Yanni’s Greek Restaurant

Sad to say that it appears Yanni’s has closed its doors. Perhaps another victim of the economy … certainly wasn’t their food as every meal I ever had there was outstanding.

Very nice dinner. Although the exterior is a bit overgrown, the interior is light, well appointed and quite attractive. The food was classic Greek fare. Saganaki was quite a large portion. The moussaka was light and very tasty, and the braised lamb was tender and melted in your mouth.
I would return without question

I’ve admired the pretty blue and white building from the outside for 20 years, but never had the opportunity to eat here until I moved away and came back visiting Schaumburg for business last month.
We came with a large group on a weeknight and had a lovely meal. The restaurant is very large inside — much bigger than it looks from outside! Clean, spacious and airy. Our waiter was friendly and helpful, made recommendations for Greek beer for several folks in our party — they were all happy! We tried a variety of appetizers and passed them around the table. The stuffed grape leaves were yummy and the fried cheese was great. I didn’t try the calamari, but reports were favorable from the rest of the table.
The Gyro was a little weird — with pita cut into little wedges, so you had to DIY little «bites» one at a time. The cucumber yogurt sauce was really fresh and flavorful.
Everything was very tasty!
Definitely recommend if you are hungry for Greek food in the burbs.

I’m no gyro expert, but the homemade gyro was both filling and good.
I didn’t particularly enjoy the parts all split up, but maybe this is how greeks eat it? I wouldnt know. I guess I expected a gyro taco… is that even a thing?
From the outside, the place looks a little run down. It looks like the type of place that would go out of business in this bad economy, but the interior décor was nice, clean, and has plenty of character.
The verdict: Good place for a plate of gyro ingredients.

One of the best Greek restaurants in the area.
Great food, beautiful atmosphere inside. The stuffed grape leaves entrée is super good! There is also outdoor seating when the weather’s nice.

I’ve had better Greek food. The food is over priced for below average food.
Our drinks were terrible.
Our server seemed like a nice enough guy but he kept forgetting about us.

Mediocre restaurant at best. Saganaki was too salty, Greek salad was not fresh, and the spinach pie was decent but nothing to rave about. Service was average.
That’s all there is to say about the food however, the last bits of the evening made this the WORST experience ever. I went there on a weeknight and it was pretty dead. I went to the bathroom before I left and didn’t realize until the next day that I left my wristlet hanging on the hook of the bathroom stall door. I called them to see if they had it but to my surprise, they said no one found anything. I’m sorry to make assumptions but I was literally the only girl at the restaurant that night except for the hostess and I was there about 2 hours before it closed. So unless a group of girls decided to have dinner at 9pm in the surburbs, I can only assume that their staff had something to do with my wristlet not being «found». Will never go back to this place again.
Too bad I have to even give it one star.

** they are out of business!!**
I love this place. its close to the office and a wonderful break in the middle of the work day. The service is always friendly and once you get inside, the place is so cute.
I always get fish. and its always great.

Okay so how did I end up here? We’ll the new Cooper’s Hawk a few blocks down the street had a hour wait (I love Cooper’s but the group I was with including me had wanted to eat something now and didn’t want to wait so
said this was good from the ratings so this is where we went!).
Ordered some drinks, they seemed to be pretty strong (the mixed ones, and pretty large sized so good job on that, my wine was OK a bit bland but overall it was OK)
Started out with some appetizers (Taramosolata which is Caviar mousse with olive oil, and Saganaki which is cheese with brandy and lemon) both very very good!
The lemon rice soup was good, but I had to ask for a lemon to squeeze into it and then play it off like I used it in my water not wanting to show disrespect to the Greeks. Sorry but I love lemon and most of the places I go to the taste is much more pronounced. But good news with the lemon modification it was GREAT!
Lastly (yep Main course no room for desert for this kid!) I decided to get the Braised Lamb, wow it was HUGE and delicious! It was served with a red sauce and mixed vegetables. The lamb was served bone in and reheated magically the next day!
I think Yanni’s will be my go to Greek place when I am in the area.

We went for ‘my big fat greek brunch’ and it was delightful. Live music (my only complaint is the music needs to be a little quieter, it’s very hard to talk), band was excellent, service was great, as was the food. We hadn’t eaten here in many years and just kept hearing about how bad it had gotten. Well, with the new owner, Tom, I think it can only get better and better. He is a perfect front of house face. He’s utterly charming, stopping at tables, sitting down and chatting. Couldn’t have loved him more.
We didn’t know what to expect for $ 20. Cold eggs, waffles, bacon etc? Not at all! As soon as you sit down, out comes a plate of wonderful bread with greek yogurt that was heavenly. With this was some feta cheese and olives. They had a couple of brunch staples, like bacon and sausage. But, there was also mutiple salads, lamb stew, leg of lamb, saganaki flamed tableside, moussaka, dolmades, pastistio, grouper, lemon chicken, hummus, gyros, greek chicken and on and on… It was really delicious.
The whole place has a very happy, upbeat vibe. At some point the older asian couple at the next table got up and started dancing! We will be going back over and over, and truly recommend everyone try the new and improved Yanni’s!!!

