Firstly, The Ambiance is amazing .!! With all the light tones with asthetic vibes and amazing vibes. The Service and the staff are so friendly where they were given suggestion regarding the food and drinks which are quite famous and Now here comes the big one THEeeeeee Food It's just amazing we have ordered almost 4-5 varieties like shrimp,salmon ,chicken rice and everything tastes yum yum and the drinks are too good and a beautiful day to remember read more

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Dinner reservations are booked solid until ???, but we had better luck with landing a Saturday lunchtime reservation. We'd been to Ema in River North before and were curious to compare. The Glenview location is not only more accessible but has ample free parking. The décor is an absolute wow. Our server was cheery and professional, but service was erratic only because she had more tables than she could manage efficiently. Our party of 6 sampled a nice cross-section of the menu. Our cold apps were classic hummus and charred eggplant spread, served with za'atar-dusted pita bread segments that we couldn't stop eating. From the hot mezze list we ordered sweet potato latkes and hot honey halloumi, best described as heaven-on-a-plate. Happily, a runner mistakenly brought two orders of the latter to our table but we were not charged for the extra. Entrée-size portions of the California chopped salad and grilled chicken sandwich followed. We were stuffed by then, so most of the sandwich and accompanying fries were enjoyed at home the next day. We need to return to sample other menu items. read more

I had Ema figured for one of those restaurants where they charge you a lot for tiny portions and then mess up your order, but it is not that kind of place. I tried the pumpkin hummus and the garlic-almond spread -- the former with bread and the latter with crackers, which I think was the right call. Both were delicious. Made just right. And the portions were enough for two meals. My only quibble is that there are relatively few vegan dishes available. And as a vegan, I would like to be able to try modified versions of the many intriguing items on the menu, but they don't allow you to make modifications, at least not when ordering delivery. Still, on the culinary merits, this place totally lived up to the hype. Count me pleasantly surprised. Would recommend without hesitation. read more

We find the downtown version of Ema a little better than their newer Glenview location. The fusion Mediterranean menu is hit or miss and way overpriced. Cool atmosphere and decor. read more

I went here yesterday for my Birthday after seeing it online. The design was probably the best part about the restaurant. The food was good, but pretty pricey - so just beware that a bill here will be pretty high. I have to say I was very disappointed with how crammed the space is. The tables are so close together, you can't even squeeze through to get to your seat without touching or disrupting the people sitting next to you. You can't even squeeze in through the entrance/exit because it stays so packed. I get the restaurant wants to get as much business as possible, but they should probably take out some tables to make everyone more comfortable. Overall, the food was good, but I probably wouldn't come again - the design was the only real highlight. read more

First, the restaurant is beautiful on the inside. The place is creatively designed and has a well decorated dining and bar area. The food here was tasty as well, but I did not find it particularly worth the price. I thought the portions were pretty small considering the price you are paying for each dish. The chicken kefta kabob and salmon kabob were great, and it was served with some delicious rice on the side. Both of these dishes were cooked perfectly and were filling. The meats were succulent and tender throughout. Furthermore, the California chopped salad, octopus carpaccio, and sweet potato latkes are phenomenal options to share. The warm pita bread is excellent as well. On the other hand, the king salmon and halibut dishes are not worth ordering. The salmon is served with a very small piece of fish compared to what you get at other restaurants, leaving you still hungry after eating it. These dishes are on the more expensive end of the menu but were not filling at all. Also, the hamachi and melon dish was not enjoyable, and I thought it was an odd flavor combination. It was also served with very few pieces of hamachi. Additionally, the spicy hummus was fine but could've use a little bit more spice. For dessert, the honey cake and chocolate torte are both scrumptious. The honey cake was unique and not too sweet, and I liked this dessert the best. It comes with one big slice, and it is very shareable among multiple people. The chocolate torte is also a great option with a nice flavor profile. The desserts were definitely the highlight of the meal for me. Our server Finn was very awesome. He was helpful and gave us some good recommendations on what to get. He was a very nice guy, and I enjoyed talking with him. Overall, Ema has solid food and awesome service, but there is better value somewhere else. Ema has some awesome dishes but also some mediocre ones, and the menu has solid variety. It was nice to try this place since it opened recently, but I enjoy some of the other Mediterranean places in the area a little bit better. read more

