Shake Your Yelpmaker Elite Event @ Latin Rhythms Dance Studio

If you look closely at one of the event photos, you’ll notice I danced to salsa music with a drink in my hand. Go ahead, look.
See it? Awesome.
Thanks to Johnny, Colleen, and the rest of the crew for getting us to shake it up. A special thanks to the sangria man. Cheers!

had an amazing time at this event. photos from this event can be viewed on Unilocal’s Flickr Account.

YAY elite events :)
The food was fantastic. Dance lessons were super fun. Sangria was plentiful and always filled up. That is the definition of a great night.
What else can I say that hasn’t already been said? For real. I need to get on being one of the first to review these events!

Another 5 star production by the Unilocal Chicago team!
This was a nice intimate event. There were plenty of people, but not too many. There was plenty of room to mingle and even places sit down! The sangria was free flowing and the traveling waiters never let our cups empty. I love red sangria, Unilocal,how did you know?
The food, OH MY, the food. I’m totally going to Sinha for brunch. That little fritter with hummus-​like spread and shrimp stew was so delicious. Don’t even get me started on the rice and beans. I’m normally not a fan of black beans (pintos all the way, yo) and white rice is boring. Not Sinha’s rice and beans — they were divine. For real.
The dance lessons were cool, although I mostly watched from the sidelines. I was surprised by how familiar I was with the basic steps that were being taught. I knew more than I thought I did. It was such awesome concept, I’d love to see more dance focused events in the future!
But as soon as salsa/​bachata time was over the DJ took me back to my (for those that grew up in Chicagoland) Nitro/​Paladrome/​Tequilas/​Zero Gravity [Des Plaines] days. I LOVED every second of it! LOVE LOVE LOVE! I shook my Unilocalmaker like it was my job!
I am just so happy that I was able to be one slice of bread in the Destry dance sandwich. Hot.
Johnny, you’ve done it again! THANK YOU for making sure I got my cardio in at this event ;)
CC — lovely to see you, as always.
Thanks, Unilocal,for another awesome night!
2010 is shaping up to be an exciting year in Unilocal events!
The only not awesome part of the night:
I will say that like another reviewer, I am sad the Latin Rhythms staff did not get out and mingle with us. One of my favorite things about Unilocal events is meeting the staff/​owners/​etc. of the venues we visit. I was hoping to learn more about LR and their classes while there. It’s too bad no one reached out to us. I don’t feel like the LR staff was rude, they were just nonexistent to me. Bummer.

Wow this event was just awful. For the following reasons
1. The sangria was way too good.
2. The food was out of this world delicious.
3. The service was stellar (to the lovely man who was refilling my glass every five minutes: I LOVE YOU!)
4. The dancing lessons were a blast.
5. And everything else was just generally phenomenal.

It was amazing. I’m not sure what else to even say. Johnny and his crew of helpers just outdo themselves again and again with each event. The sangria was plentiful, the company was delightful, food was tasty and there was dancing to burn off all those calories!
A very very special thanks to the angel of a Unilocaler who found my camera that I left in the bathroom and turned it in to the Unilocal crew at the front desk and an additional thanks to Johnny and Colleen who made sure that it found its way back to me. Such a happy reunion :)

Great party as usual. Thanks Johnny T., Colleen C., etc. My plus one had a great time as well.
The venue was great. A little bit far from my bus lines but that’s okay. 1492 Tapas did a great job at making sure my little cup of sangrias was always full. I don’t even remember how much I drank. Sinha provided delicious rice and beans — I was too full to try anything else. I was actually sad about this because I wanted to try everything. Haha! That’s the obese kid inside talking.
Loved the dancing and the music. It’s a shame I couldn’t really dance though. I tried! But I think I still danced like a hippie. Haha!
Once again, thanks Unilocal

All you can drink sangria!!! Well you might get a horrific hangover, but you are guaranteed to have a great time. My favorite Brazilian chef was there cooking up some tasty treats and there was a great crowd of Unilocalers as always. It was really nice of Johnny to hire 80 professional dancers to show off their skills. Seriously some of you guys have some serious moves!

