while we are on the subject of lebanese restaurants, how do people compare Maza to Semiramis? personally, i have been to Maza many times, but only once to semiramis. i prefer maza but i don't think it is fair based on only one visit (i do like the option of getting lebanese wine at maza though)....
elie

Vital Information wrote:*Which is more proper as a descriptor, Arabic or Arabian?

As a simple, rough-and-ready set of guidelines, I think the following is reasonable:

Arabic: for the language (and literature).
Arabian: pertaining to the peninsula of Arabia.
Arab: pertaining to Arabs generally.

Again, this is not intended to be exhaustive but I think it basically 'right'.

Antonius

After keenly following this thread for a while, I finally made it to Semiramis last night. At the last minute, I found myself without any dinner plans and for some reason I had been craving chicken n' chips (one of my favorite pub meals when I was a nipper) all day, so I headed to Semiramis specifically to order the French fries with sumac and half a chicken. After the waitress told me about the specials (all of which sound excellent) I almost wavered but instead decided to stick with my original plan and return to Semiramis for lunch on Friday (when I have the day off work) to explore the menu further.

The fries and chicken were both, as has been noted several times in this thread, quite lovely and I also enjoyed the house salad that was served with the chicken - the combination of mint, olive oil, lemon and cucumber was very refreshing.

The bill only came to around $8 which seems like pretty good value (esp. considering that I have lots of leftovers for lunch today) and the service was very friendly and helpful. I also really, really liked the space for some reason - not sure why, but it reminded me of my grandparents old house. I am looking forward to returning tomorrow with a good book for a nice, leisurely lunch. I have to admit that (having lived in Chicago for a fairly short period of time) I am not very familiar with the neighborhood. I am going to do some exploring tomorrow, as there seems to be plenty of interest around there.

Maybe I'm speaking too soon, but I can see this place becoming a favorite...

LionRock wrote:After keenly following this thread for a while, I finally made it to Semiramis last night. At the last minute, I found myself without any dinner plans and for some reason I had been craving chicken n' chips (one of my favorite pub meals when I was a nipper) all day, so I headed to Semiramis specifically to order the French fries with sumac and half a chicken. After the waitress told me about the specials (all of which sound excellent) I almost wavered but instead decided to stick with my original plan and return to Semiramis for lunch on Friday (when I have the day off work) to explore the menu further.

The fries and chicken were both, as has been noted several times in this thread, quite lovely and I also enjoyed the house salad that was served with the chicken - the combination of mint, olive oil, lemon and cucumber was very refreshing.

The bill only came to around $8 which seems like pretty good value (esp. considering that I have lots of leftovers for lunch today) and the service was very friendly and helpful. I also really, really liked the space for some reason - not sure why, but it reminded me of my grandparents old house. I am looking forward to returning tomorrow with a good book for a nice, leisurely lunch. I have to admit that (having lived in Chicago for a fairly short period of time) I am not very familiar with the neighborhood. I am going to do some exploring tomorrow, as there seems to be plenty of interest around there.

Maybe I'm speaking too soon, but I can see this place becoming a favorite...

Glad you liked this place. Your comments certainly ring true in my experiences there. The thing about daily specials is especially apt. There a tons of things on the menu, including "standards" like shwarma and kababs, that I have never tried because every day, there are too many daily specials that appeal. On top of that, on more than one occasion, I could not resist the same special, the stuffed vegetables--so even within the daily specials I have missed a lot.

Another thing to note about this place, especially as compared to other Arab restaurants, is that BYOB is no problem here, and this food can be quite wine friendly.

Rob

To add further fuel to the smokey baba fire, I'm wondering how people like kashkeh bademjan. It too contains roasted eggplant, but has caramelized onions and kashk, which to my understanding is a dehydrated yogurt. A Persian friend of mine said that families in Iran/Iraq take great pride in the quality of kashk they turn out. The only places I have had it are at Reza's and Cafe Suron. I prefer it to baba ghanouj, but enjoy them both. I actually think Reza's is the better of the two, which is unfortunate as I much prefer Cafe Suron's food. I once attempted to make this dish with store bought kashk and it was an utter disaster. The point of all this is that I have found this dish to be smokier than baba, which would be in line with the posts about adding yogurt to the baba.

