Elle On the River

Just had a great quick lunch here. I felt the need to give it a review because the food quality belies it’s (current) 3.5 star rating. The chicken tacos were the best chicken tacos I’ve ever had. We also tried the fish and pork, which were also very good. While the sauces were a nice touch, I felt all of the tacos were good without them.
The service was great and I felt like the price for three tacos of that quality was more than fair. I left feeling pretty stuffed.
I feel like the low rating it has received are based on happy hour or weather or other things besides the food. If you are looking for a place to eat (particularly on a nice day), I would highly recommend the tacos here.

Had a very quick lunch — TACOS! Lisa and I each had 3. They are small & yummy. I had 1 fish, 1 pork, 1 chicken. All good. Three different types of sauces and the tacos are made of ground chickpeas. We also had a little bowl of olives which was perfect. Excellent! Lovely outdoor space. Will try to get back after work to have a cocktail. Prices were not bad — considering it’s The Langham.

We went to Elle on the River for lunch. They have awesome Mediterranean tacos, made in Chick Peas Tortillas. The Fish tacos were really tasty, fresh, unfried, fish with avocado slaw, and they have a veggie taco with Hummus and crunchy chick peas. Chef Greg came out to talk to us and share a few secrets. The menu is limited but try the tacos, they’re incredible and worth the visit.

Very, very limited menu and very, very limited beer list. Way too many other places to go… should have gone to Smith & Wolensky’s patio like I wanted to. Would NOT go back here.

Great food, very cool atmosphere, and surprisingly affordable for the location. A bit short in terms of menu, but definitely a good choice.

Delicious fusion tacos with a great setting. What turned me off was the bartender delivering me a check identifying me as the «grey-​haired guy». I am a WASPY guy in my mid-​forties with S/​p. How do they ID other customers?

Tried the tacos, they were okay. The strawberry house made soda was pleasant. They wasn’t much of a crowd at 5:00 on a Friday. Their hours are sporadic.

Elle is the perfect place for a summer cocktail and small bites. I went here three times in one week, and loved every single occasion. The service has always been great and the atmosphere is fantastic. Although they only have a limited food menu, everything on it is really tasty. I love all the tacos, and they are served on a really unique flatbread/​tortilla made in house. The punches are a must order at Elle. I love the Better than the Bedford punch the most, it’s not too sweet. I will be sad when Elle is closed for the winter, better get there before the cold comes!

I have to say that surprisingly my favorite tacos were the vegetarian tacos. Not your usual veggie tacos though– not that the meat tacos aren’t good! I loved them all, and the view is breathtaking, it’s literally outside seating and it’s wonderful. Enjoy it while the weather is still nice!

Who would have thought that Mediterranean tacos would be this good? The homemade hot sauces were phenomenal. Service was great.

Tacos were tasty but not too special. Service was poor. No offer of water or refills on drinks meant that the first drink had to last. Too many better places within walking distance to go back here.

What great use of The Langham’s shadow and terrace! Great view and good snack food for lounging outside.
Chickpea flatbread for taco shells– genius! I absolutely prefer it to wheat/​flour/​corn shells.
Tried all 4 tacos, favorite is the pork shoulder.
Complimentary half-​sour pickles for each person!

I love the concept of Elle– a seasonal café-​style restaraunt with a limited menu, but my experience there was less than thrilling. I went there with a couple of coworkers thinking we’d have a nice lunch in the sun, but after my experience on Friday I’ll be suggesting a different spot for next week!
I’ll start by saying that the tacos and craft sodas were tasty, but not great. Still a good bargain for the river north area. The service, however, was beyond unorganized and completely all over the place. What was supposed to be an hour lunch break turned into an hour and a half as we waited 20 minutes for every request. Drinks– 20 minutes, food– 20 minutes, napkins– 20 minutes, bill– you get the picture.
We had three different servers, including the manager who seemed the most frazzled and unorganized. One server did not know the menu and insisted that the strawberry soda she gave me was the raspberry one that I had ordered. Two out of three servers called me «honey» and «sweetie» in front of my male coworkers which I always find irritating, and although they apologized for our late drinks, seemed to forget about this by the time the bill arrived– about 20 minutes after we ASKED for it.
In short– this could be a real gem if the staff can get it together! Until then, I’ll be avoiding this particular spot.

