Avli River North

I finally had the opportunity to try Avli last night. It was Monday night and walking up you could see that there wasn't an empty table or bar seat to be found. Upon entry I was immediately greeted by two Greek Hostesses. While awaiting my guest I was also able to meet The GM Stefano who gave me a brief rundown on their brand. We had an assortment of drinks, enjoyed all four of their homemade spreads, the Pork Gyro and The Braised Lamb Shank. All were delish!The patio, which is West of Wells is nice and fairly tranquil given its location away from heavy traffic. The Greek Hospitality was omnipresent. I know I'll be back again soon.

I am a frequent customer (delivery) of Avli, love their food and selection. My orders are almost always the same, so I can see and tastes the changes for my orders. Hummus: their hummus is absolutely amazing, it is not salty at all and goes great with the pita bread. They did not warm the pita bread for my first few orders, so I was kind of disappointed because TRUST ME, you don't want to try a cold hard pita bread (no spreads can save the taste and texture of cold pita bread). Recently, I noticed they started warming the pita bread up for delivery, I'm really glad and hope they will continue to do so. It makes a big difference! Spreads: I tried 3 of their spreads( hummus, eggplant, and fish roe), my favorite is still the hummus one. Sweet potatoes salad: this is definitely one of my favorite salad. The roasted sweet potatoes and dried figs add a great combination of sweetness to the salad. I love pairing this with the hummus spread too. However, sometimes the roasted sweet potatoes can be overly oily.Grilled Salmon: the portion of the salmon is getting smaller and smaller. The tastes is still the same. Mushroom gyros: my favorite gyros so far! The veggies (arugula and onions) adds a great crunch to the gyros. And the tomatoes match perfectly with everything else. The hummus spread makes this wrap tastier. HOWEVER! It can be VERY SALTY sometimes. All depends on luck I guess. Overall, Avli is a great place to hit for Mediterranean food. However, since I only had delivery I can't say much about the service or vibe. I do notice the taste and food quality vary drastically. There was also one time that they forgot to include my grilled salmon, but they offered me a gift card. Yet, this gift card can only be used in store.......So, I really hope that Avli can improve their management and food quality even if it's for their online orders. I think all customers deserve the same quality and treatment. And I hope I will have the opportunity to dine-in to have a better experience/feel of the restaurant.

Food is amazing! Modern Greek with very fresh ingredients that you can taste. I have gone to 2-4 different avli and their food quality is consistently good each time! A bit pricey but adequate for being river north. Great place to reunite with friends, great service as well. Loved the ambience as well.

Authentic, fresh, flavorful and incredibly delicious Greek food. The staff could not have been more accommodating and the food was absolutely amazing. An aperol spritz was also an delicious drink to have with this meal.

I actually really like this cute spot. It really captures the vibe of being in Greece very airy and bright. The service is amazing and attentive. The good is fresh and cooked to order. I had the octopus and a cucumber martini, my friend had a Greek salad. I loved the cucumber martini with a swirl of fresh cucumber, very refreshing and delicious. The octopus was delicious I just really wish it contained more octopus and less tomatoes and onions. The dishes are pricey so I expected the portions would be a bit larger. Other than that everything was great and I would happily return!

My cousin suggested this place and it did not disappoint. There was no wait at all and the service was quick + welcoming. We ordered the lamb chop and man, it was everything and more, the mashed potatoes were just as good as the lamb and thats telling! We also tried the dessert with their in house ice cream and that was also delicious (and my fav flavor is chocolate btw). I had to ask for the ingredients bc this ice cream truly had its own flavor - check it out! When I'm back in Chicago I'm definitely stopping by again. Oh! And beautiful cozy atmosphere.

One of the best places in the city to get Happy Hour. My favorites are the dip trio, zucchini chips and chicken souvlaki. Not to mention, their rice on the side of the chicken souvlaki is incredible- perfectly seasoned and a good amount of olive oil on top. Highly recommend coming here with your friends or family!

We stumbled across this spot as we were craving some greek food and were delightfully surprised on our amazing experience here! Staff was warm and accommodating as we had requested to dine inside after noticing how packed and loud the outside patio was. Our server was excellent in providing recommendations, engaging in conversations, and checking on us throughout. Complimentary bread with their pungent evoo (extra virgin olive oil) & kalamata olives was a delightful start before the rest of our order--Greek Muled Wine ($13): warmed, star anise & cinnamon spiced wine-Spread Sampler ($18): chose hummus, melitzanosalata (charred eggplant, herbs, garlic, roasted red pepper), and tirokafteri (spicy feta & roasted red pepper base, greek yogurt, chili). option of pita bread or veggies-Chicken Riganati ($27): tender half roasted chicken seasoned with lemon, mustard, garlic & oregano served with flavorful roasted potatoes -Beef Yiouvetsi ($28): braised beef in hearty, well-seasoned tomato sauce with orzo and sun dried tomato & mizithra cheese-Baklava Ice Cream ($10): vanilla ice cream topped with spiced nuts, honey, crumbled baklava, and caramelized phyllo Our favorites were the unique, tasty spread sampler and rich beef yiouvetsi entree! Would recommend this intimate, lovely spot with stellar service and delicious greek- inspired foods!

Starting with the ambiance, the space is very nice. Very welcoming and has fun house music playing. Very fitting for the concept of the restaurant. We went during restaurant week and so we got the tasting menu. Appetizers of prawns and meatballs. Both were exceptional. The prawns had a crispy filo coating and was served with a delicious sauce. I had the lamb shoulder for the main course and it was phenomenal. It's slow cooked (and done very well) so it fell apart very easily. Seated on top of a bed of mashed potatoes made for a great meal. One thing I really appreciate is the portion size. I've heard for restaurant week, portions are cut down or only cheaper dishes served. That was definitely not the case here. Dessert was their orange cake which I might need to go back for another piece. Drinks: old fashion and another smoked cocktail which I can't remember the name of. Delicious dining experience. Pro tip though: make sure your date didn't have a pet lamb before you order it for dinner.....

Had heard great things about this place but felt it was overall very average...Food - 3/5. The spread sampler was pretty good and definitely worth getting. We also liked the zucchini chips and the garlic spread it came with. I was not a fan of the saganaki. The sweet potato salad wasn't bad but would've been nicer if the potatoes were warm. Fries were crispy and seasoned well. The orange cake dessert was really good and also worth getting if you have a sweet tooth!Service 3/5- service was okay and felt rushed. Ambience 4/5 - overall gives off fun vibes and a nice place to come for date night or a group. Service .