Barba Yianni Grecian Taverna

Pretty good food and very reasonable prices. The only headache is parking. You have to pay for it $ 2/​hour, but parking machines accept credit cards. The tavern has a big menu with seafood, meat and vegetarian items. I liked the Mousakas plate. Barely finished it, was only $ 10.50. Yum. I would come back again.

Quite nice and right in Lincoln Square. I am weary about four stars because there’s nothing wrong with the place, but not a five star restaurant…

One of my favorite late night experiences of all time. I can’t even describe what an amazing night I had at this place. Go here anytime between midnight and 6:00am if you want to be treated like family. Outstanding food, but the staff and regulars are the real draw. If you’re halfway cool, you will not be disappointed.

I have been here several times since I live nearby. The food is always plentiful – it is good enough for two meals. The Saganaki (flaming cheese) is one of the best appetizers on the menu. The gyros plate is a safe choice and the combination plate is also a good option as you can try the different types of Mediterranean food. As for desserts, the baklava was way to sweet for my taste but the rice pudding was enjoyable.

Wife really likes Greek food so we came here. Dolmades were good. Prices were all good. Nothing was great but it was overall good.

We stopped by for a late lunch and were… rather disappointed. I don’t think I have ever said this about greek food before but we found the food to be lacking in flavor.
We started with a couple of Mythos beers (yum, and they include a unicorn so this is just WINNING all together) and saganaki which was delicious. The grilled octopus was well cooked and light, which was refreshing. I had the egg lemon soup and didn’t even finish half of it, it was so boring. My date had the same experience with his main dish.
It was filling, but unsatisfying.

Such a disappointment. I was hoping the poor reviews were off but they were spot on. I love Greek food but generally stick to the basics. That said, even the feta cheese was poor. Normally it’s flakey or crumbly… This was definitely not. I ordered delivery and they forgot the tatziki. However, that was actually lucky for me. The side that came with the gyro was incredibly garlicky. I couldn’t even eat it. It was totally lacking in the dill and cucumber that I love. Hummus was ok, gyro was ok but I was glad I didn’t get the gyro dinner.
They may have some great offerings that we missed but, for me, when you miss on the staples, there’s something off. Sadly, we’ll be looking for another joint.

I was in the neighborhood and i decided to stop by Barba Yianny. The skordalia, horta and bread were pretty darn good, if a little on the pricey side for the portions. The recommended bottle of wine was surprisingly tasty, and… inexpensive. Service is very friendly but slow, and the pacing between courses could be better. But if you like to relax and savor the meal, this isn’t always a bad thing.

I was visiting my son & we decided to try something a bit different than our usual dinner. This places was awesome. We had a nice sit at the front window, the service was out standing.
Saganaki (SP??) Flames were great… Many flavors to experience…

You know, I’ve refrained from writing a review because of my long standing relationship and appreciation for this restaurant/​owners. But then, why wouldn’t my biased opinion qualify to rave about this place?! All the more reason of a deserving review, and to let you know why I love this place so much.
Never mind that I trust BY to host several of my events, never mind that’s it’s been 10 years of doing so. Anas and his staff are always so welcoming. He will never close the door on anyone! I’ve been there many times, late into the night, after hosting a get together, and he always is happy to receive patrons strolling in late night wanting a drink or a bite. Not only he takes them past closing time, but he shares drinks, food, and delicious tea with all. With a smile on his face and a warm welcoming hug. Over 10 years later, what I can say that separates this place from many, is the *experience*. Sit at the bar, enjoy the show, feel the warmth. 10 thumbs up!

This restaurant has one of the best lam kebabs I had ever tried… it came with nice potatoes, but I had to replace green peas — not my favorite (for up charge).
Every Wednesday at 9pm there is dancing!
Lots of nicely dressed people dancing Argentine Tango! Lovely music, very entertaining! They even give classes on Mondays!
Friendly owner and very nice waitresses! I liked the place!

The food has gotten so much better here now that they are under new ownership. The waitresses are so nice and remember our drink orders, from months ago. The tiramisu is one of the BEST I have ever had. Beautiful place in the summer with the windows open.