What a belle elle. Meet the summer pop-​up patio for Travelle in the Langham Hotel. She’s a beaut, love this place! Just what we needed in this location, an affordable, no-​frills lunch spot with great outdoor seating and good food. Fast and easy because all they serve are Mediterranean-​style tacos and drinks!
Cute as a button outdoor terrace with lounge furniture, get here early though at 11:30 before the lunch rush, otherwise you’ll have to wait for a table. And I appreciate the giant umbrellas that shade you from the burning sun, you can still enjoy the nice weather without getting scorched.
Elle is easy on your wallet, 3 tacos for $ 9, 6 for $ 16…and so on. That’s cheaper than some sandwiches I’ve gotten in River North. And you’re getting a gourmet taco with flavor… I tried one of each and rank them in order of favorite to least favorite, though they were all good: the mahi mahi, the pork, the chicken. Chickpea soft taco shells and good seasoning make the tacos stand out. Our waitress forgot to bring us sauces :(and I didn’t realize that’s what those bottles were on everyone else’s table until I read these other reviews.
Service was a bit slow and could have been more attentive (and not forgotten my sauces!). But all in all, I will definitely be back again!

Elle on the River is a Pop-​up summer Patio of Travelle in the Langham hotel. Currently open Mon-​Sat 11am-​10pm.
Great for a nice lunch or happy hour, but beware, as many downtown locations, it gets more shade then sun, so pack that jacket! There are a mix between high tables with backless stools and 4 nice lounge couches in the corners. The place was practically empty when I arrived at 5:45 on a Thursday night but filled up quickly.
The Menu is very simple, yet delicious. They seem to advertise as having tacos and punch, riverside.
They have a small wine and beer list, less then 10 options each. They offer 3 specialty punches, I only tried 1 but it was delicious, Elle A Noir grey goose, cherry noir, strawberry, basil, peach at $ 10.00.
There are 4 taco options priced 3 for $ 9, 6 for $ 16, 12 for $ 30.
I really liked all the tacos, they all had a unique flavor and were served with three sauces, I only tried one because it had am amazing cinnamon flavor I couldn’t get over! Served On House-​Made Chickpea Flatbreads. You Pick…
Piri Piri Chicken pepper aioli, mahon cheese, pickles —
No flavor over powered here, probably the least interesting flavor wise, but jazzed up with some of the extra sauces it hit the spot!
Crispy Chickpeas hummus, herb tabouli —
Chikpeas were fired and crisp, making it a very rich veggie option
Calabrian Mahi Mahi lemon cream, quinoa slaw–
The quinoa slaw was crunchy and amazing, a perfect contrast to the creamy avocado
Chermoula Braised Pork Shoulder radish tzatziki —
I was least excited about this one before ordering and after receiving it, but the meat had an amazing hidden depth of flavor!
The tacos are very filling making this one of the best values in River North. The only negative is with all the delicious toppings they are a bit messy, so don’t be afraid to make a little napkin bib to save your business casual outfit from a nasty stain.

My review is going to be as simple as this place’s menu and experience. Great patio for a Chicago lunch. Walk in sit down order 3 taco’s or one of the specialty taco’s to be placed on top of huge salad bowl. Order some hand made soda. Place is straight to the point. 4 Taco selections, 3 desert selections, and bunch of sodas and booze bowls.
Great for lunch or maybe an early Happy hour, wasn’t expensive either.

