We love this place. Used to come here more often but the past few years maybe once or twice a year. Still a go to spot when we have guests from out of town for some of the best Greek food in Chicago.. All high-quality ingredients across the board, the dolmas are superb. Always quick friendly service always busy with a full restaurant whether we come at lunch or dinner. I've never seen this place slow. They no longer torch the flaming saganaki in the dining area in front of you like so many Chicago Greek restaurants have over the past number of decades. That was a show & highlight every time. I believe now they torch in kitchen and bring to your table. I miss that experience, perhaps a thing of the past. I can only speculate a plate of flaming saganaki met a litigious human at some point along the line in the Greek food world, ending an era. Alas, I Look forward to returning. read more

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Visiting my Cypriot friend in Chicago of course meant many and many Greek dinner, Greek bars, Greek cafes and Greek lunches. I had no complaints at all and wished out loud with each new space that New Jersey had such a wonderfully condensed representation of my favorite cuisine in one area. We came to Athena's for lunch, sat inside under their covered and enclosed space that felt like a patio because it was all windows and had an incredible meal. We started with two frappe because there is no other way, and decided to order a bunch of the appetizers for a little bit of a lunch mezze. Delicious! We got the: -trio of dips. The taramasalata was my favorite. -a horiatiki salad, basically a greek salad with no lettuce. -octopus and the kolokithia (zucchini chips) A perfect lunch. We left full but not weighed down like so many of our other meals that week, and had left overs to nosh on that night. The space is lovely, the service was fast and friendly and it was so great that they had free valet. Would highly recommend and I am sure I will be back the next time I am in town. read more

The food was decent and the price was reasonable. Food came out decently quick. The only down side is that the server messed up our check a few times that we have to keep asking him to fix. But other than that, the atmosphere was nice and great for groups. read more

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Beautiful space! Indoor and outdoor seating. Comfortable place to stay and talk. The fried saganaki cheese was excellent. Loved the moussaka and large spanakopita. Greek wines were sweet and good. read more

Food was ok. I've definitely had better & worse. Chicken was tender & moist but could've used more seasoning my baklava old fashioned flavor was misted imo. The gyro plate portion was small. Most take out places in the city give you much more gyro meat than here. For some odd reason the dining room was freezing so much so that most in attendance wore their coats while eating. read more

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What a nice time! Great food, service, overall quality. This place was such a good time, we decided to go here on my birthday. I haven't been here in a few years and it felt just like I remember. There was about 10 of us and we ordered a lot of food... even appetizers. Everything came out great & even got the flaming cheese! This is the kind of restaurant where you want to try everything on the menu to see if they make any bad food (haha). I noticed they had free parking AFTER we were done eating but very good to know. Great vibes overall. It's conveniently located in a great area with lots to do before and after your meal. I will definitely be back soon, thank you Athena, wishing the best! 8.8/10 read more

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Exactly what you want when you want Greek food. Efficient service and perfect flavors. The light that comes into the main room is lovely. No wrong notes. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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What a pleasant surprise!! Knowing that this restaurant has been here for decades, I thought I was going to walk into an old outdated establishment with good food....nope!! It is open, modern, beautiful with outstandingly delicious food. Valet parking as well as close walkable public parking too. Appetizers were fantastic.....especially the octopus!! Entrées from the fish of the day to the Athena's Greek chicken were fabulous. Libations were Lucious ....and don't skip dessert! The Greek yogurt is not what you think....it's a creation like an ice cream sundae. Want something lighter after your entrée? Go for the rice pudding. Just enjoy ATHENA'S ...it's not the stuffy old downtown establishment from a day gone by....it's a breath of fresh air!! read more

