Photograph: Bob Coscarelli

Taxim (1558 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-252-1558). Greek.

   (very good)

$$ ($30–$39 per person for a meal, without tax, tip, or alcohol)

Drawing its inspiration from across the Aegean, this iconoclastic standout remains the most exotic Greek restaurant in town. There’s no need for theatrics—no flaming cheese “Opas!” here—when you have vibrantly spiced delicacies such as Cypriot-style pork sausage wrapped in lamb caul, spit-roasted sea bream with mint, and supertender lamb shanks served with orzo blanketed in ground myzithra (sheep’s cheese).

There’s a new discovery at every turn, including stellar yogurts, delicious homemade pita, handcrafted desserts, and a wine list that’s more than the sum of its roditiys.

Dishes We Liked: Cypriot red wine–marinated smoked pork loin, pickled cayenne, myzithra ($8); wood-grilled octopus, fennel, and red onions ($15); spit‐roasted sea bream, red cabbage salad, tashi sauce with tahini, capers, fried colocassia root, and Pontian satz bread ($22); fried dumplings with wildflower honey, rose cream, freshly grated Vietnamese cinnamon ($7)

New restaurant reviews, updated to reflect critics’ recent visits, appear each month in Chicago magazine, in Dine, as well as on our website. Listed restaurants are rated from one to four stars, where one is good, two is very good, three is excellent, and four is superlative. Avec and Courtright’s maintained their two-and-a-half-star ratings; Taxim maintained its two-star rating. The updated reviews appear in the April issue, on newsstands now.