Sh. Rustaveli (Georgian in Skokie)

Ever since the Evanston Lunch Group™ dined there, I'd been meaning to get back to Sh. Rustavelli. Finally, I made it there last night.

We started with the very good eggplant with nuts, as mentioned the the Evanston Lunch Group™ thread. Chilled eggplant slices wrapped around finely chopped nuts, garnished with more nuts on top, worked well - the slight sweetness of the nuts played off the slight bitterness of the eggplant. Our other starter was red caviar, served with good (although cool) bread and very chilled commercial butter packets. Still, the caviar had a good, salty taste of the sea, which lasted throughout the meal, due to the generous portion size.

Our two entrees were really appetizer-sized, and were priced accordingly. Dolma was similar to Greek dolmades, but with more meat and less rice than most Greek versions I've had. The Chanakhi was a braised beef dish with potatoes, in a tasty sauce with flavors I couldn't quite identify, but which the bread sopped up quite nicely.

An adequate amount of food for two came to slightly over $30, sans tip. BYO, no corkage.

Every other shop in the small strip mall is closed, although Sh. Rustaveli's owner said he intends to stay where he is, as long as he can. But, business is slow, and almost all of it comes from local Georgians. Yes, hours are erratic, and if there's a large Georgian group there, they may not have room for walk-ins. Count on at least one or two menu items not being available.

But I can't think of a better candidate for a "Save this Restaurant" write-up. I hope Sh. Rustaveli can get a little LTH love.

Quote from Moetchandon: "Imagine, a restaurant with food from Georgia, and not a peach in sight."

What time did you go? I've tried a couple of times, but was turned away (not rudely)

Got there sometime between 6 and 6:30. Needless to say, we were the only ones there. The couple who run it were sitting at a table watching Russian-language cartoons on the TV. They were a bit standoffish at first, but warmed to us a bit after they realized that we really liked their food.

To avoid having to click through to the Evanston Lunch Group thread, here's the address:

Sh. Rustavelli
4902 W. Dempster St.
Skokie
847-677-6710