Heartbreak And Disappointment For Mother's Day FIRST: We were told by the hostesses that our bill could be separated. We asked for 4 checks for a party of 8. The waiter refused and said his boss told him he could not do that and that he would be happy to help us out. He did not. We barely saw him. Upon leaving, we mentioned it to the hostess. She stated she did not know why he refused as this was entirely possible. This led is to think that since the tip is included in the bill, he didn't need to worry about the quality of his service. He was not around very much at all and not personable in the least so, he was right to worry about that ‍ SECOND: The food was sort of edible () but not nearly as delicious as the other establishments in Greek Town. My husbands chicken was pink, my pork chops tough, the rice mushy. For the price point, disappointing . And no, we didn't send anything back, it wasn't a mistake, just not good. THIRD: Nice atmosphere, hostesses are great. Way too loud to have a conversation. Valet parking a plus. ALL staff needs to be fully aware of what they will or will not do Would not recommend! read more

Went here for a date night and the ambiance was so perfect. We got seated next to the garden and the weather was beautiful. Our server was so nice and really gave us good recommendations. We tried the hummus platter, lamb shank, Athenian chicken, and the cheesecake baklava. To be honest all the dishes were pretty regular. The lamb shank was probably the best since the meat was tender and juicy. The Athenian chicken was a bit dry and needed more sauce and seasoning. The hummus platter wasn't bad, the best one was probably the eggplant spread. Lastly, the cheesecake was good, exactly what you would expect for a baklava cheese cake, super sweet and cinnamony. Overall the place was a good time, but the prices of the dishes weren't worth it since the food wasn't anything special. If you go, go for the vibes and the sweet wine read more

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Really loved this place! The space is huge and absolutely gorgeous. Truly, one of the best Greek places still left in Greek Town. We got the gyros and the portions were HUGE. We also tried the hummus trio and were really impressed with the quality of the food. Service was spectacular and really made for a great overall experience. The blue lightning and trickling water really elevated the ambiance. I would definitely recommend coming at night for a prime experience! read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Excellent food! Streamlined menu with all the classics. Service was fantastic even on a busy Friday night. I ordered the braised lamb and my husband got the stuffed chicken. A little loud but very lively! read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Braised Lamb - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Food was very fresh and delicious. We were greeted with bread immediately after being sat. Server was a little slow to bring our food. The outside patio was absolutely adorable! This will be the perfect place to have a fun night on the patio! Complete with a gorgeous fountain! read more

Came here a few weeks ago when I visited Chicago and I'd definitely go again. For apps we ordered the SOUTZOUKAKIA & the SAGANAKI (& yes I'm copy & pasting from the online menu lol). They were pretty delicious and it was cool how they flambéed the cheese! For dinner we had the village salad with chicken, Leg of Lamb and Exohiko! That was my first time having an Exohiko and I'll definitely try it again! It's lamb mixed with feta cheese and spinach and wrapped in a crispy phyllo dough and it was made with perfection. I took a bite of the lamb from my girlfriend's plate and it was pretty tasty. I felt it was cooked a second too long though but still pretty good! Ambiance was beautiful! I visited Athens for a week last summer and it felt as if I was right back (including how hot it got in there lol we were sweating at a point and it was 40 degrees outside). Service was pretty good, although our server took a while to come back to us at a point it wasn't anything to really complain about. read more

