Avec River North Reviews

From the minute we arrived at Avec River North, we knew we had come to a happening place. It was busy, noisy--but thankfully we had a table in back of the bar which was surpririsngly relatively quiet--and just had a great upbeat vibe. With so many dishes to chose from, our waiter was fantastic in guidling our group of 8 telling us if we had ordered too much (or not enough) and offering different selections to make a good fit. It was our third night of eating out at fantastic restaurants in Chicago and this meal topped all others, by far. And much to our surprise, despite the wonderful array of tastes from the Little Gem Lettuce Salad and Cucumber Salad to the unusual and rich pasta and pizza dishes we shared, we all agreed our favorite dish was the roasted chicken! We were all suprrised but its rich moist flavor and sauce was unforgettable. Sadly, we had no room to sample dessert. Next time.

Had a nice dinner here with friends. The restaurant was spacious and nicely furnished. The menu was adequate for the tapas/family style of dining. The greek chicken and the branzino were delicious. Salted caramel ice cream was also excellent. Calamari was a tad burned. Server requested all order to be placed at once, which is strange for a tapas place... Had intended to make reservations at the original AVEC, which is a few blocks away. Somehow got booked at this location, and there is no answer at the phone number, only a message to leave a message... This AVEC Could be excellent with a few improvements. Would try again if in the area.

We spent 2 nights in Chicago and found Avec North to be a great options for a group dinner. We ordered a bunch of appetizers and ended up filling up on those so we only order 2 main dishes for 5 people. Highly recommend the dates, the burrata salad and the paella. The atmosphere was really nice, nice options of wine also, we found a rose that we can't wait to order when we get home!

Excellent food and wine list! The dates with chorizo was unreal! The squid was delicious and so was the short rib. Great atmosphere and the sommelier was extremely helpful and friendly. Plus half off wine bottles on Tuesday! Can't beat it. Will absolutely be back

Delicious restaurant in the heart of River North, Chicago. Great eats and an amazing vibe. Try the hummus, hearth baked pita and short rib!

Had a business event there and they closed it down for us. Everything was very nice, service was good and food pretty off scale. Everything is a little on the adventurous side so expect the unexpected. Indian spices in a pasta and tomato sauce twisted my brain. Don’t think I will ever work out how they did it. Bread from the oven was killer and I had to limit self so as not to overdo. Desserts were not unusual and ending with warm chocolate chip cookies made my head explode.

We have patronized AVEC on Randolph Street in the past and, in my opinion, this spin off location is not as good, The space was formerly occupied by the, now defunct, Pacific Standard. Our visit was as a party of four, As with all restaurants which serve small plates, our waitress urged us to order more than was necessary. Nothing was bad nor particularly good, Cocktails were OK. Wine offerings by the glass are numerous but overly trendy and those seeking a dry white wine will be disappointed. With the restaurant following pandemic protocols and perhaps because diners are still cautious about sitting inside, the premises were not crowded. Even still the acoustics here make it difficult to hear companions at the same table.

We had a lovely dinner on a Tuesday night, we opted for sharing plates. The tomato salad and the hummus with feta were standout dishes. The cheese plates are lovely but VERY sweet which is slightly unusual for our taste. The bread! While it's lovely, it's quite random in quantity. The amount of cheese to bread ratio is ridic, the pate to bread the same. Far more bread than we could ever eat. I opted for a glass of prosecco, it was very dry, to the point I'd have thought it was cava. The atmosphere is nice & service good

Outstanding meal, super helpful & friendly staff. Chorizo stuffed dates are amazing! Prosecco reasonably priced, other drinks less so. Noisy, but it was a Saturday night.

Great space, not too loud. The menu appeals to anyone's taste. The Hamchi crudo is a must have. The cocktails are a bit odd but tasty. Whoever thought of putting honey on a sausage pizza is a genius! Make sure to get the affogato.

Bar Avec is a casual, rooftop with a great view and eclectic food. We were 4 people and ordered 2 salads and 3 entrees: plenty of food. All highly seasoned and quite delicious.

A fantastic meal and great service. Looking at the menu, we were not sure what to expect because many of the ingredients didn’t sound like they would go together. We were so wrong. Everything was uniquely delicious. Will definitely recommend and go back!

We are from Montreal visiting Chicago for 5 days. Given the city’s long list of highly rated restaurants and the high rating for this particular restaurant, we expected a very enjoyable night out. We were very disappointed. The service was poor. I think the waitress forgot about us. It’s the manager who realized we hadn’t been served yet and came over to ask if we wanted drinks. We made it known that no one had yet come to see us. For this they gave us a complimentary salad which we appreciated. But after the manager left it back to the waitress, the service remained poor. As far as the food is concerned, we had the dates with chorizo as a starter and these were good but not really what we expected. The chorizo overpowered the flavour of the dates. We then had the rigatoni caccio pepe which was also ok but we had much better back home, and finally we had the foccacia with fontina cheese and here we were very disappointed. Perhaps our expectations were too high after reading all the reviews on this restaurant but we would definitely not go back.

Wonderfully welcoming and tolerant of our party of three and a half hungry folks. Very interesting delicious cocktails, especially the vodka rhubarb invention. Pasta dishes were excellent, especially the shrimp and rabe version, and the whole brazini fish also excellent. Thought the gelato was a bit too ice-creamy and not Italian icey enough for my taste, but very generous portion. Service was attentive and prompt, but wish our plates had been refreshed between our pasta dishes with their sauces and the fish and mussels with it's sauce. In fairness though, we didn't ask for new plates and everything we did request arrived promptly and cheerfully. An excellent experience in a very pretty room.