After reading the Unilocal!reviews I expected to have a horrible experience, but to the contrary, a lot of immature raters have spoken incorrectly.
Had I ordered appropirately this would have been 4 stars and we will see on a return visit.
I ordered the single serving whole sea bass, sauted spinach, grilled zuchinni and yellow squash, martini and a glass of wine. the portions were so big that I could not finish it all and the serving could have satisfied two people.
My Bulgarian waitress, what would one expect in a Greek restaurant in Chicago, was very nice and attentive.
Atmosphere was very nice and the place, on this Friday night, was more than half full… and it is a large place. Busling and professional.
I wish I had ordered some of the Greek stuff, but was not in the mood. I could see others getting their flaming «opah» cheese and eating lamb. The menu had lots of choices so everyone in your party could be satisfied. A very complete Greek restaurant. Tons of fresh fish offerings.
I was pleased and will go back when back in the area.

On the NE corner of Algonquin and Arlington Heights Road, there is plenty of parking nearby. The entrance isn’t that easy to find with all of the overgrowth and lack of signage.
The lobby has some seats but the restaurant was pretty empty for a weeknight so I’m not sure how much it’s needed any more. The bar is to the right and had a few people. We got seated in an elevated area so we could see what other people had ordered. Most of the other clientele were much older than us. A lot of the classics were ordered but we didn’t really see anybody order any of the fish specials. I ordered the combination to try the various staples. Overall, it was ok. The dolmades wasn’t as meaty as I expected while the lamb was a little dry. For $ 19.95, other places add another item (such as meatballs). Our server was quite odoriferous and made it difficult to enjoy our meal. Considering other similar restaurants for cuisine and décor, it would be hard for me to come back here.

I got into Greek food a few years ago and have wanted to try Yanni’s. We went for lunch this weekend. Waiting for a friend outside, I noticed that at one point they had taken some pride in their yard (is that what you call it when it is a restaurant?) — they had a koi pond and such… but everything was covered with weeds! $ 14 worth of Roundup would fix that in about 30 minutes… how could they not notice?
The inside seemed nice. bright colors, white linen table clothes. The bread they brought was very good… we ordered dolmades to start. They were ok, but sort of bland — needed more lemon or acid or something… they were also the temperature of molten copper… this tells me, they were microwaved. Whatever… I ordered the spanikopita entrée…it was pretty good, no complaints… the zucchini or squash that came with it was slimy and cut into 3 inch lengths — I think it was undead zucchini… the roasted potato was acceptable.
My ice water had a fly in it… it was dead… it was a very small fly, but it was a fly… barf me out the door!!!
I’m sorry — I hate doing this… but between the weeds and, the unforgivable fly… I gotta say no… attention to detail folks! You have to have standards!

One good restaurant I can find in the ‘burb!
We had the Oppa cheese on fire thing. It was our first time for the experience. Every tables ordered it! It tastes pretty good actually. Although i think it’s pretty pricey ($ 8).
Our second appetizer was a hot Seafood platter. It was the best dish of our meal: well seasoned and very fresh seafood. We love it and will definitely come back again for this dish.
We ordered the combination plate for the entrée. there are mossaka, lamb, and grapevine leaves with lamb and rice in it. The mossaka was really good. The menu actually called for a leg of lamb. However, it was just couple pieces of meat. It was too cooked and too dry by my taste. The stuffed grapevine leaves were a little too salty but good overall.
The service was fairly slow when we went (sat night). Well, we would love to come back and try other dishes Yanni’s has to offer.

My folks live out in the burbs and it’s hard to find good places. That’s why I was thrilled when we first ate here two years ago and the food was really good. It’s gone downhill! Sad. Saganaki was salty, zucchini balls or whatever were ugly and bland, gyros were still good.
Then my rack of lamb came. I ordered it medium rare and it came blue. On top of that I could literally not cut through it, It was trimmed so poorly. It just look and tasted like a sub par piece of meat. And for $ 28.
I will never go back again. One less precious option when I go visit my parents.

My favorite Greek place around. I have been to about every place in Chicagoland that claims to be a Greek restaurant, and NO ONE can compete with this place on any level. The décor is great, the service is amazing, and the food? Forget about it! I loved everything I had. From the greens to the salads to the seafood and dips, the appetizers were amazing. Even the lemon-​rice was good (shocking because all too often people make it thick and I hate eating straight starch). The entrees were amazing. A few of us had the rotisserie lamb, while others got whole fish. Everything was surreal. The bill was not bad considering we all ate like animals! GO GO GO! It is worth the drive.

