Now as an Armenian my bar for Armenian food is pretty high. Sayat Nova is the perfect Armenian restaurant for Armenians and people who have a taste for good authentic Middle Eastern and Armenian food. I have only been once but am already planning many more visits. My whole family loves Sayat Nova and recommend it to many people. It definitely the perfect little Armenian restaurant. read more

I completely cannot believe why this restaurant could even get four stars. I went to this place with five of my friends at some earlier time this year. We were totally screwed up by food here. It seems like every one had just a few pieces of meet and a pile of nice mixed with butter. We were also served with salad, which, however, was just too little to be referred to as "salad". read more

This place is the friend your taste buds have been dying to meet! Service was great and very friendly. I had the Armenian Sangria and I redubbed it the strongria! Nice kick and didn't overwhelm the taste. The Salad is great with good portions. Grape leaves are very authentic and are very tasty. I had the kebab combo with lamb chicken beef and rice. Perfectly seasoned with great taste. I don't know how they make white rice taste so good! I devoured my plate and couldnt stop saying how good it was! The owner came by and asked my group of 8 how the meal was. We were all satisfied and when he discovered that it was my birthday they brought out a slice of cake with a candle. No singing from the staff, thank god, as this place has too much class for that. Ambience is very romantic in the downtown area. We ate at 9pm on a Monday and was not packed at all. They have very nice booths that give a touch of an upscale taste but not overwhelming. Easily on the top 3 of my Chicago favorites for service, drinks, and spectacular food! read more

The menu turned out to be a booby-trap with items spread across three different menus and our server seemed not only to be brand new to the restaurant, but new to waiting in general, and by the end of our visit I doubted that she belonged in a customer service business. When she arrived she didn't introduce herself, yes "Hello my name is..." and "The soup of the day is..." routine is a bit dated, but it opens lines of communication and information both of which our server failed to provide. Our server didn't offer any beverages. No beverages are listed on the main lunch menu so unless the server remembers to ask if you if you want something you drink water. We ordered a house brandy from the bar menu, it was excellent and reasonably priced, and an appetizer Steak Tartar, but before we could order the entree our waitress started to walk away and we had to call her back to finish our order. Our server didn't seem to know what was on the menu, and my wife specifically asked her not to bring everything at once, but spread things out so we had time between appetizer, soup and salad, and main course. We had to call her back twice in the next five minutes: she hadn't asked if we wanted soup or salad, we asked about the soup of the day, it must have been some military secret, it was lentil and my wife ordered it. I ordered the house salad, the waitress didn't ask or offer any dressing choices. The second call back was when I realized she hadn't even asked us how we wanted our meat cooked. I was starting to believe that this was the server's first day on the job, and was perhaps the first time she had worked in a restaurant. Of course everything arrived almost at once the soup and salad followed five minutes later by the appetizer (the appetizer should have arrived first, and considering we had asked for time they should have held up the soup and salad a little,) and five minutes later the entrée, giving us a choice of what went cold first A minute latter a different server was asking my wife if she wanted a box for her entrée before she even finished her soup. Our server didn't bring steak knives with the steak and lamb chops, I had to remind her that we needed them. I asked for Worcestershire sauce and she brought back a spicy ketchup. Ketchup is for fries not steak. If she didn't have Worcestershire she should have said so. I finished eating before my wife, my plates and dinnerware was cleared away, but the communication breakdown continued. I realized we hadn't been offered any beverages, but it is hard to order a beverage if you don't know what they have so I figured it's a European Style restaurant so they must have espresso, so I flagged a different server down and asked for an espresso. This second waiter said he would bring me a menu, there were three tables occupied including ours, but getting some coffee was too much trouble for the second server, and this how we found out there was a limited beverage menu on the back of the desert menu. They had Armenian Coffee which is espresso with the grounds still on the bottom. Next time I saw our server I ordered one. About fifteen minutes the bar tender came by and asked how things were, and seeing my server exit the kitchen empty handed I announced loudly, "Everything is okay except they forgot about my coffee." Our waitress went back into the kitchen and came back with the coffee about a minute later. Didn't bring a spoon or ask if I wanted any cream. Now I'm sure some people will think I am being overly picky here, but is it my responsibility to spend the entire meal flagging down our server and sending her back for things she should be remembering? My dinnerware had been all cleared away except for my table knife and there was sugar on the table so I waved for her again and asked for some cream, and used the knife to stir the coffee. My wife ordered a coffee too so I spent the next fifteen minutes stirring our coffees with my trusty table knife. During this time both servers, the bar tender, and the manager walked by our table watching me stir Not once in that time did anyone on the staff offer or say, "Can I get you a spoon?" By now the staff were showing signs of being unhappy with us, and ordered paklava. This bad service had gone beyond the issue of someone being new, or never having worked in a restaurant before to, did our server need to choose another career path? The paklava was a disappointment. The good news was that this time our server brought clean forks; the bad news was that the paklava was at least a day old and dry. My wife had to use her steak knife to cut the pastry, (she's smarter than I am and had saved her dinnerware) a good pastry should be able to be eaten with only a fork. Mine was tough, but it was a good thing I didn't need a knife because my knife was still smeared with coffee grounds. Sayat Nova has to organize its staff, train its staff, and find a staff that cares before its good food will win them customers. read more

