9 Muses

hummus
chicken kebab
shish kebab
soft juicy chicken
flavorful beef
tasty pita
chunky hummus
great vegetables

This was my first stop upon arriving in the city. Its a regular haunt of a good friend and so here found ourselves for an early dinner.
Coming in with a regular does give you a bit of an advantage, but I’m pretty sure everyone would have been just as nice and friendly had I come in by myself.
After all, I’m a pretty swell guy.
Mike, behind the bar, quick with a greeting and very friendly. We sat at the bar and scanned the menu (if it’s online, check it out. I just trusted the choices my friend made). We got the Meza, a selection of meats, pork, gyro and chicken. and it was fantastic. Usually there would be a weak runner in the race, dry chicken or bland pork, etc. But not here, each one was prepared as if it were the only thing going on the plate, a splash of fresh lemon juice and we cleared the plate.
We got a side of the greek fries, purely for scientific research, since neither of us is supposed to be eating fries and we had plenty to manage with the Meza. They were great, flavorful and nothing was over done. Trust me, the food was on point. It was so good that I just quoted Guy Fieri and I don’t hate myself for it, that good.
Atmosphere could make or break a place and 9 Muses has that in the bag too. The staff were friendly and the patrons were too. We stayed way longer than we needed because we were chatting and making friends.
They have a full bar, and coffee (I had a Greek Coffee which is like a punch in the face with a velvet boxing glove) and we split a piece of cheesecake. It was a Wednesday night, not too crowded and just a really good time.

That cheese was amazing, even if it wasn’t flaming. My salad with kebob… the perfect lunch.

High prices.
Not enough food
Simple.
Not the greatest taste but competitive.
Hope this guys pay attention to this reviews.
thank you.

I think this place is worth coming to, at least once in your visit to Chicago. Not for the night-​life specifically, but for its food and drinks, and very friendly staff. I actually think the night life is for people who want to bring back memories of visiting Greece, which is not necessarily for everyone. For those on my boat, come in the afternoon for authentic Greek dining and a nice frappé. It is worth a try, and you are likely to appreciate the experience.

So we came into this restaurant with high hopes. I mean we r in Greek Town. Well we had about 9 ppl in our group and as i walked in the music to me sounded like i was in a night club instead if a Greek restaurant. The bar was empty in a Saturday night which was odd to me because all the other greek spots were pretty crowded.
Ok, so i look at the menu. I find it strange that i cant fibd grilled octopus. Every greek restaurant down town has this on their menu! I order two skewers a chicken and pork and ask for Greek Potatoes. The waitress says we dobt have greek potatoes on the weekend. Wait. What!!! They only serve fries or mashed. Are you kidding me? Ok well i get the mashes. Ih ya, and my order was the platter with salad. after the waitress took all our orders we never saw her again. The bus boy was a great runner tho.
Forty five minutes goes by before we get our food. The three of them come out and start asking everyone is this your order. What!!! Im a bit annoyed by now. I get my plate and i get 2 tiby skewers with a big pike of smashed red skin potatoes. Thats it! No ome even came in this restaurant to sit at the bar in the hour and a half we were there. I wont be back.

I just ordered from this place on Grubhub and just a few thoughts:
1.) A slice of Feta for my village salad — very generous!
2.) Grilled zucchini that looked like the leathery skin between Bruce Jenner’s ass cheeks.
3.) The cold yellow piss of Sasquatch — oh wait that’s Lemon Soup!
4.) Enough bread to feed Sally Suther’s needy kids. They need the bread… not me.
5.) Last but least, enough oil dressing to lube my runs so they slide out like a kid going down the water slide at Indiana Beach.
So if this sounds like an option for you — be my guest and go place an order.

Stopped in for lunch. Place wasn’t busy. Food was decent — not as good as the other Greek places around it. Service was a bit lackluster. Not sure that I’d go back. Maybe it was an off day. I don’t know. Nothing wowed me enough to give it another shot.