The second Avec location, at the corner of LaSalle and Erie Streets, is a large, airy space with white walls, big windows facing the street, tile and wood floors and a huge bar in the center of the floor. Tables are scattered around. There's a big glass-walled kitchen with an open hearth in the rear. There are also a few outdoor tables along the Erie St. side and a roof-top bar with a separate menu. This was not our first post-vaccination dinner out but it was the first that was truly satisfying. The menu is divided into small plates, pasta dishes and large plates. We stuck with the small ones to get a bigger variety. We ordered four: a gem lettuce salad, the chicken liver crostini, some wood-grilled shrimp and the charred octopus. The salad was enormous and delicious. Our favorite dish was the crostini, four thick slabs of good rustic grilled bread alongside a small pot of unctuous chicken liver mousse with a dab of rhubarb mostarda and some parsley, mint leaves and pickled onion to sprinkle over. You assembled this dish yourself with a spoon. It was excellent. Our least favorite was the shrimp, just because they came with the heads on and we didn't love the flavor profile of the merguez sausage flavoring the sauce. For dessert we shared the Basque cheesecake adorned with vermouth-soaked tangerine chunks and house-made marmalade. It was a big wedge of creamy decadence with a dark browned top but we didn't leave a single crumb on the plate. Service was competent. At 50% capacity it was loud; when it's full it's gonna be deafening, with a loud musical soundtrack that's quite noticeable. The restaurant required a $30 deposit to secure the reservation, fully refundable if cancelled more than 24 hours in advance. It was applied to our dinner check. Dinner for 2 with one drink each was $124 before tip. Reasonable considering the quality of the meal, we thought.

Who knew how romantic sitting at the bar can be. The service was spot on, there when we needed them, left us alone the rest of the time. The Hamachi crudo was spectacular. Whoever thought of putting honey on a sausage pizza is a genius!

I was one of a party of four that had dinner at avec River North on Saturday night, June 24, 2023. The most negative part of the experience was the service. Our water glasses were promptly filled, but after that, we had to wait around 25 minutes for our server to appear. The server was quite knowledgeable and helpful about the menu but rarely checked in with us after taking our order to see how things were going. As a result, the pacing of when the dishes arrived was somewhat chaotic, indicating a lack of communication between our server and the kitchen. The food was generally good. The standouts were the justifiably popular chorizo-stuffed dates with bacon, the slow-roasted pork shoulder with braised lentils, grilled olives, and sesame yogurt (my personal favorite), and the labneh rhubarb swirl. These dishes alone would justify a return to avec River North. In the “okay-but-not-great” category were the chicken liver crostini (runny texture, weak on liver flavor, an excessive amount of berry preserves), brandade (weak on salted cod flavor), and rapini pizza (nice flavor of toppings, but mediocre crust). I would not order any of these again, although it could be argued that they were toned down to cater to the mainstream American palate’s dislike of strong liver and salted cod flavors. For wine, at the recommendation of our server, we ordered a 2019 Dominio de Pingus "Psi", which retails between $30 and $38 and costs $89 at avec for a markup of up to 300% which is on the high side given the restaurant's likely cost of the wine at the lower end of the retail spectrum. On the bright side, the wine was a well-balanced blend of tempranillo and garnacha (10%) with a light black-cherry flavor and subtle notes of citrus, cedar, and earth. Wine Advocate gave the wine 93+ points and James Suckling gave it 94 points. Both of these high ratings are well deserved. Would I return to avec River North? Yes, given the interesting menu, the high quality of some dishes, and the generally reasonable food prices. But given the issues described above, it would be on my B+ list, not my A list.

The atmosphere is quite authentic Mediterranean: nothing overdone, but with its simplicity, spaces and proportions the place could be in Barcelona or southern France. Maybe more the former, as the service is extremely friendly, patient and honest: all servers smiled at the guests, were pleasantly helpful and wanted to make sure we feel ok (even at their own expense, like that we don’t over order, etc.) In fact, our server was one of the most attentive I ever had: did not hover or interrupt us to check if we are ok, but if we looked in his direction or made a gesture that could mean we needed something he appeared within seconds. The food is excellent (it’s a shame I summarize it in one word, but any attempt to describe it would be futile anyhow). The drinks are as well (though pretty pricey, except Tuesdays when wines are at half price). Leave room for desserts (yes, that’s indeed a challenge) and a digestive.

Wow! Really delicious dishes. The scallop crudo was a refreshing start. The orchiette pasta was the best pasta dish I’ve had in a long time. Rich, deliciously spiced sauce and perfectly cooked pasta. We finished with the pork shoulder. Also fantastic. The flavors and spices really hit the spot. Half-off bottles of wine on Tuesday was a great deal. Oh, and the bread was incredible. Our server Amy was perfect. Looking forward to our next visit!

Fantastic food. We ordered the pepperoni pizza, shredded pork with little neck clams, focaccia stuffed with cheese and pasta with pesto. Everything and I mean everything was delicious. Modern and upbeat vibe too. We really enjoyed it and the service was excellent. Had a lovely bottle of red with our meal.

Mother’s Day brunch was excellent 😋👍🏻 the Cream Puff was awesome! I highly recommend this for brunch.The waitress was so nice!😊

We all agreed Avec North did not disappoint! We were a group of four so we had a variety of small and large plates. The entire meal was a symphony of different flavors. Great presentation, delicious and wonderful service. In particular we enjoyed the chorizo bacon dates, charred carrots, chicken and the chocolate baklava.

Fantastic food to share! So good you will want to share with your table so all can try different items. From small plates to cheeses to the different entrees.