I’m not a big Unilocaler but I had to sign back on to write this review.
A friend and I decided to enjoy a beautiful Chicago evening and sat on the patio. Having both experienced not so great lamb in the past, we chose to order the family style dinner #2. It was a lot of mediocre to horrible food.
The Savanaki came out burnt without the presentation of it being flamed table side. What was worse, the table next to us got the presentation just minutes before and it was one of the reasons we decided to order the family style dinner.
The gyros were the best thing at dinner and it came out dry and cold.
The roast leg of lamb was almost a gross gray and just smothered in what seemed like can tomato sauce.
The side dish that was to be rice AND roast vegetables was missing the rice.
the worst part of it all was my friend thought she saw a mouse during the middle of dinner and I gave her the benefit of the doubt and about 10 minutes later, we saw needless to say, more than one.
The dinner took closer to 2 hours. Not because it was the leisurely european dinner that takes that long but because the waiter was apparently doing tables both inside and out.
With each of us getting a glass of wine, the entire bill came out to $ 60 after I used a $ 25 gift certificate. For $ 85, I could have had better greek food at Daphnes 10 times over. After the mice sighting, we felt so grossed out that we couldn’t wait for the waiter to come around.
He showed up after to hand me the check 3 feet away from the hostess that processed the credit card. NEVER AGAIN!

Brought the wifey here for a nice dinner.
All the food in the menu sounded amazing so we just went with family style #2. It was a lot of food. All the food in the menu sounded amazing so we just went with family style #2.
Seganaki (cheese) and this spread called taramosalata
Then you get a greek salad
Beef and lamb slices were great
Chicken, meatballs, dolmades
Also came with rice and potato.
Lastly dessert, Baklava and walnut cake (baklava amazing)
Like i said a lot food.
The service and atmosphere was very good as well.
We had a great time.

Looking to have a bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, birthday party, or other large gathering? Look no further. Yanni’s has several big, bright, open spaces for your group. While I was there, there were TWO other celebrations occurring, but you couldn’t hear a thing in the area where we were. Seriously — it’s like we were the only party in the place. Nice.
To be clear, I was just a guest at the event. I did none of the planning, so I can’t speak to that element. However, as a guest, I tried all of the food (for research’s sake, naturally).
To start, we had Avgolemono — a Greek soup comprised of rice and chicken in a creamy lemon broth. This may be a new favorite — it was delicious. I scraped every last drop out of my bowl.
Following the soup was a salad, which, sadly, was somewhat lackluster. Dressing did not come out until after all the salads were served and most people had started, so there was some confusion. All in all, it was little more than shredded lettuce and sprinkles of feta. Meh.
For the main course, we got to choose from Lamb, Chicken, or Fish. I went wit the Lamb and it was decent — nothing special. While there was a lot of food on the plate, most of it seemed to be sauteed squash… kinda filler, no? Oh well. They did have a vegetarian option for those so inclined, so that’s a plus.
The dessert, though — mmm! Fried dough with honey — delicious. I think I had about 6 pieces (eek!).

This was a nice little discovery opposite the Hilton where I was staying. It was either the hotel restaurant, or this joint, since it was late. But points notwithstanding, neither the menu nor the atmosphere of the Hilton eatery held any allure for me. When I saw «fresh seafood» across the street, that sealed the deal.
PLUS:
This surprised picky old me, but to be able to get a perfect salad that’s totally fresh at 9:30 at night, just the right amount of oil and vinegar tossed in with the romaine and feta. Just a simple delight.
By comparison, the braised lamb, which turned out to be a lamb shank in a tomato-​ey sauce and a gigantic bed of eggplant, paled. It was good, but all the lamb taste had been boiled out of it i.e., if it was slow simmered in that tomato sauce, it didn’t TASTE like it was. Rather, like 99% of the ribs served, life and taste had first been boiled out of it in a sacrifice on the altar of tenderness. Heck — give me a little toughness while my teeth are still good, but by golly, RESTORE a modicum of taste, PLEASE!
Another plus was the delicious agiorgitiko that the waiter recommended (the «only» wine he drinks). Now I want to find out where I can get my hands on that wine here in the Orlando area.
MINUS
I know I got there late, but my pet peeve is the waiter bringing me the check while I’m still eating. HELLO PEEPS! Don’t you realize that doing that will have a counterproductive effect, in that I’m now more likely to linger. There really is NO reason for that, unless the customer is unreasonable and asks for a 5^th cup of coffee when at 11 when the restaurant closes at 10.
There were a couple of negative reviews in here — one from Asians who felt that they were discriminated (as Asian myself, I relate, and believe, and consider it unfortunate). The other comes from someone who, along with his colleagues, come from a «major metro area» and claim to have VERY distinguished tastes. Turns out he’s from Columbus, GA. Hmmm! Don’t know about that dining hotspot, but gee, having lived in Atlanta for 9 years, my definite is that the city does not even rate anywhere near top 10 in terms of quality of restaurant, but hey, that doesn’t mean Columbus, as a, um, major metropolis, couldn’t distinguish itself from her sister city!