Mariscos El Veneno - Ukrainian Village new location

So GF and I were not in the mood to cook and had some wines open...BYOB of course! She suggested the new spot on Ashland & Augusta that caught her eye so we headed there.

We got there tonight (Friday) about 8pm and there were 4-5 tables seated, but since it's not a big place that would be 1/2 full. Mostly Mexican families save for one other "gringo" table (my people!). Very casual with formica-topped tables set with small buckets of paper napkins and the requisite bottles of ketchup and hot sauces.

We plunked ourselves down and perused the menu. It's "Estilo de Nayarit" and their south side location has been mentioned briefly on LTH but no reviews of this new store - the waiter/manager said about 1 month old now...and they have a location in Georgia as well! Anyway, he told us the Nayarit style is more seasoned, for what that's worth. He wasn't kidding though...the house salsa is a green tomatillo & habanero sauce with a mighty kick!


House Salsa - be careful!

Before we even got our wine glasses we were presented with water, cut limes, a basket of saltines and tostadas, and dry marlin ceviche tostadas - complimentary amuse bouche style, yo! Quite tasty they were, and I apologize that we were so hungry that we scarfed them down without me doing the picture-phone thing...

We decided to just share a few things so we got the large "El Veneno" seafood cocktail, which had shrimp, bay scallops, octopus, crab and oyster in a tangy-but-mild red sauce with avocado garnish. A minor complaint: the oysters were not to be found, and the "crab" was not real crab. A tasty dish though, and HUGE for $14. I would suggest either going with one of the smaller coctels with shrimp & octopus, or shrimp and oyster maybe, they are $9.


Goblet o' coctel

We also got the house-style whole snapper or Huachinango estilo Nayarit which was just plain awesome. It was fried crispy with a good seasoning and light red sauce, topped with some pickled red onion and a few shrimp and served with savory seasoned fries and refreshing salad (nothing fancy, just great). Tender fish and tasty fries and I am a happy man. And a whopping $15 to boot!


Whole Snapper house-style

We finished the entire fish, and most of the coctel and were stuffed. Our bill came to 32 bucks so I must say it was an outstanding value, especially with the freebie ceviche starter. The staff was extremely friendly and our waiter conversed with all the other tables (was about full by the time we left) in a jovial/neighborly manner. We will most definitely be back! Maybe next time I'll have some of the house horchata or a Mexican coca-cola...


1024 N Ashland Ave
773-252-7200
(open for dinner only I believe)
BYOB

Not really sure I would like to eat in a place that translates as "Poison Seafood". Is there an inside joke I am missing?

Bill/SFNM wrote:Not really sure I would like to eat in a place that translates as "Poison Seafood". Is there an inside joke I am missing?

Not really a joke I think, but a reference to the blowfish (or pufferfish or fugu). While none are on the menu (to my knowledge) there are several stuffed/dried/whatever blowfish hanging from the ceiling along with dried starfish and other sea creatures.

Popped in here for lunch yesterday and had a meal that can be divided neatly into the "not bad" and the "bad."

Not bad were some fish tacos. Not the greatest I ever had, the green leafy lettuce on them seemed wrong and not cut small enough, but they were likeable enough, I could see going there again. My companion had a shrimp taco, with grilled shrimp, and he liked that even better. A habanero salsa added zing as needed.

Also not bad, and a nice touch, was a complimentary tortilla topped with a kind of marlin salad.

Bad, unfortunately, was the seafood cocktail. None of the fish was bad in the gone bad sense, but it was all recently frozen, waterlogged, lifeless and flavorless-- and so, surprisingly, was the tomato-juicy sauce. If you're going to call something a Poison Cocktail, you expect a little zest and heat, but there was none of that here.

Nice folks, amusing decor which has quite transformed the former Rudy's Taste into a kitschy seafood shack. Stick to the tacos.

Mike G wrote:Stick to the tacos.

Or go across the street to the far superior El Barco.

El Barco
1035 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
773-486-6850

El Barco sucks.
So does the "poison cup" cocktail at Veneno. Full of Krab and lifeless snot.
The gratis dry ceviche, though is spot-on Nayarit style and the cucaracha shrimp are greezy, spicy, and head on delightful.

I agree with the seafood cocktail, that was our only downside to our visit. Not fresh seafood, and very ketchup-y sauce/broth.

Whole fish, big camerones/langostinos and the tacos are the way to go.

I agree that the langostinos (prawns in the style of nayarit) are amazing: very buttery and salty, but not in a bad way. It was a very enjoyable experience nibbling every bit and getting the butter all over your hands. Don't forget to eat the legs, which seemed to absorb the most flavor! I've been back there a few times just for the prawns.

