George's Kabab Grill - "مطعم كباب جورج"

George's Kabab Grill is a sleeper. In a forum dominated by heavy-hitters like Salam, Semiramis and Al-Khayameih, it hasn't gotten much mention. On the streets, more specifically, just west of Kedzie on the north side of Lawrence, tucked between Kid Koko fashions and an asthma clinic, a pair of satellite dishes pointing regally upwards, George's is king. Open 24 hours, hopping at 3am on a Saturday, and still doing great business despite the two other Iraqi/Assyrian places book-ending it to the east (Al-Amira) and west (Ur), it's one of my favorite Middle Eastern places in Chicago, and certainly my favorite Assyrian (sorry Big Buns).

Nominally, its an Assyrian place. But look a little closer and witness the myriad guests of king George - Palestinians and South Asians, cops and thick-necked eastern-Europeans, some pulling up to the stately bar in front of the open kitchen, others reclining in the spacious dining room, soaking in old Iraqi music videos, most likely Nazem El Ghazali singing his love for the passing neighbor girl, imploring "حلوة رويني عتشان مي اسقيني " or "oh beauty, won't you nourish me, I am thirsty, water me."

Now, I'm no Nazem El Ghazali, and the proprietor Abu Shedrack (George) is no pretty neighbor girl. Far from it. But nourish he does.

Not everything on the menu is great. Avoid anything Levantine - specifically hummus, baba and falafel. Hey, it's an Iraqi joint. Would you expect a Mexican place to cook up a mean lomo saltado?

Start with turmeric torshi (pickled cabbage). Order kibbe mosul (baked, meat-stuffed bulgur) for an appetizer. Ask for giardiniera. They have a tub of it up front.

Have a royal meal of their excellent kufta, shawerma sandwiches in Iraqi samoon bread, or best of all, grilled, impeccably fresh-tasting catfish (masgouf), with or without a simple curried tomato sauce. Served with fluffy-as-clouds basmati rice (how you like them apples Salam???) and a humble stew of the day (choose white beans). On weekends, take unsuspecting friends and watch their horror as the eastern European waitress delicately places a stewed lamb head (pacha) in front of you.

Let me go back to the catfish for a moment, because it's unlike any I've had. A perfect filet, charred but flaky, and devoid of the swamp funk I normally associate with catfish. A squeeze of lemon and some hot sauce. Heaven. Firdaus.



Skip dessert, go down the block to Nazareth.

George's Kabab Grill
3216 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL‎ (773) 588-1800‎

Very fine post, Habibi, and that catfish (one of the frequently sustainable selections on many menus) looks incredible. I wonder if this is a "take" on a traditional Iraqi dish featuring some other fish.

Pickles are a wonderful way to begin a meal: sourness gets one salivating.

Must admit, when I saw the Ghazali line, I couldn't help but think of the line from "Yes, Georgio" that pretty much ended Pavarotti's film career: "You are a beautiful flower. Let Fini water you."

David Hammond wrote:Very fine post, Habibi, and that catfish (one of the frequently sustainable selections on many menus) looks incredible. I wonder if this is a "take" on a traditional Iraqi dish featuring some other fish.

This dish is made with Pomfret at some Assyrian restaurants. Pomfret is more closely related to the Iraqi river fish normally used in the dish, which is somewhat snapper-like in appearance. In fact, Pomfret is sometimes referred to as "River Snapper".

It's good to see Georges' is back up to par. Years ago (1996-ish) thay had the absolute best shawirma sandwich in the city, served on some of that wonderful bread instead of pita, with some of that pickled cabbage - a knock out. They sort of lost it for a while (2000-ish) and I haven't been back since. I'll have to head up that way and see if it reminds me of old times.

Habibi, what does the "subtitle" of this thread mean? I'm impressed that a keyboard can type those characters, and that they can be entered into LTHForum, but I'd love to know the meaning. Is it simply Arabic/Assyrian/Iraqi (excuse my ignorance for not knowing the differences in those languages) for "George's Kabab Grill," or does it say something beyond that?

Great post and pic; I love all posts re: fish.

Is the fillet skin-on?

mrefjl wrote: Years ago (1996-ish) thay had the absolute best shawirma sandwich in the city, served on some of that wonderful bread instead of pita, with some of that pickled cabbage - a knock out.

I was also wondering if they still use Samoon bread to make sandwiches. A pretty typical Assyrian sandwich is made on Samoon with Torshi (the pickled cabbage). Samoon only stays fresh for a day, and doesn't freeze that well, so many restaurants don't use it (like Sahara Kabob quit using Samoon despite the "big buns" in the original restaurant name) . Venus is my current favorite for Gus (shawerma) and Chicken Kebab sandwiches. There you have your choice of fresh Samoon or those thin pitas (from sanabel). The lentil soup at Venus, IMHO, is the best in the city. Another place that uses Samoon for sandwiches is Uncle's on Devon, but the last time I was there, the bread was obviously frozen, then thawed. It made a big difference. Kebab II on Devon serves Assyrian sandwiches on French bread with a schmear of Hummus, which is interesting (and pretty tasty), but their meat is not as good as the other places mentioned above.

