D'Candela Restaurant

You already know I’m always looking for the next Peruvian joint!!!!!! This place has been on my list for a while. Simply delicious, and taste just as it would in-country. Cev and chicha exactly as it should be, and the empanadas were >>>>> Hasta la proxima. 🫶🏾

This place breaks my heart. Back when they were on Kedzie years ago, they were THE spot for Peruvian food – authentic flavors, perfect lomo saltado, always packed. Now? Just another restaurant serving low-quality, microwaved-tasting meat. I ordered their lomo saltado and got boiled, flavorless meat with zero wok-seared char. What happened to the kitchen that used to care? To make things worst, they sneak in an 18% autotip now. For what? Lazy service and food that’s a shadow of what it once was? The only decent thing was the alfajor – and no, one decent dessert doesn’t excuse this mess. RIP to what used to be great. If you actually want good Peruvian food, go somewhere that still respects its customers and its own legacy. Never coming back.

The menu has a lot to pick from. If you’re not familiar with Peruvian cuisines it can be a lot to take in. Would have appreciated a little Insight from the server.

Good Food,Little better service would be great.Priced reasonably 👍🏽

I am not complaining about the food and price ! It’s all worth it ! But $33.00 for the tip when all she asked was what we want to eat and brought the food to us it’s too much! I think by you paying tip it’s because the waitress deserved it.. but $33.00 just to ask what I want to eat!! I think it’s too much… we were not even offered to get dessert or anything .. I will not come back sadly.

I visited today for lunch. It was my first time and I was very impressed. The food was so tasty and delicious the restaurant was super clean. The server was amazing.

We went on the recommendations of a TikTok influencer and loved everything. My friend ordered a dis neither of us had tried before, but ended up both of us ordering 2 each to go. Our waiter was patient and told us the ingredients of each. Thank you for the welcoming atmosphere and food. I asked if I could take the cook home!☺️♥️👍🏾.

Yes the reviews are true. Be careful. They will add the tip on top of the total from the tax! Scam. Unfortunately, this wasn't my choice to eat here. Yes I still paid the extra $10 of the $40 tip (total bill $200) not making a fuss about it with my teenage kids at the table but I pointed out with them so they are aware of it. It's about the principal. I know another latino restaurant that does this and that's why I decided to do my math. It's a shame. BTW the food is mediocre. Over priced. Not worth it.

OOOoooOo weee. Talk about tender chicken. Fall of the bone. We ordered a large Aquadito soup. Heads up it's only served Friday - Sunday. Not going to lie, I was nervous. I'm not a big cilantro fan at all. But this was delicious and very flavorful. The best way I can describe it is herbed chicken and rice. Second we ordered a whole rotisserie chicken. FALL OFF THE BONE TENDER. And very well seasoned. So good. Two sides come with the meal. We selected beans and sweet plantains. Both were great!

The food here is AMAZINGGGGG! So flavorful and huge portions. I got the steak and rice with a side of mixed veggies. The steak was favor seasoned and a huge portion for a decent price. Some of the best Peruvian in the city!

Rock solid, reasonably priced food. Clean, comfortable, casual atmosphere. Friendly, fast service. Usually order the 1/2 rotisserie chicken... it's $15 and comes with a choice of 2 sides. It's always cooked and seasoned perfectly. This is a great spot for a quick midweek meal...

Came by for dinner. Ambiance was pleasant, service was great and food was above expectations. The green sauce was note worthy. Attention to detail was the theme, the sweet plantain were caramelized to perfection the red onions that came with the cilantro rice were pickled. The chicken was delicious and cooked thoroughly. Definitely a repeat type of establishment, serious bang for the buck.

We've eaten here twice, once in the restaurant and once for pickup. It's been delicious both times. Food and service were both great.

Great authentic Peruvian food. Ordered online and always ready by time estimated. Online pickup area.

We ordered take out on a Friday evening that took entirely too long; more GH's fault than anything but overall-not the fastest. Food arrived cold and was over 20 min late past expected arrival time. The food in itself was pretty tasty. However, I warn you that it's heavily egg based. There was hard boiled egg in their carne empanada and egg on top of the steak dinner we ordered. It was egg overkill. Steak was a bit too salty. Overall. Average. Probably better in person. Free delivery was a still a good deal but pretty overpriced for what you're getting in my opinion.