This place has the best food, drinks, and service. The atmosphere is wonderful. The servers are attentive and the chef is spectacular. It’s a great place to become a regular.

Really nice staff, good ambiance… Big menu, but nothing wow’d me. We had their pasta (aka: spaghetti), gyro appetizer, steak kabob entrée, and a Greek salad. The best thing at the table was the salad. It was a good blend of flavors and well balanced.
The worst thing I ate were the steak kabobs. It was unbelievably bland and the texture wasn’t good. I’m not sure if it was over cooked or the selection of meat that decided with, was not good. It was chewy though, but not chewy like you cooked it too fast.

Tasty homemade gyros, a nice table outside on a lovely day and great company (my wife) made for an enjoyable meal. It wasn’t fancy but that’s not what I was interested in. We also tried the beets and garlic potatoes, wonderful! Oopaa!

Just not impressed. With the abundance of Greek immigrants to Chicago since the 50’s, I would expect every Greek restaurant in Chi-​town to be amazing. Located in Lincoln Square, the old German neighborhood, it’s a great location and upon first sight, I liked what I saw. The interior was very nice from what I observed on my way to the bathroom, which were not great btw. We had a loud, drunk group so we decided to have a seat in the outdoor patio, aka «the tables on the sidewalk». We didn’t have a lot of time, so after we were ignored for about 10 minutes, I challenged our waitress to get our food out in 10 minutes. We all ordered gyros, so I assumed it wouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t use a stopwatch, but I would say they hit it dead on. However, back to my central theme here, the gyros were not great. I would judge them as «State Fair» quality at best. At least it was a fair value for Chicago standards. We had 4 gyros and 4 beers and I think the bill was about $ 75 + tip.
To sum it up, the service was A-​OK, the food just OK, the overall value: A-​OK. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it, but I wouldn’t steer anyone away either. For late night eats, it’s better than a Denny’s.

I’ve had the combo, and it was pretty bland and flat. The lamb was bad quality, and the Mousaka was pretty awful. Everything tasted like it was in a microwave. The only good thing was the broiled octopus. Barba Gianni lacks the elegance and upscale feel of Greektown.

About a 2 – 2.5: Barba Yianni is a Greek restaurant in the Uptown neighborhood, offering items such as taramosalata, kolokythakia, broiled octopus, salads, kokinisto, arni psito, seafood entrees, and desserts. Some friends and I came here for dinner, as we’ve walked by this restaurant plenty of times. I tried the Gyros Plate — this came with onions, tomatoes, pita bread, and a very small amount of tzatziki sauce; the meat was well-​seasoned and well-​flavored, but I was sad that not much tzatziki sauce was given for the amount of meat (the sauce comes in a condiment plastic container). The platter also came with a dish of stewed tomato sauce over rice, peas, and a small potato, which I was not a fan of — the tomato sauce wasn’t flavorful and more watered down, and eating it with rice was a little off. I also tried their Egg Lemon Soup, which was described as ‘sour and creamy’ — there were some rice within, but it was just way too acidic for me. One of my friends had a sauteed chicken dish which was overly salty, but she stated that the flavor was pretty okay. Service was mostly MIA, and we did have to wait about half –an-​hour for our check T_​_​_​T I’m glad I was finally able to try out Barba Yianna, but won’t be back!
+stingy on the tzatziki sauce T_​_​_​T
+extremely acidic Egg Lemon Soup
+overly salted meats
+MIA service

Years ago, this was NOT a favorite of mine at all. Went back recently & ordered some appetizers — fried zucchini & scordalia, fish roe, and the fried cheese. What a difference! Great stuff! A perfect place for appetizers & some wine or beer.

They are ok. We started with tzatziki and bread, super garlicky and not cucumbery enough, but good. We both ordered braised lamb with artichoke in lemon sauce. Again, ok but not the best braised lamb I’ve ever had at a Greek restaurant. The egg lemon soup was delish, though, We just stopped in here since we were shopping in the area, not likely I’ll be back.
*I did bring home a Gyros plate for my hubby, he enjoyed it thoroughly.