Kouklas Greek Eatery
Bill and Bridget Basquin · 189 Google reviewsKouklas Greek Eatery — one of Niles's strongest mediterranean spots. Come for the food, stay for the energy. Solid drinks, with the bar pulling its weight. "The taramosalata spread was creamy and perfectly seasoned, and the grilled oysters were absolutely first class" — Steve Lozano
What 257 diners keep saying
What 257 diners keep saying
verbatim, from Google
“Absolutely phenomenal experience!!! Scott at the bar was amazing and helped my wife and I navigate the best of the menu and made the BEST cocktails. Great service, approachable atmosphere, and phenomenal Greek food. Complementary valet made parking a breeze.”
“Let me first start off saying that this place is truly an amazing beautiful place for a girls night out , family time or a date night . If you’re looking for a place that has the true Greek experience, look no further . They treat you like family here . My friend and I were there for almost three hours enjoying ourselves . The food was so delicious, it was literally melting in my mouth . We will be back ! :)”
“A most impressive dining experience; from the bar to our table. The ambiance is a most welcome fusion of urban and suburban. Every bite and sip was amazing. The service experience was professional all the way.”
“The experience was excellent from start to finish. The food was magnificent, full of flavor and beautifully presented. Every dish tasted fresh and carefully prepared. The service was attentive and the atmosphere was pleasant. Without a doubt, a place I would return to and highly recommend.”
“Kukla's Greek Eatery is a modern and upscale Greek restaurant in the heart of Niles Illinois. They went with a very modern feel when they updated this restaurant from the previous one. The food we had was outstanding! I love that they have small plates to share so it's easy to get a taste of everything on the menu. We had the whipped feta cheese with chopped cucumber, olive oil and wonderful toasted Greek sourdough bread. We also had the two skewer dinner and the chicken and pork was moist, flavorful and tender! Perhaps a few more potatoes would have been good on that plate, but I guess everybody is cutting down on carbs. Lol. We also could see that they have built a large outdoor patio area that wraps around the building and they put beautiful faux flowers to make it seem like a Greek garden. We definitely will be back!”
“3 visits. Food and service perfection! I had dinner at the bar with Hesner or Sarah serving. Chilled octopus is perfection, good wild greens,lamb ragu is comfort and sophistication! Good drinks: these bartenders are serious professionals. Nice wine list has attention to food pairing. The back waiters who serve the food are outstanding. OMG!pannacotta heaven
“This is my new go-to for Greek dining! I love the concept of ordering food for the table, allowing you to eat many different foods and try new things. Our waitress was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions. This was easily the best tzatziki sauce I have ever had, and I highly recommend the show-stopping lamb chops. The mocktails were thoughtfully crafted and very refreshing. I can’t wait to come back and work my way through the menu!”
“True Review: 4.4 Technically ambitious, with strong potential. A proper representation of Greek cuisine with modern-age twists to traditional classics. The Bakka Salmon was cooked to buttery perfection. Slightly under-salted. Pita crisps were textural gifts. The richness from the salmon and browned butter was not adequately balanced by the lemon's acid, filming the tongue. The fumet did not come through. Overall, the elements on the page were promising but could not be discerned independently. The Dolmades were meat forward and filled with wagyu. The structure of the filling was tender but dense. Avgolemono foam cut through some of the richness. Horiatiki is a Greek staple and done best when kept simple. The feta was high quality. The tomatoes were juicy and fresh. The snap peppers were a wonderful add-on and the liquid gold at the bottom of the plate was swept up with our complimentary bread. The pastitsio was special. It came in a thin slab, cut from a larger "loaf." Gently spiced with cinnamon, with a nice crisp edge. The noodles were still tender. The bolognese appeared to have been incorporated into the slice itself. Half of the plate had a concentrated tomato sauce that was bright and delicious without tipping the balance. The bechamel foam presented more as a puree but was really light and flavorful. The chilled octopus salad was good. Octopus was fork tender. The addition of red potato was unique, but the variety's starchiness added unnecessary weight to an otherwise light dish. The Greek yogurt dessert was SO good. Worthy of a visit as much as it is a return. Tart and smooth. Mouth-watering black salt topper. Addicting to the last spoonful. In the summer heat, the entire table was fighting for one more bite.”
“Delicious cold octopus salad and bone marrow!!! The oysters were just okay. Update from 2nd time dining there: - the first visit bone marrow had 2 bones ( party of 2) . 2nd was visit only 1 bone ( party of 4) this is my favorite dish but the 1 bone was a surprise. - 1st visit the cocktails were great. 2nd visit some were watered down , others too sour. Wouldn't order cocktails again. - grilled octopus and pastitio was fantastic - pork belly was delicious but just a tad too sweet. - lamb chop and pasitio are small portions. Not really enough food for a main dish - but very very tasty. This place might be okay for 2 people sharing but a party of 4 not so much. The food is overall very good, but I dont like the inconsistency.”
“So apparently, they MAKE you use complimentary valet as opposed to just parking the car yourself. Which was totally unappealing as there was parking free. They justified it stating they are expected 100 people so they need to love the cars. Once we got seated and ordered, the food didnt take long to come out. The eggplant spread, OMG, delish!!!! The lambchops were overly salted. The baked oysters were perfect. The fried calamari was like any other place. The dolamite were different and you could taste the freshness of the grape leaves. The cheesecake was subpar. The gyro plate was not what we were expecting. The beef didnt taske like what a gyro tastes like and it seemed stringy. I wouldnt bother ordering that. Now low behold, during dinner we looked around as we ate and it was not full, meaning the valet guys lied?!?! Just an odd way to run a business i guess.”
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