The only reason I am giving this place one star is because they delivered my food in a bag with a handle that I can re-​use to clean out my cat’s litter box.
Now, on to my review…
I had this craving for greek food ever since I tried the Athenian Room, which, by the way, I give 20 stars on a 5-​star scale, but they DO NOT DELIVER. UGHHHHH. But because I had showered and put on my softy pi’s and was all settled in for a Pawn Stars marathon, I thought, eh, I’ll just order Greek food from GrubHub. A gyros and fries is a gyros and fries, right? WRONG.
Like I said, I was all set for those fat, lemony tasting fries sprinkled with oregano and a yummy gyros. Chumlee had just pissed off Rick again and then «DING DONG» my order from 9 Muses was here… yay!
I started unpacking my order (2 gyros and an extra order of fries – my husband always steals mine.) I opened the styrofoam container and to my HORROR… the fries were not fat and juicy… but anorexic skinny ones like McDonald’s…burned and soggy and ICE COLD. but worse… sprinkled with some cheesy stuff resembling feta but tasting more like soggy cottage cheese.
The gyros wasn’t much better; but instead of thinly sliced strips of meat, they had put big chunks… and surrounded it with red onions (like a hot dog) and congealed tzatziki sauce… again…ICE COLD. I tried microwaving the piles of goo, but now all I had was hot chunks of meat with steaming hot goo and soggier burned fries.
BUMMMMMMMMER!
I never do this, but this order was so out-​of-​control bad that I contacted GrubHub. They got right back to me (good job) but said 9 Muses would NOT refund my order… OR send me something else!
SOOOO now I’m out almost $ 30 for food I threw in the garbage and probably the rats in the alley won’t even eat. And guess who will NEVER go to, or order from 9 Muses again? You’ve got it. ME…and I hope YOU, TOO.

The best grilled calamari ever. I often get off from work late and can always count on this place for a great fresh plate of food. Lovely outdoor seating area and friendly staff.

HUGE HUGE HUGE FAN! The food is delicious and it has a very nice atmosphere. When my friends and I went there for a dinner and drinks, it was very enjoyable. The service was perfectly timed, with appetizers coming in and a sufficient break between the entrees. Only complaint was the waiters who messed up the order and got wrong side combinations and wrong drinks.

Yawn! Just another fail for me this past weekend. This place was very ok and average at best. I had a special which I can’t remember, but it was a chicken kebob on pita bread. It was ok tasting accept the chicken was dry. I requested the mashed potatos but they were very boring and not very hot. The highlight of the whole meal was the very attractive and friendly waitress we had and that is it.

This is a cool little find. Very nice people. Great Greek food and reasonably priced. This place is allllll Greek and allllll Chicago. Full bar. Good coffee. Valet parking. Close to Halsted/​UIC Blue Line.

9 Muses is fantastic! I went there for the first time tonight and the people were so nice. The waitress suggested the feta roasted peppers and they were delicious! I also really loved the spanikopita and tzatziki. The outdoor seating was fantastic on a warm summer night and the place has wonderful atmosphere.
Not only was the food awesome, but they totally saved me tonight. I stupidly left a pretty valuable piece of equipment behind, only to realize after driving away. When I came rushing back they came out waving to me that they had found it. Thanks 9 Muses, you saved the day!
I’ll definitely be back the next time I’m in the neighborhood. :)

Everything about this place is good. Great place to eat lunch or dinner. Food is very delicious. I choose between the Penny’s Salad and Shish-​ka-​bob sandwiches. Greek fries are a must. Meat is always juicy and flavorful, never dry or cold.
Good wine, coffee, and drinks for later on at night when you want to pretend like you are in Greece again.
Greek or not, go.

All the Greek restaurants on this strip seem almost identical, so to try something new my friend and I came here for dinner on a Friday around 530. It’s smaller than the big famous restaurants, and doesn’t do as much of the «Greek» décor. Just looks like a casual restaurant/​bar with sports on and strange euro music. Didn’t have much atmosphere so I got a little nervous at first, and not seeing a crowded dining room made me cross my fingers and hope that the food would be good!
The menu actually has more Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influence rather than just straight-​up Greek. It’s a smaller menu than you’ll find at the other Greektown joints, with some original choices. We each got a glass of wine (presented nicely, in pretty rounded glasses with mini-​carafes alongside), and my German riesling was nice and sweet. I ordered the chicken kabob, and when we saw our huge plates coming we were like «holy crap, did we really order all that food?» My kabob platter had 5 big pieces of chicken, a salad, pita with tzatziki sauce, and a separate plate of rice. And wow, did the taste surpass my expectations!
Chicken was juicy and tender, with a delicious crisp-​char on the outside. I could only eat three pieces since there was just so much of it! The salad was simple, mixed greens, red onion, olives, tomato, and feta, but the dressing was subtly tangy and very appealing. The pita was warm, and the soft fluffy rice went great with the crispy chicken. My friend felt similarly about her souvlaki platter.
I ate as much as I could. I only wish I could have eaten more! The only thing I didn’t like was the service. After the food came we had a very hard time trying to get them to clear our plates, and then it took them almost 20 minutes to bring the check. Server was standing in clear sight of us, just watching TV. I had to just creepily stare at her until she happened to look at me and then gestured with my wallet. That was kind of annoying. But not so much to take away from how great the food was.
Sounds like this turns into a really different place at night! More like a Greek nightclub with food? Trust me at 6 pm it is nothing like that! At the early dinner hours it is pretty quiet but you will get a great meal!

