Ema

Good is fantastic. Ema is our new favorite!

I was expecting simple Mediterranean, which would have been just fine, but I also found a solid brunch menu with traditional proteins like eggs and bacon. Tried the kefoulis, traditional and mushroom hummus, Brussels sprouts, and bacon which were all excellent. Only disappointed by the risotto which was TOO al dente and too oily. But great open feel, not jam packed, with conversational sound levels. Service was excellent with a table visit from the manager.

Great atmosphere and staff. Food came out super quick! The hummus I ordered as an appetizer had more flavor that both meals my associate and I ordered. The food was good, but could have been more flavorful. Portions were okay, but I left still hungry even after dessert.

Acoustic is great you can enjoy conversation.
Food fantastic
One thing if it 's a small plate plates clean plates has to be served with each dish you cant mix tastes.
It our 9t time there will come more!
Keep going!

Great food, great waiter, and overall great experience. I would go back.

Beautiful space with great food and service.

This is one of my favorite restaurants ever! We went this week to celebrate my husband’s birthday
We had a few cocktails, 3 different Spreads, the eggplant, the labane and the pumpkin, we had a salad (which was the only thing we did not like - it was a cold rice salad which was kind of tasteless), we shared the fish of the day as a main course which was amazing and we had the homemade yogurt as a dessert - my favorite part of the meal!!
The service was amazing like always, the music was nice and the overall ambiance was great!!

Great food, great drinks, great company. 10/10 from me.

It was incredibly warm in the restaurant and quite uncomfortable. The food was amazing and the service was great.

Exceptional! Anxious to return and try other wine and food items on the menu.

It was a great atmosphere, but I recommend this place as a light lunch or dinner. I went for brunch and the menu wasn't as appealing or had the greatest options.

Spices and seasonings added a nice touch to all dishes. Freshly prepared and delicious food. Service was excellent.

the food was outstanding and the wait staff could not have been more accomadating -
this was our first time at Ema - but is definately a place we will visit again.

We dined at Ema on our second night stay in Chicago and wished we would have gone here both nights as every dish we had, six plus two desserts, were delicious. The server was fantastic in his recommendations for wine and food and never made us feel rushed. Overall we really enjoyed our dining experience and will gladly return on our next visit to Chicago.

This was my third visit to Ema and it lived up to my expectations. One of my favorite spots in Chicago.

Great service, excellent food and a pleasant setting. We will definitely go back.

Ema has wonderful food in a lovely atmosphere. We had great service and enjoyed our meal!

The brussel sprouts and charred eggplant were phenomenal. I wasn't as keen on the butternut squash risotto, a bit too salty for my taste. I made no complaint about it because the front manager and the waiter were great. There had been a mixup about restaurant week end date and the manager offered to comp one side dish to urge me to stay. I highly recommend this restaurant.

We went for restaurant week and the food and drinks were very delicious. The restaurant is very vibrant! The service wasn't the best. It was very slow and food took long to get to us. I don't know if was because of restaurant week, but I'm willing to go back and give it another try because of the food!

When you first walk into Ema it is a beautiful experience. The dining room is modern and flanked by a front and back bar. A lot of work was clearly put into the decoration and atmosphere - the wood and ivy provides a gorgeous natural feeling. However, the planning stopped at the front of house. We had a reservation that wasn’t fulfilled for 51 minutes. The hosts weren’t doing a good job at properly hiding their disdain for the customers asking about updates for their tables (we were not the only ones who waited over 30 minutes for a table) I’ve been in the industry, it is highly inappropriate for staff to clearly be complaining about customers. Our poor server was serving at the front bar and also running tables. We quickly put in our order because we were afraid it would take unbearably long like awaiting the reservation. I was pleasantly surprised when all of the food came out quickly. The food was the saving grace of the experience, it was delicious and had bold flavors. I highly recommend if you’re wanting to try Ema to try and find their least busy day. We originally had no intention of a reservation because OpenTable said it was very open and not busy. Luckily we did and we still had to wait, this unfortunately ruined the experience for me. There were more than 5 parties awaiting a reservation that was late. Someone high up needs to reassess how quickly they think Ema can flip tables, because their equation is off.

The hummus and grilled octopus in particular are great.

The place was amazing! Food was excellent and shareable. Ambiance rocked. HIGHLY recommend.

Great for lunch - not so much for dinner. Great service, yummy apps

Fun fun place with great street views of the energy driven city!

It was an amazing experience per usual. This is my go to spot to meet up with friends for a bite to eat.

Had such an amazing experience. Food and ambiance were so, so good. Our server, Cody, was especially wonderful. So friendly and considerate. We were truly blown away!

Amazing food and cocktails! Frustrated that we had to wait about 15 minutes for our table despite having a reservation, but it was a busy evening during Restaurant Week and the quality of the food more than made up for the inconvenience.

Your food and your service were excellent! We‘ll be back! Thank you for an awesome evening.

Probably my 100th time at Ema, stopped in for restaurant week/birthday. When it was time to leave, I sighed and thought "I love this place so much". It's true.

Food is excellent.
Very few items on menu.
Portions are small. Eat before coming here.

The flavors of every single dish were amazing and did not disappoint. Visited during Restaurant Week and the offerings and portion sizes were spot on and offered an excellent tasting. I cannot wait to visit again and try the full menu.

Always excellent.

This place always amazes me. They have amazing service! All of their servers are pleasant and attentive. Their food is outstanding.

Very good in all respects. Slightly disappointing short rib dish - ribs were not sufficiently seared, resulting in meat that looked and tasted steamed rather than braised.

I was brought to Ema by a GFS food trends tour in 2018. For my boyfriends birthday I chose to bring him since Mediterranean food is his favorite. We drove from Toledo, OH, spent $250 and as a Chef myself, it was worth every mile and penny. I adore this mans passion, dedication and execution. I can’t wait to come back!

Food was outstanding!

Delicious food! Loved the Californian spin on traditional Mediterranean!

We went for lunch
The server was efficient and helpful
The food was flavorful and well prepared
Noise lever allowed for enjoyable conversation

Our server was inattentive but the food and ambiance was very good.

Food was great!