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Aperitif 21 - CLOSED
Categories: Restaurants Greek Restaurants Mediterranean Restaurants Persian/Iranian Greek, Mediterranean, Persian/Iranian [Edit]
2221 N Lincoln Ave(between Belden Ave & Geneva Ter)
Chicago, IL 60614
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
(773) 281-4400
- Nearest Transit:
-
Fullerton (Brown Line, Purple Line, Red Line)
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
About This Business:
We make completely customizable personal pizzas and salads, fresh to order, ready in minutes. Our concept features a Chipotle or Subway style line in… read more »
21 reviews for Aperitif 21
Review Highlights
"...also said that it's the best dill rice she has ever eaten..."
(in 4 reviews)
"The falafel sandwich was just funky."
(in 7 reviews)
"all i know is that they kept the hot pita bread flowing."
(in 4 reviews)
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21 reviews in English
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Review from Andrea H.
Updated - 2/13/2010 5 Check-ins Here
OK, I'm back to being a fan of this place. Apparently last time was an off night. This time I was just really in need of a salad...a greek one. After last time, I was not wanting to come back, but I didn't feel like going far either.
I got a take out order of the Mediterranean Salad, the baked goat cheese and the hummus. It was perfect. The salad was huge with tons of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, artichoke hearts and avocado. Awesome! The baked goat cheese and hummus were huge as well and served with a ton of warm pita bread. It was absolutely just what I needed and I'm still eating the leftovers today.
The portions are very generous and the price is right. The fact that the staff is so friendly helps too. Aperitif 21, you're back on my list!2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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3/4/2009
After a great first experience, we decided to go back to Aperitif 21 for a casual dinner. It was… Read more »
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Review from Megan G.
3/15/2009
I'm always a little nervous venturing to a new http://restaurant.com coupon restaurant - it seems half they time they're little undiscovered gems and the other half are restaurants that NEED these coupons to try to mask some other shortcoming. Sadly, Aperitif 21 falls into the latter category.
My friend and I were seeing a play at Greenhouse Theater Center down the street from the restaurant and since I had the aforementioned http://restaurant.com gift certificate, we decided to give Aperitif 21 a shot. We showed up at about 7 pm on a Saturday night and the place was dead - there was only one table occupied other than ours (though, granted it was the weekend before St. Patrick's Day so a lot of people were probably in party rather than quiet dinner mode). We stared with the falafel which was fine and the hummus, which was disappointingly bland. I had the chicken pommes frites (chicken and vegetable skewers and, for some reason, french fries). It was fine but also very bland.
Overall Aperitif 21 was fine, but really unexceptional. Dinner for two (two appetizers, one drink, two entrees) was $54 before the http://restaurant.com gift certificate. That price would have been too high for the lackluster food, at $29 after the gift certificate I thought it was a good value. Chicago has a lot of Mediterranean restaurants, though, and Aperitif 21 just doesn't stack up.Listed in: Dead List
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Review from Ryan G.
Chicago, IL
8/17/2008
While the food was excellent, the highlight here is the friendly staff and ownership.
I went here for dinner with some friends from out of town about a month after the place opened. My friends had been sitting there waiting for almost an hour, and the staff gave them some free appetizers to pass the time. That should let you know how friendly the staff at this place is.
The food was reasonably priced, reasonably portioned, and delicious. The meal was well paced, which had been a problem for me with new restaurants in the past.
The atmosphere is slightly upscale and modern. Nothing too special there. -
Review from Alex R.
Chicago, IL
8/20/2008
I am very excited about this place -- it has so much to offer!
The food: I've only been here once (so far), but everything on the menu is traditional Mediterranean cuisine that looked, smelled, and tasted great. My kubideh sandwich was perfectly made with the meat being tender and delicious in every way. The fries on the side were very generic, but not worth complaining about since the rest of the stuff was so great.
The drinks: They have only two beers on tap (Blue Moon and Miller Lite), so skip the beer altogether. Instead, order the overwhelmingly amazing "Mediterranean Martini" which is not on any menu. I asked why this thing wasn't on the menu, and the incredibly wonderful bartender (who may have been the owner) informed me that only those that are in the "know" may order this martini. Ok, so now you are in the know. Don't miss this martini thing -- you won't regret it.
The Service: Charming beyond belief. Everyone who came in was treated like family (including a first-timer like myself). There are definitely some growing pains to work through, but it's just not worth deducting a star for the minor hitches (in my humble opinion). Personally, this is going straight to the top of my list of "regular spots."
Side note: Delivery is an additional $2.50 per order, so just go to the restaurant and sit down. The place is great!Listed in: Top Restaurants
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Review from Zach F.