Yep, I’m gonna go right on ahead and slap this one five.
Had a great time. There was plenty of room to mingle — even though I didn’t do enough of it. The Sangria was flowing freely. To the extent that while I was in line for some grub, I was refilled TWICE! Awesome! Speaking of grub, those croqueta type things were super good. Shrimp, pico de gallo, something that looked like hummus all stuffed in a little croqueta. Yum. And let’s not forget the beans and rice. I will be BYOing to Sinha soon.
Dancing was cool, even though I didn’t do too much. Mingling was great — I love catching up with my faves. The music was awesome, I’ve been missing my latin grooves for awhile. Parking was like I like my mens: free and easy. I got to see a Unilocalers (who will remain nameless) undies. They had motorcycles on them. RAWR! Best of all — this was on a Friday, perfect prelubing for my evening.
Kudos to our CMs for yet another job well done!

I think this was my favorite elite event so far!
I got to talk to lots of people, which seemed really easy at this event! The food was delicious. The sangria kept coming every time my glass came close to being empty, and there was plenty of water that was easy to grab.
The dancing was so fun!
Really, everything was amazing! Kudos to Johnny!

Thanks to the Unilocal team for creating a great event. This event was definitely smaller than previous events and I was definitely appreciated that.
Sangria was yummy and it was nice of them to work the room providing refills during the event. I didn’t partake in the food so can’t comment on that.
Salsa lessons were great and I was able to take away some new steps to try out in the future. The only thing though was that I thought the lessons should have started earlier with more of an opportunity to try out what we learned on the dance floor with salsa music.

Wow! Another fantastic elite event. My friends and I had an absolute blast. Simply wonderful. I was so pleased that it was not too crowded and I really felt I had a chance to catch up with some Unilocal friends and not be overwhelmed. There was plenty to eat and drink. The sangria was super and those little fried bread things were yummy.
Latin Rhythms did a great job of hosting us. I thoroughly enjoyed my dance lesson. Although I am short and had a hard time in the back of the group trying to follow. I pretty much have two left feet, but after a great deal of concentration and practice, I think I have mastered the basic step. Still working on that turn. I can spin spastically, but that’s about it. Still, my poor dancing did not detract from an otherwise perfect night.

Thanks Johnny and Colleen, now my GF is making me take Salsa lessons at Latin Rhythms dance studio. Last time I go to a Unilocal event. Your next one might be at the petting zoo, and you guys will make it such an awesome party, next thing I know, she’ll have me raising goats in my spare bedroom.
This was such an enjoyable evening with a lot of unfamiliar elites. The drinks provided by 1492 were great. The waiters were coming around every few minutes refiling everyone’s glass. And the food from sinha was just amazing. I can’t wait to check out both.
And like I said, the guy doing the salsa lessons was so good, and the space was so amazing, that the GF has already signed us up for Salsa 1 lessons.

So much fun!!! This event really was a win win win in my book. Enough Sangria to get people on the dance floor making fools of ourselves and enough people to start wonderful conversations amongst all the chaos.
However, I am going to be THAT PERSON and have to ask did any of the AMAZING tasting food make anyone else sick? It honestly could be my bad indigestion (which i’m sure everyone needed to know) but I was just curious. I“m still reeling for all the wonderful black beans and rice and whatever those little corn + baby shrimp + fantasticness was. for both good and bad reasons.
Overall, I can’t help but feel the terrible stomach pains might be worth all the fun.

Of course I’m giving this 5 stars! I’m completely biased because I
love
Love
L O V E
to ballroom/​latin/​swing dance!
I’m so happy that Unilocal decided to host a dancing Elite event! I’d like to give special thanks to Johnny T. for running around and organizing, as well as Colleen C. who also organized and greeted me with a «I knew you were coming to this!» Shout out to any other organizers I missed, you’re wonderful! Thanks again for another free event!
Compared to other Elite events, this one was light on the food and drink, but my +1 and I didn’t care — we were bent on dancing even before the salsa lesson started. We busted out our west coast swing to the DJ beats of Kanye, Estelle, Lady Gaga, and other pop/​rap hits.
I really enjoyed the Brazilian food from Sinha that fortunately did not involve meat, so I was able to abide by Lenten Friday. I’m also kicking myself for not grabbing a menu because I don’t know the name of what I ate! It was a tasty corn meal puff with some pico de gallo, shrimp stew and another spread — all diligently prepared one at a time by the caterer. I also liked the black beans and long grain white rice on the side. Because of the diligent preparation, I almost thought that Sinha didn’t have enough food for us, but I was able to get seconds.
Sangria was provided by 1492 Tapas Bar, and they served them in classy plastic wine glasses (I say that sincerely) and they walked around with pitchers to give us refills.
Latin Rhythms Dance Studio offered an interesting salsa lesson that had my friend and I initially worried. LRDS’ moves were different from what we learned, until we realized that they taught moves for those wanting to go through the steps and not break out into handholding partner dancing — which is how we know salsa. I wished the lesson was longer. The dance demo blew our minds!
What further blew my mind was the dancing talent among Unilocal Elites. My goodness, a lot of you know how to bachata! I must learn from you!
Overall, I wished the event was longer because I’m used to dancing for at least three hours, but that’s just me. Great event in my absolutely biased, dancing-​loving opinion!

