KEFI Greek Tavern

I am always confused when I come here because the food is amazing but there aren’t a lot of people in the restaurant. Everything from the meatballs to the grape leaves to the bread is super flavorful and delicious, and also in giant portions. The décor is very charming and nice, and the service is great. Highly recommend

I went here as soon as it opened with Jen and Ralph and my partner in crime.
They are cool. It’s probably the highest quality greek place I’ve found in evanston. Cross-​Rhodes being basically cheap and awful, and the other stuff in town being «not restaurant quality». I’d compare this to the greek options near logan square. So: authentic, good, not as cheap but quality makes up for it bigtime.
If there’s one significant takeaway beyond what’s already mentioned of excellent quality — is that you probably don’t need to order a meal if you have a large group. Just order a billion appetizers and call it a day. The meals take longer and frankly, aren’t really needed. They’re pretty generous portions for appetizers, especially the greek salad.
Food was super fresh and awesome. Oh, and there is one thing though — it is extremely noisy. It’s not that they’re next door to the place to make concerts, but that it just seems to echo sound substantially. Maybe they were actually a bit *too* successful at isolating sound from next door, but I basically couldn’t hear anyone talking the entire time.
Skordalia was phenominal — it was paired with the melitzanosalata, creating the greek experience I love, known as «a lot of garlic». Seriously, there is a lot of garlic in the food. I love that. That’s pretty much what I consider the cornerstone of a good skordalia anyway.
Do come here — veg or not. Order every single appetizer. Enter food coma happiness.

We live by the excellent Old Neighborhood Grill and the owner (great guy) mentioned his new place. This place is perfect, friendly service, generous portions and fun Greek wines and drinks you may not normally try.
They have an efficient menu with lots of Greek authentic dishes (no Gyro platters here). My lamb shank was excellent, as was the Moussaka.
Cute place, highly recommended if you are looking to have a family dinner or couples night out. No wait at 7pm on a Saturday night. Looks to me like the Greek community eats here, which is always a good sign.
We will return for sure.

What a delight. Truly authentic. We ordered many sides, sauces, and entrees. Loved by the whole group.

Love, love, love this restaurant! It’s everything I’d ever want in a restaurant and more:
–Quality, truly authentic Greek food (Spinach pie is fabulous, Greek salad is always fresh, and the balkava is ridiculously good).
–GREAT wait staff
–Clean, laid-​back environment
–Reasonable prices
My husband and I go here often and it’s one of our all time faves in Evanston. Hands down, it’s on par – if not better than – the restaurants found in Greektown. I hope it’s here to stay, because we love it! DEFINITELY worth going to!

I like Kefi. We had a very tasty lamb shank dish our first time there. Unfortunately, last night was not the greatest experience. I ordered the pastichio which resembles lasagna. They served a huge slab of it! It tasted good and warm for the first few bites. But after the first few bites, it was clear that it wasn’t reheated thoroughly. The kind waiter took it back and returned it to our table 5 minutes later. Again, tasty and warm at first, but the center was still cold. I understand it’s tricky to reheat lasagna — like food. Microwaving might make it a cheesy mess. I wouldn’t have minded waiting for a thoroughly heated dish — but not getting it right twice? I don’t know. My husband said his moussaka was good. I want this place to succeed and I think people should check this place out! The staff is so polite and the food is good. They just need to be a tiny bit more thoughtful when reheating food.

I’ve been here only once and for someone who’s been to CrossRhodes, Psistaria and Greektown, this place is nothing special. Good but not really authentic or outstanding. Wiill try again.

First, the service was excellent. Prompt, informed, attentative, friendly & kept the water filled. 5 star service.
Second, the portions were big & should be enough for you to take food home, if you like the food.
Third, atmosphere was fine, but the servers should shout «opah» when lighting the saganaki on fire.
However, fourth, the food was okay at best. While the chicken was good & hot. The potatoes & green beans that came with it were lukewarm to actually cold in spots, as if they were plated way ahead of time & partially kept under a heat lamp. The htipiti was watery, with a slight vinegar taste, as opposed to strong feta & red pepper flavor. Didn’t finish either the app or dinner, just the chicken. Salmon was throughly cooked, despite the request to cook to medium rare on the waiter’s statement that the salmon was high quality salmon. Though did finish salmon.

Great place in downtown Evanston. We ordered off the appetizer menu and enjoyed everything. We ordered three small plates for 2 people and it was plenty. Warm friendly atmosphere and friendly service. Feels like a family restaurant. We will be back.

I’ve eaten here three times and thoroughly enjoyed each meal. The food is delicious with generous portions. The staff is incredibly warm, friendly and funny. It feels like you’re being greeted by family. The cocktails are unique and I highly recommend the Nunous. The space has a great energy and I love the ceiling lattices with small lights.