While the cocktails aren't the best, I have to say they were at least good and worth getting if you're in the mood. The octopus is nice and tender and the shirmp is flavorful in the way good shrimp should be. The cocktails I've tried (I think the octopus/shirmp and veneno) did NOT have a ketchup based sauce, though there is ketchup on the table if that suites your fancy. Everything seemed to be fresh in them including the oysters. Maybe I got lucky and hit a good couple of nights or maybe (and also likely) I have not had a really good cocktail. If anyone thinks this is the case, hit me up with a good cocktail recommendation!

Staff was polite (if not overly so). The service was great and the price was reasonable.

I'm surprised by the negative comments here. I've had some truly excellent meals at El Veneno. The langostinos, camarones, shrimp ceviche, grilled huachinango, and especially, especially the tender, saucy, succulent pulpo are fantastic. Service is friendly and accomodating, and the price is great.

MJ

Does anyone have an opinion on why "venom" seemed like a good word for part of a restaurant name?

I was under the impression that the venom was in the spicyness. At least that's the impression our waiter tried to give when he presented the salsa veneno to us. Maybe there's an element of "coolness" to the name.

I also am surprised by the negative comments here. Jman and I had a plate of crab lags that were fantastic for $20. We were stuffed, I had the grilled lobster and it was very good. The ceviche was fresh, however there are a few downsides, the fries are the preseasoned frozen cajun kind from a bag. They don't need fries at this restaurant. They do use frozen seafood on some mixed items. We wanted the house special oysters, and they were out, but when a mix of seafood came out on the lobster, there was an oyster, so obviously frozen. Ceviche was very tasty.

Katie wrote:Does anyone have an opinion on why "venom" seemed like a good word for part of a restaurant name?

I finally have an answer to this!

GF and I were vacationing in Bucerias (just north of Puerto Vallarta in the state of Nayarit) last week. We were walking around town by the square and saw a street stand called...wait for it...Mariscos El Veneno! So we were enjoying our tostadas de pulpo and caldo de camaron and chatting with the two ladies. It turns out that Lola and her husband Tony are the in-laws of the man who opened the El Veneno restaurants here in Chicago as well as Atlanta.

The name comes from her father-in-law, who was a professional boxer back in the day and went under the nickname "El Veneno Negro" or The Black Poison. After his boxing career faded, he started his 2nd career with seafood carts in Bucerias. There is a storefront Veneno up the road from this street cart, but it is so much fun just to hang on the 2-3 stools in the median of Av. Alfredo Bonfil right off the town square and eat fantastically fresh seafood dishes.


Their sign hangs from a tree in the median next to the cart


Lola


tostadas de ceviche y pulpo (mega-beer is from store across the street, only soft drinks at the cart)


The sign hanging under the cart canopy (notice that it is closed on Tuesdays) which translates to "A little poison won't kill you, but a little every day is okay" or something like that.

Wow, that is up there with the classics of LTH detective work. Great find, Mark. Or should I call you... El Veneno Gringo?

how about "the accidental tourist?" we just kinda stumbled upon it, but a great find indeed!

I agree El Barco sucks, never found any of the food there to be that impressive

went to Mariscos El Veneno last night and had a very enjoyable meal
the complimentary ceviche is good but not outstanding, then again its free, so can't really complain

we ordered crab legs and i just love the spicy sauce they came with, the legs are fresh and the portion is very generous
my bf got whole grilled fish, the garlic spice marinade is very very good, again the portion is huge
we had 2 big containers in the fridge now
BYOB factor can't be beat either
service is friendly and i truly have a great time, will be back again

I tried Mariscos El Veneno for the first time a few months ago and I was quite pleased! Talk about bang for your buck. The fish tacos and shrimp fajitas were really tasty, as was the free ceviche tostada. Definitely watch out for that hot sauce, though. It is WICKED hot, so use with caution!

I'm really surprised to hear some of the negatives on this place given the outstanding experiences that I have had here.

Just last Friday night, I was passing through town and met friends at El Veneno where we started with the wonderfully refreshing (and free) tuna ceviche tostada.

The second course, a $3 serving of creamy ripe guacamole was three times the size of what we pay twice as much or more for at other highly regarded Mexican places in town.

My entree was the wonderful lobster cooked in the style of Nayarit. The 1 1/2 lb lobster was well cooked and overloaded with a wonderfuly fragrant stuffing of shrimp, octopus, fish, rice and served over a bed of completely unnecessary french fries. The entree itself was sufficient to serve two people well. Others at our table enjoyed a really well cooked whole red snapper served in the same style and some fresh langostinos.

The bill for four of us was under $100, a real value considering that it included my lobster at $40. The restaurant provided a generous ice bucket for our BYOB.

I encourage you all to give this one a second chance. IMO, it has GNR written all over it.

