Winnetka Restaurants

We hadn’t been back to 501 since June. My husband has celiacs and some of the menu choices are limited. We were very happy with our experience. The food was wonderful -I had the tuna and highly recommend. We split lettuce wraps -delicious and each had the butternut squash soup-also delicious. Our server was excellent despite being the only server in the entire dining room. Our one complaint is the cold breeze that completely took over the dining room anytime someone entered the front door. It seems like an easy fix or at least one that a place of this caliber should address. They had a portable heater at the table closest to the door, not a promising sign! We did notice they turned the heat up but it dampened an other wise lovely meal. But when you’re paying nearly $100 per person that shouldn’t be part of the experience.

Delicious vegan food creatively prepared and plated. Wonderful cocktails and warm inviting ambiance. My only comment is the prices. Yes, it’s Winnetka, so there’s that, but I cook vegan every day and know that the food doesn’t cost nearly that much. The markup here is exceptional. Worth it perhaps to be able to go to a restaurant and order ANYTHING on the menu ( what a treat!), but I will not be able to go very often because of the extremely high costs.

This was a girls night out to celebrate a birthday and the holidays. My favorite thing about Ema - aside from how delicious and creative the food is - is that the portion sizes are big enough to share, but not so huge that you feel guilty ordering multiple dishes. There were six of us and we ordered a variety of cocktails (which were beautifully presented) followed by several dishes from all sections of the menu. We started with the classic hummus and the toasted almond & garlic spread. The hummus was predictably delicious, but the real standout was the toasted almond garlic spread. It was crunchy and nutty and had lots of flavor. We next had the chopped salad and the big eye tuna with Honeycrisp apple and pomegranate seeds. The chopped salad had a pleasantly surprising bit of spice to it, which we all enjoyed but….the tuna preparation was stellar and is a relatively new add to the menu. Ema’s previous tuna dish – from October – included watermelon, but this dish was truly spectacular! The bright pop of color and tartness in the pomegranate, paired with the tuna and diced apple, along with the mint… Made it look like Christmas on a plate. SK SO good!! We then had falafel, brussels sprouts and brown butter dates. The falafel is crunchy and flavorful, and served with a beet-laced tzatziki. The brussels sprouts were prepared with shallots and pumpkin seeds and a subtle hint of sticky sweetness. The dates were fine, but nobody was raving about them like we did the other dishes. We finished our meal with the harissa crusted halibut, and the cauliflower kebab. Both were excellent, although my personal favorite was the halibut. It is served on a bed of mushrooms, in a Dashi broth with a spicy crust on top. The fish was tender and flaky and full of flavor. Service (Morgan) was attentive but not annoying; ambience is chic and classy but comfortable. You would never know you are in a parking lot in Glenview as opposed to a terrace in the Mediterranean.

Our Our visit to Jimoto recently to celebrate a birthday was fabulous. The food is always the best, and our waitress was attentive, charming, and pleasant. We’ll definitely return for other events and will happily refer Jimoto to friends.

The food is always great at Avli. It was very busy and the noise levels were quite high but bearable. Maybe they could play some music to drown out some of the chatter. We had the hummus and eggplant spread. Both were great. Big portions. We also had the mini chicken skewers which were delicious, and the meatballs. They were quite good although the tomato sauce on top was quite tart and tasted a bit like tomato paste. My husband liked it more than me. For dessert we had the orange pie which is actually orange cake. It is delicious. We also tried the cheesecake and chocolate filo sampler. Both were very good. We love Juan who has been our server in the past. Very attentive and friendly.