Playing hookey at the Mambo Grill

This afternoon my wife and I played hookey, took the afternoon off, and went for lunch to the Mambo Grill. The weather was gorgeous here today—sunny and temperate, with a slight breeze and we took advantage of this unusual (for Chicago) set of circumstances to make use of their outdoor seating—a few tables out on the sidewalk. One of the great things about restaurants with outdoor seating is that you can bring your dog so my wife, Tally, and I piled into the car, headed downtown, and had a wonderful time at the restaurant, one of Chicago’s premier Latin restaurants.

The food was fabulous, the setting was pleasant, the service was attentive (made even more so by everyone’s interest in the very well-behaved Tally). I started off with a mojito. and we shared a small salad. My wife had the Crispy Roast Pork, pulled pork with mashed potatoes and roasted creamed corn. I had the Lomo Horneado, pork loin accompanied by mashed sweet potatoes and boniato gratin (Cuban-style mashed potatos). As a finisher we shared a flourless chocolate cake with a sweet chipotle sauce. We rolled away from the restaurant, happy and drowsy.