Very disappointing This is not a Armenian food at all, it's Just bad Lebanese food, with all that Arabic spices.First We don't make lamb sarma( by the way Armenian name is Dolma, for your knowledge ) has to be beef only, we try almost everything in menu, to give a chance to fellow Armenian , sorry to tell ,the only test full think in menu was beef kebob, hummus & pita bread, which is not Armenian food. Our kebobs are thicker,juicier and very test-full. You should send your chef to L.A. At list, to study Armenian great kitchen. You guys standing in the center of world famous , beautiful city and representing Armenia . We are small, proud nation. Anything we do , we do good . That's how we get raised. Was very upsetting bring foreign business partners and Apologize after for horrible experience. read more

Good food at a fair price, Amazing for a place off of Michigan Ave, Best night to visit is Tuesday night to enjoy fantastic Jazz vocals of Erin McDougald and her group, I have often driven many miles just to catch this fantastic talent . There is no cover for the entertainment, which prompts me to spend more on food and libations!!! read more

Great space, excellent food, reasonable prices. The service is a little bit iffy sometimes, but the food more than makes up for it. The curved booths and dim lighting allow for private conversations without making you feel too isolated. Plus, it's hidden enough that you can get a table for dinner on a Saturday night without a reservation (and probably not much of a wait, if any, either!). read more

I am an Armenian and I would say nothing in this restaurant is close to Armenian food or ambience. We had lahmadjoun, hummus, jajic, yalanci sarma, and cheese boureug.. none of them was real authentic Armenian! read more

Appetizers and entree were all delicious and quickly served. So glad I stumbled upon this place!

Great Armenian restaurant with beautiful atmosphere. Stopped by here on my first day in Chicago. Highly recommend kabobs at this place.

Real tasty food and especially appetizers, spices chicken and babaganush were amazing!

Great food, great service, great atmosphere. The food is fresh and flavorful without being drowned in oil as so many Americanized Mediterranean restaurants prepare their food. Their coffee is great too. I suspect there are slight variations in food prep based on reviews and my experiences. Last week the food I had was prepared to perfection, this week it was a bit too salty. Overall, good food and definitely worth dining here. read more

I have only ordered out from this place. The food is great. The Cheese Boereg and Plaki are a must. Great for vegetarians. The meat items are also very good and have big portions. The chicken kabobs are fantastic. read more

Huge disappointment. Got there with a reservation, restaurant was 2/3 empty and the host takes us to a tiny table across from the noisy bar and wedged up against the entrance to the stairway to the bathrooms. When I asked for a different table, she pointed to another table so we took it. Not a great start. We were still eating our first course when the waiter showed up with the soup (comes with dinner) and he just plopped it down and walked away. Then while we were still eating the soup, and the first course dishes were STILL on the table, the waiter shows up with our main courses. So really crappy service. As for the food, my partner liked his chicken dish. I had lamp couscous; lamb was gray, overlooked, dry, virtually I edible. We couldn't wait to get out of there. read more

