New middle-eastern in Burbank, IL

Diamond in the rough here....

They seem to have several names, as the menu says "Middle East Restaurant" and the sign out front on the street says "Shish-ka-bob hut" and the business card says "The Mediterranean Grill"

8542 S. Cicero Ave.
Burbank, IL. 60459
708-423-0057
10-10/7 days a week
Dine in, carry out, catering for all occasions

The quote is "Come In And Experience Exotic Cuisine"


I had found this place by accident, as my car was being worked on down the street and I wanted to grab a bite, so I started walking down Cicero ave.. Nothing in that area is important other than Chuck's Cafe about a 5 minute drive away. The location is not the best as I drive past this location every day, twice a day and NEVER noticed it.

They are fairly new (2 weeks?) and the business is slow/dead. While I was there a kid came in to buy a can of soda - that's it. Anyway, they were very happy to have me there, they had 6 small tables in a very casual "quick stop" atmosphere. They only had chicken shawerma on the spit and it looked untouched. No beef yesterday. I mentioned Steve's shishkabob house and they were very familiar with it.

Ahmen, my host/server and maybe owner? He brought me some starters and said "if you do not like this, it is free" so I was actually a little scared as if maybe they didn't know what they were doing. Everything was made FRESH TO ORDER. The prices are low! I ordered the combination plate @ $9.69 - Shish kabob, Shish taouk, Kifta kabab, chicken shawerma. Came with a stack of fresh pitas, jerusalem salad, hummus - and he also threw in lentil soup, a plate of peppers, and baba ghannouj. I must say - the baba ghannouj out did a top competitor here... it was the best I've ever had.

The plate included lamb, beef/steak and chicken. All the meat was top notch, even the steak was steak-house quality cuts that were so bursting with flavor, I ate beyond my capacity and just kept eating for the sake of the flavors and the thankfulness of my palate. The onions, tomatoes, chicken.. everything just was so fresh, melt in your mouth textures and bursting with flavor greatness.

The soup was perfect, the salad was perfect, the arabian coffee and baklava at the end made a great ending. I won't repeat my total bill because it was WAY too low and they were being WAY too generous, but in return I told them good things would come to them. I was lucky to find such a gem, a diamond in the rough ... in the most unlikely of locations.

Just part way into my meal I began to blackberry my cousin Binko and one of my middle eastern food enthusiast friends because I was just blown away. Please go try this place out, I wish I could have taken some photos and I will be going back time and time again!

I'm the "middle eastern food enthusiast friend," and this is my first post on LTH Forum.

I cannot wait to try this place out, and will post back to this thread with my own review. Hoping to get there this weekend!!!

Cheers,

DocRock

I went back last night, I couldn't stop thinking about this place all day. They had the beef shawerma going and it was dead inside again. Hospitality was great, treated like a king there. I ordered a shawerma sandwich, and it was extremely tasty. He served it and said "oh that one is too small" and he made me ANOTHER ONE for no charge. Followed by Arabian Coffee and a dessert that was a think piece of cornbread type cake that was soaked in a honey sauce for 6 hours. The side plate of peppers and pickled radish and things were as fresh as it could get, I ate every single item on that plate (which I never usually do). The beef on was very soft and lemony, and the flavor was strong. Addictive. The pita was just right, slightly crisp on the outside to hold the sandwich together, and soft on the inside. 2nd meal here and I am nuts about the place. Take it from me, because I don't post very much here unless I really need to say something. This place needs business, they deserve it. Oh and my bill was $6 which is not acceptable (too cheap!), they are still being way to generous... I gave them more of course. The food is so superb, when I see the bill I feel bad about it because the food is worth a LOT more than that.

I think it's safe to say now that this place is going to be in my top 3 restaurants on the southwest side/southwest burbs.

So it's:

1. Xni Pec
2. Chuck's
3. shishkabob hut with several different names on 8500 south cicero!

The sign outside said "The Shish Kabob Shack". We had a very lovely meal there tonight.