Chicago, IL
11/16/2008
As we walked by and saw an empty restaurant at 3:30 on a Sunday we were a bit apprehensive. Nonetheless we were greeted by a very friendly server and welcomed immediately. After turning down some hot tea and ordering our food we were treated to some vegetarian soup, on the house. It was pretty good and very thick, just the thing on a cold day. The falafel appetizer was a 7.5/10 and the pita was steaming hot. My lamb burger was above average and while my girlfriend didn't like the sauce on her eggplant wrap, she did enjoy the crinkle fries that came with.
The food itself is probably around 3 stars but the service definitely bumped it up to 4. Once I get sick of Athenian Room for cheap Greek I will certainly come back to AP21! -
Review from Meredith B.
Pittsburgh, PA
4/21/2009
In fairness to Aperitif 21, I ate here several months ago, when this place first opened. But in fairness to myself, I really didn't like it and I need to be honest.
I live just down the street, and I popped in one warm night with two friends. We had a few Blue Moons each, and then proceeded to eat some dinnah.
TO BE FAIR......again.....I don't remember what I had, although I think it was either a pasta or a kabob. Not that those are similar at all - I think I had one and a friend had the other. All three of us were disappointed in the food, which was certainly edible, but bland, flavorless, and uninspired. I'm always wary of ethnic restaurants that also offer chicken fingers and fries, pasta, spinach and artichoke dip....like, pick an identity and stick with it!
Maybe they've improved as the months have passed, but I did not like it. No. -
Review from cassie r.
2/5/2010
Any order of hummus that involves a hunk of feta cheese is an order of hummus that I'm gonna love. A-whole-frickin-lot.
However, this wondrous mixture was the only highlight to my order at Apertif 21.
The falafel sandwich was just funky. Kind of cold, and the sauce was strange and drippy - I just couldn't focus on the falafel when I was trying to figure out what else I was eating with it.
The fries were pretty good - but, hey, fries are usually pretty good.
The pita bread that accompanied the hummus was limp and luke warm too - so, so sad.
Prices are high, so be prepared for that. Mediocre is my final summation on the experience - though their desserts seemed like they could be a reason to return. Chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and carmelized bananas....a return to taste test might be in order. For the good of the cause and all.. -
Review from Justin R.
Chicago, IL
4/27/2009
My girlfriend and I have ordered delivery from Aperitif 21on two separate occasions. We love being able to order online and often times just use Foodler to find somewhere we want to eat and place an order. Both times the delivery was very quick; well under thirty minutes. I know the first time we ordered the hummus, which is a must for the first time we eat at any Persian restaurant. If it sucks, chances are everything else does as well. I do not recall what else we had, but everything, including the hummus, was good.
We ordered from Aperitif 21 for the second time last night. I had the lamb burger and my girlfriend had the BLTA, which is just a BLT with avocado and is from their menu, not something that my girlfriend made up. We also shared some falafel. The falafel was okay, but certainly not worth ordering again. The lamb burger was great and quite messy. The BLTA, however, had slices of red onion on it that were almost a half inch thick and no avocado. Hmmmm... well there goes a star.
All in all, the food we have had at Aperitif 21 was good. We will order again, but if we have anymore problems, such as not including one of the main ingredients on a menu item, then it will probably be our last. -
Review from Nick M.
4/15/2010
"A good falafel is like tasting... a good falafel"
Reviews for Aperitif 21 are kind of up and down and mine isn't going to be any better. It's one of those places that the food is good with a touch of greatness but you can completely see how things can go wrong.
My date and I had a http://restaurant.com coupon and decided to give the place a whirl before heading to a play. Being their first clients of the day we got a seat by the window. They must have expected a low turn out because there were only two ladies working (besides kitchen staff) and it was one of the waitresses first day. I think she did a great job, a little nervous but I made some jokes that seemed to ease her or maybe I pissed her off and so she wasn't as jittery. Of course as more people came in things got a little slower which I can understand being so short staffed.
We ordered the appetizer platter which includes your choice of rice (dill), hummus, tabouli, baba ghanouj, falafel and shirazi salad. I love me some tabouli and you get all of this for $9.95, which really isn't a bad deal for the qty. Every thing was fresh and flavorful. I felt like I needed more falafel so I went with the wrap. It had the usual Tomato, lettuce, cucumber, pickle and tahini sauce and served with french fries. I've never in my life had a pickle in my falafel wrap, it was blended so well with the other ingredients I was surprised, add a little hot sauce and it was good to go. My date had the Aperitif Chicken, Chicken breast, sautéed with mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, and artichokes, feta cheese served with dill/white rice. I had a bite or two, the chicken was extremely most and with the fresh vegetables, it's something to order next time. She also said that it's the best dill rice she has ever eaten outside of Greece. So the food wasn't bad at all but again I can see that if the ingredients aren't as fresh as they were it would a totally different experience and of course you can overcook falafel very easily.
