Iona’s On the Blu

First things first the food, It was amazing!!! The food was hot and tasted great! I went to dinner with a friend and we both ordered our own meals but when the food arrived it was so much we ended up doing family style. We ordered The chicken dinner all white meat and blackened catfish. Both come with two sides. The sides we had were regular fries, Mac and cheese, red beans and rice, green beans with white potatoes and dressing with gravy. We ordered Pork Chops as an appetizer (My friend is pregnant). The cook for the day was named Yancy Shaun. The restaurant has a bar and does a Buffett Brunch on Sunday. They have a live jazz band on Friday’s and I believe a DJ on Saturday’s. The day I went was Thursday the ambience was nice as they played old school R&B music while we dined. When we arrived to the restaurant no one was there but by the time we left people had started to come in and dine at the bar. We did not have alcohol beverages but the bar appeared to have a premium selection of alcohol.
There were a couple of negatives: they ran out of some of the side dishes that we would have liked to try (greens, spaghetti, and fried green tomatoes). There was a point in which someone came and asked to borrow the condiments on our table but they brought them back. I would hoped that they have more than the one set of condiments should they have a full house. I assumed that because of the day of the week it was they ran out of side dishes because the food tasted fresh and that they were getting prepared for the weekend which may be the busy times of the restaurant. These negatives were not enough for us to not return to enjoy dinner again.

What a lot of people don’t know about this little gem is their pizza. They do pour a good drink. They also on Fridays have live bands. If you want to go and just chill out you must come here.

Everything was good atmosphere was very nice, music is great. Nice bar, tv’s on the wall. Sunday Buffett was delicious. I will return!

The food was good. And the live music was really good too. I like jazz and wine. I thought the prices were going to be higher for some reason but they were reasonable. My date was impressed, I picked such a good spot. Fellas trust me this place is a great place to take a date. It’s got that 5 star Downtown Chicago vibe, but it’s by me.
An issues I have with soul food is that it’s too salty, but this place didn’t over season it.

Good was soooooo good. Went in to eat after a friend recommended it to me I was surprised to hear the love music but it was awesome. Great food great music and it’s not far from me. I will be back.

This is my second time attending this spot. The first time I went on a weekday afternoon with my dad and we were the first to arrive. We sat down and ordered (I had the catfish with greens and yams and he ordered the chicken salad) the food took a very long time to come but it was delicious. The waitress was courteous but a little slow. Tonight (Sat. Aug 1, 2015) I went back for a birthday party and when we arrived at 8:30pm there were about 20 people total in the building. We waited forever to get menus and then waited forever to order after several unsuccessful attempts at trying to flag down a waitress we finally got water. My glass was chipped on the rim so I sent it back. We waited about 45 minutes for the food to come out and my chicken sandwich had dry chicken and soggy bread that didn’t hold up. My date had the fried chicken he said that it was tasty. I had to ask for napkins, and silverware. The waitress apologized after the 3^rd requests. When we asked for drinks she informed us that she was under age and couldn’t handle liquor. This meant that we would have had to go to the bar for drinks which is inconvenient so we decided not to drink. Finally, they had pretty smooth music but it was hot and we were sweating and fanning. It just made it uncomfortable so we paid our bill which they had over charged us on and I had to send back to be corrected and left.

Arrived at 1200 noon July 26^th To find they were still mopping and setting up. I had come the previous Sunday But didn’t try the buffer. After waiting 45 minutes to eat, delayed by the setup I was so turned off to have my Buffet food portioned out. Service was slow even from the bar and it was only 2 tables. I came, back today because I was really hoping this place would be consistent in food drinks. AFTER TODAY I WOULD NOT BE RETURNING.

Had the Sunday Buffet w/​unlimited mimosas only $ 22.95. Buffett included baked & fried chicken, smothered pork chops, and fried catfish nuggets, Cabbage, Mac & cheese, red beans & rice, smothered potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans.
Catfish was cooked to perfection; crunchy on the outside tender & juicy on the inside. Cabbage was flavorful & still had a slight crunch. Red beans & rice was seasoned just right. Wifey ordered catfish off the menu w black eyed peas & green beans, came w Cornbread, all very tasty. By now u can most likely tell I really enjoyed the food-​comfort food at its best. Oh, did I mention the Mac & cheese. Vey good. This is our new «spot»