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This restaurant is a joke...a sad joke! First, the prices are ridiculous for the portions that are served. The Hummus was merely a smear on a plate for $14. The corn Hummus...the same as plain with the exception of a few corn kernals...$16+. Lakes...four 50 cent piece size...$16. How about the fried mushrooms....you won't believe the few pieces that were served for $18. Truly, you've been warned. Even the kebab meals at $22+ were lacking and the rice was dry! I will never recommend this restaurant and will strongly advertise its greed for grub! read more

Ema was extremely amazing. The interior is so amazing. and everything is clean and so many cool texture of plants and also cool lamps and seats are comfortable and food was good and service is good read more

i was so excited that another ema opened up in the burbs! made a reservation as soon as i heard - my husband and i had our anniversary coming up so it was perfect. we dined there on a sunday at noon and there were a good amount of seats open. our server was very friendly but did take some time getting back to us especially when it was time for dessert and the check. she recommended we get about 2-3 dishes per person since these are shareable. we started off with the moroccan onion dip which came with the best pita (refillable by the way). loved that there were dates in them. we also got the brussels sprouts and honey crisp apple salad which was also delicious - had pomegranate in it. next we had the sweet potato latkes. you'll like this if you like sweet potatoes. and then for the entree we shared the braised short rib sandwich with fries. very flavorful and filling. we were too full for dessert at this point but they brought out the best yogurt dessert with a strawberry puree. i could eat a gallon of this. overall had a great experience and will be back! read more

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This Mediterranean/California mezze style (similar to tapas) restaurant offers a variety of amazing dishes in a bright and airy atmosphere. Portions are decent and the sandwich and kebabs are light entree sized. read more

Ema - Moroccan Onion Dip - Mediterranean Near Me - Glenview, Illinois

Oh hey, we were happy to be able to snag a reservation for 4 for our first visit here. The interior is stunning-- a cool mix of Tunisia and Newport Beach perhaps. We sat at a booth with chairs on the outside and took it all in. Our server was friendly but fell a tad short on timeliness of service towards dessert/check time. The menu has a nice variety of small plates to share-- we enjoyed our spread, Brussel sprouts, potato cakes and proteins with a nice drink menu too. The chefs version of a Greek village salad left us puzzled as this village was apparently out of any greens (see pic). Oh and the short rib portion is barely shareable-- felt like we were on the wrong side of a rationing campaign. Overall a solid experience and we'll be back to explore more of the menu! read more

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Ema is a restaurant my wife and I have been wanting to try for a while now. The small plate style of menu really played well for getting to try a bunch of things. We had the Moroccan onion dip and the sweet potato latkes, both of which were incredible! Our server, Jessie was really attentive and offered gluten free crackers for my wife to enjoy the onion dip with. The ambiance is also gorgeous, really beautiful atmosphere. For the mains we got the leg of lamb and the short rib. I thought the leg of lamb was under seasoned and the figs didn't necessarily "work" for me. The short rib dish comparatively was much better. All in all, I enjoyed our dinner but I did feel that it was a bit overpriced. With ordering one beer and one cocktail in addition to the food I listed, our total before tip was $130. I didn't think that was necessarily worth it to me, but I am glad we came and tried it! read more

