AMBAR Restaurant, Chicago

Reviews

• MB

  Meena Beena

  2 days ago
  3.0
  Came here with my sister for a saturday lunch and got the $37 unlimited meal. I loved the ayce aspect of it, its a great idea to allow u to taste the menu for a set price. Design wise it was extremely gorgeous, inside and outside..the bathroom being up in heaven was a lot though. Service was good, the waitress seemed a bit cold at first and warmed up as the lunch went on, food did arrive fast and she was attentive...bussers were on the ball, constantly scanning for dishes to take..which was great because the outdoor table we got was pretty small. The good was not great. The first plate full of spreads we got were basically flavorless minus the ajvar and olivier salad. That beet tzatziki was all beet no tzatziki..no fresh yogurt, no acidity..just flat. The bread that came with it was fresh and hot so that was nice..the corn muffins could use a pinch of salt in the batter...also flat. We also picked the salmon Benedict, Sujuk flatbread, cevape, ny strip, the beef sliders, shrimp n grits, potatoes and scrambled eggs. The sujuk flatbread was lovely, the tomato sauce was mixed with ajvar and it worked well together, reminded me of my mamas pizzas growing up. The salmon Benedict and ny strip were flavorful and well executed. The scrambled eggs were some of the fluffiest , perfect scrambled eggs ive ever had. Shrimp and grits were undercooked and came to the table Luke warm both times...however the flavor was lovely. The potatoes were inconsistent, half of the bowl was undercooked. The cevape and the beef slider used the same meat and seasoning, my concern is that there is something else being mixed in. Those cevape are not only beef. My friend who eats pork said it tasted like pork. Ive made homemade beef cevape and they typically have a stronger beef flavor and tend to have a warmer pink tone..this was a bit grayish...did not enjoy and honestly the flavor was lacking. Say there isnt any pork in there at all..recipe would still need a tweak...if im gonna get 2 cevape at least make sure theyre top notch. The sauce under them was good, it was just ajvar and feta mixed together and its a lovely pairing.
• JB

  Jesse Brown-Bosch

  Aug 22, 2026
  5.0
  We did the all-you-can-eat-and-drink experience, which I thought was amazing, especially since I’m relatively new to this type of food. Being able to try a little bit of everything and order as much as we wanted was such a great way to experience the menu. One thing that really stood out to me was the staff. Everyone was incredibly friendly, kind, and hospitable, which is something I feel like a lot of restaurants are missing these days. Our servers name was Marko and the service genuinely made the experience even better. Now for the food; almost everything was fantastic. My favorite appetizer was the spicy feta, and my favorite vegetable was definitely the Brussels sprouts. They’re seared in pork fat, and wow… these are easily the best Brussels sprouts I’ve ever had, and that’s saying a lot! For the meat, the lamb medallions were my favorite. They were incredibly tender, moist, and flavorful. As for the negatives, there honestly weren’t many. The pork shoulder was a little disappointing and didn’t have much flavor. I also wish dessert was included in the all-you-can-eat option. We ordered the brownie skillet, which was good, but it only came with two small scoops of ice cream. We didn’t finish it because we ran out of ice cream and the brownie was a little too dry to eat on its own. Overall, I had a fantastic experience and would absolutely recommend Ambar. The food, variety, and especially the friendly staff made it well worth the visit. I’ll definitely be back!
• XX

  Xavier

  Aug 18, 2026
  3.0
  Theodora gave the table next to us the QR code to leave “a good” review about her. At the end of our meal, we did not get the QR code, nor were we invited to review her. We were simply asked how our experience was. This is how it was: The food was good, but we had a very bad experience with the service, as it was extremely slow, which overall negatively affected our experience. We had to wait a bit to get seated, after which our order was taken pretty quickly. After our order was taken, another table of two was seated next to us. They ordered the Balkan salad and the veal soup after us but somehow received them before us. A bit after the two-top arrived, a large table came in. They ordered a while after us but got their food very quickly. When our waitress, Theodora, came by to ask us how we were doing, I asked if she could make the food come faster. She responded very condescendingly, saying that there were 300 people in the restaurant, that there was nothing she could do, and that more food was on the way. Keep in mind, we got seated at 8:25, ordered about eight things, and had only received two small salads up until the steak tartare arrived at 9:14, while the table next to us had already gotten the veal soup we ordered before them, and the large table already had a lot of food. Eventually, about half an hour later, the food did start coming out a bit faster. When Theodora came by, I tried to order some more food. She questioned whether we really needed the amount of food I was ordering. I have had waiters suggest ordering less because it might be too much, and it didn’t come off as dismissive or rude, but Theodora made us feel very judged.
• TL

  Tj Lee

  Aug 16, 2026
  1.0
  My wife and I visited Chicago to see our son and his girlfriend, and he selected this spot for bottomless brunch based on its impressive Google ratings. Unfortunately, all four of us left deeply disappointed. ​The food was uniformly bland, relying heavily on sauces to mask low-quality base ingredients. The flat bread was mediocre, the chicken skewers were dry, and the New York strip was tough and rubbery despite being cooked to medium. ​I purposely waited two days before posting to make sure I wasn’t reviewing out of initial disappointment. Looking back two days later, not a single dish stood out as memorable or enjoyable. Given the high rating, this was a major letdown. I would not recommend this place to anyone if you call yourself a foodie.
• MD

  Madison Davis

  Aug 6, 2026
  5.0
  This was an absolute 10 out of 10! We are visiting Chicago and heard this was a good place to stop. I would absolutely recommend this spot!! Our waiter Aaron really made the experience special by being kind, helpful, attentive, and explaining anything we had questions on. He stressed how much he wanted us to just enjoy and relax as he took care of everything. I would request him next time we visit!! On top of that the place is so so cute and the atmosphere was amazing. It wasn’t too busy for the lunch hour we dined in. The music was good and the staff was so friendly. Very photo worthy. And of course the best part - the food and drinks. The margarita and the espresso martini were delicious. The FOOD oh my goodness there wasn’t a single bad bite. We did the unlimited dine in option and it was so insanely worth it. The portion sizes were perfect to try a little bit of everything. We were more pleased and surprised with each new bite. We got the ceasar salad (10/10) halloumi (10/10) lamb medallions (9/10) NY strip (10/10) Grilled shrimp (8/10) stuffed pepper (9/10) North Sea salmon (7/10) almond fried chicken (10/10perfectly cooked juicy and crispy) wedge potato (6/10) crispy corn ribs (9/10) Brussels sprouts (8/10) ambar burger (5/10) pork belly stuffed cabbage (5/10) pork shoulder (9/10 fall apart tender. Mashed potato so good) lamb flatbread (8/10 great flavor but a little doughy for me) and all that food was only $80 and we could have gotten more! We got happy hour drink prices which was great. Still water was $8 and 2 Diet Cokes in the mini bottle was $10 so that was a bit shocking but we aren’t super familiar with regular prices in the city like this. For dessert we got the crepe which was okay and the brownie skillet which was amazing. I’m sad we don’t live here because I want to go back already.