I wish that I had taken pictures.

My girlfriend and I enjoyed a wonderful lunch of langustines at El Veneno on Saturday. The meal started out with seafood tostadas on crispy corn tortilla shells (not house-made, I assume) that was accompanied by the very hot and spicy "venom" salsa. Then came a hot platter of steamed langustines stuffed with spiced breadcrumb stuffing and covered with a garlic/onion broth (which could have been a meal unto itself!). Service was attentive, and the meal was accompanied by a variety of Latino music playing over the sound system (the Cuban classic "Guantanamera", Mexican norteno and Caribbean salsa). Wonderful all around!

We have lived in close by for more than two years, but my girlfriend only discovered this place very recently. We'll be back for sure. It blows the doors off El Barco.

I've been a big fan of El Barco forever and Mexican has always been my favorite food. Count me in as a bigger fan of Veneno and its Nayarit (one of Mexico's 31 states) style of cooking. I'm also a big fan od spicy food and I haven't had anything as hot as the house salsa at Veneno since the jerk sauce from Bourbon beach in Negril. I think the veneno name comes from that stuff-if you cant take heat or even major heat, don't try it.

I got to go with part of my family so there was 11 of us and we went at 6p on a weekday and were seated right away. They happily put all of our booze and ice and we had enough for a nice college party. I thought the service was good and the food better. My favorites were the langoustines in Nayarit red sauce, the whole fried snapper and the camerones momias or mummy shrimp-shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. The price was great and nothing was awful. Only thing they didn't have on the menu that day were the fish tacos. We stayed away from the seafood cocktails and oysters because I had heard/read they weren't great but everything else was. I'm going to get over there to dine outside during this upcoming heatwave. The BYOB and cheap prices will make it a frequent stop on my list.

My flickr acct. is acting up again so I apoligize for not posting the pics on here but I do have some pictures of everything we ordered right here.

I had a mixed experience at Mariscos El Veneno last night. When we got there, there was a band playing REALLY loudly on their outdoor patio. So loudly that the police pulled up and told them for the second time to keep it down! We were looking forward to sitting outside, but with the band playing, it would have been impossible to hear anything (even after they turned down the volume). So we went inside and sat down. Turns out the music coming from the speakers indoors was competing with the music from the band outside! I asked our server if he could turn it down and he did.
Our server asked if we could move tables, as we were sitting at one of the large communal tables and a large group wanted to move inside from the patio. They stuck us by the register, where I had to lean over to avoid hitting my head on the countertop right above the table. Not an ideal situation. Then, we realized that the band was moving indoors! We asked to sit outside. 3 tables later, we were finally ready to order.
The food was excellent, BF had the whole fried red snapper which was delicious. I had one fish taco and one shrimp taco, both perfectly serviceable. My friend ordered the buttery shrimp, which was buttery as promised. The shrimp empanadas were excellent, but skip the shrimp ceviche, some of the shrimp looked like it hadn't been in the lime-y marinade long enough. I really liked the free ceviche they bring out at the beginning of the meal.

Our server was distracted, perhaps his ears were ringing from the music? We often had to ask for something twice, and sometimes he brought the wrong thing. We also waited a long time for our check.

About halfway through the meal, another band showed up! This time Mariachis in full costume! The other band left and these guys took over. I'm not sure if they party like this every Monday here or what. It was a little surreal.

Also, does anyone know which came first, El Barco Mariscos or Mariscos El Veneno? I know that El Veneno has other locations, but it seems pretty "coincidental" to have 2 mexican seafood restaurants that close to each other serving similar menus.

All in all, the meal was delicious and a bargain! We would go back and hope for a server that was a little more "on his game" and perhaps we would call to see if there was live music that night. The price and the byob factor allows me to overlook some of the other issues at work here.

jmprimus wrote:Also, does anyone know which came first, El Barco Mariscos or Mariscos El Veneno? I know that El Veneno has other locations, but it seems pretty "coincidental" to have 2 mexican seafood restaurants that close to each other serving similar menus.

El Barco had been in that location for many years before El Veneno opened up in the former Rudy's Taste space across the street.

what about veneno's other locations? also after el barco?

I was a very happy diner at Mariscos El Veneno last night.

After an afternoon of quiche, pierogis, fried angel wings, and boozy-custard filled paczki, I headed over to visit with friends not a few blocks from El Veneno. After enjoying tuna rillettes and an additional paczek or two, I finally grew hungry for dinner around quarter to 9.

We picked up some beer and headed over to what may have been the most packed restaurant I've been to in quite some time. Every one of the 50 or so seats was packed and another 20 people had to have been waiting in this small space. We put our names down and headed back to the apartment for the estimated 45 minute wait time. When we returned, it was no less crowded. It took another half an hour or so to get seated. So this BYO spot clearly is very popular among the neighborhood.

