NAIA
NAIA pairs Mediterranean cooking with a lively Chicago Riverfront setting, where architectural views, passing boats, upbeat music, and polished design make it especially appealing for celebrations, date nights, and scenic lunches. Regulars rave about the falafel wrap, flavorful spreads, pasta, drinks, and desserts, though outdoor reservations may involve waits, tables can feel tight for larger groups, and service is occasionally inconsistent during busy periods.
What 819 diners keep saying
verbatim, from Google
“Jasmine gave perfect suggestions follow her lead Exceptional attention to detail wonderful friendly service Especially on a busy Saturday night”
“Es maravilloso!!!! Super agradable. Las mesas muy pequeñas cuando es grande la familia y para comer es incomodo pero agradable todo”
“There are many reasons why NAIA is the hottest Mediterranean restaurant in Chicago right now and reservations are hard to get! Their location on the Chicago Riverfront with the spectacular Architectural buildings surrounding both sides of the river, popular tour boats floating by, brave kayakers rowing past, smaller boats racing thru and not hitting anyone, large Fire boats sailing by, and various lovely birds flying over all of it to add to the splendor for all of the guests. Not only the location, but also their food and service is great! It's an amazing place to eat at. We tried for several weeks before our trip to get reservations but couldn't get them. So, we decided to be walk-ins. Luck was with us and we got a highly valued booth closest to the river. We were thrilled! Our server was Rosselin, who was so nice, very attentive, and very knowledgeable about the menu. We started with refreshing cocktails, the Strawberry Spritz for me, and a Pinot Grigio for my daughter. We both ordered the delicious Crispy Potatoes with labneh, pickled onions and oregano. For our main dish, we chose Chicken Thigh on a Skewer with ladolemonu. It was great! Our dessert was the Baklava Soft Serve, also very good. Rosselin checked on us quite a few times to make sure all was well. She made us feel special and we appreciated her style of service. Just a short note for those who cannot use stairs, there is an elevator that can take you down stairs to the hostess desk. It is by the valet service outside. We enjoyed our visit at NAIA and definitely will go back on our next trip!”
“Very elegant lunch dining spot located right on the river. Affordably priced and delicious food, be sure to try the Falafel wrap. Chloe provided friendly personalized service.”
“Shoutout CT!!! Him and JuJu made this an overall great experience. Service was a bit slow at first and our table was missing a chair.. but it’s understandable being a new and busy restaurant. They definitely took great care of us and everything came out tasting amazing. The kitchen is doing their thing!! Can’t wait to come back and try the rest of the menu.”
“From ambiance to appetizers, drinks to dessert this place was phenomenal from start to finish.”
“Best food I’ve had in a while. Everything exceeded expectations. Worth the hype in my opinion!!”
“We had lunch at Naia to celebrate my birthday. We had a 2:15 reservation for outdoor dinning. They still made us wait an additional 10 minutes because we had the outdoor seating reservation. After the 10 minutes, I went up to the host to say what does time look like. When are you guys going to get us seated? So the delay was a little annoying and that I had to further inquire about our wait was even more annoying. Here we are. Let's hope our experience gets better. Finally, a gentleman escorted us to the outdoor table right in front of the Chicago River. So they did give us premium seating. The view was fantastic. Chloe was our server. She was absolutely delightful. We asked for the tableside hummus. To our dismay, the tableside hummus is only offered at dinner hours which start at 4pm. They do not offer table side hummus on the weekday lunch menu with exception if it was Saturday or Sunday lunch. Just FYI because I did not see that in any of the reviews that I read. Since it was a Monday, we were screwed. Luckily, we were still able to order the hummus, but just a la carte. Kind of kills the experience, but it is what it is. Fortunately, the taste of the hummus made up for our disappointment. It was really, really good. Highly recommend it. The only problem is when you order hummus a la carte you only get one pita bread that you get to split with the other person. You don't even get your own pita bread. When I asked Chloe about why we have to split one pita bread between the two of us, she said that she would have to up charge if we wanted another Pita. Which is absolutely ridiculous? C'mon Naia. Do better. We humbly split our pita in half so we can both enjoy the amazing hummus that was in front of us. Chloe did make it up to us so we are appreciative of her service and attention to detail. I ordered the Naia Burger which was very good. My friend who is vegan ordered the handheld Falafel Wrap. She enjoyed it very much. The drinks were great as well. All in all, we had a good experience at Naia. The drinks were great. The atmosphere was even better. Our server Chloe was amazing. Food is good. Nothing groundbreaking like the usual dineamic restaurants. I do have to say that they had this amazing deconstructed baklava softserve dessert which was outstanding! I was definitely impressed with that option, although I was disappointed once again that I couldn't try their famous banana date cake dessert. Guess why? It's only offered during dinner hours 😆 I highly recommend this restaurant for the views, drinks, hummus, dessert and the service. Thank you Chloe! Remember, tableside hummus is only available during weekday dinner hours and weekends not weekday lunch hours. Ultimately, we will be back during dinner hours next time to finally get a chance to experience that table side hummus and that damn banana date cake. Don't be stingy with the pita bread.”
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