For those that have never tried Peruvian, it's worth a try. My sister's BFF is Peruvian and her family visits anytime they are passing through da Chi. The other day we ordered carryout for a group of six. Ordered several entrees and a whole rotisserie chicken with sides. Desserts too. All members were full and best, we had lots of tasty leftovers. I don't think we had anything spicy if that should matter. They offered different options for sauce with our purchase. Cost for food was moderate, didn't break the bank and ate to hearts content. The restaurant is an exposed brick, casual type of place. Akin interior to any "new build" type restaurant /strip mall style.

Very authentic, high quality Peruvian cuisine here! I visited with this place with my Peruvian friend. She is very picky when it comes to Peruvian dishes, and I have been to Peru and I know what is real... and we both enjoyed our meal here. We had causa and papa de rellena as starters- and they were both great. Papa de rellena is time consuming to make, so I just like getting them at restaurant-highly recommended if you haven't tried. Causa rellena is a layered appetizer that looks like a desert- and almost too beautiful to eat! My main dish was chaufa with fish, which was a huge dish and it ended up being both my lunch and dinner. It was a Monday and this is one of the very few Peruvian places open that day, and I am thankful we got to try it. Service was friendly and we had such a great time!

When it comes to Pollo Ala brasa nobody has D'Candela beat. Whenever family comes from out of state the first thing they want is pollo so our first stop is always here. Embarrassingly enough this was the first time I had something other than chicken and I have to say Ive definitely been missing out. My tallarín verde was honesty so delicious and perfect to soak up all the alcohol and sorrows from Peru's devastating loss earlier that day If youre new to Peruvian food definitely get ceviche and lomo saltado to start then branch out from there. Trust me it will take a while before you'll be able to try everything we have to offer

First time having Peruvian food and it's amazing. The sauces and spices were so good. All of my friends loved their dishes. The Tamal was one my favorites along with my pain dish of pollo saltado. Loved the French fries mixed in and they soaked up the sauce, so good. The staff was so helpful and friendly, helping us figure out what to order and eat, we wanted really authentic and they helped pick just the right food for us as well giving us a Peruvian drink to try!

My sister and I wanted to try something new, so we agreed to this place. The service was ok, nothing special. The food was just ok or didn't have the flavor of Peruvian food. We did like the fact it was byob. Other than that, it wasn't nothing to brag about.

Best Peruvian food in Chicago area . The pollo a la brasa was so authentic same like we had in Peru long time ago . The service also was amazing .

Ordered delivery during peak COVID era. Overall, I liked it! ATMOSPHERE/ARCHITECTURE: N/A/10 SERVICE: 9/10 Service was fast, utensils and napkins were included. Win for me! FOOD: 8/10 Jalea Mixta - 9/10 - Mix of deep fried seafood delights, I found almost everything in here well cooked and seasoned. Picante de Camarones - 8/10 - Rice dish with good flavored sauce and shrimp which I found enjoyable as well. Combinado - 6/10 - Rice pudding desert type dish that was only "okay" to me. VALUE: 6/10 Probably slightly below average value with the Jalea Mixta being on the expensive side, but that was the best dish. PROBABILITY OF RETURN: 8/10 Would definitely think to return here again. TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT: Worth a shot. OVERALL: 8/10

Great food we had the Aji de Gallina and Suddo de Mariscos. Both very flavorful with generous portions. And a Maduros side for dessert. Sufficiently attentive service with good guidance. Pleasant atmosphere with plenty of patrons to give it a bustling energy. Already looking forward to a return visit.

Good Peruvian food! We had the chicken, sides, dessert (alfajores) Service, we had a great waiter and ambience was like a regular family restaurant.

We were passing through Chicago on our way back home to Detroit (which has very few Peruvian places) and our favorite spot had closed early. It was really upsetting because we were driving back the same night. We hit Yelp and looked at the reviews of the few places that were open and we came across D'Candela. We were not disappointed. The lomo saltado was excellent, as was the chicken. Their aji dipping sauces were also delicious. If you're looking for Peruvian food and are in the area, definitely stop by and check them out. Also, the manager (I think) who came to check on me while I was waiting for the hostess to fill up our extra sauce containers was dressed pretty fly in a full suit. All around, good experience.

First off, the staff is wonderful. Very nice and courteous. They do not have alcoholic beverages so it is BYOB, sangria was a good choice for us. The food is great. We always get the pesto pasta with steak. Their oysters are very good as well. Their empanadas are ok, I feel like I have had better at other restaurants. The entrées do take quite a while to be served but other than that, it is worth the wait. This is my go to spot for Peruvian cuisine.

The food was good and so was service, when the bill came we were disappointed that there were two charges one if you made cash and a higher one if you paid with credit card. This left us with a bad taste and honestly would not return. Why should we be penalized for using credit card or debit card, really many don't walk around with cash.

