Chara

Glad this place got closed down. I did some work installing some of the restaurant equipment for the owner of the restaurant and he did not pay for the work I did.

Daughter and hubby took us there during our visit. Wait staff was wonderful and so was the food. No complaints with anything we had. Ordered the spread sampler and the flamed cheese to share. Then ordered several appetizer or side items and shared tapas style. Other items ordered individually were soup, salads, and calamari. Looking forward to going back again. Big thanks to our waiter, Dionniccus Forgive me if I spelled your name wrong. And thank you for the delicious Baklava. We ordered some to take home for tomorrow. We will be back.

Service was excellent, we were recommended a wonderful Greek wine that was not on the menu. The spanakopita was very good, but I think it could use a bit more phyllo dough so it gets nice and crispy!
The restaurant did not seem to be air conditioned, or it was off– didn’t ask. It was pretty warm that evening and when the food came out (super hot food haha), it became uncomfortably warm.
My meal was pretty good. I think I could have made a better choice for my personal taste. I would definitely give this place another try– on a cooler day.

Prompt friendly service. Great menu with excellent prices. We sat outside– it’s a nice view right on lake street. The Caesar salad was quite possibly one of the best salads I’ve had. The gyro was stuffed to the brim with chicken and vegetables. Excellent tzatziki sauce. I can’t say enough about this place. It was truly a great experience.

This was my first time at Chara and it was amazing. The staff was super friendly and helpful. I started with the octapodi as my appetizer. which I thought would be like kalamarie but it turned out even better than that. I then got the Spartan salad. the salad was very fresh and the dressing was just right. My date then ordered lamb chops because I have never tried it before and to my surprise it was delicious. My favorite however was the Fresh Aegean Sea Bass which my date ate most of since it was so good. I loved what he did let me eat though. I would definitely recommend this place to my friends but next time ill keep the sea Bass too myself.

First Time Visiting This Beautiful Restaurant. My boyfriend suggested we try a new place in Oakpark, and this place did not dissapoint! From its beautiful décor to the wonderful and attentive staff. Our Waitress Natasha greeted us with a warm smile and was very attentive to it being our first visit. She described their menu in great detail and made it easy for us to choose. I had the red snapper and he had the combination plate. Truly the Best Dinner We have had in a long time! Highly Reccomend This Beautiful Restaurant and We Will Definetly Be Back Soon!

Fast, friendly, helpful, & constant service in an elegant & clean place with fresh & delicious Greek food. We got tomato lentil soup, lemon chicken rice soup, spanakopita, sea bass, Greek combo platter, & Mediterranean salad. All were fresh & yummy!

Finally got a chance to try this place which is near so many other restaurants in Oak Park. Found it to be a keeper and it adds another Greek option to the mix. Though not busy, the staff allowed us to have a lingering family dinner without rushing us at close. Foods were well prepared and included many of the familiar Greek dishes, with excellent options for vegetarians. The atmosphere seems a bit «fancy» but overall found it to be a comfortable place. Have never seen them busy and it’s hard to know why unless it’s perception or competition in the area? I’ll definitely return.

Delish!!! Such a great addition to Oak Park. The food was fresh, full of flavor and huge portions. We will definitely be back!

I understand that competition drives business, but having two Greek restaurants directly across the street from each other is unusual. Now consider that they’re the ONLY Greek places in Oak Park and are, perhaps not coincidentally, 50 feet apart and you’ll probably find it downright odd. How odd? One time (while dining at the other place) I noticed Chara’s proprietor come outside and stare, hands-​on-​hips, at his competition. For like half an hour. Either he was observing for the purposes of improving his own place, or scheming as to the best way to burn it down.
Once we got settled a server came over to take our drink order. I got as far as «I’ll have a glass of r-​» before the waitress did an about-​face and left while I was in mid-​sentence. Okay, rude. So our 2^nd server came by and picked up where she left off, but even he faltered. He forgot to bring us the bread basket at the start, so we had to ask for it halfway thru dinner.
A few notes on what was ordered:
*Saganaki – flambeed tableside (as is customary), but it was distinctly rubbery with a bland flavor. Even though I think it was Kefalogravaria, I was pretty disappointed… but then again, I hold every restaurant to a very high standard of saganaki.
*Avgolemano – heavy on the egg, light on the lemon/​rice. About average, I’d say.
*Kokkinisto – the traditional lamb shank with tomato sauce was good. I’ve had much better, but I’ve also had worse. It came with two small potato wedges, rice, and a large serving of pees. I don’t much care for pees, and there were a TON served with the lamb shank, which was weird.
The girlfriend enjoyed her Grecian salad and daquiri, and I received a much larger pour of the house red wine than I expected. It came time for dessert so we ordered a crème caramel and a galaktoboureko. They were both good, but neither showed up on the bill. Apparently their waitstaff was, once again, disorganized to the point of forgetting to include it on our tab, so we got free dessert! Hooray! Does it make up for the other service miscues? Not really.
So while the food was good overall, the service was miscommunications galore. And I can’t help but compare Chara to its better-​lit brethren across Lake Street… sorry guys, but Papaspiros has you beat on all fronts.
I imagine one of the two places will at some point have a «mysterious kitchen fire», and the surviving faction will see its business skyrocket. Until that time however, the good citizens of Oak Park have an excellent Greek restaurant to go to.
Or they can come here.