I really love the ambiance here. Cozy booths backlit with red lights and a cave-like feeling. The highlights for me were the side salad (that came with the entree) with mint dressing and the spinach boureg (which was hugely awesome). read more

We came on a Friday night at 9:00 for dinner possibly the worse food and quality of food I ever had the service was even worse will never step foot in this place ever. read more

This was a good find, we started off with the Mezza sampler, for nearly $10 you can choose 3 shareable bites. The entrees come with a starter mint balsamic salad or lentil soup. I love mint so I chose the salad, but my boyfriend chose the soup which was so amazing. It was savory and full of flavor. I ordered the Armenian chicken topped with cheese and spinach. Because the meal was simple, I didn't expect it to be so flavorful but it was flavor bursting. It was accompanied by a grilled pepper/onion & buttery rice pilaf. It was the perfect amount of food. Not too much, but not to little. Enough to finish and feel satisfied. The service was pretty good too. The waiters were all respectful, helpful, and pretty timely with our food and checking in with us. The only thing about this place is that its a little pricy. While each plate is around $17, I honestly think that the plates were more around $12-13 dollar plates. I would come here again though, I really enjoyed my meal read more

i went to this place with my wife and another couple as one of my friends recommended the place and i really wanted lebanese armenian food. as i am middle eastern and have been to lebanon i am very well oriented about this kind of food we went on a saturday, we waited for 40 mins as we were waiting for the other couple and they refused to let us sit on the table til the rest of the party come. anyways we ordered the hummus, grape leaves and tabboule, actually the hummus was not bad, the grape leaves were kinda sweet which is not supposed to be, the tabboule was not armenian nor lebanese! i did not like it that much at all, for the main dishes i had the kebab combo, the chicken was good and it is the only thing that was good, everything else is either not that bad or terrific, our friends had the kebab with yougurt it was not that bad, my wife had the kouskous she almost did not touch it! actually we went to fridays as we did not eat much. i really dont recommend the place although the atmosphere is kind of nice read more

Food quality was horrible! I have had armenian food before and for sure this was not a good armenian dish supposed to be. I don't recommend this at all. read more

Back in 1970 this was the place for daring reporters, and world travelers to have an exotic meal and maybe nothing here has changed. Except everything else has. There are no daring reporters in Chicago, and a gyro is no longer the only other exotic food in town. Chicago is a culinary center and our taste buds have improved. There are great chefs and wonderful small ethnic places to eat all over town so why is Sayat Nova so stale? Please send your cooks on a field trip to half a dozen fantastic middle eastern eateries easy to find with Yelp! I had the Armenian combo tonight. The Sarma, stuffed grape leaves, were sour, tough and lukewarm; something that looked like a stuffed golf ball with a tough shell made of overcooked ground meat and cheesy spinach oozed out once opened; something on a cooked egg plant half was not memorable. If there was anything else on my plate my mind is blocking any thoughts of it, except for a boereg, hot cheese in phyllo dough which was exceptionally good. I don't think there was an Armenian in the place, and no one on staff seemed to care very much about us, like asking "is everything to your liking, can I bring you another drink?" They had their routine so memorized they could do it in their sleep. read more

DO NOT GO THERE! Food is one of the worst I have ever had. Couldn't really eat it. The service wasn't too bad, though.

i met some friends here for appetizers. very nice atmosphere and friendly fast service! i can't wait to bring my boyfriend :)

One waiter for the entire restaurant, as a result he forgot half of the order. We hoped the food would be better, not no. Lamb couscous was cold, small plate for the money, with 4 pieces of low- quality lamb. Very disappointed. Never again! read more

For a very long time I was afraid to venture into Sayat Nova, the exterior of the restaurant is not much to look at, definitely not as bright & inviting as some of the newer tourist-friendly dining spots near Michigan Av. After a friend assured me that the place was "OK", I ventured in for dinner. Like many older dining spots, the interior is a bit darker than it needs to be, but the food was decent. I had the "Armenian Combo", which is kind of like a plate of Mediterranean-style appetizers. They also serve kebab, seafood, and meat dishes. I had a surprisingly good appetizer called kibbe, which is made with raw meat - it is seasoned well enough that you don't even notice that it's uncooked. I'm not sure that I'd recommend going out of your way to eat here, but if you are looking for a low-key, uncrowded, not-very-expensive dining spot in the Michigan Av area, Sayat Nova might be worth your while. read more