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We snagged a reservation at Ēma for our wedding anniversary. We wanted something a little more casual than fancy because it was a Sunday evening. Getting the reservation was a bit of a feat, as with any newly opened, highly anticipated restaurant. After much refreshing of OpenTable, we came out victorious with a 7 p.m. reservation. As others have noted, there is plenty of parking. Ēma is situated in a shopping plaza, adjacent to Wildfire (another Lettuce restaurant). The exterior was illuminated and welcoming, and the lobby area was bright and airy. We were seated right away at a booth, and a member of the staff brought a carafe of water over. Our server stopped by a few minutes later and gave a brief overview of the menu, recommending 1-2 plates per person. Plates come out in the order they're ready, not at all at once, which is helpful for pacing the meal. She also took down my food allergy information and shared with me how their process worked (all dishes that were safe would come out with an allergen pick in them). We each started with a cocktail. My husband's passionfruit gin and tonic was the winner, though my mango broke was also very good. We both appreciated that they weren't overly sweet. We ordered the Greek Village salad, spinach and feta spread, crispy potatoes, broccoli, and spicy brisket kefta. The spinach and feta spread was amazing, garnished with crispy kale, and served with warm, seasoned pita. The broccoli was my favorite, both because of the crisped rice and the date tamarind tahini sauce. The tamarind barbecue sauce served with the spicy brisket was also quite good (but by that point I was getting full). Crispy potatoes were good but I would probably skip those for something more interesting in the future. Our Greek salad was the last course served to us, even after the kefta, which felt like a miss because it didn't stand out and we had moved well past timing for salad. Service was mostly good, though our server seemed to ghost us a bit at the end. Not sure if she got busy elsewhere or forgot about us, but other staff picked up the slack including someone else running our tab for us. Overall, it was a great evening. I'm surprised at other reviews criticizing the lack of options or an uninteresting menu. I'm already looking forward to a next visit because there were so many dishes we wanted to try. read more

Newly opened in Glenview! Suburban location means comes with parking-- that's a win! Been to the one in the city; decided to check it out. I had a great overall experience. Environment: Airy, Instagram worthy decor, Le Babo soap in the bathroom... Walking in, felt like I was walking in to a hotel lounge. Dining space is shared with the bar area. Space is open and can get quite loud when it's a full house. I love how bright it was on an afternoon. Suburban diners are differently a different crowd from downtown Ema crowd. Service: Garret was super nice and friendly. He knew the menu well, although is recommendations were more for his preference. We didn't end up ordering all, but it was still good. Food: Came out rather fast. I thought it would be paced based on the appetizer, cold dish and warm dish, but they all came out together. We had to send warm dish back because we had too much food on the table and was still working on the salad. Triple Chocolate Torte was so good! read more

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My wife and I made a visit to Ema after hearing positive reviews. We enjoyed a calm, delicious lunch on a Saturday and truly feasted on an incredible meal. Service was top notch upon arrival. Based on the recommendations of our server we tried a few small plates - sweet corn hummus, hot honey haloumi, and brussel sprouts. The unexpected standout was the amazing pita bread that accompanied the hummus. Fluffy, warm and well seasoned! We finished with the salmon bowl with vegetables and heirloom tomatoes and basmati rice, all cooked to perfection! We will definitely return. read more

We went to this new Ema location on a Monday night to celebrate my birthday. The dining room has a warm, Mediterranean vibe that makes you forget you're across from a strip shopping center. We were seated at a two person booth in the bar area. Ema does small plates and asks that you order everything you want and the items come out as they are ready. We ordered the spinach/feta spread, the shaved Brussels sprouts and apple salad, the crispy potatoes, the chicken kabob and the spicy brisket Kefta. For drinks my husband ordered a cider and I tried two drinks from the nonalcoholic cocktail list. One was the Mocking Jay and the other was the Say Less. If you like margaritas you'll like the Say Less. The Mocking Jay is a stunning looking cocktail but I found it to be too tart for my taste. We highly recommend the spinach/feta spread which comes with warm bread. The salad was also something we recommend. The crispy potatoes were good. We wish the serving came with a larger portion of dipping sauce. The meat dishes were okay. If we want kebabs there are many other restaurants in the area that offer kebabs that are equally good for less or at least come with more than one kebab for the price. For dessert we tried the sticky date cake with an espresso and oolong tea. The cake was good. The restaurant used loose leaf tea. The pot was so packed with leaves that it was hard to tell when it was properly steeped. I let it steep too long which made the tea bitter. The restaurant has been open about 2 weeks. The service suggests they are still finding their groove. At times there was a woman who helped us and other times a bartender helped us. It took really long for the spread and cake to come out. Overall, we'll return but after the initial interest dies down. read more

