Rec's for Middle Eastern in Evanston/Skokie area?

My wife and I just moved back to Evanston after living out of state for five years, and we found that both of our favorite Middle Eastern restaurants in the area have declined considerably in quality during this period.

The Olive Mountain, in downtown Evanston, used to be hands-down our favorite restaurant, so we were very excited to go back there a couple of months ago to celebrate my birthday, together with a bunch of friends. What's happened to that place?!? The baba-ghanouj was sour, the hummous tasteless, and our meat-eating friends (we're vegetarian) fared no better with their dishes.

The Pita Inn on Dempster Ave. in Skokie used to be our other sure-bet Middle Eastern place, but we were just there earlier this week, and we were in for a huge disappointment: the tabbouleh was basically inedible (tasted as if it had sat around in a fridge for a couple of days), the baba-ghanouj tasted only of tahini, and the falafel plate was served only with a mound of limp lettuce (years ago they would give you a sauce for dipping as well as pickled veggies). On a positive note, their hummous and falafel tasted okay, and their pita bread is still one of the best around.

So before I whip out the Yellow Pages and see what else the area offers in terms of Middle Eastern food, I thought I would ask you all for any recommendations... Since we're vegetarian, we're only looking for a place that does the basics well (falafel, hummous, etc.) and is a step up from fast-food-ish places like Basha's in Skokie or Pita Pete's in Evanston. Reza's on Clark has not let us down before, but we would prefer to find some places a little closer to us.

Thanks for any help!

I haven't been to Pomegranate, which opened this past summer in downtown Evanston, but you can read reports from people who have in this topic.

you hit it with reza's on clark. the weekend brunch buffets are my favorite in the city, and i think they are comparable to a vegas brunch buffet

Larsa's is an Assyrian restaurant on Dempster that features flat breads made in their pizza oven. They have a couple of Vegetarian styles (one with dried spices and one with cheese). The Lentil soup is good and also meat-free. It is a nice place.

In Rogers Park, there is Cafe Suron which is Persian and has about 20 different vegetarian friendly appetizers and salads, as well as a couple of meatless entrees. The Baba Ghanouj and Kashke Bademjan are excellent. The (meatless) Dolmahs are a favorite also. It is a very pretty room and also BYOB. Parking can be a bit of a problem, but if you ask in the restaurant, they can usually find a space you.

Big Buns and Pita is another Assyrian place that leans towards being fast-foodish. They make great falafels with both Chickpea and Fava bean flour as well as other vegetarian dishes like a very tasty Foul Madames made with fava beans. Big buns is very inexpensive, and they deliver also.


Cafe Suron
1146 W Pratt Blvd
Chicago, IL 60626
(773) 465-6500
http://www.cafesuron.com

Larsa's Pizzeria
3724 Dempster St,
Skokie, IL 60076
(847) 679-3663

Big Buns & Pita
6649 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60626
(773) 262-2000
http://www.bigbunsandpita.com

Another vote for Larsa's; you passed it on your way to Pita Inn.

The falafel plate comes with their excellent lentil soup and torshi. There is also a vegetarian combo plate with hummous, baba ghanouj and stuffed grape leaves (+ soup and torshi). The baba ghanouj is smoky and tasty, the hummous is pretty standard but the grape leaves are the real star here. There are also at least two different vegetarian sandwiches (one with cauliflower).

Basha is also good, but I tend to prefer Larsa's.

bobbem wrote:The Olive Mountain, in downtown Evanston, used to be hands-down our favorite restaurant... What's happened to that place?!?

I wasn't going to comment on a lunch I had there a few weeks back, but I guess I'll pile on. I had the chicken tikka, which used to be one of my favorite lunch specials when I worked in Evanston. (Note, it's not much like Indian chicken tikka, except in name.)

The tikka sauce was practically barbecue sauce, thick and tomatoey. It was edible, but a far cry from what I used to have at the old location, and not something I'd order again.

I happened to be over by Turkish Cuisine tonight and it was bumpin', with smoke and party lights and a DJ and people dancing (kind of) in the back room (I was on the street). It looked as though people were comfortably having conversations in the front room, but from the street the music seemed pretty loud!

I remembered that I'd been meaning to try the place, and looking back at the above linked thread, it really makes me wonder why I haven't given it a shot yet...

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I can't wait to try them all!

We were running an errand in Skokie today and decided to make a detour to try Larsa's. What a great recommendation! We loved almost everything we had; the service was excellent, and the ambiance pleasant.

Their pita bread and lentil soup were out-of-this-world good! My wife doesn't usually like dishes flavored with dill, but the lentil soup was one such dish and she loved it. We also had the Manna Eash appetizer (a flatbread sprinkled with spices, sesame seeds, and olive oil). It's a simple dish, but it's a really delicate mix of flavors. We'll definitely order it again the next time we go there. And it's only $2.95!

We then each had a Vegetarian Sampler dish and I have to concur with cilantro's post above that the stuffed grape leaves were the real stars on the plate -- delicate, not at all chewy or string-y. The baba ghanouj was better-than-average (very nice roasted eggplant flavor) and the falafel was also good. The only average tasting dish was indeed the hummous.

So a great dining experience and lots more to look forward to -- thanks to the LTH community!