My wife and I visited on a Monday and were surprised by how few customers were there. We were promptly and capably waited on. The wine selection was good and we had an excellent taramolada with pita. We ordered white fish and Aegean Sea Bass, both excellent, the latter was nicely fileted by our waiter. The giant Lima bean special was truly wonderful, so typically subtle Mediterranean. Superb. Next time I would like to try the Dolmades. Just hope the small crowd reflected the fact it was Monday and not something else.
Décor was interesting.

I started with a melitzanosalata. This spread of smoked eggplant, potatoes, garlic, and olive oil served with a black olive, slice of tomato, and slice of cucumber was a fantastic appetizer. Along with the melitzanosalata came pita slices that I used to scoop and devour the dip.
For my second course, I ordered shrimp saganaki with feta. Plump shrimp served with roasted bell peppers and onions, and topped with feta, I was all done with it before I realized that it was not the same as regular saganaki — the cheese that is brought to the table and set aflame. Although the shrimp saganaki with feta was more like a salad, the portion was enough to be an entrée.
Because I was hankering for some seafood, I was quite happy to find bakalo on the menu. The pan-​fried cod was mild in flavouring and the seasoning was faint. However, there was still enough pop in each forkful to make the dish appetizing. And not having a fishy taste to the cod made it that more enjoyable. Adding to that the side of skordalia and the rice pilaf covered in a tomato based gravy made this my favourite Greek entrée. The mashed potatoes of the skordalia was actually a nice spread for the fish. But the rice pilaf with potatoes, carrots, and zucchini balanced out the mildness in the cod.
I inquired about a certain Greek dessert that I think would be a sin to miss having at a Greek restaurant. I was curious as to whether there was galaktoboureko on the menu. To me, galaktoboureko is truly a slice of heaven, not just custard with a phyllo crust drizzled with a honey glaze. I enjoyed it very, very slowly along with a pot of peppermint tea.
I think there may be one or two more times in the near future I will visit Chara when I am in the Oak Park area. To me, the dining experience was good.

Chara is a phenomenal restaurant but for some reason they seem to have few customers. It may be that the décor is so wonderful that people feel as if it is too fancy and expensive of a restaurant. However, I have been to Chara in very casual clothing and felt completely comfortable. In addition the food is very moderately priced.
The food is delicious. I would suggest the saganaki (flaming cheese) and gyros. Our waiter was very prompt, kind and knowledgeable of the menu.
I am a vegetarian and I found that there were ample options for me to choose between. On the other hand, my boyfriend greatly enjoys the meat dishes especially the gyros.
Overall this is a great restaurant for really any occasion and I really have no complaints. I look forward to returning and trying more of the menu. I would suggest taking advantage of this great restaurant at a modest price. Seriously it’s delicious.

I wanted to try this place after Papaspiro’s moved across the street and my dad was telling me something about owner/​renter drama between the owner of Chara and Papaspiro. All I know is that while Chara may be a Greek restaurant and in the space of the aforementioned Papaspiro’s, the food is not nearly as good and the service just seems unfriendly. My dad and I didn’t really feel welcome there and I thought the food was average at best. My dad really liked his baked flounder and his lentil soup, but I though the Dolmades (grape leaves) and kefta (meatballs) were average. Probably won’t return.

My experience at Chara today was absolutely amazing! Everything was seasoned to perfection. The male waiter that took my order was very pleasant and knowledgeable of the menu.
I ordered the Mediterranean Chicken Breast dinner to go. This included roasted potatoes, vegetables, bread, rice, and avgolemono soup (the best). My meal was ready within 10 minutes. Once I got home my food was still hot and I live about 5 – 7 minutes away. There was so much food that my mother and I split the meal in half. I’ve been to several Greek/​Mediterranean restaurants and this is by far in the top five on my list. Overall, it was a great experience and I will be back again!