Israeli food with a California flair was just the right combo for this restaurant. The natural lighting and plants make for a pleasant environment, and our waiter was very kind and offered his recommendations from the large menu. The food was fantastic. My personal favorites were the hot halloumi, the charred eggplant spread, the truffled salmon, and the sticky date cake. That cake may be the best dessert I've have in months - will definitely be coming back here for it. Overall, very happy to have tried Ema and to see it open in the north suburbs. read more

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Beautiful ambience. Very inviting. Excellent service. And food was delicious. Variety of Hummus . Highly recommended read more

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Great new cornerstone for the updated dining options in Glenview. Have eaten here three times now and each one has been excellent. Great, attentive service, (twice for early dinner, once for brunch). Portions aren't huge but ideally you're coming to share plates and explore the menu - it's not cheap, but for a nice night out - not sure you can find a better alternative within a 15 mile radius. read more

Started off with the cocktail, 6/10. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to drinks, but I felt as if mine was quite watered down and could not taste the guava at all. Onion dip came out second, and was the best thing my boyfriend and I enjoyed this night, 8.5/10 (would love to taste some more onion flavor!). The green falafel was the most underwhelming dish of the night, 5/10. Very basic falafel--some earthiness that I appreciated, but was dry and a bit overcooked. I was looking forward to the beet tzatziki, but it wasn't anything to write home about. With the combined dryness and blandness of the falafel itself, it made for a rather disappointing dish. The chicken kebab took over 20 minutes to get to us after we had finished our starter dishes. The chicken was extremely dry, although the seasoning was great. The accompanying rice was good. The dish was acceptable due to the lemon flavor and seasoning that offset the dryness. 6/10. Our server was nice! Although kind, she checked in once when we asked about the chicken kebab that we had not gotten yet. Other than taking our order, no check in (probably due to being understandably busy). The ambience was great--not TOO loud but a comfortable volume to talk without being self-conscious or having to speak loudly. Interior design is very pretty. All in all, 6/10. For the price point and also having a reservation booked in advance, I thought the wait time as well as flavor was just okay. Would probably not visit again. read more

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Ema's dining room is modern and attractive. The atmosphere is lively and fun. The service is friendly and attentive. But all this pales in comparison to the food at this new Mediterranean restaurant in Glenview. The exceptional food here puts Ema among the best three restaurants I have ever eaten at. No visit to Ema is complete without trying some dips. I am partial to the eggplant dip with pita crackers. The garlic flavor is well balanced--not too intense, but just enough to be perfectly flavorful. The hummus, too, is outstanding. I love the salty, toasted pita bread they serve with the appetizer. I also recommend the halloumi. To the uninitiated, halloumi is a delicious type of cheese (kind of similar to saganaki). This halloumi is drizzled in hot honey. It's a little spicy, but mostly sweet, so that the rich flavor of the cheese is not overwhelmed. Culinary fireworks abound. Dining at Ema without ordering this scrumptious appetizer would be a mistake. The kabobs here are fantastic. Served with rice, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of olive oil, the mushroom kabob in particular is grilled to perfection. But save room for dessert! The honey cake here is a towering, 10-layer dish of perfection. It would be worth dining here just for this cake alone. For special occasions, there is no better choice in Chicago's northern suburbs than Ema. I look forward to dining here again very soon. read more

Ive been to Ema in the city so I was super excited to find out it was here in the suburbs. This location is very open and bright. Our waiter was great had amazing recommendations but was a little slow. Im unsure if it was the waiter or the kitchen though, our meal was 2 and half hours. We started with the hummus with lamb ragu and hamachi. Then ordered the chicken kofta and shrimp kabobs. We asked which chicken dish was better and our waiter suggested the kofta and we were so glad we asked they were so good! Then we ended with the triple chocolate torte. I would highly recommend the hamachi, the chicken kofta, and shrimp! read more