I took the time to enjoy a Half Acre lager and watch the kitchen seriously crank. The main action was just around the corner from our sightlines, but periodically you'd see 5 enormous plates of food arrive in rapid succession. Platters of shrimp bathed in Nayarit spices, whole crab legs with a rich looking red sauce, whole fried snapper by the handful, and lots and lots of prawns.

By the time we sat down, I was finally hungry again and ready for some serious seafood. My friends had spoken highly of their experience and had been easily seduced by the prawns. We knew were getting some. Then the table next to us, who had grossly over-ordered, merrily sent a teaser prawn our way and also - my revelation for the evening - the pulpo especial. Holy Toledo, OH was that octopus good. Pungent garlic, chile heat and tender, not tough whole arms of octopus. The neighboring table told us that the previous occupants of our seats had urged them to order it. We returned the favor and did the same.

1 pulpo especial
1/2 platter Nayarit style prawns
1/2 dozen oysters

The starter was a ceviche tostada with limes. This gratis appetizer was substantial, fresh and tasty. It was served with a very orange, very habanero sauce. I was hungry, but I inhaled this and very much enjoyed it.

The oysters were fine, fresh, but without much sea flavor.

The prawns were a little on the dry side, but when you bathed them in the mouth-tingling sauce, they were a real winner. And any meal involving red-stained hands and carapace sucking already has a lot going for it.

But that octopus. Oh man. From the thick upper arm, to the tentacle tip, it was tender. With the redolent garlic-chili red sauce, it was totally delightful.

I saw other patrons getting cocktels, but that really doesn't speak to me on a sub-30 degree night. Maybe the fish tacos are nothing to write home about. But the kitchen was really humming with Nayarit-style cooked dishes and, if you stick with those, I think you'll do right by this place.

And do yourself a favor and get the octopus.

It's been awhile since we've been to Veneno, and that pulpo does sound awesome. thanks for the rec!

Good to hear they're no longer using from-frozen octopus cubes. That was the one weak point of my previous meal there.

One of the great things that I have found in Atlanta is the outpost of Mariscos El Veneno on Doraville.

Same menu, same paint job inside. I have taken a few wary friends in for the deep friend snapper in estilo Nayarit. Its just as good here as it was on Ashland Avenue.

Just wanted to bump an old thread (the Aroy nom reminded me about stale threads) and state that my recent meals at Veneno on Ashland have been outstanding. The chapuzon de mariscos involves one of the most delicious, heart-stoppingly buttery sauces anywhere (and the long-cooked shellfish actually work in this prep), the shrimp aguaschiles are a robust doppelganger of TAC's raw shrimp (high praise), and the massive dungeness crab in Nayarit sauce has to be one of the best crustacean deals in town. Not everything on the menu is stellar, but there's plenty to like. And the folks running the place are terrific. The oddly authentic-to-Nayarit seafood shack garlic bread might well be the best garlic bread anywhere. Well worth the upcharge. BYOB, too. It's a very sunny place to sit down to some spicy, buttery seafood and a beer -- particularly mid-winter.

Veneno mixes up my favorite michelada in the city. Not only is there no corkage fee, the michelada preparation with your OBB (own brought beer ) has been free the last 2 times i bothered to check the bill.

It's hard to notice if you don't know it's there and it's hard to miss once you do. Mariscos el Veneno is exactly the type of gem that you can't believe you've never tried before. We were lucky to snag a table right before 7PM on a Friday night because shortly after we sat down, the door was full of groups hungrily waiting for the giant plates of Mexcian seafood that were pouring out of the kitchen at a steady clip.



Once you sit down, they set the mood with a plate of marlin ceviche for everyone at the table. Beware, the sauce they serve with it is seriously hot. I gulped down half of my wife's horchata trying to put that fire out in my mouth. You know a place is serious about seafood when the "amuse-bouch" is a plate of ceviche.



To start off the meal we ordered a seafood salad that is seasoned with a sauce that tasted like maggi. In fact, this funky soy-sauce-like flavor was present in every dish throughout the meal.



When you order the crab plate, be ready for three gigantic crabs. Good thing the servers were on the ball with picking up the discarded shells, because otherwise the entire table would have been piled high.



The shrimps can be eaten much like salt-and-pepper shrimp at a Cantonese restaurant, head and all. Fortunately, the vibe of the restaurant is so casual, because seafood served like this is messy business.

This was an excellent Mexican seafood meal, easily the best I've had in Chicago. The vibe is casual and suitable for families while being BYOB and a lot of fun. I'll definitely notice it the next time I'm driving down Ashland.

1024 N Ashland Ave (between Augusta Blvd & Cortez St)
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 252-7200