Address: 913 Chicago Avenue
Pricing: from $3 to $12
Phone: (847) 475-4475
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Parking:metered street parking
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Cross-Rhodes--An inexpensive way to enjoy Greek cuisine in Evanston
Jul 2, 2009
For casual dining, there’s nothing like a lively neighborhood restaurant where the banter is as good as the food.
Such is the atmosphere at Cross-Rhodes restaurant, a small storefront that has throughout the years become an Evanston favorite. Specializing in Greek and American food, a hungry diner can grab anything from juicy gyros to a skirt steak at this reasonably priced eatery.
Opened in 1984, the menu continues to feature Cross-Rhodes’ best sellers such as a char-grilled half Greek chicken ($8.90 including sides) served with either barbeque or a lemon-white wine sauce and a side of their award-winning Greek fries (they are also doused with the lemon-wine sauce (small, $1.30, large; $1.80.) Either the gyros sandwich ($5) or the gyros dinner ($8.05)—both served with generous portions are among the best in the Chicago region. Wine and beers are also on the menu.
The Greek salads (small, $4.40; large, $5.75) come with fresh tomatoes, onion, loads of feta cheese, olives and can be topped either with Greek fries or gyros. Or both! You may wonder what’s the point of ordering a healthy salad if it is going to be topped with calories. Cross-Rhodes regulars will tell you to try it at least once. It will be a choice you’ll make again.
If you’re more in the mood for the American side of Cross-Rhodes, be sure to order one of their half-pound char-burgers or a tender skirt steak.
Where does the name come from? “It comes from… my imagination,” claims the owner. Truth be told, it is a mix of things. Rhodes is a city in Greece. Cross—a cross of Greek and American food and where Evanston’s Main Street crosses with Chicago.
Service is quick and friendly at Cross-Rhodes as so is the clientele. Don’t be surprised if new-comers stop at your table to ask about your order.
Given the portion size, rare is there room for dessert. However, if you’ve managed to save a little space, homemade baklava, carrot and chocolate cake grace the menu.
- by Lori Rotenberk , Chicago Reporter for HelloMetro
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Lori Rotenberk Lori Rotenberk graduated from Drake University and is a Chicago-based journalist whose work has appeared in The Boston Globe, Newsweek and various magazines. She worked as a staff reporter on The Chicago Sun-Times, the suburban section of The Chicago Tribune and The Des Moines Register. In addition, she has studied fiction writing in adult education at the University of Chicago.
