Bijan’s Bistro

Nice and friendly place. They are open all the times. Good food and fair price. You can customize your ruder without problem. Recommended

Very classy restaurant! Stop by on at Sunday night around 11:30. The staff were nice, the place was clean with a very mellow vibe. My server was attentive, the price range from $ 10 – 20 for drinks and $ 13 – 30 for food. The food was delish! I was pleased with my experience.

I live in the building above the restaurant so naturally I eat here at least 5 times a year. The food is decent, but a tad overpriced. What kills me each time I go here is the subpar service. The bartenders come across as rude and arrogant, and often forget things I request such as a side of ranch, or pickles, etc. They also ask for $ 10 to bring anything up the elevator (being above the restaurant), making it super inconvenient. I suppose a plus is the fact that they’re open late.

Always go to Bijan’s at least once while in Chicago-​this trip we went twice for dinner. Reasonably priced, good service and great food! Love the meatloaf! Sauteed spinach is the best! Usually easy to get a table as they don’t take reservations.
Convenient location off the beaten path!

I was hungry and looking for something to eat late at night on Memorial Day weekend after the Beyoncé concert. Fingers began scrolling on Unilocal,and I found Bijan’s. Just a short cab ride from our hotel, once we arrived we were seated immediately. The restaurant was packed with a steady stream of customers, bar was still open. There appeared to be a language barrier with the server when my mother was only attempting to ask if the soup was still available. Once we got past that, we placed our orders and food came out shortly.
I wish the brunch menu had been available. The dinner menu was just okay, and I didn’t want anything super heavy that late. Wasn’t expecting to see Roasted Duck a L’orange available at that time, and that’s when I realized this was not ‘diner’ type food (that’s what I wanted at 1am). I settled for the burger and fries, my Mother ordered a bowl of chicken vegetable soup. Her soup was good and my burger/​fries were cooked as requested. I only ate half my meal because it was just too much for me that late. Service was just okay, she wasn’t friendly at all, but didn’t do anything wrong either. The good thing about this place is they’re open until 4am. Plenty of interesting customers could be seen inside and outside the restaurant.
I don’t feel the urge to come back here with so many other dining choices available in the area, but they are decent for late night eats.

My friend and I were looking for a late night spot to grab dinner before the holiday weekend, after a kickoff party. So we went here and ordered the Norwegian Salmon (bbq, amazing) and the Veggie/​Eggplant Couscous. Both were delicious. Standard menu, nothing special, but the food was well prepared and we got great service.
Around 1am, as more patrons packed in, mostly drunk because again — memorial day weekend was upon us with many people off on Friday. There was a bald hispanic bigger man who looked a little thuggy that started lurking behind me… my friend in front was watching his every move. He was going in for my bag…
AS I WAS ABOUT TO GET ROBBED, I swatted him away and he nearly attacked me – but the amazing restaurant owner (older man, who was very aware of what was going on) came in to protect me and restrain the man along with another gentleman customer who took notice and jumped in right away to my rescue. They booted him out (although they should have called the police)…I am still really shaken up from this experience at a nice restaurant, but I can’t say enough good things about the restaurant owner for stepping up and doing the right thing at the right time. He protects his patrons, and that is actually quite rare. THANK YOU for this.
I will definitely be back again, because they have a great, caring staff with generally really good normal people that come get dinner here. But you could tell there are the occasional suspicious weirdos as per usual downtown that enter this place. Be careful.
I will be back again, but NOT late at night. If you are woman, do not come here (or anywhere downtown Chicago) alone. There are creeps that lurk everywhere, always watch your back. Even at this fine establishment. Sad.

Bijan’s is a great casual restaurant in River North. It’s no frills. They are consistent and open late. It’s great for me when I want to get out the house and grab a salad and a glass of wine or if I want a real meal late at night (no fast food).
I love Chopped Cobb Salad with grilled chicken, no bacon, no cheese and balsamic vingarette dressing. #notmycheatmeal. Vince enjoys the Rigatoni with Sausage. It works as a great option if I want to eat clean and he wants something more indulgent.
The guacamole and chips are also good.
The service could use some work, but it’s not a total distraction. The crowd can get interesting, especially later in the night. You have been put on notice.

Ordered the $ 11.00 Caesar salad to-​go, very disappointed. Dressing was extremely «fishy» anchovy tasting and the bread was so salty and basically inedible. I hate wasting food but took two bites and was unable to eat anymore.
They are open late though, which is why I gave 2 stars.

Great food! Great customer service! Love the place all around! The French onion soup is amazing. Lemon drop Martini.