Marinated rotisserie chicken, served with thin lavosh and garlic sauce

Following a lecture on Arab cuisine, where did I end for lunch? Semiramis! My favored order is chicken with lavosh on the side. Otherwise the lavosh is on the bottom soaking up the juices rendering it useless for my purposes. My preferred method is to break off some lavosh, smear it with the garlic sauce then add deboned pieces of chicken. An excellent blending of texture and taste.

Today I ordered the chicken and a handful of side dishes. I learned there is another question I need to ask: is the chicken fresh off the spit? From the total lack of juices under the chicken and relative dryness of the breast, I think I had a reheated chicken from the day before. I was not there in mid afternoon, I was there at high noon which should be prime time for chicken. It still tasted good, though it didn't taste as great as a freshly prepared chicken.

Chapulin, her husband and a friend arrived after us. When they inquired about our order I steered them away from the chicken for this occasion. I would rather not have done this though it would have been irresponsible for me to give them the green flag. Everything else we had from lemonade, baba ghanoush, falafel to Taboullah salad was at high form.

I will be back to Semiramis, though I will ask a few more questions before I order the chicken next.

Best regards,

Gypsy Boy, LDC, A2Fay and I were at Semiramis Saturday evening. We had, I'd say, a very enjoyable meal overall. By the time we left I think every table was occupied which augurs well for the restaurant. They've revised (reprinted) their menu - it indicated $7.50 for the whole- and $4.75 for the half-chicken entree ($5.50 for a whole chicken only carry out). Anyways, we didn't order this, choosing instead to sample a greater range without ordering too much to eat.

The gratis olives were very good but I found the pickled turnips a bit too sour, too 'pickled'; IMO the bottled Ziyad ones are better. Amongst the appetizers, the nice and lightly smoky baba g was the best. I made sure it was all wiped up with the pita that they brought to the table and refilled.

On the (new) menu was fries w/ sumac and garlic mousse. I'd meant to ask for this (for the toum), having reread up this thread that morning. As it was listed, and we didn't really want fries, we just asked for toum. Our waitress, being new, didn't know what that was, but when we said it was the garlic mousse she readily complied. I must say this was, for me, quite disappointing. Not that it wasn't good as a garlicky spread, but it wasn't quite the toum I was looking for.
Two, almost three years ago, after visiting friends in Detroit over a weekend, A2Fay and I were on a quest sort of to find me a real shawerma and toum. We drove as far South as 111th (I think)on Harlem (El-Ameer), were directed to Steves, and tried a few other places (Nile in Bridgeview). The redeeming part was finding many wonderful 'Arabic' grocery stores in the process, but I digress. The short of it, is that A2Fay was never satisfied with any of the shawermas, and therefore I wasn't entirely either. As for toum, we never found it anywhere.
On the shawerma and toum, Semiramis too failed us on Saturday. The lamb and beef (why the mix?) shawerma was quite dry. This was slightly remedied by some tahini sauce that was promptly brought to our table when I asked. However the meat itself was dry and didn't have the flavor burst of charred edges. The 'garlic mousse' was a paste with bits and flecks of garlic. The toum (and shawerma) that A2Fay wanted me to taste, I finally did last year in Dubai. The toum (gratis with thin pita/hubbus chips and salad, everywhere) was a white puffy mousse - think cream whipped to soft peaks - garlicky without being too sharp or overpowering, with the mouth feel of mayonnaise. I could eat that stuff all day (and one day I did).
I don't mean to discredit Semiramis because the food otherwise was good. I just wanted to keep alive the quest for shawerma and toum in Chicago.

The day's special, lamb with rice and pine nuts (pictured in GWivs earlier post) was excellent. We ended the meal with Baklava and coffee with cardamom (rakwi style, the menu said).
Then walked across to Nazareth sweets for more to take home. I had no idea there were so many middle-Eastern stores in this area.

