Andros Taverna

The Verdict

If you're choosing between Andros Taverna and Chicago's other Greek options, Andros wins on atmosphere, credential depth, and wine list quality — and it costs meaningfully less per head than the city's $$$$-tier tasting menus at Alinea or Smyth. A Michelin Plate, an Opinionated About Dining Casual North America ranking (currently #826, up from #815 the prior year), and an Esquire Leading New Restaurants nod in 2021 confirm this is not a neighbourhood taverna coasting on nostalgia. It earns its reputation. Book it for a group that wants to graze through mezze and a bottle of Greek wine without committing to a $300-per-head tasting experience.

Portrait

Andros Taverna sits at 2542 N Milwaukee Ave, just off Logan Square Park in Chicago's Logan Square neighbourhood. Chef and owner Doug Psaltis, alongside co-owners Hsing Chen and Ryan O'Donnell, has built a room that reads as confident rather than decorative: concrete floors, trailing greenery overhead, and a wood-burning oven that anchors the kitchen's output. Wine Director Thomas Kakalios and General Manager Luis Aguilar round out a leadership team that clearly treats operations seriously — the wine list alone, with 135 selections and 1,830 inventory units drawn almost entirely from Greek producers across Macedonia to Santorini, reflects a level of category commitment you rarely see at this price point.

The format here rewards return visitors who already know the room. On a first visit, most people anchor on the mezze spread , warm pita alongside whipped feta, charred eggplant, and taramasalata , and call that a meal. That approach works. But if you've been once and you went that route, go back and build around the grilled lamb chops instead. The wood-burning oven extends its influence across most of the menu, which means dishes carry a char and smoke character that differentiates Andros from Greek restaurants relying on stovetop technique. The sweets close things out with real intent: custard pie wrapped in phyllo, and a baklava frozen yogurt with pistachio sauce that rewards the diner who doesn't skip dessert.

Pricing sits at $$ for a typical two-course meal (roughly $40–65 per head before drinks), which makes Andros one of the more accessible entry points in the Logan Square dining corridor without feeling like a compromise. The wine list is priced at $$ as well, with a corkage fee of $50 if you'd rather bring your own bottle , worth knowing if you have something specific from a Greek producer you want to open.

Seasonal Angle: When to Visit and What to Order

Andros Taverna's menu doesn't carry documented seasonal rotation notes in available data, but the wood-burning oven and the Greek culinary tradition it draws from both favour heartier proteins and braised preparations in cooler months. If you're visiting between late autumn and early spring, the lamb chops and anything emerging from the oven become the clearest ordering logic. In warmer months, the mezze-forward approach , lighter dips, pita, seafood preparations , maps better to the season and to the breezy openness of the room itself. The Greek wine list, with its range from mineral-driven island whites to fuller Macedonian reds, gives you a seasonal pairing path without needing to look beyond the list.

For return visitors specifically: if your last meal leaned heavily on the cold mezze and dips, a warmer-month return is a good moment to build around the seafood side of the menu (Andros lists seafood as a secondary cuisine type). A cooler-month return justifies anchoring on the lamb and exploring the red wine side of Thomas Kakalios's Greek list. The dessert program , particularly the baklava frozen yogurt , reads as a year-round closer worth ordering regardless of season.

Weekend brunch runs Friday through Sunday (Friday from 11am, Saturday from 9am, Sunday from 9am), which opens up a different use case than the weeknight dinner format. If you haven't experienced the space in daytime hours, the Saturday morning slot gives you a quieter room before the dinner crowd arrives. Weeknight hours run 4–10pm Monday through Thursday, with extended service Friday and Saturday until 11pm.