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We went to Athena and it was AMAZING! Alexander was our waiter and he was very attentive and helpful. Definitely recommend. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The good was great! Salvatore provided amazing service and the free valet was icing on the cake. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Greek stuffed chicken - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Stopped in for lunch and due to my love for Greek food and the fact that I'm dieting I was afraid it was going to be tricky staying on the dietary train. But thanks to our server Christos he made some suggestions and I had a great chicken , green beans , and plain baked potato keeping me right where I needed to be What a great meal and of course the service and atmosphere are always second to none. Love this place Thanks guys see you soon read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Grilled chicken salad my co worker enjoyed - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Stopped in for lunch during restaurant week. Checked in at the front desk and was quickly seated. Very cozy vibes with tons of seating. Wasn't very busy since it was a Monday so service was quick and continuous. I ended up ordering pastitsio. Watch out bc when I got my plate the portion was huge. Definitely filled me up. The noodles were soft and you can taste the nutmeg in the sauce with every bite. Definitely a hearty dish. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Pastitsio - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Love the ambiance. Very nice place inside. The food was delicious and we had excellent service. Very reasonable prices . read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Greek Stuffed Chicken - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We usually go to Greek Isles and this time tried Athena. We only ordered salads and Av. Soup. My salad had dressing that came out a little off and I mentioned it to one of the owners and he immediately brought me another one. It was perfect! We loved the outside environment as it seemed very Greek-like. The service was great and we will be back to try more items. As it was our anniversary, the waiter gave us a complimentary piece of HF chocolate cake and it was more of a creamy cake that was fantastic!! Thanks very much for that and now we know there is another great Greek place to eat in Greek town. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Incredible GF dessert! - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great Greek food with huge portions. Service was fast and attentive. It's a large restaurant with many rooms. I ordered the chicken kebab with tzatziki on the side. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Chicken Kebob - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I have dined her twice in the last two weeks. One day i had a taste for a gyro and it was fantastic. Tonight we had kabobs. We also had an amazing cheesecake baklava tonight. I can't wait to return for lamp chops. Service is always excellent. Our server tonight was Andre. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Baklava cheesecake - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Classic Greek dishes done right. Nice atmosphere, pretty plants, sculptures and lighting, and good service We started with some cocktails and wine. I highly recommend the 210 cocktail. Boozy, well balanced, and flavorful. And we enjoyed an appetizer of Melitzanes (fried eggplant). It was perfectly fried, lightly seasoned, and came with just the right amount of tomato sauce and a light feta on top. The only thing thst would have been better was a lemon wedge to add a sprinkle of citrus. For entrees we enjoyed the Pastotsio (Greek lasanga) and a Gyros platter. The Patstitsio was again, perfectly cooked, and had a unique creamy meaty cinnamon flavor. The Gyros platter was simple, but wonderfully executed. The Tsatziki sauce was fresh and thick, the meant was well ground, flavorful, and beautifully seared. I have come here before. I will come here again. read more

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I love Athena! The food is delicious, especially the bread with saganaki. I also love the fish. On this visit, there were a few large (10+ people) groups, so it's good for that! The restaurant is beautiful, especially the outdoor area in the summer. I also appreciate that it is easy to make a reservation online. read more

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Easter Day 2026. Lack of good service impacted our experience. Our waiter did not make us feel welcome. He didn't really check on us unless we asked for him. Never asked how our food was. I would've liked more wine, but he never checked back at the table to see if we needed anything. Some of the food was good other dishes were not so good. The Saganaki was horrible. It was not warm, and difficult to cut or chew. The beet salad was good as was the Pastitio was excellent. The seafood skewer for $37 was small and slightly overcooked. Two small bits of salmon and swordfish and 2 shrimp with few veggies. Between the lack of service and so-so good, I will not return. read more

The service was friendly (5*) and the sides (spanakorizo, bread, and kolokithia) were good (4*) but the leg of lamb was very disappointing in all ways. Only a very small amount of lamb for a fairly high price, and the lamb came out tough, chewy, and under seasoned. read more

Athena is one of those places that I see all the time walking back from solidcore or Mariano's but have never been in until this past week! My friend and I were looking for a cute restaurant to catch up and Athena fit the bill perfectly! The vibes were immaculate! The restaurant is decorated in tones of white and blue and the main dining room area with the glass ceiling is absolutely beautiful with the sunlight coming in! We got spreads to share and two mains. We were worried the portion size was going to be a little small but realized we were actually going to have leftovers when the dishes came out because they were huge. The spreads were delicious, we probably finished all the pita and the table bread they left for us. The Athena chicken was crispy on the outside but slightly drier than I'd like. The braised lamb was absolutely amazing! read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Athena chicken, braised lamb - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Came here for dinner with 2 other friends and really enjoyed my meal. The restaurant is fairly big and there is both indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoor back patio is amazing and gives off a great ambiance. The restaurant itself is fairly casual and great for group dinners. For appetizers we shared the saganaki and greek salad and both were great! For my main course I got the Athenian chicken and it was delicious! This is a big dish as it's half a chicken, so I suggest sharing this with another person as I barely ate half of it since I had appetizers. Drinks were made well and the service was friendly and attentive! read more

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So good every time! Must try the feta dip and chicken skewers. Love love love! Excellent service.

