
Since opening in 2023, Marina’s Bistro and Rum Bar has become the go-to spot for Puerto Rican cuisine on Chicago’s North Side.
What to Expect
Guests at Chef Eric Roldan’s cozy Uptown restaurant are greeted with an amuse-bouche of fried plantain chips and guava butter. Starters include an avocado salad, soup of the day and two types of croquettes. Best of all could be Roldan’s take on hummus. He uses Puerto Rican ingredients – pigeon peas (gandules) and lime – instead of chickpeas and lemon. Pigeon peas are also spotlighted in the arroz con gandules, Puerto Rico’s national dish.
The main courses continue this blend of classic and modern. Mofongo, a ball of plantains or yucca, is served with traditional steak or pork, but portobello and Impossible meat options are available for vegetarians. Roldan tells us the house specialty is the chuleta frita, a fried lollipop pork chop served with mashed malanga, a tropical root vegetable. He boasts that he’s the only local restaurant to have malanga, and his take on it is as buttery and garlicky as a plate of mashed potatoes.

These and other options are on the $60 prix fixe dinner available for Chicago Restaurant Week 2025. The meal concludes with a shot of coquito (pictured below), a rum cocktail with coconut milk, condensed milk, cinnamon and other spices that is traditionally served at the holidays.
The lunch menu is simpler, focusing on sandwiches, served on bread or fried plantains. The latter, called the jibarito, was invented in Chicago in the mid-1990s and is a local favorite.
Rum dominates the cocktail list, including the El Viejo San Juan, a coconut-cream-and-pineapple concoction similar to a piña colada, and the La Playita, a take on the Cuban mojito but with passion fruit. Three mocktails are also available.
Roldan’s Story
A Chicago native, Roldan moved to Puerto Rico after the death of his mother, in whose memory Marina’s is named. He attended culinary school on the island and lived there for 20 years. But in 2017, everything he had was destroyed in Hurricane Maria, and he returned to Chicago. He worked out of a ghost kitchen for a year before focusing on bringing his vision to a reality.
Much of the city’s Puerto Rican community–nearly 100,000 strong–is centered around Humboldt Park on the West Side. However, Roldan says he preferred the Uptown neighborhood for two reasons. He lived there for a while as a child, and, although it’s known for its diversity, he felt his culture wasn’t properly represented. The restaurant is located in a strip center a short walk from the Wilson stop on the Red Line.
Chicago has taken notice. In 2024, Marina’s became the first Puerto Rican restaurant at Grand Cru, a tasting event at the Chicago Gourmet festival. And its coquito was recently one of eight local finalists in a competition sponsored by Tales of the Cocktail.

Marina’s Bistro and Rum Bar is a small space, so reservations are required.