Know Before You Go

• Cuisine: Greek and seafood
• Address: 2542 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647 (Logan Square)
• Hours: Mon–Thu 4–10pm; Fri 11am–11pm; Sat 9am–11pm; Sun 9am–10pm
• Price (food): $$ , typical two-course meal $40–65 per head before drinks
• Wine list: 135 selections, 1,830 inventory units, all Greek producers; list priced $$; corkage $50
• Booking difficulty: Moderate , plan ahead for weekend evenings
• Awards: Michelin Plate (2024); OAD Casual North America #826 (2025); Esquire Leading New Restaurants #31 (2021)
• Chef: Doug Psaltis (also owner); Wine Director: Thomas Kakalios
• Google rating: 4.5 from 1,082 reviews

How It Compares

Andros Taverna sits in a different tier from most of Chicago's most-discussed restaurants. Alinea, Smyth, Kasama, and Next Restaurant are all $$$$ operations built around tasting menus that demand full evening commitments and significantly higher per-head spend. Andros gives you a credentialed, award-tracked dining experience at $$ food pricing , a meaningful gap. If your group wants flexibility to graze or to eat a focused two-course meal without a multi-hour commitment, Andros is the more practical choice. Boka offers a comparable atmosphere commitment at a higher price point and in a different cuisine register (New American), so the comparison there is more about format preference than quality.

Within its own cuisine category, Andros has no direct Chicago competitor at this award level. For Greek dining comparisons in other cities, Mavrommatis in Paris and OMA in London represent how the cuisine performs at higher price tiers with more formal service structures. Andros delivers comparable ingredient focus and wine seriousness at a fraction of the price, which is the core of its value case.

For diners who want a $$$$ experience in Chicago, the tasting menu route through Smyth or the theatrical format at Next Restaurant are the cleaner choices. But if you want a meal you can shape yourself , mezze to anchor, a main from the wood-burning oven, Greek wine by the glass or bottle, dessert if you have room , Andros Taverna at $$ food pricing is the better decision for most groups most of the time.

Pearl Picks: More Chicago Dining

If Andros Taverna is on your list, these may belong there too. For the full picture of where to eat, drink, and stay in the city, see our full Chicago restaurants guide, our Chicago bars guide, our Chicago hotels guide, our Chicago wineries guide, and our Chicago experiences guide.

• Oriole , Progressive American, for when you want a full tasting menu commitment
• Kasama , Filipino, for a different take on chef-driven neighbourhood dining
• Le Bernardin in New York , if seafood-forward cooking at a higher tier is next on the list
• The French Laundry in Napa, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, and Lazy Bear in San Francisco , for West Coast references in the same conversation
• Providence in Los Angeles or Emeril's in New Orleans , for broader US restaurant context at comparable price tiers

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is the tasting menu worth it at Andros Taverna? Andros Taverna does not operate a tasting menu format. The menu is structured for flexible ordering: mezze, mains from the wood-burning oven, and a dessert course. At $$ food pricing ($40–65 per head for two courses), that flexibility is part of the value. If you want a set tasting menu experience in Chicago, Smyth or Alinea are the correct choices , but budget $300+ per head.
• What should a first-timer know about Andros Taverna? Go in ready to share. The mezze format , warm pita, whipped feta, charred eggplant, taramasalata , works leading when the table orders several dishes and passes them around. The wine list is all-Greek with 135 selections, so ask Thomas Kakalios's team for a recommendation if you're unfamiliar with Greek producers; the list is priced at $$ with a corkage fee of $50 if you bring your own. Reserve for weekend evenings at least a week out; the room is popular and booking is moderately difficult. For Chicago context, see our full Chicago restaurants guide.
• Is Andros Taverna worth the price? At $$ food pricing and a Michelin Plate plus OAD Casual North America ranking to back it up, yes , the value case is clear. You're getting a credentialed kitchen, a serious all-Greek wine program, and a well-designed room for $40–65 per head before drinks. The same level of culinary intent at Kasama or Boka costs considerably more. Andros is the easier financial decision in Chicago's current dining market.
• Does Andros Taverna handle dietary restrictions? Contact information is not currently available in Pearl's database for Andros Taverna, so calling ahead directly is the safest approach for specific dietary needs. The menu structure , with a strong mezze section of dips and vegetable-forward dishes alongside meat and seafood mains , suggests reasonable flexibility for non-meat eaters, but confirm specifics with the restaurant before you arrive.