Sura: User Reviews

my husband and i go to sura every now and then and love the egg rolls and glass noodles. service has always been great and they make some nice cocktails too! one of the best thai places I've been to in the US.

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I've lived in Chicago for four years and I've eaten at many of the Thai resturaunts here and so I was skeptical before I tried Sura. Often disappointed by swanky looking resturaunts that have attrocious food. Compare with Joy Noodle's and Rice just down the street for an example. Today was our first trip to Sura and we were impressed. The waitress who took our order always smiled and treated us with respect and was able to answer my questions about the menu. When the waiter brought my wifes dish to her table it was on one of those heavy square plates and he accidently allowed it to pour into her lap. He was extremely apologetic and immediately returned with some club soda for her to wash it out of her clothes. I was attracted to this resturaunt because of the picture of their Pad Thai on the outside Menu. It's very authentic in appearence and that's rather unusual in Chicago. I will say that my Pad Thai wasn't completely perfect it was very close to what you would eat at S&P Resturaunt in Thailand which is very authentic Pad Thai. I would like my Pad Thai a little more drier than it was served but the taste was there and they were very generous in their shrimp portions. M Thai wife ordered Basil Chicken and she was very impressed with the taste. The sauce had flavour and not bland like a lot of other places.

When we asked for the check they returned with two absolutely delicious deserts that normally cost $6 each as their way of apologizing for the earlier spillage. A lot of Thai restaurants would never compensate a customer when a mistake is made and the fact that this one did impressed me a lot. I would return and I will check out their other resturaunt Thai Urban Kitchen closer to my work downtown.

If the manager/waiter who accidently spilled the sauce on my wifes clothes reads this please don't worry about it and I would say you handled the situation perfectly and today was the best Thai food experience in 4 years living in Chicago and I've tried many Thai restaurants here.

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We don't live in the immediate neighborhood but do walk around a fair amount but today, we were drawn to the menu by the open glass doors onto the sidewalk. No one was inside at lunchtime but the menu looked pretty interesting. We weren't disappointed. Great prices on cocktails and food. The tapas are definitely for sharing between 2. We had 4: duck crepes, thai meatballs, soft shell crab and scallop carpaccio (from the sushi menu). Only the duck crepes disappointed and that was because both the crepes and the filling were dry; flavors were still very good. Everything else was stellar. We had really friendly service (even when we changed our mind on 1 of the dishes after ordering--our server ran into the kitchen to see if it was OK to change. It was). The atmosphere is a bit over the top since I'm not really interested in clubbing with my sushi but the interesting flavor combos that we tried (and that we read about on the rest of the menu) will make sure we come back for either lunch again, dinner or snacks and drinks. The prices were some of the best for size and execution.

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Just finished dining at Sura and will not go back again in a long, long while. Food had always been good, but this time it was just ok. However, the biggest change is service: it has gone from terrible to rude. The guy serving us our food, in reply to my request for plates and extra napkins, going so far as to say, " next time you need anything, ask your waiter...I'm too busy bringing out food." Literally. Verbatim. Of course the waiter assigned to our table was to busy taking care of a larger group. Didn't even have time to refill our glasses with water or to clear our table, up until the time when I had to flag him to ask for our check.

Ambiance is kinda cool, so the most I can recommend is to sit in the bar and order a drink. Otherwise, if it's food (or service, for that matter) that you're looking for, don't even bother. Mediocre and terrible and rude...that's what you can expect.

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I live in the neighborhood, but have been skeptical of Sura because of its futuristic decor, and because it seemed to be dead every single night. However, since business seemed to be picking up my boyfriend and I decided to give it a try. We sat in the outdoor patio, which is about what you would expect of any outdoor dining on Broadway--crowded, and in danger of being hit by cars parallel parking. Their chairs are comfy, though. Service was slow and ineffectual. My first napkin (disposable) had stains on it. Food was only average, and for that I would go to Joy's, which is cheaper, more reliable, and usually friendlier. We had the ebi tempura roll as an appetizer, which was only so-so. My boyfriend had shrimp pad thai, which was also mediocre. I had the lemongrass dish with beef; although it came with a surprisingly hefty amount of meat, it was incredibly salty, nor did I taste much lemongrass flavor. Sura should focus more on its food and service, because a hip atmosphere alone will not inspire return visits.

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Just dined here with 5 of my friends tonight. We always wanted to try it because it looks so cool walking by. Tonight we gave it a go.

The ambiance is amazing and we were seated relatively fast but:

For starters, it took them a while to get us water.

We ordered some appetizers, all of us liked ours. I got the tuna ceviche, but it wasn't anything to write home about. I had an issue with the fact they brought the appetizer out one at a time, with a substantial amount of time between some of them (the time I waited for mine after my friend was at least 10 minutes, and mine was a cold tuna ceviche while hers had to be cooked). They served our entrees the same way.

After our server (well I should correct myself, he only served us some while some other person served the rest, made it feel really impersonal) served our entrees, we never heard from him again until the bill. We only got a refill of our water only after asking someone who was serving the table next to us. For a service that ended up lasting for about 1 hour and a half, our water was refilled 2 times (not counting the time they got us water originally).

It took them a while to get our bill even after we all had been done eating, and by that time the restaurant only had 4 other tables left besides ours. After we got our bill, it took them about 15 minutes to come get it. We had to ask a random server to get our waiter to come and take our bill because it looked like he was chatting it up with people at the bar.

Might come back for the bar (drinks looked good, though expensive), definitely won't do a sit down dining here.

Pro:
-Great Ambiance

Con:
-Service is really really bad

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I live close to Sura so I've been several times. Now that they have a full bar, I think it's only a matter of time before I'll be waiting in line. Their food is always consistently good, their prices, while not Penny Noodle cheap, are good for the upscale atmosphere. The look of Sura, always a bit shocking to new diners, adds a much-needed infusion of swanky to the Southeast Lakeview restaurant scene.

I'm a big fan of their friend calamari and their roasted chicken. Also, the coconut mojito (While it seems to take forever to make and could do with a bit more booze) is outstanding.)

Sura should not be missed.

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I had their Braise Duck Pinot Noir …. Yum Yum Yum … the atmosphere is awesome with super futuristic décor and up-beat music. Their Egg Roll is like no other … there actually Pad Thai inside. Love this place.

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It has been my experience that there is an inverse relationship between the theatricality of a restaurant's decor and the quality of their cuisine. Not so at Sura. I assumed the restaurant was all about the crazy, Austin Powers-esque setting, but everything we ordered was excellent and not really overpriced. The staff were all welcoming and convivial. I will definitely be back soon.

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After seeing a few very bad reviews I was hesistant to take out of town guests to Sura. I had only been once before and it had been great so I we decided to return. And I am so glad we did. We had reservations on a Saturday night and were seated within minutes of arriving. Our server was extremely knowledgeable and helped us select great choices from their large menu. They have added a corkage fee but it was only $5 per bottle of wine which is very reasonable. Our drinks were constantly being topped off and the food came out hot and amazing. I would highly recommend this restaurant. Great food, service, and prices.

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