Nice restaurant! Went on a Saturday afternoon/​evening and they were not too crowded. The food tasted great and the place was clean. The waitress did an excellent job. This is a great place for a more intimate experience and a great romantic hidden treasure. I will probably return.

Just got in from outside to of town on a Sun night. Looking for something good, late. Went here based on a recommendation from the hotel staff. Roasted chicken and wine were both excellent. I may come back tomorrow for the steak!

So… after seeing the Alvin Ailey Dancers at The Auditorium Theater, me and the two homies decided to grab something to eat before (or if) we decided to indulge in local spirits… so we ended up at Bijan’s Bistro.
Bijan’s, (to me) was just alright. It looked like a spot where local gangsters hang out. Nothing seedy or tawdry, just a bit low key common…
I had Meatloaf w/​mashed potatoes and string beans. Ate all the loaf, most of the potatoes, but those string beans were just terrible. They were overcooked. I tried to eat one, but gave up the ghost.
The homie had the Grilled Portobello tartine. I guess it was good because she utterly destroyed it and raved about it for the next two days. If you say so…
Homies friend (better known as Cookie from Empire) had a basic Chicken Cobb salad. You would have thought that was the best Cobb salad on planet earth. She also destroyed it. I will say that watching a fine ass woman in fishnet stockings and heels make a salad look so good was pretty awe inspiring. LOL.
The service at Bijans was good, the atmosphere was decent. I’m not pressed to go back there though.

I used to think this place was awesome, for 10 years, until I came back to Chicago this weekend and found it to be one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had. It started off with the waitress not taking our 5 person order down on a notepad, instead trying to remember it in her head. Of course she got a number of things wrong.
It got worse when she delivered the rotten fish tasting anchovy «thin crust» pizza, which was far from thin crust. Completely inedible because of the rotten fish and the Bosco stick crust was out of a freezer.
It only went downhill from there when I got served raw pink chicken on my Cobb salad. I hoped for the best and ate it anyways, since I was starved. This ended up ruining my weekend in Chicago — over the next 24hrs I expelled straight liquid from my colon 9 times — FOOD POISONING, HELLO.
When we tried to tell the waitress about the rotten pizza and overall disappointment, she laughed nervously and asked, «are you making fun of me?» Uhhh, what? No, we are just trying to tell you that this food is terrible.

Great Spot overall. Classic European fare that stays consistent with quality. Top Favorites — crab cakes, calamari (Asian dressing) & French onion soup. The old gentleman who is always there appears to owner is stern but informative.
I like to frequent this place on Sunday’s when it’s not as busy and u can actually hear people talk.

This place was pretty good for an after hours food kind of place. Has a name way fancier than the food served at the establishment but it’s a good hook if nothing else. I was almost too drunk to even remember going but I went with a group of friends and they were one of the only places that had room for my group. Only thing that rubbed me the wrong way we’re some racial comments by one of the staff. Some customers actually left after they were made. Other than that everything was okay.

Despite some of the not so good reviews for this restaurant, I had a good experience here with my husband and some friends, while visiting. The staff was very friendly and the host made polite conversation with us.

There’s a reason most of the reviews here are from out-​of-​towners are suburbanites. Most neighborhood folks don’t bother with this place unless a late-​night meal that doesn’t come in a paper bag is absolutely needed.
Don’t get me wrong – the food isn’t BAD, it’s just not memorable, and the menu offerings are kind of dated. If you need a real late-​night meal, come on in, but temper your expectations.
I prefer the bar area for drinks rather than ordering a meal here.

Racism is on the menu at this river north joint. I walked in and the Devils at the front desk looked down their snow white noses at me. They definitely made it obvious that we were the wrong color to score a table in the dining room. I mean I look white enough I suppose. But my girl is midnight black. And she was rocking her Beyonce black panther shirt she had specially made after her legendary halftime performance at the superbowl. And I could hear the entitled little white girl at the host stand talking about it. She even did this thing where she pointed and rubbed her skin on her forearm to the manager while nodding in my Queens direction. Unbelievable. Even for a white.
Aside from the host treating us like we were going to steal the fine silverware. This place rocked. I loved everything on our plates. And so did Shaquita (my boo thang).We will be coming back and plan to have our engagement party here too! I only hope we can get more people of color in there working. I only saw a couple non white servers.

Host was sitting at his table playing on his phone. Took us to our table no words said to us. Proceeded to go back to his table and play on his phone. Requested to have soup with our sandwich instead of fries. Server says sure, but it’ll be a 3 dollar upcharge. Agreed that’s ok. Comes back 5 min later and verbatim says «the kitchen said it was ok to sub the soup for fries, but the manager said no.» Wrong cheese on the undercooked burger. Chicken sandwich was ok, the guac and chips was decent although the salsa tasted of nothing but chili powder. Back waiters were prompt to refilling our drinks and clearing the table. I will not be returning.