Great Peruvian food good portions Never disappointed when I order here. Been coming here since it was at previous location. If you aren't sure about ordering, don't be ! It's worth it! Lomo Saltado a favorite for me. Buen provecho!

Horrible experience with this restaurant. I made an order in the restaurant for take out on 9/23/23 for a family's birthday dinner. It was a big order, 7 dinner plates, an appetizer and a side order. I was told 15-20min, I paid and left. I came back 20min later. Food wasn't ready. Gave them 10 more min, still nothing. I came back a third time which at this point was 40min after they said 10-20min and 1 bag of orders was done. Then the second bag came out a few min later. I didn't complain then because I was not in a rush. I would still be on time for the bday dinner. But I am including it now as part of my complaint because of their incompetent business practices. The appetizer I ordered was a Palta Rellena. The guy taking the order, who claimed to also be the manager later on, repeated the order back to me, he said "Una palta". I agreed because palta rellena can also be referred to as "una palta" just like a lomo saltado Can be shortened to "un lomo". I drive to where we were having the bday dinner and find out they had included an avocado with a piece of lettuce, not a palta rellena. I immediately call the restaurant, speak to the same guy who took my order. Instead of assuming responsibility or fixing the issue, the guy said it was my fault and I could pick up the palta rellena. I asked if there was a way to deliver since this was not my mistake and I had already driven 20min away. He said they could but would charge a delivery fee and still charge me for BOTH the avocado which was ~$6 AND the palta rellena ~$10. I said I can give him back the avocado which is not what we ordered and pay the difference for the palta rellena and he refused. I asked to speak with the manager and that's when he said that was him. I asked to speak with the owner who he claims he was consulting throughout the convo and he said he couldn't allow me to speak with him. Finally , he said he'd refund the ~$6 for the avocado and leave it at that. No palta rellena. I was appalled at how they would not take responsibility for their mistake, blame the customer, and refuse to make it right especially after a customer spent over $130 in food orders a few minutes ago. To make things worse, I found the styrofoam to the lomo de vegetales disintegrating right under the food. (See pics) The sauce spilled in the bag and I noticed a slit in the styrofoam. It was possibly the heat of the food but maybe they should invest in better styrofoam. Melted styrofoam in the food is not what a dinner should have. Avoid this place as much as you can. There are more Peruvian restaurants in Chicago with much better customer service and real delicious food.

We've been coming here for years but unfortunately something has changed. Service was terrible... we tried for 20 minutes to flag down our waiter to tell him we wanted to order but he said ok and left for another 20 minutes. We should have left then... The food, which used to be great wasn't the same. Bread is no longer available and some dishes are gone. The steak was overcooked and flavorless. Just not how it used to be for 8+ great years. I wonder if this place changed management. We'll find a new Peruvian spot from now on.

This place is really good and was fairly quiet on a Friday evening. The food was very tasty, but a little salty. The staff could've been a little more attentive as well. I enjoyed my lomo saltado as it was full of flavor and the ambience of the restaurant was nice and quaint.

Hire and train you servers! Good food, poor Service. My family enjoys food but service always never improves.

Got take out today and food is a amazing. Chicken was perfectly cooked; rice and beans delicious and portions were generous. Looking forward to everything else on the menu!

Food was fairly good but service was really lousey! It took 30 minutes until we could put in our order & another 40 minutes until our food was ready. And restaurant wasn't even that crowded. Food was nothing to write home about & they said they don't offer any bread. When I asked for steak sauce they gave us a bowl of cold cheese soup! The mashed potatoes were all melted & mushy. Soups or salads are an additional $8.00 so are not included. Think they give preference to the Peruvian or Hispanic customers! Wasn't an enjoyable experience since we are only plain Americans!

Peruvian food in Chicago doesn't get better than this! Being Peruvian and always looking for great authentic food is tough to find on the south side, so I always have to head north for my fix! D'Candela is my go to anytime I'm in the area. The food is always extremely good no matter what I've tried. The dishes here do not disappoint. I was also happy to find them being open on Memorial Day. Please don't ever change a thing unless it's adding more dishes! Great food, great service and perfect location!

My husband and I have been coming here for 9years. The food is spot on and the staff is very friendly. We will continue to be customers here!