To be seated within the restaurant but to feel like you’re outdoors!
It’s a Sunday evening around 6pm and the front windows were wide open. We were showcased as we dined away. I certainly don’t mind the attention and Greektown scenery.
It was a bit early and we had an appetite for small bites: roasted Florina peppers, calamari, beef kabob, and crème brûlée. The peppers were soft and soggy. It did not please us much but the flies liked it. The calamari and beef kabob were standard. They were generous portions and filling. My friend had the crème brûlée and said it was too sweet. I think he even scooped off the top layer of caramel before he devoured the rest of the dessert.
Note: The gyros seem to be presented in a deconstructed manner. Seems quite interesting to lure a return.
P. S. Parking was free!

I had been here before like about 2 years ago and noted the amounts of people who would not converse with anyone who was not greek
I took that review down myself on my own volition due to the fact that it was 1AM and 2 years ago. I feel that is fair.
I was here recently and noticed they changed the menu. The food was awesome and for those of you checking the score the service was great and prompt.
I had Beef Kabob.
This place gets really hopping after 11PM on Friday and Saturday Night with a variety European and middle eastern professional who live in the area.
They have a DJ who plays good euro style music
The vibe is really cool.
The drinks are stiff as well should you be looking for that type of service :)

Warning signs of a bad Greek restaurant:
1. No lamb on the menu.
2. No moussaka or other traditional Greek dishes. (Souvlaki and gyros aren’t enough.)
3. No Greeks.
4. Few diners.
I should have known better than to eat here, if not right when I walked in the door, at least when I looked at the sad, sad menu. There are certainly a lot of Greek restaurants in Chicago’s Greektown. Perhaps 9 Muses is one too many.
My platter certainly *looked* appetizing. The Greek salad had nice presentation, but was unfortunately quite flavorless. My pork chops looked big and sumptuous, but were actually THE WORST PORK CHOPS OF MY ENTIRE LIFE. They were so dry, it was like I was eating jerky. These chops were so tough, I injured my elbow trying to saw through them with my steak knife. (One of my dining companions ordered pork kabobs that were also overcooked. Who runs the broiler in this place? He should be taken out back and beaten with spatula.)
My friends raved about the french fires at 9 Muses. I found them soggy, uninteresting, and no better than that of any hamburger joint.
One of my companions ordered the calamari (predictably deep fried almost beyond recognition) and they certainly smelled good. But I was horrified to taste squid so old it smelled rotten. I hope my friend didn’t end up getting sick from eating this spoiled fare.
Other dishonorable mentions: lousy beer list, poor ambience, and lukewarm service.
The only saving grace to this place was that it wasn’t too expensive. My share of the bill was only $ 24. A better meal elsewhere would have cost more, but certainly have been worth it.
All I could do after eating here was drive home, feeling disgusted, yearning for a shot of good ouzo, and praying for better meals to come.
If you want Greek food in Greektown, I can think of half a dozen better places. Easily.

When I think of Greektown, I think Athena and Greek Islands. Big, sprawling restaurants with tacky Greek décor and flaming cheese galore. 9 Muses is not your typical Greektown experience. It’s definitely more of a Eurotrashy bar atmosphere where you’d picture Mafioso-​types hanging out with Greek techno/​pop music playing in the background.
So… yeah.
I was completely entertained by my surroundings. I totally dig these weird places. But that’s just me.
I highly recommend the MEZE plate, which is a plethora of gyros, grilled chicken and pork tenderloin and it’s YUMMY. Perfect meat. Perfect spices. The tzaziki sauce rocks and the pita is nice, soft and warm. It’s also cheap. $ 20 or something like that and it would easily serve 4 people.
A different flavor for Greektown, but I liked it.