"Went here as a group of 4 for a birthday. It's a family style dining restaurant meaning all dishes as meant to be shared. Based on the portion sizes I would recommend 2-3 plates per person. The restaurant also has a bar. Every single dish was fantastic. The environment was quite quiet and easy to talk in. The staff was quick and attentive. The rate at which the plates came out was perfect. The only dish I can unfortunately not recommend is the Octopus. It was frankly far too little octopus for the price. It was not an acceptable sharing size especially for the steep price of $30."

"We love the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine so went here for dinner on a week night based on the many positive reviews. Made reservations and when we got there we were seated reasonably quickly. The restaurant has very good ambience and decor. The staff were very friendly and efficient. Took a look at the menu which was very interesting, a lot of mezze options which we love. Ordered a variety of hot and cold mezzes. They bring out the food in the order it is made so they came out separately but that was OK. All the dishes came with bread/pita. While the ambiance and the service were good, the food itself didn’t taste particularly good. As a person that loves the flavorful hummus, falafels and other mezzes/dishes, and as someone that regularly goes to restaurants that serve excellent middle eastern food, I was left very disappointed overall. Admittedly, none of the restaurants that serve these dishes near me are as fancy or have this ambiance, but the food is incredible. Ultimately, I left very disappointed, feeling Ema is mostly style over substance. The only reason I have given it 3 stars is because of the ambiance and service and maybe that’s reason enough to go there. However, if someone is looking for great tasting food, I would definitely not recommend this spot."

"food: everything was yummy and had nice flavors, the chicken kefta was a bit dry for me but everything else i would order again. seemed pretty authentic. the main standouts that i would get again next visit are hot honey halloumi, short ribs, onion dip, and the pistachio froyo service: the service was immaculate, really liked our waiter and he comped our desserts without us saying anything because the kitchen messed up and missed some of our orders ambiance: really nice vibe, great for dinner and chats, apparently very Cali, did a birthday dinner here and couldn’t ask for better atmosphere"

"Vibes and decor are emaculate here. Just had a few plates. I will definitely have dreams about their hummus. The grilled chicken kabobs were a little dry on the ends but overall had a good taste and the rice with dill made us think of a seaweed salad we had in greece. Overall lovely experience and would definitely take my family and friends here. Perfect spot for a date."

"My god it been so long since I’ve received truly an amazing service in downtown Chicago. Our server was so pleasant and welcoming. Great salesmanship (knows how to sell drinks to his guests which I do appreciate the hospitality for a good time). Check-in with my table throughout the night even though I can see that the service was getting picked up and he was busy and he made sure our water is never below a quarter of our cup. Food and drinks were good but omg the dessert hit the spot. Makes me forget about our horrible service from the Italian restaurant across the street with how good the night went. I don’t remember our server name but he was such a sweetheart 10/10 would come back just for his hospitality:)"