My advice is to check it out for your self, maybe the secret is to go early.
P.S. Yes that's my quote! I couldn't think of anything, my face was in the falafel. -
Review from Alyssa M.
Chicago, IL
7/2/2010
Maybe this place deserves more than one star-- the food might be excellent. But how am I supposed to know, when after multiple attempts at ordering off of the very deceptive menu, we're told they don't even have the right ingredients to make half the things they say they do?
For serious. My friend's all excited about this kebob he sees advertised in the window for $6.95. "Oh, that's more like a picture of what some of our food could look like, not a lunch special," the waitress tells us. OK, so he could order the one for more than twice the price, but it turns out they're not serving from that specific page of the menu anyway.
We're a group of seven coworkers with an hour for lunch. We try to order some combo plates to share. Turns out the $20 and up prices are per person and the combos only include selections of what is listed. Nowhere is this explained.
We wise up and order simpler dishes. The falafel sandwich is a popular choice.
The waitress comes back: "I really want to apologize," she says, perhaps for the confusing menu or the false advertising that's plastered onto the window. No. They don't have enough bread to make all the sandwiches we ordered. Sure, there's seven people at our table, and a number of us ordered sandwiches, but the restaurant is otherwise empty.
So a half hour into our lunch break, we give up and leave. The waitress shrugs it off, perhaps understanding, perhaps embarrassed.
As we make our way to the pretzel place across the street, we're not necessarily angry, just confused and tired from our futile attempts at navigating the obstacle course of a menu. Our conversation at the table had been lovely, but we had gone out for lunch, and lunch we could not procure.
At this point it seems silly to complain that we were served water without ice when we specifically asked for ice water. But for the record, that happened too. -
Review from kat v.
Chicago, IL
4/27/2009
LACK OF FLUENCY = TRUANCY
We ended up repeating our order and information twice to two different people on the phone, neither of which seemed to speak very much English. Seventy-two minutes later, tummy's rumbling, I call to check in. They had written down the wrong phone number and couldn't call when my food had arrived. So I gave them my phone number, for the third time. When the food finally showed up, it was cold and soggy. We asked the delivery driver to take it back. He blamed it on me by saying that I must have given them the wrong area code, 773 instead of 708, like i wouldn't know the only area code i've ever had in my entire life. Guess nobody ever told them that it's bad business practice to blame your error on the customer, which is why I am here... -
Review from Andres D.
10/1/2008 10 photos
Lamb Burger is absolutely tasty! Highly suggest the hummus and Persian salad as a starter. Great atmosphere and of course flat screen TVs. Gentle decor makes for a delicate evening out on a date. Prices are reasonable. There is a bar serving blue moon on tap as well as an arsenal of liquor to make your favorite cocktail!
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Review from Hazel C.
Chicago, IL
Updated - 9/28/2010
Sadly, this restaurant is out of business. Too bad ... I really liked it. Now I'll have to find another Mediterranean place to get my lamb burger fix. :(
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/8/2009
I've eaten here twice; once with an out-of-town guest for lunch and again tonight for dinner with my… Read more »
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Review from Kelly D.
Washington, DC
1/26/2009
My friends and I were looking for a Mediterranean place off the Red Line and Aperitif 21 won out, despite initial weariness due to its close proximity to the DePaul nightlife of Barleycorn and The Apartment and Halligans and the like. We were afraid it might be some kind of cheap, greasy drunk college kid place, but were pleasantly surprised with the ambiance, including bold red walls and a soundtrack of Norah Jones and other smooth lite romantic tunes.
We split a falafel appetizer, which was pretty good. I've had better, but you can't go too wrong with falafel. Their only non-appetizer vegetarian dish revolved around portobello mushrooms and I am not a mushroom fan, so I opted for the Mediterranean Salad instead. It was very good, full of avocados and artichokes and delicious chunks of feta. For dessert, we split chocolate cake and ice cream. Not sure how Mediterranean/Persian that is, but we are females and didn't complain.
The service in general was... interesting. Our waitress seemed awkward, almost as if she was intimidated by us. Nonetheless, she was very sweet and attentive. After we had finished our dessert and were just sitting around chewing the fat for a wee bit, the waitress came out with another plate of ice cream with bananas for us. She said her boss wanted us to have it on the house. That was very nice of them, albeit very confusing. Usually when people are idling around a restaurant after finished eating the owners would rather them leave than tempt them into staying with free desserts. But, again, we didn't complain.
The only major downside to the place was the lack of vegetarian entrees. Most appetizers were veg-friendly so one wouldn't starve here, but the selection could be expanded. -
Review from Sean D.