Sangria, check. Amazing ethnic cuisine, check. Refills on the sangria, double check. Unilocalsticks, oooooohhhhh yeeaaaaaa. Any event with those magical mini lip balms guarantees at least 3 stars in my book. But to then offer complimentary dance tutorials and some of the best food I’ve had in my life completely topped off the night. Sanha Brazilian fare, you made my year, thus far. The guy refilling my cup put this at 6-​stars.

I was the sh*t up in that beyotch! Or at least that’s what the last song they played told me. Believe it!
This was fun. Wasn’t it fun? Mmmmn hmmmn, I thought it was. The little salsa lesson was cool until the professionals came out there for a demonstration and made us feel like we all just got served. Dang, I thought I was doing something there for a while.: -/​
Check it, they were coming around with pitchers of sangria topping off people’s cups like the water guys do at restaurants. That’s how you get it jumpin and keep it jumpin. Lady GaGa came on and it WAS jumpin. *sings* ~I want your lovin, I want your revenge~ More sangria? Hell yea! Hotness.
I’ve already forgotten the name of what I had from Sinha, but it was damn good. I had to get seconds. It was like Latin Soul Food. I’m definitely going to have to head over there to have a full meal. You coming?
This was indeed a fun event. If you went and didn’t have fun, it’s because you suck and probably bore snails to tears. If you didn’t go, you suck too. Haha, just kidding. Or am I? Viva la sangria!!!

Reasons this event was MADE for Amanda C.:
–I have a whole Unilocal list called «I love to shake my salsa.»
–I speak Spanish. Kinda.
–I love all latin cuisines.
–I LOVE to dance.
–I learned to salsa once. It was a brutal experience for my partner.
–I LOVE sangria.
Therefore despite the fact that I was just returning from a week-​long work trip and had to basically throw on new clothes and run out the door, I was on this event like nobody’s business.
Latin Rhythms did a FANTASTIC job hosting us, from the dance classes to the booty shaking music, to the showcase of their fabulous dancers. 1492 made sure that no one went thirsty and that everyone had enough sangria to shake it. And the food was phe-​nom-​eee-​nal. Really. I loved everything about this event, and thanks to 1492 and copious sangria refills, I believe that I convinced my bf to take lessons with me.
Thanks, Unilocal,for devoting an ENTIRE event to ME. To all other Unilocalers: Maybe if you get to be double super secret elite, they will make one for YOU.

This party was really good. Here’s how good it was:
1) I don’t remember how I got home
2) I got very sick this morning
3) I missed my 9am meeting that I was organzing
4) I was 1 hour late to my own Unilocal event at 1:30pm the next day!!!
I was a little nervous before the party because I brought 3 people who never went to Unilocal events before, 2 being cousins and 1 friend who hadn’t been to a Unilocal event since October of 2008! For me, I put my faith in Unilocal to show everyone a good time and guess what? They delivered!!!
Thanks be to Johnny T and Colleen C who put together a smashing event with great entertaining and endless bounty at your disposal. 1492 Tapas did a standup job and contributed greatly to my over-​exuberance because at no time did my glass ever run empty! If this is the kind of service that they give for free at a Unilocal party, imagine what would happen if you actually went over there! I happened to be standing next to Singha as they were getting ready for food and ended up being the second one in line! The deep fried thingermabobber filled with mushy deliciousness hit the spot!
I am glad I was able to take my peoples to the Unilocal party and they weren’t disappointed. The dancing was tight and the music was on the mark once the dancing began. It was a great time to see everyone and it’s always like a big family reunion. Thanks, Unilocal!

another AWESOME Unilocal event! The red beans from Sinha were PHENOMENAL!!! I’ve been wanting to try their Sunday brunch since a couple told us about this secret treasure while we were dining at Han 202 a few months ago! I’ll definitely be visiting Sinha in the near future. Also 5 thumbs up for the unlimited sangria! PITCHERS AND PITCHERS AND PITCHERS! Definitely a fantastic event and the fact that there was easy, free parking made it 6 stars in my book!