AMBA Grill: 'It's Pretty Unique For Joliet, Plainfield Area'

JOLIET, IL — This marked the first full week of business for Joliet's new AMBA Mediterranean Grill. It's at 1522 Route 59, the same strip mall as Lou Malnati's Pizzeria and the Starbucks.

Four brothers raised in a Lebanese household, whose father runs a well-known falafel stand in Jordan, are trying to bring something new and unique to the Joliet, Plainfield and Shorewood area.

"The bowl is our most popular dish for sure," remarked Jennifer Akre, the restaurant manager for AMBA Mediterranean Grill. "You can literally come in and have thousands of different combinations, thousands of different dishes."

One of the restaurant owners, Danny Rizk, told Patch that AMBA "is a Mediterranean sauce from fresh mango and fresh honey imported from the Middle East."

"There's a kick to it," he said.

According to AMBA grill, "our menu contains some of the most popular and delicious Mediterranean street foods ranging from Falafel, hummus to different types of Shawarmas. You've probably tasted one of these before, but you haven't experienced it with our AMBA flair."

At AMBA, the pita is $7, the wrap is $7, a traditional gyro is $8 and the bowl is $10.

From there, you pick the dips and spreads. You can choose up to three.

After that, you choose your protein. And then you customize it with up to 16 different toppings to choose including romaine lettuce, sumac onions, crumbled feta, chickpeas, fire-roasted corn, diced cucumber and kalamata olives.

"This is the first AMBA, and it's going to be franchised," Rizk told Joliet Patch during this week's interview. "Right now, we're talking to people in Indiana and Wisconsin."

AMBA had a soft opening on Sept. 30. Since then, word of mouth is spreading throughout the area. When Joliet Patch interviewed the owners and manager on Monday, the place was busy throughout the lunch hour.

New customers were walking in the door every five minutes or so.

"It's fast casual and it's quality and freshness," Rizk said. "We are buying from local farmers whatever is available in the local market."

Akre, the restaurant manager, told Joliet Patch, "we want to emphasize the fresh, vibrant, ingredients."

AMBA is now open from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It's closed Sunday.

You can enjoy dine-in or carryout. AMBA also uses Uber Eats and Door Dash. The restaurant phone number is 815-556-8881.

The restaurant is planning a big grand opening celebration for Oct. 15. The owners are also planning to install a Jones soda fountain in the coming days. One of AMBA's signature beverages currently available is fresh ginger mint lemonade.

There's also passion black tea, hibiscus mint with mamaki, green tea and a kona mango tea.

"The community has shown such support already and so much love," said Akre, the manager. "We're the ones thankful for them for coming and giving us the opportunity to give them such great food.

"It's a Mediterranean food with a flair. It's pretty unique for the Joliet, Plainfield area."