Best Mediterranean Restaurants in Niles

Had a lovely catch up with a very good friend over delicious food. Had the artichoke, the lamb, and the oxtail and pesto pastas. Everything was wonderful.

Service was impressive. Constant supply of water, great timing between meals, waiter was excellent. New plates between meals. Food was awesome. Sweet potato latkes had the classic latke texture and flavor with an added creaminess and sweetness from the sweet potato. The falafel was very well seasoned and the sweet creaminess of the beet tzatziki was complemented perfectly by the savory, slightly grittiness of the tahini sauce. The harissa crusted halibut was perfectly cooked flakey fish with a beautifully salty dashi mushroom broth. The harissa crust itself had a cheese-forward flavor not unlike cheez-itz, but in a good way, brightened up by shavings of lemon zest. The frozen yogurt with olive oil and sea salt was a bit surprising in that it was more cheesy than I had expected it to be. The yogurt was great and the drops of olive oil carried a salty punch to them and had hardened ever so slightly from the coldness of the yogurt. The burnt honey cake was great. Tall light multi-layered cake with light burnt honey whipped cream and some other warm spices like cinnamon. The honey cake tasted eerily similar to cinnamon teddy grahams from when I was a kid. The meal was very good, with creative twists on classic dishes that were enhanced by bold flavors. The nostalgic elements of flavors from my childhood were special. The service was excellent. I would definitely recommend Ema, and if you’re ever in Chicago to try Aba as well. Both are great restaurants.

Going to a restaurant on Valentine’s Day for the first time is always a risk, as it’s usually their busiest day of the year and service isn’t always the best. But there were no lapses whatsoever during our experience, with the exception that the host didn’t notice our request in the reservation for a booth instead of a table. Thankfully they were very accommodating in making the shift. Our server was fantastic, as was the food. We thoroughly enjoyed the chicken limone and calamari linguine. We split their house salad, which was delicious, as was the sundae for dessert. Giving single stem roses to all of the ladies and playing 80s love songs was also a great touch! We will definitely be returning to this location again! Kudos to all of the managers and staff for making this Valentine’s Day dining experience one of our best!

Andros Taverna is such a great spot to get Greek food that has a really nice flare to it. There are lots of Greek places in Chicago that are really casual. At Andros, everything is really fresh, and all of the dishes have a good little elevation to them that makes them feel very authentic, but also really exciting. The space is really well done. It's nice enough that you feel fine dressing up and having a fancy date, but cool enough that you can come in a tshirt and jeans. It's a great balance. Our service was really fantastic. The host greeted us really warmly and took us straight to our table, and our server walked us through everything, and did just the right amount of checking in on us and paying attention to when we might need more drinks or be interested in some additional dishes.

Very good service, noise level high. Recommend the chicken kabob, but forget the onion soup. Request to sit by the fireplace. Cozy.