I agree with you completely on the toum. It's nothing like what I expected the first time I had it, and I much prefer the toum I've had in the lebanese restaurants in Windsor and Detroit. It's much more garlicky and much fluffier. Less like a goo and almost more like a whipped cream.

I agree with sazerac's post as an accurate reflection of our dinner, though I may have been more disappointed than he was.

I concur wholly on green olives and pickled turnips. The olives were pretty good, but the turnips tasted of pretty much nothing but vinegar. A harbinger.

We ordered four different apps (the baba ghanouj, green beans, tabbouleh, and fuul). The baba ghanouj was excellent; the others were mediocre at best. The flavors and spicing of the other three dishes were ordinary, nothing sparkled in any way. Nothing was in the least objectionable and, as I recall, we managed to finish pretty much all of the apps, but they were disappointing for not being more...noteworthy.

After replies to my recent post on Phoenicia in Highland Park corrected my mistaken impression about the difficulty of finding fuul, I was pleased to see that there are many places that offer it, including Semiramis. Fuul (sometimes spelled ful or even foul), is the Egyptian "national dish." The serving at Semiramis, sadly, was truly undistinguished. It relied very heavily on the fava beans with little in the way of additions or flavor. I would, in fact, go out of my way for the fuul at Phoenicia; I wouldn't cross Kedzie for what we had the other night. So, too, the tabbouleh and green beans. Nothing was bad, mind you--just surprisingly undistinguished.

I have to confirm in no uncertain terms the disappointment engendered by the toum. Garlicky to the point of a slight bitterness (and I love garlic), not smooth at all and, in general, not worth a second "dip." After reading the many paeans on this page, perhaps our taste buds were too eager for the zenith in gustatory excellence. Like Daedalus' progeny, we fell to earth.

Side note: at one point, we asked for lemon to brighten up the tabbouleh. In what has to be a true first--and I hope last--we were informed that Semiramis had no lemons in house. None. No lemons? Hello? Even if you run out in the course of an evening (unlikely, one would think, but conceivable), why on earth couldn't someone run down the street and buy some? But to have none in the house? That boggles the mind and doesn't speak well of the place, in my humble estimation.

We ordered four different entrees to sample the delights that we were sure awaited as well: the special shredded lamb with pine nuts, lentils and fried onions, shawerma, and a mixed grill of three separate kebabs (chicken, beef, and lamb). The shawerma, as noted, was dry. Although the tahini was good and helped, the dish was a disappointment. So too the lentils and fried onions. Not to damn with faint praise, but it was pleasant. And mostly missing the fried onions. The mixed grill produced sadly mixed results. The lamb was mediocre (very dry), the beef good, and the chicken truly top-notch. Finally, the shredded lamb with pine nuts: excellent. We all enjoyed it and I was pleased to be able to take some leftovers home.

Dessert was a three-piece sampler with the coffee as noted. The dessert was good. Fine even. The coffee was so incredibly overwhelmed by cardamom that it was difficult to taste anything else, including coffee flavor. Again, perhaps our judgment of this (and other things) was tainted by the anticipatory glee with which we descended on Semiramis. Perhaps we ought not have expected so much. But we had an expert with us to help rein in our (expected) enthusiasms: A2Fay was raised in Dubai. Alas, we needed no reining in.

BTW, we had so little dessert because we wanted to cross the street and try Nazareth Sweets. A delight. We dealt with Khalil (the owner, I think). However, our time there is worthy of its own thread and, when I find time, I will compose just such a post.

Will Lovely Dining Companion and I return? Most probably. Soon? Probably not. The lesson here, I suppose, is not to expect too much--no matter what seven dozen previous posters say. The place could have had an off night. Everyone was most welcoming and, indeed, eager to insure that we had what we needed (lemons aside). Though it was busy when we left, it was mostly empty when we arrived (circa 7 pm). I am sure Semiramis will survive--indeed, I hope so. But I would be remiss not to report honestly how we all felt about our dinner.