Elle is an interesting new place that is trying to channel Big Star’s motif with a River North spin. First off, there is no interior to the restaurant, only an exterior patio that is great for being out in the sun… if you show up before 1pm. After that, the sun moves behind the skyscrapers and you’re basically sitting in complete shade. This shade will be great when summer temps get up to the high 80s and 90s, but on a 73 degree day when I went, the shade was quite cold combined with the river breeze.
The patio furniture is nice, very modern and contemporary with a lounge vibe. The outdoor bar reminds me of a South Beach pool party, in a good way. The name of the place is a little misleading because you can’t actually view the river from the tables, you just know it’s across the street and feel the breeze — unlike places like Dick’s that are actually on the river, with river views. Service was very friendly.
The punch drinks are fun and pretty tasty. $ 10 per cocktail isn’t bad for River North if you’re getting higher quality liquor. The rest of the bar is overpriced with expensive beer and wine options. The food was quite disappointing. If your menu is only going to contain 4 tacos and nothing else, those tacos better be damn good. My husband and I were able to sample all 4 types. The Chickpea and the Piri Piri chicken were probably the 2 best of the bunch. The chickpea was a lighter option with tabouleh salad and fairly tasty. The chicken taco was made with a pepper aioli that was good but overpowered the entire taco. The pork shoulder was not bad, but also not memorable and the meat was quite stringy. The mahi mahi taco was the most disappointing of all since the mahi had a very strong fish taste to it, that reminded me of frozen fish from bad grocery stores and I had to leave that taco uneaten. The «shell» of the taco is also odd as it’s made out of a chickpea flour that really resembles Indian rotis. It’s not as thin as a flour tortilla, and a bit more dense.
What Elle does have going for it is the atmosphere and the price. 3 tacos for $ 9 or 6 tacos for $ 16 is pretty awesome for being able to sit on a patio in the River North area. Makes for a cheap lunch while being able to get some sun or a cheap snack if you want to have an afternoon cocktail. I can see this place being a good stop on a day drinking crawl in River North, with a group of people on a hot day but I wish they would improve their food quality a bit and maybe offer some other snacking options like chips and salsa and guac.

Great spot on the river for post-​work drinks and food. Met up with a friend last week for that exact purpose and Elle on the River did not disappoint. We tried all of the tacos, which are quite sizable for the price, and there isn’t one I’d deter anyone from; it’s a tie between the chicken and chickpea for my favorite. I had two of the elle a noir cocktails, the latter with the added bubbly. I’d say the added prosecco did give it something extra, but I you don’t HAVE to spend the extra $ 9 to enjoy the cocktail plain. Lots of seating available, the staff was extremely friendly, and I can see this place staying quite busy over the next few months. Biggest bummer is the bathroom situation: you have to go into the Langham, which along with its bathrooms is beautiful inside, but they are on the 2^nd floor so the whole ordeal takes about 10 minutes.

Great summer spot! Tried all of the tacos, a punch and the three dessert cups. Tacos are really good. Dessert cups are awesome. Had the watermelon punch and it was refreshing and delicious. Suggestions… give out silverware – my friend and I shared tacos and they were hard to split. This might also help with the flyaway paper on the tacos (as it can get windy). Also, a sturdier napkin would be great. We went through a ton of little paper napkins and again, the wind kept blowing them around our table. Overall a really fun and tasty experience.

This will be an awesome summer spot for lunch and happy hour. Each table has it’s own mini-​boom box with preselected tunes. We sat at the bar so that we could talk to the bartenders, and learn more details about this spot.
The menu is focused and limited to four upscale Mediterranean tacos. Unlike a place like Mercadito, you can mix and match your order. The tacos are served on a roti-​like chickpea flatbread and are presented family style.
I had three of them ranked from my favorite to least:
1) Chicken — full of flavor and cooked perfectly. The pepper aioli was delicious.
2) Chickpea — the chickpeas are crispy (fried?), and served with hummus. Very good.
3) Mahi Mahi — still pretty good, but I think I was just trying to compare it to Big Star’s pescado, which is totally different and probably unfair.
They have three hot sauces in huge bottles from mild to hot to spicy. All pretty good. I actually didn’t find the spicy to be that spicy at all.
I tried the black current soda — not too sweet and definitely delicious.
And of course. I had to order dessert. They have three different flavors: German Chocolate Cake, Orange Creamsicle, and the German Chocolate cake. The desserts are served in to-​go containers with a wooden spoon, which is a perfect way for the lunch crowd to eat it on the run back to the office.
I had the German chocolate cake, which was layered with chocolate cake, chocolate mouse, custard, and toasted coconut. If you love chocolate and coconut, then this is the way to go.
This place is very affordable for lunch. 3 tacos will run $ 9. Dessert is another $ 5. You can also order everything for carryout. The food comes out quick. If you dine in, you can get out in a half hour.