I'm really impressed by the great service, tasty food, good selection and affordable prices. I'm also happy it's in walking distance from my job. read more

i loved this place. nice atmosphere; fantastic, delicious food; really great service. it was a very nice lunch i had here. i need to go back soon! read more

My favorites here are the Armenian pomegranate wine (I try it every time I visit this place) and Sarma (which is the same thing as Turkish dolmas, and delocious). read more

Food, ambiance and staff were all fair. Went for an early dinner before a show. A few other groups were also dining at the same time as us. The restaurant is small so it accommodates groups of 2-4 well. read more

Great service, nice vibe. I was visiting and walking through the neighborhood and stumbled across this place. Glad I did. I was on my own and the atmosphere was perfect for a dolor diner, though groups and pairs were enjoying it, too. The red lentil soup mentioned elsewhere in the reviews was fantastic. Would have been happy with a huge bowl of that with a salad. However, the starter serving is small, but tasty. I also had the chicken cous cous. The portion was hearty with added spinach, raisins and almonds, but I did find the actual cous cous to be a bit saltier than what I've had elsewhere. Still, I enjoyed my meal. Ample chicken, and it was served with pita (or perhaps something similar). I will come back! read more

Great service and food! The lamb chops are amazing and the kanafeh doesn't disappoint. Not to mention imported kilikia beer:)

Our server was great and very attentive. We tried the shish kababos and they were great. The portion sizes are right. The ambience is nice, especially if you get a little booth. We also tried the mint tea, it is a must try. I will def go back here again! read more

Ordered the shrimp platter (don't eat red meat) and it was delicious. Was not that hungry when I first arrived but couldn't stop eating the food. I'm used to good Middle Eastern food and was happy to find this restaurant in Chicago. Also we walked in on a Friday night without a reservation. If you're looking for good food without a wait, this is a good option. read more

For an Armenian restaurant, I'd expect to see Armenian food. Ambiance is shady, the food - eh and service was slow. I went at lunch time on a Thursday and I was one of maybe 4 tables. Our waiter hardly acknowledged us. read more

I had never had armenian food before. It seemed very Mediterranean and was a very good place. It wasn't crowded. We had an olives and cheese plate, a delicious hummus dish, and a decent babaganoush plate. We also had a chicken kabob which was more like chicken sausage, but very tasty. I would definitely return. read more

Armenian cuisine is familiar in many ways to other middle eastern cuisine but I like it since it is milder and lets the flavors of the ingredients come through. The place is quiet, on a side street but also conveniently located. read more

Great experience at Sayat Nova this weekend. We had two lamb dishes that were very good. The inside of the restaurant is cool with a Middle Eastern feel to it. Service was fair, had to wave down our waiter a few times. Great raspberry cheesecake for dessert, and the Armenian coffee was very good if you enjoy strong brews. read more

The beef shawarma was very chewy and you will have to spit it out .. So Plz don't order it

Fantastic food. Within our party of four we tried four different appetizers and entrees, and everyone's was delicious. The herbed trout was literally the best trout I've had anywhere in the world. The interior decor is very trendy (this would be a great date spot) and overall we had a great dining experience. The service was also very quick. The only small annoyance was that water was served in tiny glasses and the waitstaff never came by to do refills, although they were quick with them when asked specifically. Besides that, we would definitely go back to Sayat Nova and recommend it to others. read more

Wonderful find with a great location. Waitstaff is friendly and efficient. Food arrived at the table quickly. Atmosphere was romantic and cozy. Quality of the food was very good-try the kebabs and you will not be disappointed. Highly recommended. read more

Great food, and good portion size. We had the hummus, combo kabobs and the stuffed eggplant appetizer. Both the steak and chicken in the kabobs were so tender and well seasoned. read more