Mousa — Restaurant in Joliet

We dined at Mousa before seeing a show at the Rialto. We have been to this location before when it was a steakhouse. The ambience is wonderful. There’s a long bar when you first walk in and the dining room is past that. They have a small parking lot in back of the restaurant and the restaurant is right by a large parking garage so there’s plenty of parking. Monica was our server and she was friendly and provided good service. The young man who filled our water glasses and cleared our dishes, was on top of everything as well. We were given a complimentary shot of ouzo before starting our meal. It’s a licorice tasting alcohol. My husband ordered a glass of Greek wine as well. My husband and I ordered small plates and shared everything. We started with the saganaki, which was served with a plate of pita triangles. It was a very generous size of cheese, but unfortunately it wasn’t flamed at the table so it wasn’t melty or gooey or sizzling hot. It was warm, but disappointing not to have that wonderful melting cheese. I’ve never been to a Greek restaurant where they didn’t flame the cheese at the table and then douse the flames with fresh lemon. Next, we had the grilled octopus. Again, a very generous portion, and it was presented beautifully. However, as you got into the thicker portion of the octopus, it was very chewy. I had to leave some on the plate after spitting it out because it was rubbery and I couldn’t chew through it. At this point in our meal, my husband ordered a second glass of wine which didn’t show up until the very end of our dining experience. Monica apologizing for the long wait when it appeared saying there was a new bartender. We also ordered the lamb meatballs. Home run on this small plate. Four small meatballs served on a bed of tzatziki sauce, which is a yogurt cucumber sauce. The meatballs were very flavorful and the creamy sauce added something special to each bite. Since my husband‘s wine did not show up until we were done with our small plates, we decided to add a dessert while he drank his wine. The Italian lemon cake we ordered for dessert was fabulous. It’s a light yellow cake filled with lemon cream and dusted with powdered sugar. Very good! I ordered a cappuccino to go along with dessert, but Monica came back saying that they couldn’t make it because they were out of milk. How does a restaurant not have milk in their refrigerator? The restaurant just opened for business at the dinner hour so it wasn’t like they were opened all day and ran out. Mousa is popular, every table was filled and the reviews from others are good. We came here because of the good reviews. Maybe it was just an off night for us, but the chewy octopus, not flaming the cheese at the table so it’s sizzling hot and melting, and not having any milk on hand for a cappuccino two hours after opening your doors won’t bring us back. It’s too bad because it’s a half a block away from the Rialto and so convenient. I can’t recommend this restaurant, but give it a try because others have rated it highly. Like I said, it might’ve just been...

Last Wednesday evening my wife and I went out with a couple of our friends to this very fine beautiful Greek establishment.

Our friends had eaten here before and told us very good things about it so we thought we'd all give it a try. On that note, I'm so glad we did!

Right from the very start, they have a friendly wonderful staff. From the hostess, to the bartender, to the wait staff, AWESOME service!

Mousa has very beautiful decor in and around the whole entire restaurant. I was very impressed. Very clean, and well maintained.

So we started off with a couple drinks and then ordered some very tasty appetizers!

Tyrokafteri and Tzatziki I highly recommend both of them very well presented and very good!

After some more conversation and drinks we ordered our dinner.

My wife ordered the mouth watering beef kabobs with a side of Greek fries! I tasted hers and it was out of this world! Highly recommended!

I ordered the Gyros Lamb platter with a side of Truffle parmesan fries! If you love Gyros, these are some of the very best around!!!

Overall, we were all very satisfied and pleased with this establishment from the atmosphere, to the service, to the food five stars across the board!!!

If you have not been to Mousa, I highly recommend and suggest you get down there and enjoy some drinks, some great atmosphere and some amazing food!!!

YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED SEE YOU AGAIN VERY SOON MOUSA!!! THANK YOU FOR THIS AMAZING FOOD...

I’d been told about this place by 2 different friends who don’t know each other. One is a big “try every restaurant in Joliet person (big “support local”) and the other is a trained chef.

It took me forever to have time to get out there. Embarrassingly long time since we'd dined out. Too many other plates spinning for the last month or so. But we made a Tuesday evening reservation. Got there and the place was not crowded. That’s not usually a good sign.

In this case, I think it’s just a challenge of operating in a town that literally shuts down on weekday evenings. It’s mostly court, lawyers, cops, and everyone calls it a day by 5.

The vibe was somewhere between modern and rustic American Italian restaurant, in aesthetic. We knew the menu was Spanish, Greek, Italian… like Mediterranean based options with an American spin. We sort of knew what we'd be ordering before we even got there, since we were hoping to visit sooner. But service was excellent. Scarlet (sp?) was friendly and informative.

Wine list is more than adequate. It’s a good sign when it’s not all just big wine companies. I had a rioja that was perfect for my meal.

We ordered a starter and 3 hot dishes to split up between the 2 of us, and had the Turkish style chocolates and 20 year port to finish. Excellent meal. We'll be back. I hope it's packed next time. These folks deserve...