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Just a quick review and I hope the restaurant sees this. We had dinner there on Sunday and the food and atmosphere was amazing and I do not have anything negative to say except for one thing that turned me off. The servers and bar backs wear aprons and they are filthy!! Either have the staff wash them after each shift or supply ones that are a darker color. It was gross to see the bar back carrying clean glasses to restock the bar and he was holding the glasses against his dirty apron. read more

I think they may still be working out the kinks as they're newly opened, but the food is delicious and lives up to the Chicago location. I wish they had more gluten-free bread options, it would be so much more delicious to have their dips with an actual bread. Their skewers were delicious and flavorful. And I liked their cocktails and wine service. The atmosphere is very comfortable and I love the decor. read more

Food was good but the management not at all.. We were at Ema last week, we had a reservation for 2 but we had to wait for our table for a while because they said that there was nothing available at that moment. The manager who was standing there I think his name is Andres, did not care to help us.. After we got seated (about 20min later) we ordered food and drinks so everything was good as far as serving. Me & my husband noticed that the same manager after a while was standing in one of the servers station and was laughing with some server while the restaurant was very busy and servers needed his help.. We owned a small business so seeing things like that in such a huge company makes no sense & is definitely sad. At end they didn't not take care of any items at our bill neither offering any dessert.. This is not that kind of hospitality and we are definitely not coming back! Lettuce you need to train your managers better or hire people who really care read more

Amazing ambience, and cocktails, and food the best!! Thank you for coming to Glenview

The service is fabulous (I expect nothing less from Lettuce Entertain You). Ambience and decor, gorgeous. The food is sadly beyond underwhelming, obviously precooked and overpriced. You can get much better Mediterranean food at Pita Inn and for a fraction of the price. It's unnerving to have kabobs show up at your table minutes after ordering them and BEFORE your cocktails. Plus they were rubbery, apparently sitting under the warming lamps, waiting for orders to come in. Hummus for $14-18 is insane. Interestingly, we had the exact same disappointing experience at Ema in Chicago. I noticed the Glenview location was initially crazy busy but it seems to have died down. If I had to guess, people are realizing it's not worth the over the top prices for mediocre, inauthentic Mediterranean food when the real deal is close, reasonable and much better. Super disappointing, felt like a total rip off. read more

Went here over the weekend with the wife the celebrate our Anniversary. Had been wanting to try it since it opened. It is very tough to get a reservation as it is very popular. I booked the reservation several weeks in advance and we were both very excited. The Ambiance is fantastic. It's a stunningly beautiful restaurant. The Service was also very good. Friendly, attentive and knowledgeable about all the dishes and ingredients. The food was not as good as we were hoping it would be. First of all, nearly everything we ordered was WAY TOO SALTY. I have a pretty high tolerance for salty food and I prefer food that is over-seasoned rather than under-seasoned but this was too much. The flavor profiles of everything were exceptional but just way too salty especially the Pita Bread which was cooked perfectly (warm and fluffy) and had tremendous flavor with mediterranean spices but it was so salty that we couldn't eat more than two triangles of pita bread. Normally, if you put a basket of warm pita bread in front of me I will devour it and ask for seconds and thirds but at EMA, I couldn't get past two pieces. We ordered a brussell sprout salad which was good (nothing remarkable) and that was the one item that was not too salty. It was cool and refreshing and we actually used it as a palate cleanser after a few bites of everything else that was too salty. The Green Falafal was delicious and not too salty but was a bit dry and really needed a sauce of some kind other than the chunky red beets that it came with. Scallops were perfectly cooked, great size and very high quality but, again, way too salty. Perhaps it was a just bad night in the kitchen but it was enough to make me not want to come back. read more

Went for Valentine's Day and was disappointed. I came with a vendor few months ago and it was great. Today meh. The eggplant was lack luster, we sent the octopus back as it smelled fishy from across the table. The lamb was dry and the food didn't come out at the same time. With the amount of money we spent I expected more. read more

Lovely place, not a great brunch the idea of a brunch. They removed the lovely specials menu and substituted a mediocre brunch menu. Not a pleasant experience. Go there during the week for a good lunch not brunch on weekend it is a ripoff. very costly and not as good as during the week. read more