We had the Spinach Pie, Octapus, Lamb and Saganaki cheese. Everything was delicious! The lamb and octopus were very tender and seasoned to perfection. The Spinach Pie and Saganaki were also very tasty and cooked perfectly. The service was very attentive, knowledgeable and friendly! We will go back soon :)

Ordered Meatballs, Saganaki, Salmon entrée and Lamb Shank. The saganaki was the best I’ve had in a long time! Meatballs we very tender and flavorful along with the Lamb. Salmon was only ok for me. I would definitely come back to try more dishes!

The wine was great. Earned one extra star for that. We ordered a spread that was not good. At least they took it off our bill. I had the egg lemon soup which was decent. My friend ordered the pasta that was just a bowl of plain noodles. Not good. Wanted to try but will not be going back.

Made another stop at my favorite restaurant again, I think I have tried the entire menu by now. The best dish is the Pastichio by far. My wife loves the Salmon and we both eat the Spanakopita. Evanston has a great new restaurant everyone should try it.

First visit was a few weeks ago. Massive, overwhelming portions. We ordered entirely off the appetizer menu. The spinach pie is mostly spinach (yea!) and massive. We split it three ways and I took some home. Excellent calamari came with two sauces. Too many places by frozen, pre-​breaded rings. These tasted as if made fresh.
Because of the location, parking is a challenge and the bathrooms are down a labyrinth hallway that winds behind a neighboring performance space. [Bonus — guitarist was practicing in the hallway as a passed]. Would like tablecloths to up the ambiance and help keep the space a bit quieter.
The servers and service is terrific. The ice tea has a subtle fruit (peach?) flavor and is quite good. Didn’t order wine, but others at my table did and said their selection was good.
The baklava is excellent. Heavily loaded with nuts, not cloyingly sweet, with a nice cinnamon undertone and like everything we ordered, a crazy huge portion at a very fair price. I took half home.

Best Greek food I’ve had in the Chicago area, Greek town included! The spinach pie is wonderful. Thick, just the right combination of spinach and feta, and reasonably priced. The dolmades my wife and I ordered were firm, not soggy, with a delicious lamb and rice filling and a rich, creamy lemon sauce. The avgalemeno soup was wonderful, with pulled chicken and rice (not too much rice, as can often occur with this soup) and a strong, tangy lemon flavor that is usually more subdued (and wrongfully so in my opinion) with soups of this variety. The baklava was wonderful for dessert as well. I am now dependent on their spinach pie like I am dependent on my smart phone. Once a week I crave it, and I come up with reasons why I need to be in the area so that I can recommend picking it up when I just happen to be nearby.

KEFI has great food, though their prices are a little high, particularly for the seafood dishes. We had the Roasted Eggplant Spread (Melitzanosalata), Grilled Octopus (Octapodi Skharas), Pork Sausage (Loukaniko), and Moussaka. All of these dishes were delicious, and the portion sizes were reasonable (not too small or large).
Service was good, and the restaurant is nicely decorated. Street parking is available.

I went to Kefi last night and it was fantastic! My husband and I decided on sharing some small plates. The bread is made by the owner’s mom and it’s so good. It tastes great with the olive oil, which unlike the previous reviewer’s experience was fresh and flavorful. The Greek Village Salad tasted exactly like the salads I’ve had in the Islands in Greece — so fresh and perfectly balanced. Similarly, the roasted red pepper spread was creamy and light and absolutely delicious. We also had the meatballs which I thought were perfectly seasoned and well paired with the tomatoes, lemon and the arugula salad. I would highly recommend all of them! For dessert we had baklava which was exceptional — not overly sweet and perfectly crisp — and a type of custard pie made from phyllo dough which was delicious as well.
The décor is warm, welcoming, and beautiful. It feels authentic without being touristy. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. The family recipes, the attention to detail, and the welcoming spirit makes this a place not too miss if you enjoy fresh, authentic Greek food!

The new Greek restaurant in Evanston kefi is outstanding the best Mousaka and lamp shank and great Greek sausage service was friendly and fast will definitely go back.

Last night, my wife, 5 year old son & I rode our bikes downtown Evanston and dined at Kefi. First, the service was outstanding. Our waiter was extraordinarily friendly, accommodating and knowledgeable about the cuisine and culture, likely because he himself is Greek??? We chose several small plates, the octopus — unbelievably tender and flavorful — not any we’ve experienced in Chicago, meatballs sautéed to perfection, served on top of a tomato sauce with arugula, pork sausage with orange flavors — (mouth watering!), saganaki, garlic mashed potato dip, and a villager’s salad. The food was all authentic Greek, prepared just right and absolutely delicious. We will be back to try more small plates, enters and enjoy dinner with friends at Kefi. Bravo!