For dessert, we shared a Greek chocolate cake with rose water compote and two large scoops of house-made vanilla ice cream with a caramel Baklava center.GESW0910BSTZ-E-E)/Type/Annot/AP>endobj2899 0 obj/Encoding>endobj2900 0 objendobj2901 0 objendobj2902 0 objendobj2903 0 objendobj2904 0 objendobj2905 0 objendobj2906 0 objstream I couldn't pass up pan-seared Lauraki, a whole de-boned Greek Branzino filet with sauteed wild greens. For an entree, my wife chose four grass-fed lamb chops served with Greek fries. Then we had Tarama, a traditional cod roe dip on pita bread. We started with Avgolemono, a traditional egg/lemon soup with chicken and rice. Ever since, with its growing popularity, I scan a restaurant menu for Branzino. "Have you ever tried Branzino?" he asked. The restaurant owner waited on our table and I asked what the special of the house was. I was introduced to Greek cooking a few years ago while on vacation in Florida. Open from 11 to 10 Sunday through Thursday, 11 to 11 on Friday and 10 to 11 on Saturday, it offers updated Greek cuisine in a sleek and sassy space. Located at 702 North Wells Street, at Huron, it is only eight blocks from our home on the Gold Coast. My wife and I were especially pleased with our visit to Avli River North. Avli has opened up a whole new world for us with its egg/lemon soup, Branzino, lamb chops and Baklava. In fact, I'm even learning how to pronounce the names of the traditional Greek dishes. But I'm learning to love it, thanks to recent dining experiences at Avli's four locations in the Chicago area. The waiter was Alexandros and he was in a good mood. 10 minutes later they moved us to our inside table. Today we had reservations for inside but all inside tables were taken when we got there (someone not obeying the 90 minute table time) so we were seated on the patio. The second time we had a fabulous waitperson, I wish that I could remember her name but you'll recognized the Crete snake style jewelry. It was a little crowded but we all had the storm in common to talk about: it was like a party. The first visit we sat outside and it started to rain. It was served an a vegetable "taboule" of tomatoes, sweetened onions and parsley. The flavor said that the squid was fresh(ish) and the char from the grill added to the flavor. The Kalamari was a bit too rubbery for my partner but that's just the way it is. The Hortopits could have used some Feta in the mix to moisten it up but the filo was crisp and the leek, endive and spinach filling was very flavorful. The Watermelon Salad (again), Hortopita Greens wrapped in Filo. Today was our third lunch and we had three small plates to share. Their Tzatziki is heavy on the Yogurt, medium on the cucumbers and light on garlic. Our second visit we had the moist Chicken Souvlaki served with oven baked crispy potatoes and house made Chicken Gyros with their house made Tzatziki sauce. The Moussaka is made with braised and shredded lamb shoulder instead of ground meat which only. So far have had the Hummus (a bit bland), Diana Salad and the Watermelon Salad with Feta and drizzled with a Balsamic Vinegar reduction. The menu is extensive, so there will be other dishes to try on a subsequent visit. It's a very pleasant spot and the interior of the restaurant looks inviting for colder weather. The gyros plate was big: the meat, tomato and onions were spread on 2 pita with a mound of slightly too-soft fries in the middle, plus more thick and excellent yogurt. I liked the calamari, which came with a hefty dollop of very good and thick Greek yogurt based sauce but my companion thought it had too-thick breading. Other than this glitch, service was good. It was a reasonable assumption on the waiter's part, so I should have asked that everything be brought at the same time. Unfortunately, the waiter decided to "course out" the dishes, so mine didn't come until my companion was nearly finished with his. My companion ordered 2 appetizers: fried calamari and saganaki I ordered the pork gyros plate. it was okay it got shadier as we sat there. We got one of the sidewalk tables for 2, in partial sun but. The restaurant has a large number of outdoor tables, some on a raised patio, others along the sidewalk under umbrellas. We stopped in for lunch around 12:30 on a beautiful summer's day.
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