Good food. Interesting choices on menu. Just be prepared to spend a lot. Really nice, respectful servers. read more

Good experience overall. The service was great and everything was handled well. The staff was helpful and made the process easy. The only reason for giving four stars instead of five is that the space felt a bit too crowded and things were packed close together. Other than that, everything else was very good and I would still recommend it. read more

The food was terrific as was the service. Very attentive server. The venue is beautiful! We arrived at 5:30 and by the time we finished we couldn't hear each other! Very noisy when busy, read more

Beautiful ambiance and not as loud as the downtown location. Menu is full of delicious sounding things - favorites were the green beans and the eggplant; the bread that comes with dips is delicious! Service was super friendly and we never felt rushed. read more

Beautifully designed interior. Great place for girls brunch/lunch or date nights. Service has been absolutely top notch both times. They recommend 3-5 plates for 2 people to share. Must try: spicy hummus or corn hummus. But honestly you can't go wrong with any of the hummus dishes. The pita really takes it to a whole other level. One of the best I've had. Brussel sprouts is a must try. Also the stracciatella was refreshing and delicious! The kebabs were okay. Nothing truly special and the octopus carpaccio was delicious but also I felt like there was just too much going on in the dish. There were too many flavors mixed on plate that I felt like l it took away from the refreshing citrusy bite of octopus. I definitely want to go back to try many other dishes. Next time I'll have to leave room for dessert. I've heard great things about their frozen yogurt. read more

I ordered via DoorDash, and the food was packed and labeled very nicely. All food was correct temperature. We tried the Moroccan onion dip, brussel sprout & apple salad with grilled chicken, crispy potatoes & the hot honey halloumi. I liked everything but the onion dip - just not my taste. Everything else was delicious. The salad was one of the best salads I've ever had! The grilled chicken was super flavorful and the dressing was incredible. read more

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So happy Ema opened in Glenview! I've eaten at Aba in the city before and Ema was even better than I expected and only a 5 min drive from home - score! Service was 10/10. Our waitress and the other waitstaff were super attentive and the ambiance is so earthy and beautiful - absolutely gorgeous to stare at. I had the Greek salad, the onion dip and sweet potato latkes!! All were absolutely delicious we had zero leftovers. Will definitely be coming back again and again! read more

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Very Disappointing - beautiful restaurant, but I'm afraid that's it. Had a reservation for 6:45pm on a Tuesday - didn't get seated until 7:10pm Water at table tasted terrible. All 4 of us at the table agreed it was bad. I live in Glenview & tap water here does not taste like that. We asked for bottled water - only 1 option. Ordered a glass of wine, which was good, but the 2nd one, which wss supposed to be the same was completely different. I have no idea which glass was the one I really ordered. After appetizers, we ordered 2 vegetables dishes and 2 meat dishes. Vegetables dishes came out in 15 mins. Meat dishes took 35 mins. We finished one of the vegetables dishes, but the other was cold by the time the meat got there. Kitchen doesn't seem to try & time what is ordered for the table so it comes out together. Just comes out when they make a batch. Wait staff appear very attentive, but maybe too much. Had 3 different plates snatched off the table before we finished them. Would be good if they asked before assuming we're done. Overall ambiance good. Very well decorated, but acoustics poor for hearing the people sitting at your own table. Will not be back. read more

Update to my review last week. Ema's manager reached out to me today and very kindly listened to my concerns. Great customer relations and Jordan is very professional. Thank you will be back at Ema's. read more

Food and decor are great for a restaurant in the burbs. However we had 2 issues. 1.Our table was not clean. Then my beer glass had leftover food stain. Guy next to us also asked for a new glass because his was dirty. 2. I reserved on opentable and wrote dinner was for my wife's birthday. Our server greeted my wife happy birthday when we sat down and again before we left. Table across from us received a complimentary dessert for someones birthday from our same waiter, but we did receive one at all. I may give it one more try, but if the cleaniness is not better I will never return again. read more