Best Seasonal Restaurants in Winnetka

We had a wonderful holiday dinner. The staff made us feel so welcome. The cocktails, wine and dinner were all outstanding. The steak frites are a family favorite! Probably my favorite restaurant on the Northshore!

Ema is an OUTSTANDING restaurant!! The venue, food, cocktails, and service are superb!! I am visiting friends and family from out of state for the Christmas holiday and selected Ema because of the foregoing reasons!! We will most definitely return!! Thank you!

We hadn’t been back to 501 since June. My husband has celiacs and some of the menu choices are limited. We were very happy with our experience. The food was wonderful -I had the tuna and highly recommend. We split lettuce wraps -delicious and each had the butternut squash soup-also delicious. Our server was excellent despite being the only server in the entire dining room. Our one complaint is the cold breeze that completely took over the dining room anytime someone entered the front door. It seems like an easy fix or at least one that a place of this caliber should address. They had a portable heater at the table closest to the door, not a promising sign! We did notice they turned the heat up but it dampened an other wise lovely meal. But when you’re paying nearly $100 per person that shouldn’t be part of the experience.

Delicious vegan food creatively prepared and plated. Wonderful cocktails and warm inviting ambiance. My only comment is the prices. Yes, it’s Winnetka, so there’s that, but I cook vegan every day and know that the food doesn’t cost nearly that much. The markup here is exceptional. Worth it perhaps to be able to go to a restaurant and order ANYTHING on the menu ( what a treat!), but I will not be able to go very often because of the extremely high costs.

The food is always great at Avli. It was very busy and the noise levels were quite high but bearable. Maybe they could play some music to drown out some of the chatter. We had the hummus and eggplant spread. Both were great. Big portions. We also had the mini chicken skewers which were delicious, and the meatballs. They were quite good although the tomato sauce on top was quite tart and tasted a bit like tomato paste. My husband liked it more than me. For dessert we had the orange pie which is actually orange cake. It is delicious. We also tried the cheesecake and chocolate filo sampler. Both were very good. We love Juan who has been our server in the past. Very attentive and friendly.