I am peruvian, and I am very disappointed with their food. Unfortunately doesn't represent our food. I had ordered a Aguadito and taste bad, the rice it is almost resolved literally very few carrot, peas, and no choclo(Peruvian corn). They don't use aderezo whic is made of onion, ají panca, ají mirasol, and garlic. The only you can taste is the cumin and cilantro. Our Ceviche which it is our famous dish is ¡horrible! It looks more like a watery soup(no leche de Tigre)no lettuce, the piece of potato was hard and raw, no lemon taste, missing garlic, o taste of ají amarillo, and the onion supposed to be crunchy but it wasn't. The only acceptable was the salad that came with a half of pollo a la braza which it was hard and not juicy as it supposed to be. They used to have good food now it is not up a Pervian standard. Shame of them.

The food is unbelievably delicious! Service is good...very good location and the ambiance is cozy.

Someone took me here over 15 years ago when I first moved to Chicago. Didn't remember the name or location but remembered it as a great BYOB neighborhood gem serving authentic tasty Peruvian food. Happy to have rediscovered where it is, that it's expanded to the building next door and is still serving delicious authentic reasonably priced food. My friend and I offered a whole, moist, deliciously spiced chicken with two sides which I think was aro $19 The toasted giant Peruvian corn and red onion and lime Ceviche, ordered separately were very reasonably priced and also delicious. The two desserts were outstanding. The flan was perfectly textured and tasty. The Alfajore was a wow moment. Didn't know what it was or what to expect but it was surprisingly good. I won't describe it, go try it. Get two! Looking forward to trying more stuff next time!

From Years ago This restaurant passed for different phases, the service always was mediocre, very poor management, but the food was good and sometimes very good, this is why we always prepared our minds when we decided to eat there. After they moved to the Irving Park location, they continued offering bad services until a few Months ago, they decided to change from waiters to waitresses and it was much better. Today, my husband and I decided to go there for our dinner, just one customer, the rest of the place empty. We both ordered "Jalea Mixta". The waitress brought the bread, but it tasted very old, no fresh we didn't eat it. Then she brought our Jaleas, and immediately I recognized that the dish was overcooked because the color of the fried dish, it was to much brown. Only the fish was eatable, the rest of the the dish was over cooked, dried, and hard to eat, the corn tasted very old as well. The waitress came to our table asking how's everything? Without wearing her mask, she was an unattended waitress, we immediately answered ok, and she came a couple more time asking the same question without wearing her mask. At the end my husband and I do not eat more than 50% of the dish. And the can of Inca Kola was $2.77 each, so expensive, this is not an expensive place and the category of this restaurant is not for pay that amount. So at the end, today was the last time that we are going to give more opportunities to this mediocre restaurant. $64 for overcooked dishes and unattended service, is not fair!

I have not been to Peru, yet, so I do not have a good comparison, but it seems to me this food is authentic. I had the filet mignon, which was cooked as I ordered it - medium - and Mom had the grilled chicken, which was very tasty. I never understand why french fries are served with dinner unless with a hamburger but the other option was mashed potatoes and they were a little too liquidy for me so I munched on a few fries instead. Also the fresh veggies were not as fresh as I expected and I'm not a big lima bean fan. The service was good, the restaurant is pretty big and there were not a lot of people for a Friday night, but all in all a good experience and we will likely return and BYOB.

Visited some Peruvian family in Chicago and this is the restaurant they chose. The food was delicious and service was better than most Peruvian restaurants.

Loved this place. The waitress we had had great recommendations. We definitely will come again.

The restaurant's atmosphere is great. The staff was really friendly and the service was good. I came here to get the Peruvian ceviche, but it wasn't as good as I was expecting. The food had a great unique taste. I only wish they don't stack you up with rice and french fries for most of the dishes.

We tried the Lomo, it was flavorful, and a big portion. Service was good too. Would definitely recommend.

10+ stars. Excellent food. Wonderful experience made better by the excellent customer service offered by Raunny and Mariani. We walked in on a very busy Saturday evening. You will have to wait because they are very busy. But the food was worth the wait. I highly recommend you wait for the rotisserie chicken to come out fresh, it's juicy and seasoned just right! Our group had ceviche, jalea, tallarín verde, seco de carne, chifa de mariscos and pollo a la brasas. Everything was absolutely Delcious!!!! Oh and the alfajor was divine.

el pollo a la brasa esta desabrido y quemado lastima q no abri mi orden antes de irme del restaurante

Chile de camarones shrimp soup tastes smooth not Spicy. Flavorful broth, lots of shrimp, huacatay.