First off, I planned a nice dinner for my girlfriends birthday, and this was on ²⁄₃ around 7 or 8. It was not busy at all, the host was on his phone when we walked in at first and we had to wait for him to seat us so he could finish his phone call, not professional.
We ordered, Calamari which was a great portion that we got and was really the only highlight and pleasing thing.
I ordered the «hand made pizza» which I thought was sub par and did not taste good.
My girlfriend ordered a steak and was not a fan either. Also $ 15 dollars for the handmade pizza was steep, I’ve had better for less.
Just a disappointing experience I encountered

The food is terrible the service is worse. I ordered barbecue salmon. The salmon was cooked well but the barbecue sauce overpowered the taste. I asked to speak to the manager to get the filet remade, he said «what did you think you ordered, it says barbecue on the menu?» I said I just don’t like it. He said well who is going to pay for it. Insinuating that I should pay for an additional meal that I like. I ended up keeping the meal I didn’t like. The waitress was terrible as well. She accidentally made 2 of the same entrée for my husband and I when he ordered something different. When we told her this was incorrect she got an attitude. I have worked in the service industry before. This place is terrible. They do not care about the customer, they just want your money! I usually am not the complaining type unless I really don’t like something but between the waitress’ attitude and the managers lack of compassion. I will never again! Olive Garden has better service.

I came in at 2:30 am and was greeted by a lively staff with friendly patrons all at the same time. Cant say much for the inside of the restuarant other then dark…
Nice table wear and setups. Our to go order was a club blt and another was the shrimp blt. the club was tastey with very fresh ingredients.
However, i believe the shrimp BLT couldve used maybe 1 or 2 more shrimps.

I found this spot when I was looking for late night eats, and I have to say I’m glad I did. The space is warm and comfortable and the staff were friendly and attentive. All the food my friend and I ordered arrived with perfect timing. We both agreed that the dishes we ate (Guacamole, French Onion Soup, and Steak Quesadilla) were all well executed and fairly standard, reliable versions of each dish. Prices were reasonable. The two of us each ate a hefty meal and the total check was around $ 45.
All this after 2AM, now that’s awesome! Even though it’s open late, I can’t see this place tolerating an rowdy after-​bar crowd. I will definitely return to Bijan’s.

We arrived at 1130pm last night and were seated right away. The service was prompt and drinks, food, and overall service was great. We also had a celebrity sighting– Dallas Roberts, which was awesome because my husband and I love the good wife and law and order svu. 1 star is missing because the calamari was a bit too salty and there were way too many drunk guys bothering girls. I’m super nosey and couldn’t help but notice.

DO NOT COME HERE! HORRIBLE RUDE SERVICE… NASTY FOOD! Never wrote a review like this before in my life!!! Steak tasted like a burger and & a meat loaf combined… The Cajun pasta tasted like Cambells chicken noodle soup… SAVE UR MONEY & TIME!!! Unpleasant visit

Christmas Day, evening, 2015 — 5:45 pm — Family of five, well dressed, youngest 11 years of age, polite, well mannered, inquired to dine as only four restaurants were open in the area — Weber, Rainforest, «red & white striped awning» corner bar, and this place. The taller white haired and large eye-​glasses man who was at the host stand was rude and «short» to me for even inquiring to dine. No matter what he stated the soonest seating was 9 pm. He could have stated the time & fact without the condescending tone and words. We were much better treated at the Rainforest café where we were spoken to politely upon inquiring about a table of five, and even better, seated within one hour! Be a long time before we inquire here again, in person or phone!!!

A friend of mine and I were out and about and went to Quartino for quick bite only to find out that their kitchen was already closed… So the bartender recommended this place.
We shared a few dishes and they were pretty good. I was really confused by their clientele to be honest… there were clearly industry people, and bunch of people that seemed to look like they had way too much to drink. There was a table of people that looked like they were homeless… I’m not sure if we came in on a really weird night or if this is a regular occurrence.
The bartender was sweet when you actually had her attention, we were sitting at the bar and she would walk right past us and didn’t offer drinks or refill our waters when they were empty…