Gypsy Boy wrote:I have to agree with sazerac's post as an accurate reflection of our dinner, though I may have been more disappointed than he was.

My earlier post does read more positive than the experience, which was more neutral at best. Perhaps our perspectives going into the meal were different. Mostly until Cathy2's Saturday lunch, everything was rather positive - possibly leading one to believe this was as good as it gets (or nearly there). I went to Semiramis however, with memories of some awful past experiences elsewhere (ersatz shawerma with gyro pseudomeat), therefore apart from the shawerma and toum I found the meal good. Fool, I hadn't had before (that's the one spelling left out). For other things I don't know if it is fair to compare directly with food I've had in Dubai (although one may argue that food is food and given the availability of ingredients, kitchens should be held to the highest standards or what's the point of this forum...).

It seems also to me that with (at least) the larger weekend crowd the kitchen may be resorting to quality diminishing shortcuts. In the mixed grill platter containing a skewer each of the chicken, beef and lamb, the chicken was tender and flavorful while the lamb was dry. I looked at it and it was pink in the center, so the dryness suggests that it was grilled earlier and reheated for service. I too cannot understand the inability to give us a wedge of lemon - the tabouleh whilst nicely parsley heavy could have used a freshening squeeze of lemon.

Still compared to other places Semiramis was good and the service prompt and very good. Maybe this was not enough to make me want to go there three days in a row , but I'd be happy to eat there again.

A Very Pleasant Lunch at Semiramis

Amata and I, visiting what we affectionately refer to as Waaha 'l Aurans (the oasis around Lawrence and Kedzie) to purchase some flesh and offal, decided to stop in at Semiramis for lunch, despite some less than enthusiastic reports about this establishment of late. We each ordered a sandwich and shared an order of the french fries with sumac and toom; Amata had the kafta and I the beef and lamb shwarma special, which can be seen in the foreground of the following picture:



Almost anything, perhaps even Cheerios, is better for having harissa on it and, though I would have liked more harissa on my shwarma (I confess to being an addict), I thought this a very fine sandwich with a nice overall balance of flavours. The fried potatoes were also quite tasty, as were the olives and pickled turnips and also the little serving of potato salad (coloured lightly with tomato paste) which came alongside each of our sandwiches.

I don't know after whom they named Lawrence Avenue in Chicago but I like to think it was named after one of my heroes, T.E. Lawrence, linguist, soldier, author.

T.E. Lawrence, 'Al Aurans', and King Faisal


Albany Park and in particular Albany Park's Arab community is one of my favourite parts of this large and affable town.

Antonius

Antonius--

The lamb shwarma remains one of my favorite sandwiches in the city. I think the balance of flavors and textures is near perfect and yet, with so many different elements, could easily be otherwise if the sandwich were not constructed with as much attention to portions and even chopping technique.

On a similar note, I bemoan the loss of CocoRico, the chicken rotisserie in Hyde Park, not so much for the chicken, which was quite good, but for a lovely roast beef sandwich that featured onions and green peppers cut on a mandoline to perfect thinness to contribute a little pungency and earthiness without the overwhelming grassiness that too large a hunk of green pepper can bring to a sandwich.

Patrick

Antonius wrote:I don't know after whom they named Lawrence Avenue in Chicago but I like to think it was named after one of my heroes, T.E. Lawrence, linguist, soldier, author.

Sorry to break it to you, but....

From Streetwise Chicago: A History of Chicago Street Names (a well-worn book in our household)

Bradford A. Lawrence was a friend of Lazarus Silverman (1830-1909), a banker and subdivider. While the two were walking along together in Silverman's new Montrose subdivision, Silverman apparently said, "Let's call this Lawrence Avenue".

Anyway, I live much closer to Waaha 'l Aurans these days and I'm spending much more time at Semiramis. Nice pics.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:

Antonius wrote:I don't know after whom they named Lawrence Avenue in Chicago but I like to think it was named after one of my heroes, T.E. Lawrence, linguist, soldier, author.

Sorry to break it to you, but....