There's nothing about this place to distinguish it from Salam, Al Khaymeih, or Semiramis, except that it's on the southwest side. That said, being on the southwest side makes me more likely to go there. And the owner is an incredibly kind, generous, eager to please guy. And they were playing arabic-language hip-hop, and two cabbies were smoking a hookah as we arrived.

Anyway, on to the food: We got the combination plate, 12 balls of falafel ($0.21 each, fried to order), hummus and baba ghanouj. The falafel was hot and fresh from the fryer, but I wish it had been a little darker outside and a little spicier inside. Baba ghanouj was not very smoky, but very good. Hummus, too. Both had a great green spicy sauce in the middle that I'd recommend ordering to go with the meats.

The meats:

Steak: Cooked nicely and seasoned with what tasted like montreal steak seasoning. Anyone know why this seasoning mix seems to be popular? I've had it on beef at Al Khaymeih, too.. Weird. This was the weak link on the plate.

Beef+Lamb shawerma: Very good, and I'd imagine it will be better if they get an uptick in business and the meat is spending less time in front of the heat.

Kefta: A little dry, but great flavor.

Chicken: Stellar, perfectly cooked, juicy, flavorful. On return visits I'll order just the chicken.

The rice was well cooked and seasoned, and the charred tomatoes were nice and warm (too many places cook them early and hold them).

The pickled beets and peppers were nice, especially the banana peppers, which were really great. The cook warmed the pita by holding it between the shawerma spit and the heating element, which also made it very soft and a little smoky. A nicer way to heat it than the grill, I think. The jerusalem salad that came with the combination plate was tahini-less, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

The owner and cook were both very attentive, making sure we were enjoying everything. After we were done with our meal, he brought out some warm and very tasty baklava and some coffee.

We enjoyed it a lot, and we'll be back. We're glad to have something not much further away than Steve's was. I'm not going to say it's worth a trip from the north side, because the harissa-spiked sandwiches at Semiramis and farouj at al khaymeih are nigh-impossible to top, but if you're south of Ogden, I really think it's worth considering going south instead of north for some of your middle eastern meals.

Did anyone notice if they had Foul Mandamas on their menu? Also, was the beef kebab flavored at all with cinnamon? One of my favorite spots for middle eastern food was shish kabob house on 95th and Harlem(now gone) they had some of the tenderest kabobs I had ever had the pleasure of eating. I particularly enjoyed the subtle after taste of cinnamon on their meat.

I have been to Steves, thanks to the recommendations on the forum, and although everything was delicious I prefer my beef with a little more seasoning. This place sounds like they are extremely commited to their food ala Steve( Taking 20 minutes to chop salad ingredients to ensure freshness! LOL)

Derek

No cinnamon, and they did have foul on the menu.

Yes, the Shishkabob House at 95th & Harlem was probably my favorite restaurant in the SW area for quite some time. It was also my first foray into things Middle Eastern. I really miss that place.

Anyway, back to the OT. I had my first dinner at this new place last night, and I thought it was fabulous. I agree with everything UniAddict had to say about this place.

I had a combination plate...the chicken in particular stood out. It was spectacular, and I think I'd order just a plate of that next time I go. I enjoyed the shawerma as well...very lean, which I liked. I've had many a shawerma experience at other places where it was very fatty or gristly. Not the case here.

They had run out of baba ghanooj, so they gave us a platter of falafel at no charge. Very hospitable, excellent food, excellent service. We were treated like royalty.

All in all, I think the food was excellent ... especially for the price.

I will be back there many times.

Cheers,

DocRock

UniAddict wrote:Please go try this place out, I wish I could have taken some photos and I will be going back time and time again!

+1000.

Really, they are very nice people. I'd like to see them do well. Please give them a try, they really deserve it IMO.

Hopefully Binko will chime in soon, he went there today I think. I eat at this place waaaay too much lately. Totally addictive.