Bijan’s for us was a last minute decision, as we had just spent our after dinner dessert and bubbly time at Pops for Champage, just down the street. We fancied some espresso, and Pops did not have any. (Bad Pops, bad!!) We were already impressed that a place that sold espressos was open that late, as it was very near midnight, give or take. The hostess on the phone was none too impressive, however, as she was snappy and hung up without saying goodbye (something that still shocks me to this day), so that concerned me. The girls at reception were not much different upon arrival, but we wanted our espressos, dammit! For this and only for this reason do I give it only 3 stars, because the rest of our experience was pleasant. We were celebrating our 6^th anniversary, as well as Oscar Wilde’s birthday, so it seemed fitting that our bar tender hosted a very Irish first name, Kelly. He was a wonderfully attentive, classy tender, who made a delicious espresso! When the cheque was presented, he had comped my glass of bubbly as a sweet nod to our celebrations. If you are a regular reader of my reviews, you may have noted how important it is to me that the loo is a pleasant experience. Bijan’s did not disappoint. It was charming and very clean. (And the mirror did not distort the figure, OK? Most important. ;-)
If we are in the area again, we will return to Bijan’s.

My friends and I came to enjoy a meal after a day out on the boat. There aren’t many people in the restaurant. We are talking and enjoying ourselves. Laughing and catching up. The manager Nino comes over and shhssed us and told us to be quiet because other patrons are here. He was extremely disrespectful and rude to us and walk away without a care in the world. I would never eat at this place where a manager disrespects its patrons. nEVER EAT HERE because the manage NINO doesn’t know how to treat patrons.
The wait staff was great.

Had lunch with my girlfriends during a very slow day, ten people were in the dining room excluding my group of 8 African American women. We watched the manger greet the patrons except us. No biggie as the wait staff was incredibly polite. Up until the moment Nino, Manager, came over to us exasperated exclaiming «be quiet there are other patrons here.» Not with any kindness or grace. The waitstaff even apologized for his rudeness.
Announcement to people of color and one who have a stream of consciousness — don’t support a restaurant like this.

I was happy that there was a full restaurant nearby to eat but mostly an overall disappointment. Arrived at 140am but was busy and had to wait for table. The host didn’t greet us and had to track him down. The host didn’t give us a wait time and just told us to «wait at the bar.» Waited for approximately 30 minutes when finally seated.
We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer and a chicken sandwich and a Cajun chicken pasta.
The artichoke dip itself was overcooked and hard. Several areas were so hardened that it couldn’t be eaten. The chips server with the dip were stale and mushy and have been exposed to humidity for some time.
The chicken sandwich was bland, very dry, and had no seasoning. Heavy charcoal-​like taste on the meat indicating the grill hadn’t been cleaned before cooking.
The pasta was «Cajun» but also had no spice to it. The pasta was chewy (undercooked) the the pasta almost looked like soup.
Our waitress was good but obviously overworked due to understaffed servers. Overall I wouldn’t recommend eating here for the prices they charge.

Every now and then you run into a restaurant by chance and convenience, and come away from it knowing why you had passed by it for years and never stopped in, it’s because your food radar told you it was nothing special and it turned out to be nothing special.
Chili’s across the street would have been a more novel choice.
But the food was good and service as well.

We took the red eye flight into Chicago and were starving. Guess who was open at 0200?!
Awesome food, great service. A local bartender told us about this place when we got there after the kitchen closed. I got an open-​faced portabello sandwich with goat cheese and a Stella Artois; she got a cobb salad. Delicious. My sandwich was bigger than I had anticipated and she kept raving about her salad. We were so stoked to not be eating in a bar or a fast food joint. Not that there wasn’t anyone drunk in there; there was a table of baby boomers who were loudly sloshed. But still: Cloth tablecloths and gourmet food at 2am? Thank you for being walking distance from our hotel Bijan’s Bistro. (And thank YOU nameless bartender!)

Happy that they are open till 4 am. Hit and Miss on dish flavors. Dishes are shareable with appropriate pricing.
BAKED BRIE ($ 8) — serves 2+ unless you love Brie that much. Fresh fruit compliments Brie and the almond adds an edgy crunch.
ESCARGOT ($ 10) — skip it. It’s in a black baking dish that looks like asphalt. No flavor.
TRADITIONAL CAESAR ($ 11) — skip it. Serves 2+. The dressing flavor may be clean but it’s a notch above no taste. Lettuce is not as crunchy as it should be.
FRENCH ONION SOUP ($ 6) — a okay. Excellent value. Good cheese. Balance of bread and onions. Broth is a tad sweet.
BREAKFAST MENU — starts after midnight. Yay!
SERVICE — horrid. No offer of coat check. Table clean up is slow. Then, waiter was missing.
TABLE SETUP — the middle section is very close that you can hear and comment on the other table’s topic. Best to sit near window.
FREE STREER PARKING — after midnight.