From Streetwise Chicago: A History of Chicago Street Names (a well-worn book in our household)

Bradford A. Lawrence was a friend of Lazarus Silverman (1830-1909), a banker and subdivider. While the two were walking along together in Silverman's new Montrose subdivision, Silverman apparently said, "Let's call this Lawrence Avenue".

Michael:

You're too gullible; that story's absurd.

Anyway, I live much closer to Waaha 'l Aurans these days and I'm spending much more time at Semiramis.

You're lucky.

Nice pics.

Shukran jaziilan.
A

now closed on SUNDAYS.

ugh. how i wish i known before fighting the kennedy enroute for lunch...

eatchicago wrote:Petit pois and I returned to Semiramis last night for a quick dinner. I noticed that they have changed their hours so that they are now open on Mondays but closed on Sundays.

C'mon Tony. You've got to be a more dilligent LTH reader!

bah! i searched the forum, read the first page again and drove off into the afternoon sun @!#$@%#

my bad. old news on my part... now how do i nuke my post?

LTH,

Went to Semiramis for dinner this evening even though I had called about an hour earlier and was told they were already out of chicken. We brought a couple of bottles of wine and 4 of us had a very nice meal and barely broke $15 per person including tax and tip, even with slight over ordering.

Our waiter was the best, when I clumsily managed to knock the glass olive oil cruet off the table he, all the while smiling, cleaned up the mess, including a quick mop, without making me feel awkward in the least.

9-months since my first visit and Semiramis is still hitting on all 8-cylinders.

Enjoy,
Gary

Our waiter was the best, when I clumsily managed to knock the glass olive oil cruet off the table he, all the while smiling, cleaned up the mess, including a quick mop, without making me feel awkward in the least.

Well, I guess enough time has passed that I can tell the story. You know the little teeny ramp between the two sections of the dining room? You know how, when they first opened, it was a step?

Guess who, on a sunny day when his vision facing the window was somewhat impaired and his kids were going in two directions in once, made a spectacular spill in going from the top step to the bottom, resulting a few days later in the installation of the little ramp? They were real nice about that too, although in my case, the concept of "lawsuit" may have crossed their minds.

I remember almost tripping on that step when I first went. It was even worse when they covered it with a carpet but didn't put in the ramp.

Thanks for falling and getting that ramp in!

I remember seeing that little ramp and thinking, "Oh, nice. I wonder who fell down to make that happen?"

Now I know.

Best,
Michael

G Wiv wrote:
9-months since my first visit and Semiramis is still hitting on all 8-cylinders.

Enjoy,
Gary

It's been less than 9 months between my Semiramis visits, but yea, this place is still hitting.

Our lunch was a constant challenge to the waiter on how to re-arrange all the plates. From the house-made pickles to the sumac dusted french fries, to a vegetarian plate with all sortsa goodies, to the daily special of white beans and lamb, to a whole chicken (halved so one kid could have rice, the other salad); plus lotsa containers of garlic sauce, containers of hot sauce, our wine glasses, the pita bread. And at the end, it was nearly all empty.

I wonder if they have cut down on the amount of daily specials. I've never been there with less than one, but the white beans, rich and surprisingly sweet, made the limited choice un-necessary.

Great cooking.

G Wiv wrote:9-months since my first visit and Semiramis is still hitting on all 8-cylinders.

Vital Information wrote:It's been less than 9 months between my Semiramis visits, but yea, this place is still hitting.
<snip>
Our lunch was a constant challenge to the waiter on how to re-arrange all the plates.
<snip>
Great cooking.

Rob,

Sorry, I worded that somewhat vaguely. My first time at Semiramis was the day they opened 9-months ago, but I have been back any number of times since, including my most recent dinner.

I agree about the plate juggling, so many good things they really need larger tables. I also agree, "great cooking"

Enjoy,
Gary

After numerous visits to Semiramis over the course of the year, I have a very mixed opinion of the place. I was generally fond of the food in the first few months that it was open, but I have noticed a marked decline in quality over the past several months. Sadly, I think that much of the problem lies with the fact that there is a relatively thin stream of business in this establishment, and in order to persevere they have been forced to cut a number of corners.

