Expressly Leslie - Vegetarian Middle Eastern in Woodstock

During an outing to Woodstock last week, my wife, daughter, cousin from New York and I stopped for lunch at Expressly Leslie at her suggestion. My cousin likes vegetarian food, but none of us had been there before. I had my doubts because I am not a big fan of vegetarian food and places in McHenry County generally do not receive many positive reviews here. I must say, though, that we all were pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed our meals there.

As stated on their menu, Expressly Leslie specializes “in vegetarian, all natural and middle eastern foods.” The restaurant, which started as a stand open only during the Woodstock farmer’s market has expanded its menu and now has a permanent home in a mall type building on the square. It’s a small place with no chairs in the restaurant itself, but there is seating in the mall area.

My cousin thought the food was Israeli style with Moroccan influences. She is an accomplished Middle Eastern cook, married to a Sephardic Israeli and has been to Israel several times. Also, we talked with Leslie who lived in Evanston and West Rogers Park before moving out to McHenry County. She said that she had been to Israel a few times and has a close friend who is Israeli.

Between the four of us we ordered the Moroccan sampler, red lentil soup, mushroom barley soup (soup of the day), two salad plates and side orders of hummus and falafel. All of us found the food to be extremely fresh, nicely seasoned and very tasty with generous portions. The Moroccan eggplant salad was a big hit with all of us.

My cousin felt the food was very authentic when compared to food of this type she had eaten in Israel. However, we all agreed that the falafel, our least favorite offering, seemed a bit over cooked and tasted different to what we were used to probably because it was made with fava beans. Also, I didn’t care for the pita because it was whole wheat – give me the less healthful white flour pita like Naf Naf and Mizrahi Grill.

You can request Zhug and Harif hot sauces as well as Labneh (a really thick and tasty yogurt spread) and olives and pickle with your meals. I can tell you that the Zhug was really good and matched the quality and heat of the homemade Zhug my cousin used to get from her mother-in-law in Israel and share with us when she came to Chicago.

It’s a bit far for a “destination dining” experience, but if you are in the area it’s well worth checking out. Leslie is serious about her food and runs a nice friendly establishment. I know we will definitely return when we are out driving around McHenry County.

Expressly Leslie
110 S. Johnson St.
Woodstock, IL 60098
815-338-2833
http://www.expresslyleslie.com

saluki68 wrote:Expressly Leslie
http://www.expresllyleslie.com

...Correct URL: http://www.expresslyleslie.com/