Manhattan, NY
8/24/2008
I would expect to pay $25 for the meal I had there for $14, so if you want a great deal for some really great food, check this new spot out.
The waitress was extremely friendly and very attentive (maybe too much so)? She brought out our beer right away and we ordered the spinach-artichoke dip as an appetizer, which was good if you like it bland and runny. For me, the pita bread was the highlight; charred perfectly and served thick and hot.
Our meals were pretty large and pretty great. I had the chef's chicken and shrimp, which started with a bed of dill rice with lima beans and other little surprises, topped with chunks of seasoned chicken and a row of surprisingly large, surprisingly tasty, surprisingly perfectly-grilled shrimp. I mean, I've had a lot of grilled shrimp in my day but these little guys were AWESOME. I was even trying to suck out that last little piece of meat in the tail.
Here's where Aperitif really shone, though; shortly after ordering, the waitress told us they lost our ticket and she had to ask us again what we ordered. As a result, our four beers were on the house and a plate of chocolate cake and ice cream were delivered just before our skimpy check.
Now THAT is service. -
Review from Andrea c.
6/17/2009
for a first dining experience in our new hood, i dont think we could have picked a better place! prices are very reasonable and they were running wine specials...we came in late...so the restaurant was empty except for us, but the service was fabulous.
we had 2 appetizers...hummus and something else that i cannot remember..but it was delicious. all i know is that they kept the hot pita bread flowing.
our entrees were delicious, the wine was great and the price was completely reasonable. hmm, now that i think about it....i really want to go back...soon. im not sure exactly what country they are classified as...but it is definitely middle eastern food. lots of feta cheese, lots of meat, lots of rice...and the food is definitely authentic. if you dont like it, stay away...more for me :) -
Review from liz d.
Chicago, IL
Updated - 10/19/2009
I said I'd be back, and I was. Same great service, same great food. This time tried the bruchetta which was crisp yet fresh bread, topped with fresh tomatoes and basil, and lots of cheese. perfect way to start off a meal if you ask me. Wow, hold on there. I got in front of myself. Wine is always the way to start off, what is my problem? Their wine selection is small, but I have tried all the whites and each one is tasty in their own way. My boy has tried most of the reds and there has been no complaints out of him.
For dinner, I ordered the Rustic Chicken sans the sausage. They had no problem accommodating my request. It was superb! Perfect combo of a garlic sauce with some veggies including mushrooms and peppers. Can't go wrong if you order this dish. My guest had the seafood linguine which did not disappoint the palate. The lobster cream sauce served with scallops was excellent. The shrimp, however, tasted a little fishy.
Never a wait, and always pleasant staff. Give a try. You won't be disappointed.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/19/2009
It's really nice to have a nice restaurant amidst the all of the bars/pub food in this area. So… Read more »
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Review from al s.
Chicago, IL
12/4/2008
$9.90 for one side of dry RICE and pc of bread ,they did not like my order?
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Review from Steve T.
Chicago, IL
2/11/2010
The food is excellent. We did the pick 3 appetizers + 3 entrees.
The hummus is served with some feta in the middle. No oil like other places making it healthier.
Try the filet mignon kebab. Awesome as is the rustic chicken. Prices are very reasonable.
Its BYOB and full bar.
They have coupons what we got in a mailer (20% off $40) -
Review from Nicole S.
Chicago, IL
3/31/2009
I like this place. Its very close to home so I pop over here to get my hummus fix. I docked it 1 star for price--while not expensive, I think they could lower their entree prices a little bit. And another star because while everything I've had here is good, its also slightly bland. Their hummus could use extra garlic. But Ive ordered the chicken and lamb skewers served with rice. Everything was cooked perfectly. It was juicy and good quality. Its definitely worth giving a try. If you really like persian food, Par's Cove is definitely much better but this will suffice.
Service is also a reason for star deduction. It should be better for how empty this place usually is.
Full bar. Seems to be family owned and run. I want to see this place succeed. -
Review from simone b.
San Diego, CA
1/13/2009
we found the menus for this place in our mail room and we were excited to see they delivered until 2 a.m. on a friday. so we ordered in. the chicken pommes frite was really good chicken, only they forgot the sauce that goes with it. the dill rice was alright too, minus the lima beans it had.
the next day we felt like ordering again, giving them a second chance to see if they'd forget my sauce again. and of course, they did. on the phone i told them they had forgotten the sauce the night before and asked them to please not forget this time. but they did anyways.
the chicken again was really good. but the salad came with no dressing, they forgot that too. and the lettuce was kinda gross. we also ordered a soup that tasted like leather boots.
so, the chicken is really good, and it delivers until 2 a.m. on fridays and saturdays, but everything else we experienced was not that great.