It's our go to favorite for a family meal first because of the free parking and decent food. I was genuinely disappointed by the small pour of Pinot noir which was $15/ glass . The food was okay no wow factor but decent. We will keep coming back for sure . read more

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Nice spacious outdoor space that can be enclosed. Great selection from the menu, tried the gyros plate and the tzatziki was excellent, plenty of meat. Great service by the team. read more

Went to this Greek restaurant before the Blackhawks game. They took our reservations and it was very easy when we arrived. This is a very large Greek restaurant so they can service lots of big groups. All the food was excellent. Service was quick and drinks were very nice. Most of the clientele were going to the Blackhawks game. read more

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I couldn't take pictures fast enough!!! My family devoured this AMAZNG food! We ordered delivery from Athena early on a Saturday night. Everything was warm when delivered!! The chicken skewer was soooo juicy and sooo good! The Avgolemono soup was probably the best I've ever had! The moussaka had too much Parmesan and too much béchamel and not enough meat or eggplant for us but the flavor was great!! The pita and 3 dips were wonderful!! Fantastic Food!! read more

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The food was so delicious. The service was so good. It was quiet. I would eat here again. I would recommend it to anyone.

Appetizers were very good. The main courses were average. The restaurant was beautiful. It's nice that they take reservations. The service was good. read more

We've been to this restaurant a number of times and really enjoy it. The ambience is very nice as it has an atrium and you feel like you're outside. Which is always nice in Chicago as the weather does not always cooperate with us. Servers have been there for years And are very knowledgeable of the menu and take very good care of you. Food consist of typical Greek dishes and are very tasty. In fact, we'll be there tomorrow night for dinner with friends. read more

Wow first place we went to after touching down and was so impressed by the ambiance, service, and FOOD!!!! The menu is pretty expansive. We started with some whipped feta (tasted amazing with the bread they served), the octapodi (charbroiled octopus), the greek combo plate, and wow the cheesecake baklava had us speechless. It's going to be hard to eat greek food outside of this spot in the US. They know what they're doing in there! read more

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Restaurant was clean and welcoming. The staff were kind and attentive. This was my first time trying Greek food and it did not disappoint. Check out some of the pictures of the restaurant and our meals. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We had a late lunch/early dinner here at Athena and had a great experience. I have not been here before but my wife and son had, and they wanted to return when we were in Greek Town. Being almost 3 on a Sunday afternoon, we were seated immediately and ordered calamari, some Greek beers, and a cocktail. Some delicious bread soon arrived with sesame seed crust. Very tasty! Dinners included dalmades, Greek Stuffed Chicken, and Athenian chicken. All was very well executed with great service! Our waiter was personable, knew the menu and had great suggestions, and was there when we needed him and did not hover or disappear. We dined outside and the weather was fantastic. We had an umbrella over our table and had a nice breeze to enjoy. The outdoor dining area is very inviting and if you close your eyes and inhale deeply, you may think your were in Greece somewhere, minus the salt sea air and aroma of Chicago! We somehow managed to find room for desert which included Galaktobouriko (a custard and phyllo dough concoction) and Greek yogurt with fruit. All in all, an excellent experience. If you are in Greek Town, Athena is a great place to visit. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Mythos beer and the dinner menu. - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Everything was amazing, from the decor to the service and especially the lamb chops. Also desert options are amazing, my personal favorite was the baklava cheesecake. read more

Athena Greek Restaurant - Octopodi - Greek Near Me - Chicago, Illinois