Got Chara for takeout lunch the other day and had the Spartan Salad with grilled chicken on it. Coming into the restaurant, I noticed how elegant and clean the décor was; I’m sure this place would make a nice dinner spot. I’m sure during daytime hours, there aren’t too many people frequenting this area.
Back to the food. It took a pretty long time for my salad to come out, but I was impressed with the ample amount of chicken they give you, as well as its grilled, peppery flavor. The meat was definitely made fresh so I have no complaints about that. Also, the salad itself was huge and their house dressing was similar to other Greek restaurants that I’ve had which is still very tasty. It was well balanced and I love oregano!
Chara is the way to go for some tasty food. I’ll probably be back for lunch.

I had a really interestingly good experience at Chara; I must admit, I was super skeptical at first.
My boyfriend is a total Greek Food Geek– he’s been to all of the hot places & his family makes a lot of Greek entrees. I’m going to give you more of his opinion and feedback on the place, because obviously, I am not an expert like he is. This was basically my first time having authentic Greek food (I’m guessing greasy spoon gyros do not count :)) so, my opinion on the food is pretty much irrelevant.
I’ll start with some aspects that I think I’m a good judge of character on. Service, excellent. Couldn’t have asked for anything better. Waiter was attentive, perfectly timed, and courteous. We left him a very well deserved tip.
Ambiance of the place was really nice. Quiet, with some soft background music. I think they were having some technical difficulties with the music though; I’m pretty sure the music wasn’t supposed to be skipping as much as it was.
As for the food, well my boyfriend was impressed. We ordered the Greek Dinner for 2. It was roughly $ 24 dollars per person. Believe me, it was more than enough food. We couldn’t finish it all. My visit was a couple of weeks ago, I can’t remember exactly what we ordered out of the many choices we received. I know we tried the lamb and the greek chicken. There were potatoes, salad, and soup. All very delicious. We also had saganaki (that cheese that’s on fire), and that was pretty good. My boyfriend said it wasn’t as good as some of the restaurants in Greek town though.
One thing I was pretty upset about, THERE WAS NO GREEK COFFEE. Now what the hell, Chara. Seriously, you’re a Greek restaurant, and I don’t get offered Greek Coffee?! I was not a happy camper when I noticed it was basically Folgers coffee. I have that every morning, I don’t need it again at night. Sheesh.
Otherwise, Boyfriend said it was comparable to Greek Town quality. So that’s a plus.
Chara, word to the wise, get some damn Greek Coffee on your menu.

Wow, a true Geek gem in Oak Park. From the moment we walked in for my mothers birthday our experience was wonderful. Our server was attentive and knowledgable about the menu which made the night even better given the difficult eaters in the party.
Hope this place becomes a long lasting part of the rich Oak Park restaurant scene.

We have now visited Chara three times, and our last meal was easily the best. We went a little bit later than normal, around 9:00 pm, and the restaurant was quiet. There were four other tables at the time, so the atmosphere felt more intimate.
Our server, I believe her name was Natasa, was very friendly and helpful. We ordered the spread sampler, and had the taramosalata, tirokafteri, and melitzanosalata. This is an enormous portion, and it is only $ 8. The taramosalata was again absolutely delicious. The tirokafteri was INTENSE. If you like feta, you will love this spread. I preferred it with the cucumbers it was served with, rather than the pita bread. The melitzanosalata was good, and I liked switching between it and the tirokafteri.
We also ordered gyros and the Mediterranean chicken. Our meals came with the avgolemono soup, which was the best tasting batch of our three trips here. I’m not sure how the soup can taste different each time, but it must just be cooked «by eye». However, I hope we get this version next time. You could taste much more of the lemon than usual, and it was served thick and creamy.
By the time our entrees arrived I was already stuffed. However, I was able to taste my chicken and rice pilaf. The chicken was grilled and well-​seasoned. The rice pilaf was delicious and served with tomato sauce. It had a hint of nutmeg and was one of my favorite parts of the meal. My entrée also came with baked vegetables and potatoes.
Our server kept our water glasses filled and made sure everything was to our liking. The manager also stopped by our table to see how we were enjoying ourselves.
At the end of the night, we had our food wrapped to go, and Natasa offered us a dessert on the house. Despite us being stuffed, she brought out a baklava drizzled in honey sauce. I only managed three bites, but I thought the dessert was tasty, fresh, and not too sweet.
All in all, I would highly recommend this restaurant. The portions are enormous, the prices are reasonable, and the service is fantastic.

Was there for lunch yesterday. Thought the food was great. The service and atmosphere were also great. The prices were a little high. $ 30 for two lamb chops. Ouch! They did take 20% off the bill since they don’t have a lunch menu yet. Would definitely go back.