1. On my last three visits the complimentary pickled turnips were quite poor.*

2. On my last two visits the tabbouleh salad was served straight from the chiller, and it was completely soggy.**

3. On multiple occasions the grilled meats had been poorly prepared, arriving dry and/or cold.

[As an aside, I have generally found the ground meat (in any form) used at Semiramis to be overly lean.]

4. On multiple occasions the lubieh bel zeit (stewed green beans) was served straight from the chiller.***

5. Each and every time that I have ordered the warakenab bel zeit (stuffed grape leaves) it was served straight from the chiller.

And, then there are matters of my own personal preference:

1. I have never particularly cared for the pita, rice, hummous, foul, falafel, or kibbeh at Semiramis.****

2. I have never particularly cared for the sandwich creations at Semiramis.*****

So, why do I keep going back?

1. I love the lamb/beef shawerma.

2. I have, for the most part, enjoyed the rotisserie chicken.

3. I have always enjoyed two of the sometime specials in particular -- the fasouyla bayda and the haroof meshi.

4. I anxiously await the day that I am able to try the stuffed baby zucchini again. [A special offering.]

-----

At present, Semiramis seems to be run with the sensibility of a catering kitchen. As I think a number of my above criticisms would indicate, the food is often prepped in advance and stored (cold, and for long periods of time,) before service/sale. And, the service of these items without, at least, some "acclimatization" very often results in food which tastes lifeless and flat.

I continue to pay weekly visits to Salam, across the street. And, while the comparison is not entirely appropriate, I know that there I can always sit down to great pickles, olives, bread, hummous, falafel, and kibbeh. I know, too, that the shawerma and grilled meats will be expertly-prepared. The daily specials at Salam are modest affairs, but nevertheless, a number of them are quite good; I am particularly fond of the stuffed grape leaves, the stuffed lamb, the mensif, and the Cornish hen.

My only real reservation with Salam is the way in which they prepare their basic rice; it is truly terrible.

I think that it is important to note the dramatic difference in volume between these two establishments. Salam is almost always bustling, and the food turnover is very rapid. The bread at Salam is often served still warm from the bakery, and the hummous etc. is prepared on a daily basis.****** And, the "daily specials" at Salam are indeed just that; there is no holdover of these items, nor are attempts made to extend the life of any prepared dishes whatsoever. Salam has the good fortune of steady traffic, and such practices are not required.


E.M.

* At one time this item was quite fresh, but on my most recent visits it had clearly suffered from prolonged storage.

** Their version of this classic salad was, at one time, my favourite.

** This is an otherwise exceptional dish.

**** I ask you to show me some pity. It is truly a terrible thing when one does not care for the bread, rice, and hummous at a Lebanese restaurant.

***** While the constituent ingredients are usu. of adequate quality, I do not care for the fact that the sandwiches themselves are griddled. The bread quickly becomes dried out, and the damned things just seem to fall apart. In any event, when it comes to Middle Eastern-style "sandwiches," my personal preference is for a much more restrained assemblage of ingredients.

****** Salam procures bread from Al Khayam Bakery, up the street. Bread deliveries/collections at Salam frequently occur more than once a day.

