El Nandu

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Manly ass slap – ½ star
Fone and fone – 0 stars



Restaurant: el Ñandú
Location: 2900 W. Belmont



Tango Sur is one of my favorite places to eat in the city. I love the huge cuts of perfectly cooked steak, the empanadas, the dimly lit atmosphere, the BYOB aspect, the flavors. I love it all. And also for the longest time I also thought it was the only Argentine steak house in the city. But then I realized that there were others to choose from. So I decided to check one of them out - el Ñandú.

While el Ñandú is no Tango Sur, it is a great alternative. If Tango Sur is the Black Rob version of “Like Whoa”, then el Ñandú is the Aly & AJ version.

My wife and I thought about being adventurous and starting things off with the beef sweet breads, even asking our waiter if they were good. All he said was, “they are an acquired taste, but they are very good.” With that ringing endorsement, we started things off with a couple of the empanadas. They have eight to choose from. We got the Pollo (that means chicken), the Criolla (ground beef), and Jamon Y Queso (ham), and the Maiz (corn). Did we really need four of them? No. But I enjoyed all of them. And they were only $2.50 a piece. Not a bad deal, because they were a pretty decent size. We actually didn’t finish them all, because I wanted to make sure I saved enough room for the steak, which I was assuming was enormous.

We also got the el Ñandú Potato Salad. Not because either of us wanted it, but because it sounded different, and the waiter talked us into it. Here is how they describe it on the menu: “This popular house delight is made fresh with potatoes, steamed carrots, peas and juicy tomatoes on a bed of crisp, green lettuce. No Mayonnaise!” I don’t know if that sounds interesting to you, but it did to me. I know that sounds crazy. Me, ordering something without mayo. But I wanted to try something different. It wasn’t that bad. Nothing worth ordering, but I was surprised at how much I liked it. You can get a small or large order, and we only got the small, and still had over half of it left over when we were done. But again, we were saving ourselves for the steak.

The menu has several chicken dishes to choose from, but why kid yourself? You’re coming to this place for the steak. And if you’re not, then we’re no longer friends. Maybe acquaintances. Associates at best. But not friends.

My wife ordered the Entraña. It’s a skirt steak. Supposedly one of their most popular choices. I was guessing because it’s the simplest steak on the menu. No special flavorings or toppings or spices. Just good old-fashioned steak. I was wrong. The reason it’s (probably) so popular is because of the size. It costs $17.95. I was a little skeptical of the price, thinking that it might be a tad high. I never remember Tango Sur being all that expensive for the amount of food you get, so I was worried that el Ñandú was charging too much for their steaks. Again, I was wrong. As I said before, I was expecting a pretty decent cut of meat. But this thing exceeded all expectations. When it came out it looked like steak the size of the large oval plate, then topped with another steak. But when placed in front of my wife we realized that the steak was so big that it had to be folded on top of itself. It was unreal. She wasn’t even sure how to eat it. Once she figured out how to cut through the top half without cutting through the bottom half, the whole thing became more manageable. And every bite was delicious.

I got the Churrasco Con Queso Y Cebollas. It’s a delicious steak, topped with grilled onions, then topped with a layer of white cheese. Sounds perfect right? Wrong. Pretty good, yes. But not perfect. The steak was huge, which was nice. Not quite as big as my wife’s, but still a big cut of meat (kind of like me). Here’s why it wasn’t perfect. There were too many onions, and the cheese was overwhelming. I’ve always said you can never have too much cheese, but I think they proved me wrong this night. The taste and flavor of the cheese took away from the steak. And really, the steak should be the hero. It’s a delicate balance, but one that needs to be found. And this steak didn’t find it. My only other complaint is that it didn’t reheat well. I took a decent portion of it home, and when heated up the next day the cheese wasn’t the same, and the steak lost most of the flavor it barely had to begin with. My wife’s heated up much better, so I ate hers instead. I was hoping she’d eat my steak, but we’re married, so…

As far as the rest of the place goes, I did like the ambiance. There was the cutest old man playing guitar for everyone. Not too loud, not too soft. Just enough to set the mood and add to the experience. And the drinks were good as well. I got a margarita, which was tasty, and my wife got the sangria, which was really good. The place was a little too well lit, but nothing to really complain about. And we didn’t have to wait to get a table (a nice alternative to the 1-2 hour wait at Tango Sur). Then again, we got there with the blue-hairs at about 5:30; so getting a table could be more difficult at other times.

Overall I really liked this place. Again, my first choice would be Tango Sur, but el Ñandú is a nice option to have. One I’m sure I’ll be revisiting.

Fist bump with a manly ass slap.


Got a question? Send it to josh@borntofork.com.