delicious Quinoa salads and all there salads are very circus based and refreshing — especially the Ensalada de Palta (lots of avocados!)
6) Mussels has delicious flavors
7) Service was generally excellent. They split checks here and what I appreciated is they even split a birthday girl’s bill among 13 of us. Much appreciated. They even had Happy Birthday Menu’s Printed for us!!!
8) Great Pisco Sour — the peruvian drink to get
9) Beautiful atmosphere and reasonable price for a semi-​upscale dining experience.
Cons:
1) No Chicha morada. Where is my purple drink damn it?
2) Parking. There is no lot, but there is a $ 5 lot around the corner and I did not see any valet for a weeknight. In addition, there are relatively a large amount of meter parking.
But honestly, I understand why most people love love this place. Especially if you have not had Peruvian food– you must come here. And if you have had Peruvian food– there are just a few things missing from the experience. I will def. come back again and next time– I need to make sure I get the ceviche.

We came here largely for the ceviche but were also happy with the grilled meats and skewers.
The ceviche was obviously the star of the show. Ceviche de Pescado came as a sublime starter. Cured fish teamed with mussels and shrimps, speared with fresh onion slices and sprinkled with toasted corns. The fleshy cuts of halibut (or sea bass I’m not sure) soaked in tongue-​tingling leche de tigre were very well thoroughly marinated and the lime juice was amazing. Perfectly sharp acidity, tempered by sweet-​potato chunks, with an excellent kick from the chili. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves ceviche and leche de tigre.
All dishes we tried were carefully crafted, playful and imaginative. I sampled Saltado de Langostinos. Jumbo shrimps sautéed with sweet onions and tomatoes, nicely matched with a rice dune garnished with sliced pepper slices and corns. The dish was enjoyable. Waiters with a warm smile. Amazing service and handsome décor.

I can’t believe I have never reviewed Mango, one of my favorite restaurants in STL! You must try the grilled beef heart on skewer, the Ceviche Mixto, and the signature Peruvian dish Lomo Saltado. Really you can’t go wrong with anything here. Wash down your food with a Pisco Sour or its fruitier cousin Mango Sour. If you like ginger beer, get the Chilcano too.
The restaurant is beautiful, airy on the inside, with some patio seating. It makes for a great celebration dinner destination. Service is not always consistent but the food makes up for it.
Peruvian food is never cheap. Go to a decently-​decorated Peruvian restaurant in any city, you will likely have people complain of high prices. But if I’m getting cold-​cured fish, I would rather pay a little extra $$$ to make sure it’s fresh and properly-​prepared.
Last but not least, I have been to Peru and have eaten at many Peruvian restaurants in my travels, this is still one of the best Peruvian places in the United States. For people who like to use qualifiers such as «good enough for St. Louis» or «good enough for the midwest», no, just no. Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to label an entire city or part of the country as having unsophisticated taste buds? Get off the high horses already, seriously.

Soy peruana y suelo ser muy exigente con la comida (sobretodo si es peruana). Mango no sólo tiene un lindo local, si no que la atención es muy buena, el personal es amable, la presentación de los platos es excelente y la comida es riquísima! 100% recomendado para aquellos peruanos que extrañan el sabor de casa!

I’ve been meaning to try Mango for, like, ever. Oh man was it good!
We came for a really early dinner at like 4pm (or in Hobbit-​ese, first dinner). Had our pick of tables. We waited 6 minutes for anyone to even great us at our table, which, given the fact that the restaurant was nearly empty, was a little irritating, but ok. I got the sangria, which was really good. I decided on Saltado de Champinoñes with rice. It was a good portion size! And it was really great. I liked that there wasn’t an abundance of rice, just the perfect amount. And so many vegetables on a plate just makes me so happy. BF got the Langostinos al Ajo Pasta, which was ok. Not bad, just was expecting more… something. For dessert we tried the mango ice cream. It was amazing. No would would blame me for going in and ordering like 8, all in one bowl please, for lunch. I never even knew I liked mango, but now I know!

Situated in the middle of nowhere, sorry St. Louisians, I am not use to everything being so far apart, I Unilocaled a Peruvian place and decided to give it a try.
They started me off with plantain chips with green sauce. The green sauce had a spicy kick to it and tasted good.
I had the ceviche, that day it was red snapper fish, it came with the famous Peruvian corn, yummy. The dish resembled the ceviche I had when I was in Peru, so it was damn good.
I had the garlic shrimp, they give you five shrimp and the garlicky sauce was flavorful, and yes I don’t care that I will have garlicky breath for the rest of the night.
I also had the yucca fries, I have not tasted bad yucca fries, pretty hard to mess up. If I am ever back hear, this will be on my list to go to.

Fancy place in downtown St. Louis. The waiters were very knowledgeable, and spoke very elegantly. I asked the person pouring my water for recommendations. He gave me a description of his favorite 3 dishes but then told me that my waiter would be here to answer additional questions. Didn’t realize he was just the water boy.
It was a pricey place based on portion sizes. The empanadas apps was miniature for $ 6. I went with the Lomo Saltado based on everyone’s recommendation, and it was pretty good, but again, the portion size didn’t do it for me. It was delicious though, but not worth the high cost. I would have paid $ 10 for this, even though I know it probably wasn’t $ 10 worth of food.
They’re really going for this really boojie type of atmosphere, but the quality of food isn’t all there. There might be some St Louis bias in these other people’s reviews.

Overall, I enjoyed Mango. I had to marinate on this for a while because my feelings were rattled by a few things during the experience… I realized I was being petty and it shouldn’t be reflected in this review.
Anywho, our server was very nice (slow but nice) (forgetful but nice.) She made great recommendations and had a pleasant personality. The new space is gorgeous. Located on Washington across from Prime 1000 now; so do not go to the old building expecting to get in. Parking is hit or miss however there’s a lot in the rear or meters along the front and side streets. I went on a weekday and valet was not available. Spacious with plenty of room to spread out. There is a private area for groups wanting a little more exclusivity.
I enjoyed the plantains tremendously and the Grouper Ceviche was superb. The mussels were decent; much too tiny and not as plump & juicy as I would have liked. I wouldn’t go back with the intentions of ordering the mussels again for sure. I also tried the Parmesan Truffle Polenta which was mouthwatering delicious. Oh! Almost forgot about the Mango Sorbet with Quinoa. don’t leave without it.
Thank me later,
~Christy