I celebrated my birthday at Semiramis last night with some friends who had not been there before. The pickles did kinda suck, but the olives were gone before I had the chance to taste one. The bread could have been a little fresher (it tasted like it had been neglected for a couple hours) but to my taste it was very good bread that could have been a little fresher. The mezze was, as before, great. One could criticize the foul for its simplicity of flavor, but not me, not by a long shot. Raw garlic and sea salt are my friends, especially when mixed up with fava beans. I've brushed my teeth twice since eating this, and I still can't get it off my mind. Also, the french fries disappeared before I got to have a second fry, and the falafel continues to be my favorite in the city (there is something about the balance of parsley/beans/oil that they strike that make two dry ingredients and a fat work as a practical creme de legume when plucked straight from the fryer. with the most conserative helping of tahini). The specials were, unfortunately, uninspiring, so I and one other friend opted for the mixed grill. I was a vegetarian for almost ten years, and the "big ol' chunk o' meat" eating style still has little appeal. However, ground lamb, marinated chicken, and beef cooked to just-past-medium rare seemed too good (or at least too varied) a thing to pass up. The lamb was, as Erik pointed out, dry, but combined with more delicious parsley and a side of tahini which our server presented almost immediately, became the ridiculously tasty central focus of my plate. What happens to good gyros when they die? They get all ground up again, reintroduced to some old friends, and then tossed back into the slaving meatwheel abed some of the lightest, most flavorful rice I have yet to taste in Chicago. When I woke up this morning, I finished dinner. The food was uniformly excellent, the service was great, Semiramis is still an ideal location for a quality meal) perhaps especially if your friends make a big noise about it being a special occasion, but I don't know. My only complaint was that I was hoping for something of a langurous, let's-all-catch-up meal, but by the time we ordered our mezze, we were the only table in the place. I was out of there about an hour before I expected, and that is with a deliberately prolonged coffee course. Please, go to Semiramis. The food and servcice are above the normal as it is, and it seems to be a consensus that more regular business can only help both. I don't want to knock Salam, City Noor, or any of the other Albany Park shining lights, but at Semiramis, you can easily bring both a bottle of your choosing and some of your "choosier" friends, and expect that all will be satisfied. I personally have dedicated myself to stretch a painfully worn budget to forgo cigarettes in favor of shawerma at least one week out of the month. Take a stand, eat more lamb.

I have also noticed a decline in quality at Semiramis. Some of the items have changed in terms of taste, but others have remained the same. I think they are under new management, maybe that's the root of the problem.
On my recent visit the place was dead. I remember going there in the summer and it would be packed with people. Overall for the price and the fairly good quality, I'm still a fan.

Puguglies wrote:I think they are under new management....

Really? So Joseph Abraham and/or George Elbekai are no longer involved with Semiramis?

Could anyone confirm this? I assumed with Leo's closing, they were concentrating full-time on Semiramis...but maybe not, eh?

Joseph was there when we ate there a few weeks ago. I don't think this is true.

Whilst on a pilgrimage to The Cheese Stands Alone, my friend and I stopped for lunch yesterday at Semiramis. When we arrived, we were greeted by one of (who I believe to be) the original owners. I also saw the other original owner there. There were two other tables occupied on this slow Saturday. My dining companion and I took one of the tables near the window, which made for a nice, relaxing lunch watching the snowflakes come down out the window.

We started out with delicately smokey baba ghanouj (sp.?) which was served with fluffly, tender pitas (one regular, one wheat). I had the chicken shish kebab "sandwich" on lavosh, which included tahini and various vegetables, some pickled, some not. The chicken had been marinated and was really tender. My companion had the lamb and beef sandwich (also served on lavosh) which had the addition of harissa. She loved it. Having had no coffee yet that day, she availed herself of the Arabic coffee with cardamom which she noted, "set her up for the day."

All today, including a generous tip, we ate for about $20.00 total.

LTH,

It's been a while, maybe 3-4 months, since I've been to Semiramis, no particular reason, except there are a lot of restaurants in Chicago, and lunch left me wondering why it's been so long.

Stated with a fine rendition of hummus and fattoush salad, though I seemed to like the fattoush a bit more than Ellen and Steve Z, and Ellen had lentil soup, which she pronounced very good. We also split one of Steve's favorites at Semiramis, a Falafel Special with Baba Ghannouj, red cabbage and cucumber pickles.

The roasted chicken was nicely spiced with little hints of lemon and juicy flesh, a very good chicken. We subbed sumac dusted fries w/toum (garlic mousse) for rice. A whole roasted chicken proved too much for lunch, but the ample leftovers made for a delicious curried chicken salad, w/grapes and walnuts, for Ellen and my dinner.

Good service, reasonable prices, and nicely done food, it won't 3-4 months until my next visit to Semiramis.

Enjoy,
Gary