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There's a new kid in the class of great restaurants available on Randolph Street. Nia recently opened its doors and its menu full of fresh ingredients is a fantastic way to try foods from a variety of Mediterranean countries. Nia offers a variety of small plates, salads, dinner entrées and a wide range of wines. We tried both the red and white sangria. The Fruit in both is left to sit in the mix for two full weeks and were excellent. The red sangria had blueberries, raspberries and peaches, while the white had the aforementioned plus pineapple.
Roasted elephant garlic had a wonderful, pungent sweetness accented by the lightly salted and crisped bread served with it. Sweet potato fries were dusted with cinnamon and sugar and served with a slightly sweet dipping sauce expertly recommended by the server. Nia offers a variety of dipping sauces to try with its dishes. The garlic shrimp were savory and cooked very well; not a single one was overdone. The garlic sauce is so good, the dish comes with toast points so you can dip and enjoy it. Nia’s house salad includes fresh greens, a mix of goat cheese, almonds, avocado, sweet grape tomatoes and dates. Gnocchi in cognac sauce was a rich indulgence, made even more rich with a generous scattering of plump shrimp. Nia also offers lamb dishes, sausages from many regions, eel, and even an olive oil flight. 
Nia, owned by Nia Asimis, clearly pays attention to getting fresh ingredients and cooking them well to highlight their flavors. In addition, the service was attentive, never overbearing. If you’re in the mood to try foods from all different ends of the Mediterranean, Nia should be on your short list.
803 W. Randolph
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That looks great. Is it expensive?
This stoplman character has gone to some pretty fly joints so far. As much as I love chuck sudo's neighborhoody restaurant reviews I like to read about the upper crust places too.
Great review (need help on the food pics though)/
Hi, Prescott,
The average small plate cost is about $10. I think the elephant garlic was about $5, sweet potato fries about $5-6. Salad, maybe about $7. Glass of Sangria was on the menu for $7 but on the tab, it showed up at $8. Price for almost all glasses of wine was $9. Bottle prices as well, though I didn't look too closely at those. Gnocchi was $24. I'd say the entrees were anywhere from about $18 - $25. I should have included an idea about the price in the review - thank you for the reminder!
L. Stolpman
Hi, Matty,
Glad you're liking the variety of reviews. Any and all tips on the food pics is greatly appreciated. I found that without using a flash, I couldn't see much in the photo and defaulted to flash, even thought it washed out some of the colors. The first picture is the garlic shrimp, second is the gnocchi. Thank you for the comment!
L. Stolpman
L, there appears to be some kind of sea monster creature eating your gnocchi. You are a much more adventurous eater than I.
Thanks for the price breakdown too. I'll have to put this on my list.
Hi, that food looks terrific. Even though the food pictures are a little dark, it's really hard to take a photo in a restaurant with mood lighting. Even so, I can practically smell the garlic coming off that shrimp.
Has anybody at Chicagoist eaten at Tizi Melloul? Their Mussels and Pork Belly are great too, and it's similarly priced.
Hi, The Meteorologist,
I don't think there's been a review of Tizi Melloul yet. I just looked at the website and it looks great. I may give it a go - thank you for the recommendation!
Outstanding! Artful, tasty, well priced, cool servings... I could adjective slur for a week. This new little star on Randolph is the one to watch. Can't wait for the patio doors open (gee... I'll bet I'm not the only one). A nice touch, that Nia's red sangria & her sauteed escargot did make me forget (at least temporarily) that over a hundred inches of snow has fallen this year alone.