It’s very rare that you get to leave a 1^st Review, so I relish this moment! Will try to be as informative as I can.
Want to skip the full dialogue? Cool! This place I would not rant and rave about, however, it’s a place that I’d give another chance to win me over. The food … very decent! Menu has great potential. Ambience … place is small, but charming. Would be a great place for a date. Not sure how that translates if they had more people in the place. Service … has the most opportunities for improvement. Not the worst service, they checked on me (kinda) … just not ideal service. Bottom line: it’s worth a try!
I will start by saying this is a great place to dine if you live in the area. I’m planning on making a move out of the area in the next few months, I highly doubt that once I make the move this place would be on my radar to travel to. This is my personal barometer on restaurants! Will I travel to said restaurant.
I’m thinking this place is fairly new … I just got that kinda vibe (along with the fact it hasn’t been reviewed here). The place is fairly small, in this case I think that adds to the charm. Décor is kinda cool, however too many exposed cords and wires. I hate cords!
Another reason I thought the place was new was lack of people (Saturday, 5:30pm), and lack of staff training. Bartender never prepared a Dirty Martini, at least she tried (wasn’t too bad either).
The food was better than average. Not great, but still it was very good. The fried green tomatoes were the star of my meal. The sauce that accompanies the fried green tomatoes was excellent.
I wish I had chosen something other than the smothered pork chops, saying that I don’t eat pork much anymore. I like the fact that they serve the side dishes in separate dishes, is sometimes side items tend to spill into each other when placed on the same plate.
Overall, this is a place I will try again. Has the potential to be a cool little neighborhood spot. Give it a try, if you are in the neighborhood!

Let me first state that this is Iona’s new location, they have long since moved from their 95^th Street locale as seen in the following link. They’ve been here in Blue Island since November and are doing very well.
We came with a party of three, spent about 20 dollars per person. Unlimited Mimosas for 19.95.
I don’t recall visiting the old location, and this isn’t a compare and contrast review. This is me going into Iona’s hungry expecting for my soul to be fed as I bask in the ambiance of my people and I must say all of that was accomplished. I’m a pretty forgiving person, I had a party of three and we must have come in at an awkward time because the live music was setting up and there was a large party demanding the Hostess’ attention, after initiating conversation, we were immediately seated and took to the buffet. All your thanksgiving fantasies will be satisfied here and then some. For every item you may not like I guarantee you will find two more that you will like. I was just munching down on some leftover Banana Pudding from this establishment before writing this. Sure, when it comes to Soul Food we all have our internal bias because after all, no one cooks better than Mama/​Big Mama but I kept an open mind and was continuously satisfied beyond measure. I mentally insulted myself for even considering places like Old Country Buffet, or Golden Corral to satisfy my needs. The Hostess, who’s name is Sunny was absolutely cheerful, understanding and polite. She kept the Mimosa’s coming and was on the ball with managing both us, and the other guests.
The Venue… is rather small, and I read some reviews of the old place and those stated it was small as well. It looked like it could seat 50 tops and with the increasing demand for local businesses, the owners could use some more space. But the Ambiance is a solid attempt at that yearning to be surrounded by culture and intellect as you wash down your red beans and rice with a thrilling Jazz
made me feeling like I was in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, chowing down on some good grub, ready to make some power moves with my Kin. It’s certainly a good attempt. And no, it wasn’t the Mimosa talking. I am partially bias to club scenes, I hate talking over music, but being a musician myself I couldn’t help but indulge.
Now here’s the big butt, why the place isn’t getting a good 4 stars. The following is absolutely unforgivable and an insult to me and those of me. There are no sugar-​free/​diet options for beverages. I’m sure there are those of you who are thinking «why is this a big deal?» Well, let’s analyze the owner’s target demographic, lets further extrapolate and notice that her target demographic is the leading group affected with diabetes. I myself don’t have it but it runs in my family and has three of my close family members in its visceral clutches. Why in the world, would you not think to AT LEAST have unsweetened tea to compliment the obvious attempt at some new orleans venue? At least… How detached from your market can you be, where you open a restaurant and attempt to accommodate us in every which way except for the most crucial one? Our health. There are those in this world who are simply not okay washing down excellent food with water… its just awful. If you refuse to allow sugar free/​diet drinks, then please make the establishment BYOB.
Other than that the place is amazing, yes it’s small (still) and the music can make it really loud if you’re not into club environments, but the experience makes up for it. Just know if you’re diabetic best sneak in your own lipton tea, because you’ll find nothing but endless rounds of water here.
((EDIT))
I posted this review on Iona’s Facebook page which can be located below.
My review was read and appropriately responded to in a manner most professional. Apparently our server was unaware of the Unsweetened Tea that must have been hidden in the refreshments section of the kitchen. However, I can’t bring myself to up the stars because we did ask the waitress clearly, and she responded with conviction that the beverages in question do not exist. An absence of knowledge causes a ripple effect that leads to a misunderstanding everywhere.
Also the facebook page suggests a price range of 4 Dollar signs which is horribly false, I’m incline to think an average mean is 11 – 30 smackeroos.