Every time I come here the food is different I wasn't impressed a couple years ago so I went back rice is dry beans are dry the chicken has no flavor whatsoever they need to do better they need a better cook because it's not tasting authentic to me

Man oh man is this place good! Really great for takeout. Everything was delish. We got: - papa rellena (a fried mashed potato thing stuffed with beef, onion, hard boiled egg, olive and raisins); - 1/4 chicken with 2 sides (yucca + sweet fried plantain); and - canchita (Peruvian toasted corn). The papa rellena was really unusual and special. Not greasy at all. Interesting flavor profile. The chicken was AMAZING OMG. And the yucca and plantains were really special. The canchita was basically a very buttered homemade corn nut. No real seasonings to speak of and next time I'd pass on it, but hey at least we tried. Dreaming of the next time we get to enjoy that chicken...

Great food, fresh and not too pricey. I've been here a few times and ordered for take out a few times as well. You can't go wrong with the Ceviche de Camarón, or Ceviche de Pescado, empanadas, tamal and my favorite- Lomo Saltado. The desserts are pretty good too! I've tried them all.

Terrible!44$ for ceviche + pescados Sooo bad Vem ceviche had this huge chunks of fish Almost thrown up

My sister-in-law introduced us to D'candela a few years ago and we have not yet found a place better than them. Service is always top notch and now that they've moved to this new location the space is very roomy and new! We always order the whole chicken, rice, pinto beans and plantains. Everything is cooked to perfection and don't forget the sauces! I usually don't like to eat white meat because many places make it so dry but at D'Candela the meat is very flavorful and juicy. They're good to dine in and carry out. Affordable and generous portions, definitely a must try!

My boyfriend & I decided to come try D'Candela out after hearing good things about the food and we walked in having pretty good expectations. When we walked in we noticed the restaurant has no more than 12 tables and a few of them were already sat.. but it seemed slow.. and we were right because our server was a younger women who took about 15 minutes to come greet us and offer us something to drink then take our order..they had no empanadas.. so I opted for an entrée that had rice, steak, eggs & plantains.. my boyfriend got the seafood appetizer & an entrée similar to mine and we waited 45 minutes for it to come to the table. If we're being honest, the food was definitely overhyped,overly salted & over priced!! The seafood appetizer was $20 & each of our entrees were $20 plus cost of drinks. Oh!! and I forgot to tell you guys the best part of this whole experience.. a family of 3-4 sat behind us and ordered of course multiple items.. so guess how they showed up with the food to the table??? They brought the food out in a little roll bin cart.. at first it seems ok.. but you look CLOSER AND THERE IS A BUSS BIN IN THE BOTTOM OF THE CART .. AND THE FOOD IS ON THE NEXT LEVEL OF THE CART.. meaning the food sits on top of the dirty plates / trash... when I tell you I was SHOCKED.. I WAS SHOCKED.. how disgusting!! I would have returned all that food back because I could never eat that and I'm glad we didn't order more food yuck. Over all I would NOT RECOMMEND this place to ANYONE, there are better options out there with better customer service.

We left this restaurant without eating. We came in on a Wednesday night at 7:30pm, there was only one table seated with 2 people waiting for their food. We sat and our order was taken immediately. We waited 25 mins and then decided to order a pitcher of Chicha Morada drink while we waited for our food, another 20 minutes went by and nothing came; no food, no beverage. We then asked the waiter how much longer the food would take (mind you, there was only 1 other table and the rest of the restaurant was empty, with the exception of 2 different people that came in for take-out), the waiter said another 10 mins for our food to be ready. We told the waiter we couldn't wait longer, so we left. It is unacceptable that an empty restaurant makes their customers wait 1 hour for their food and did not come by to check on us at all.

I came here with friends in Chicago while visiting. The only thing that made me hesitate to give 5 stars is the service. The food was rich in flavor and taste. We had beef empanadas, the rotisserie chicken with maduros and ensaladas. We also got the flan and alfajor for dessert. All of them were delicious. The flan was a bit too thick but other than that I enjoyed every bite. The service was extremely slow as the servers would totally dissapear for like 20 minutes and when we asked for more water, it came 10 minutes later.

I've passed this place a few times, and it's newer to the area. It never looks busy, but there are great reviews so we decided to try it out. The server was really nice, quick and kind, as well as informative. The food was really yummy and the portions are more than enough. I'm not super familiar with Peruvian food in particular, but the Arroz con Pollo was fantastic. I also tried the chicken empanada and did not realize it was in walnut sauce, which I am allergic too, but I will say it was freaking delicious and made me hate my allergy. My favorite thing!!! - Chicha Morada, which is a Peruvian drink made out of purple corn, also pineapples and other fruit. It was very different but so yummy. Light, not too sweet yet it reminded me of a sangria.

Their chicken is delicious and perfectly cooked! Huge restaurant with big menu of Peruvian favs. Service for take out in not particularly friendly which is kind of bummer but overall the place is very solid.