Zora Restaurant / Kafana Zora — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

This was my third time here. Previous experiences schould have told us better but we tried to give them another chance. Our small party of four people arrived and were seated at 7:25 PM on Saturday night. Beautiful place that can take anywhere from 60-70 people maybe, was pretty packed by then. Untill 8:00 PM we asked three times for the menu. We asked any waiter who would pass by and even the owner, since nobody offered us any drinks either. 8:05 PM: we finally got the menu and placed the order right away. 9:00 PM: I unwrapped the chocolate that I had in my purse, a gift from my brother, and started eating. What can I say, I was hungry and did not expect to wait for food that long. 9:20 PM: we received our food partially. Thank God we ordered cevapi/small ground meat sausages, the simplest food there is beside bread and butter. My brother got his soup after his main course. One of our friends left right after he had his dinner, could not take it any longer. 9:30 PM: we were told that one of our meals was given to another table by mistake and they just started preparing it for us again. It arrived at 9:50 PM finally, exactly two and a half hours after our arrival. I was already wondering if it will arrive at all, since per Google they close at 10:00 PM. Well they don't, info is not updated. The truth is I do need to lose a few pounds, could skip a meal or two, maybe they noticed ☺️. We were explained by the waiter that everybody reserved the table at 7:00 PM and that is why the delay. Well, dear owners, when you already know that, you bring your whole family, you roll up the sleeves and help. That is how business is built. Not, as I saw it last night, standing in the middle of the restaurant, the whole night, with your arms crossed, counting the guests and your take. So unsightly. You could have made at least five times that amount if you helped with the drinks. Your guests were very thirsty. Meanwhile, the musicians were positioned so they had their backs turned to the tables in the corner. Cosiest place in the restaurant with the close view of somebody's a... well you know... They did start moving through the place later on, which helped tremendously. Ivana, the singer, I bow to the ground to you. Very pregnant, she did not stop singing or dancing, not even for a minute. Girl power! Yes, I am spoiled. When I decide not to cook and go out for dinner, I expect to be pampered for my own money or at least treated with respect. It was my brother's birthday. So sad.

Response from the owner 12 minutes ago It would be only fair that you mentioned that owner personally apologized to you and you got your food for free. But I guess we are not all the same.

Regarding response from the owner: You are right, it would be fair, if it was true. We did not get an apology and we paid our bill in full. Please talk to your waiter, he will confirm. Btw, considering the circumstances, obvious lack of staff and bad organization, he did an excellent job. Your response just shows that somebody else had the same experience, sadly. I hope you learn from this and start building your dream the right way. All the...

I've visited this restaurant three times solely because I love the food on the menu. Although I live in Dubai, every time I come to Chicago, I make a point to visit this restaurant due to its lovely customer service and delicious food. However, today was entirely different from my previous experiences. While I still believe the food is amazing and thoroughly enjoyed it, the manager Katija (I think that was her name), made me feel very uncomfortable when it came time to pay.

I asked for the bill, but since there was no internet, I had to connect to my international Wi-Fi to make the payment via Apple Pay. I received both an email confirmation and an SMS.

Moments later, the manager—approached me with a very negative demeanor, accusing me of not completing the payment. Despite my attempts to show her the email and SMS confirmations, she repeatedly interrupted me, insisting she needed to close the bill. She made me feel like a thief trying to steal. I then politely asked her to involve the manager or owner, as it was clear I couldn't pay double. She then rudely replied, "I AM THE MANAGER."

Instead of helping to find a solution to the system error in the restaurant, she kept repeating that she needed to close the bill. I stood my ground, refusing to pay double, and after I told her that I wouldn't, she suddenly said, "Oh, it's okay now, the bill is closed and showing in the system." I'm not sure if she was trying to scam me, but it was only after I refused to pay double that she resolved the issue.

Furthermore, she also rudely asked me how I had internet since I had asked for the internet password when I entered. I explained that I had to connect to my international Wi-Fi, which is why I asked for the password as I usually don't use my international data. Again, she was insinuating that I was lying, which is unacceptable.

Now, in the future, I will be hesitant to return as the manager made me feel extremely uncomfortable. Please do not get me wrong; I am not saying she is a bad person. I am simply sharing my experience and hoping it was a misunderstanding. My bill was nearly 70 dollars. I even took an extra take away for later as I simply enjoy the food so much. I hope that I wil get some kind of apology from the manager because I would love to come back in the future, if not then I will...

I came to this restaurant on Saturday September 9th around lunch time with a friend. Service was horrible from the start I wish I knew the mans name but it was a heavy set guy who barely spoke English. We were not even greeted when we first sat down pretty much just sat where we wanted which was outside. Server didn’t even bring menus we had to ask for them. Although the food was okay service was awful.. my final complaint and the big reason why I’m writing this review was I split the bill on my credit card and my friends. Our server came back with only the credit cards and placed them on the table and never came back. We thought it was strange that he never brought a second receipt. So when we walked inside to ask him. He said we were okay and good. Couple days later this scumbag decided to tip himself without my consent which happened to be a little over 20 percent. I don’t care about the money but this is theft and wrong. I will never come back to this place again. Shame on them for hiring someone like this....