Turquoise Restaurant: User Reviews

DISAPPOINTING EXPERIENCE ACROSS THE BOARD
By Dave from Roscoe Village, August 18, 2008

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On a lovely Sunday evening we brought out of town guests to Turquoise. All outside tables were full so we were seated indoors. The place has nice ambiance, but they did not have the AC on so we were all very uncomfortable to begin with. (They are from Hawaii and even they were uncomfortable!). We ordered our food, specifically asking the server (probably the owner) that the food not be overcooked, as it had been on a prior occassion. We then waited over an hour for food, and 2 of our 4 entrees were absolutely charred. We choked them down and expressed our disappointment to the owner. There was no offer to remove the charge, but rather, an explanation that they were short staffed due to a Turkish fest downtown. He said he would remove our two glasses of wine from the bill, which he didn't even follow through on.

In summary, uncomfortable ambiance, overcooked food, and uncooperative owner/staff. This truly was a disappointment, as we have now been there 4 times, with 1 being quite good, the second being decent, and the last two being awful. There are many better places in Chicago to spend your money.

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Come for the food, not the service
By rachella from Lincoln Park, August 3, 2008

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We were out at Retro on Roscoe yesterday and opted to dine at Turquoise's outdoor patio area instead purchasing food at their street stand. First off, the ambiance was really nice in their outdoor patio/sidewalk area, which is covered by a wrought iron trellis and hanging flower baskets. For lunch,w e ordered the beef schwarma and the chicken kebabs, which for around $7 are a fantastic value. Though the food at Turquoise is really quite good, I would only give it 3 1/2 stars. I've dined at other Turkish restaurants with a much more extensive and very authentic menu (in Germany, no less), so in comparison, Turquoise is average. Also, don't expect speedy service. Our meal took well over 30 minutes to come even though we were the only table with an order. But if you want to try decent Turkish food, I'd still recommend this establishment for the food and the value.

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Need more servers
By Chijac8 from Lakeview, July 18, 2008

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Appeared at a Thursday night. 7/17, with the outside and inside filling up. The food and decor are fine, but with only the owner, one server, and one bus boy, they were over whelmed. They need one or two other servers with the owner overseeing the entire operation.

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Great Food, Poor Service
By elenamoyo from Lincoln Square/North Center, June 11, 2008

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This is some of the best Turkish food I've ever had but the service was very poor. We were skipped over waiting for a table and the server took forever to come to our table. The food was so good, though, that we've been back but only to order take out!

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Awesome Food!
By lilwing88 from Roscoe Villiage, May 23, 2008

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My wife and I love this place. We try to go often but order delivery even more often. I recommend any of the kebab dishes. The pasta dishes are also a pleasant surprise.

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Turquoise is a Favorite!
By Treva from Lakeview, April 11, 2008

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My husband and I have been dining at Turquoise now for several years. The staff is friendly and remembers us each time we walk in. We've taken family and friends and never been disappointed. Favorite dishes include the onion kebabs, tomato and cucumber salad, all the fish dishes and the chocolate souffle (order when they bring your entrée). Wines are very reasonably priced both by the glass and bottle. If you don't see a hostess on entering, it's because Turquiose is small restaurant and the wait staff often do the seating.

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Yummy!
By cooky from Lakeview, January 18, 2008

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I had dinner at this place on a Friday. The place was packed so they accomodated our party of 6 in their party room. The hummus and babaganoush were excellent. I ordered and entree that has grilled shrimp, salmon and steak. It was average. This is not a bad place to go for dinner but I'm not blown away by their food either.

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Hostess? Anyone care to look at us?
By vincsam from Roscoe Village, November 28, 2007

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My wife and I went to Turquoise on a Friday night around 6:00. No reservations, so I was planning to wait, no problem. However when we walked in there was no one at the hostess station. Finally after seeing several waitresses walking by, someone came over and asked if we had a reservation, I say no, and she walks away. Someone else comes back after a couple minutes, asks the same thing, and same situation happens. Finally the manager walks by (still not bothering to stop to help us) and I had to flag him down and tell him the situation about how no one was willing to even talk to us, and was given a response that was essentially "I don't have tables availalbe, what do you want me to do?!". All I was trying to get across was that nobody was even bothering to put down our names, I had no problem with waiting if someone would have been nice enough to acknowledge us standing there. After that rude treatment we left and went to Volo where they were happy to see us!.

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Great Turkish restaurant!
By LPC from Roscoe Village, September 28, 2007

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This is by far our favorite restaurant in our neigborhood! Try the mussels for apps, then have any of their kabobs for dinner, a $20 Malbec wine and you are in heaven! Can't wait to go tonight. Yummy!

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