Avli Rotisserie - Winnetka

I was at the new Avli Rotisserie earlier today for a small, opening-day preview and I have to say, it's awesome. We tried samples of several items and I was really impressed. I'm excited to have this place open. The food we tried was excellent across the board.


Menu


Rotisserie - free range chicken on top, Berkshire pork on the bottom, potatoes in between


Yukon Gold Potatoes - Roasted on the tray directly below the roasting chickens

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Avli Rotisserie
533 Chestnut Street
Winnetka, IL 60093

Was at Avli rotisserie today for a late lunch. Service was very friendly.

Asked for gyros, but they were out so went with a chicken sandwich and Greek fries. Generous helping of chicken in a fluffy pita with lettuce and onion. Chicken was very moist, seasoning was mild. A good, though not great sandwich.

The Greek fries were OK. Crinkle-cut with oregano and salt. Again a light hand with the seasoning. Fries should have been a bit more crisp. Didn't compare to Cross-Rhodes Greek fries with their lemony sauce. Also a generous serving, but I wish I had ordered the roasted potatoes.

Avli Rotisserie is certainly a good addition to the North Shore, and I'm sure it will get better with time. I'll be back to try the gyros and pork sandwiches.

Neglected to mention earlier the Longevity Bean Stew, which I thought was really flavorful, especially for a vegan dish. But if I hadn't been told that, I probably wouldn't have guessed it.

We did not try the Greek Fries but I thought the 2 salads we tried, Lettuce & Orange and Arugula & Apple, were both stellar.

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We did a take out order and had:

Chicken combo: which turns out to be a chicken sandwich on a pita. For the chicken, the take it off the rotisserie, throw away the skin (!?) and shred the meat. The chicken in my sandwich was virtually all white meat, and didn't have much flavor. The sandwich itself was nice, due to the good pita, pickled onion and tzatziki sauce, but the chicken itself was forgettable.

Pork sandwich: the pork had more flavor than the chicken (still pretty mild), nice toppings, and the bread had been put in a panini like machine. A nice, although not killer sandwich.

Roast potatoes: I could detect no flavor from the drippings, and, unlike the picture above, there was absolutely no browning. Not much different than boiled potatoes. I'll assume there are some early quality control issues. I was dreaming of the potatoes that come with the chicken at River Roast, but not in the same ballpark.

Longevity bean stew: a very flavorful dish of black-eyed peas.

As the above shows, the food was O.K., but given how good the restaurant is, I was hoping for more. We'll try it again in a few months when they may hopefully be hitting their stride.

Yeah, I'd love to see the chicken available as whole or half birds, intact. I'm guessing/hoping that both it and the pork will eventually be available on a by-the-pound basis.

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Hello LTHers,

Thank you so much for the years of support. I greatly appreciate the comments and will take the suggestions strongly to heart. I am certain that by the next visit your comments will have led to a realized change in preparation.

For the chicken I completely agree with the comments. I was at the Restaurant Show and was not able to oversee the spicing of the shredded chicken but I believe that after my talk this evening it will no longer be a concern. Regarding the fries, I had originally thought to make a Greek Poutine version (which I served at our "Fat Thursday" dinner back in March) which incorporates a classic tomato-cinnamon sauce, Kapama, and the addition of grated saganaki cheese. I was concerned that I would be too different for our customers, but I now also agree that we can either serve them in a mild manner or in a flavorful version. The potatoes are still a timing issue and I am confident I will get it right.

Thanks again for visiting us and please, whenever you are able to visit again let me know, as everyone's feedback has been a great help since we opened in 09'.

My sincerest thanks,

Louie Alexakis
Avli Restaurant and Rotisserie