Arab American View Newspaper Online

Online Restaurant Reviews
My three favorite Arabian Restaurants
By Ray Hanania

It’s November and once again the world is ignoring Arab American Heritage Month.

Oh, that’s right. You probably haven’t heard about it either.

That’s not surprising. Mayor Daley doesn’t like to let the public know he has a cozy relationship with some Arab American contractors and contributors.

And the so-called “Advisory Commission on Arab Affairs,” which is a part of the even more useless Human Relations Commission headed by Clarence Wood, doesn’t seem to care much about Arab American issues either.

Yet, that doesn’t stop Arab Americans in Chicago and elsewhere from showing their pride in their ethnic heritage. Just because the leadership sucks, doesn’t mean they do.

So, in honor of Arab American Heritage Month, here are three of my favorite Arabian restaurants.

I hope you will try them. They offer a wide assortment of oriental foods that you probably don’t often try, although hummos (the chick pea dip) and tabouli (the diced salad mixed with cracked wheat) are very popular among vegetarians and available at most mainstream grocery stores.

But there is far more delightful food offerings you can experience, if you have the courage to try something knew.

Steve’s Shish Kabob House
10719 S. Robert Rd.
Palos Hills, IL 60465
708-974-3530
(new location)

Open beginning with lunch around 11 AM daily. No credit cards.

At first glance, this Arabian gourmet establishment may not look inviting with the always dim lighting. But the owner, Steve Adawi, has been a Southwest Side restaurant pioneer since the early 1970s.

And his menu is one of the best around.

Walk in. Sit down. And look at the menu. It is very affordable and I guarantee you will not leave there feeling the cash pinch or hungry.

If you have any questions about food items on the menu, just ask. The staff there loves to help.
Lamb, which is a sweeter meat than ground beef or steak, is the preferred meat base on most Arabian dishes, although you can find other options.

But give it a try.

The shish kabobs come in beef and lamb, and are nicely speared over a bed of yellow rice.

I recommend the Mensif, which is a popular Arabian dish of lamb chunks in one dish drenched in creamy saffron sauce, next to a plate of heaping pile of rice and pine nuts on a bread base.

In the old days of the Arabian deserts, Bedouins would prepare the Mensif as the meal of choice to entertain guests, from strangers to family. They would sit around a large plate on an oriental carpet and they would eat with their hands, grabbing a chunk of lamb in one and balling up the rice in the other.

Of course, today, you may see that at an occasional ethnic celebration, but everyone eats with spoons and forks.

Another choice is the Combination platter offering lamb kabobs and Kifta, a ground meat spiced and mixed with parsley and grilled like kabobs in long chunks.
Steve’s offers a wide menu including Habash Kabobs which feature turkey meat. And the menu also includes chicken and fish selections.

My favorite is stuffed grape leaves, rice and lamb meat spiced and rolled in a grapevine leaf, and then cooked. You get about a dozen in an order.

Steve Adawi is a gourmet chef offering an affordable menu. He is one of the people spotlighted in my new book “Arabs of Chicagoland” (Arcadia Publishing, 2005).

Don’t pass up this Southwest Side treasure.

Pita Inn
3910 Dempster Street, Skokie
847-677-0211
(Locations in Glenview and Elmhurst, too.) Credit cards and open at 11 AM daily.

Pita Inn is the popular fast food service restaurant that caters to mainly a non-Arab crowd.

The menu is complete and offers the standard fare of kabobs, kifta, salads and more.

The dining area is more efficient, but that prices are very attractive, and the food is excellent. There is a reason why Pita Inn is one of the most often featured Arabian restaurant by the local news media.

This is a good place to enjoy the salads, like tabouli or Jerusalem Salad -- diced cucumbers, tomatoes drenched in Tahini sauce (sesame seed paste).

They have a wide range of sandwiches or, if you want to enjoy a little more, you can order the dinner versions of the meat selections.

The Shawarma sandwich is often called Gyros in Greek, so it is something you are already familiar with. The meat is grilled on a spigot standing up and the juices drench over the meat at is cooks, pealed off in thin slices and then pushed into Pita bread.

Pita bread is also growing in popularity among Amerians. Previously called Greek Bread, Pita bread is round and flat and when heated, the center opens so you can cut a section to open into a “pocket” that can fill with anything.

Besides the Shawarma, you can also order chicken, beef, lamb and even Falafel, ground chick pea and vegetables formed into small round patties and deep fried.

The counter wait is fast and there is always room to dine. Parking may be difficult, but if the lot is full you can park across the street in the neighborhood.

Grape Leaves
129 S. Oak Park Ave, Oak Park
708-848-5555

Open for lunch Monday-Friday 11:30-3 PM, dinner from 4:30-10 PM, and on weekends 11:30-10 PM.

This excellent establishment is celebrating its 10th year in the atmosphere of Oak Park’s quaint character neighborhoods.

This has a small dining area. One aisle with nine tables of four. But you will always find room when you enter. Don’t let the size fool you. The food is amazing and, like the above restaurants, is all fresh and cooked like it was done by the owner’s mother.

The plate of Kifta was huge, yet affordable. Tasty rolls of Kifta laid out on a heaping pile of yellow rice with almond slices. Garnished with tasty grilled green and red pepper slices, and slices of carrots and potatoes.
Grape Leaves also offers grape leaves, vegetarian style with rice, raisins, almonds and seasoning. (I prefer the lamb version to the vegetarian option but the public will break the door down for the vegetarian style dish.)

Another option is Kibbeh, minced meat with almonds, diced onions drenched in olive oil inside a “football” shaped shell of cracked wheat deep fried.

Entre dishes include chicken kabob, Shawarma and “Sumac” (a spice), beef and lamb choices, and even shrimp.

And they even have lamb or chicken couscous, a very popular Moroccan or North African base.

They have a special vegetarian menu.

In Arabic, we say “Sahtein” or “to your health.”

END

(Ray Hanania is a Palestinian-American author. Reach him by e-mail at rayhanania@aol.com. He is the winner of the Society of Professional Journalists Lisagor Award for Column Writing. His columns are archived at www.hanania.com)