Best Lebanese (or similar) Meze Dinner?

My husband's birthday is tomorrow night. Though as WASPy as they come (as in part of the family apparently arrived in the Colonies on the 2nd ship after they Mayflower, and he was, until shortly before meeting me, the last in a line of 200 years of Protestant missionaries), he was born in Lebanon and went back to live there for a few years until a few months after the most recent Israeli invasion and contemporaneous political instability, upon which he decided maybe he didn't want to live in Lebanon anymore and moved back to the States.

So he loves his Lebanese food, and has been vacillating between wanting meze for his birthday dinner and wanting some really good sushi, but seems to have settled on the meze. I took him to Maza for meze a couple of years ago for his birthday, and he liked it. He was thinking of going back there, but is there anywhere else we should consider for the full-on Arab-style meze treatment treatment?

Not Lebanese exactly, but I'd definitely go to Taxim for meze. I'm still daydreaming about my recent meal there.

Taxim
1558 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
773-252-1558

One place to consider:

Kan Zaman (Lebanese Restaurant)
617 N. Wells St.
Chicago, IL 60654-3714

Note: Sushi Naniwa is in on the same side of Wells St., a couple of buildings to the South . . . where you could bring him for an "after dinner."

More information:

1. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=24971&p=269718&hilit=Kan#p269718
2. http://www.yelp.com/biz/kan-zaman-chicago-2
3. http://chicago.menupages.com/restaurants/kan-zaman/

205 views, 2 replies. Does that mean that almost everyone agrees that Maza is the best meze joint in Chicago?

The other places look yummy, but I think we will try them some other tme - he really wants to go back to Maza (or as he put it, "we haven't been there in 2 years - it's not like it's getting old for us or anything.") But anyone who has other suggestions, please suggest away!

I wouldn't assume that at all. Not a lot of views, actually.

Have you checked the GNR's or done any searches? A board favorite Lebanese is Semirami's, in Albany Park (the Middle Eastern Heart of the North Side).

viewtopic.php?t=6204

You also owe it to yourself and your husband to check out the Bridgeview threads.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=22490

You might already know that most of the population and places in both neighborhoods are Palestinian, but that's awfully close in geography and cuisine. There are a fair number of specifically Lebanese spots too.

All of that said, I like Maza. It might be convenient for a party; it has a decent wine list and always has kibbeh nayeh.

I think this can be attributed to the paucity of choices out there. You'll have no problem finding Arabic restaurants in Chicago that make a mean hummus or shawerma, but places offering traditional Lebanese-style maza are few and far between here. I don't understand why - we have a large Lebanese population, but can't seem to support an honest-to-goodness Lebanese restaurant the way Los Angeles, Detroit and New York can in droves. Sucks for Chicago.

That said, Khaymeih or Semiramis on Kedzie, both Lebanese-owned, may be able to put together a nice maza meal if you call ahead and ask.

I like Maza, but I prefer GNR Semiramis . . . although the number of appetizers they offer might be a little light based upon your request.

Thanks, all - we have been to (and like) Semiramis, but his main comment was that it would be more of a casual neighborhood, I-don't-feel-like-cooking-tonight restaurant - not as much of a special occasions place as Maza. And yes, they don't have the breadth of meze, and it's just the two of us, so I don't know that I would want to make any elaborate special requests. Maybe some other time. Bridgeview (and yes, I've read some of the other threads) looks like it would be worth a trip, but it's kind of a haul from Evanston on a Friday night when we're both already a bit fried from the week.

On the bright side, we will be in Ann Arbor over Thanksgiving, so maybe we can talk his family into a side trip to Dearborn for the real deal.

bump - I really need the best lebanese resteraunt in town. I have some people coming in and I need to take them to a really good place. thanks

Why don't you go to Sayat Nova , 157 Eat Ohio, Chicago .
The owner is an Armenian who spent many of his early years in Lebanon.
The cuisine is therefore a mix of Armenian and Lebanese heritage.
The settings are intimate and they have a good wine list.