Habibi, are you sure the fish was Catfish? From the photo it appears to have the balloon shape of a Pomfret. They may just not know the proper translation. Was it grilled skin-on, and was the skin shiny silver and gold in color? I wonder if catfish is just cut to resemble the snapper-ish Iraqi river-fish.

As to choosing a favorite Assyrian restaurant, I find it impossible. Each one does a few dishes that are either unique or well executed. Some make particularly good Gus, some offer unusual deserts or have great lentil soup. For instance, nobody can beat Larsa's Lahim Beajin (lahmajun). What makes Big Buns stand out, are the unusual Assyrian specials they offer. Uncle's makes Pascha on the weekends. I really liked Iraq Kebab around the corner on Kedzie, but it changed into a mediocre Arab restaurant (they do sell the cheapest falafels in town, not bad either). Iraqi Kebab served wonderful grilled Pomfret. Anyhow, I have not been to George's in a long time, and think I owe them a visit.

BTW, I believe the owners of Uncle's, Georges and Kebab II are all related.

David Hammond wrote: Must admit, when I saw the Ghazali line, I couldn't help but think of the line from "Yes, Georgio" that pretty much ended Pavarotti's film career: "You are a beautiful flower. Let Fini water you."

Dave, I don't blame you there and the humor wasn't lost on me when I wrote the post. I tried again and again to approximate the Arabic word, which literally means to water/irrigate. On reflection "quench" would have captured the substance of how the verb is used in that sentence. Reminds of another classic line, this one from Dr. Funkenstein (George Clinton) - "You're the dog, and I'm the tree, so why don't you.........." well, you know how it goes.

riddlemay wrote:Habibi, what does the "subtitle" of this thread mean? I'm impressed that a keyboard can type those characters, and that they can be entered into LTHForum, but I'd love to know the meaning. Is it simply Arabic/Assyrian/Iraqi (excuse my ignorance for not knowing the differences in those languages) for "George's Kabab Grill," or does it say something beyond that?

The tag line simply repeats the name of the restaurant in Arabic. Many Assyrians speak Arabic as well as their native Aramaic, which has a unique alphabet, and if I'm not mistaken, was used in the film "Passion of the Christ."

d4v3 wrote:Habibi, are you sure the fish was Catfish? From the photo it appears to have the balloon shape of a Pomfret. They may just not know the proper translation. Was it grilled skin-on, and was the skin shiny silver and gold in color? I wonder if catfish is just cut to resemble the snapper-ish Iraqi river-fish.

Not sure if it was catfish. I have limited experience, but it didn't have the funk I normally associate with catfish. It was skin-on and filleted. As far as I know, the traditional fish used for Masgouf in Baghdad is a river carp. It's usually roasted next to an open fire. The masgouf we get here seems to resemble the real thing in name only. Still a delicious fish preparation.

As for the samoon - it's very possible that they don't have it. I had a good shawerma sandwich at George's a few weeks ago, but on reflection, it was served wrapped in a thin pita, not samoon. When I wrote the post I think I was confusing that memory with a sandwich I had at Uncle's on Devon, which definitely uses samoon and makes a mean shawerma sandwich.

*edited because I never proofread my posts.

Habibi wrote:The tag line simply repeats the name of the restaurant in Arabic. Many Assyrians speak Arabic as well as their native Aramaic, which has a unique alphabet, and if I'm not mistaken, was used in the film "Passion of the Christ."

Thanks, H.

Habibi wrote:Not sure if it was catfish. I have limited experience, but it didn't have the funk I normally associate with catfish. It was skin-on and filleted.

I caught the slightest bit of 'funk,' not displeasing in the least, I thought crispy edged grilled catfish delicious. (I asked a gent who I took to be the owner the type of fish)

Masgouf, catfish topped with tomato sauce



Generous portion of turmeric yellow torshi, belly warming lentil soup, the efficient waitress split 2 bowls into 4 for us without batting an eye, and crunchy cucumber, onion, tomato salad with a wedge of lemon to start. Salad and torshi are gratis.

Torshi



White bean stew though a shade bland nailed bean texture, skin offering slight resistance yielding to creamy interior. Nondescript green bean stew though when poured on the fluffy rice, as I believe intended, took on another dimension.

White Bean Stew



Solid Cornish Hen, moist, lightly charred, good flavor. Not quite up to my favorite at Al-Khaymeih, but a worthy version.

Cornish Hen



Kubba Mosul, think flat crisp version of kibbe, I found George's version slightly under seasoned, but being a fan of all things crisp its hard not to like thin crispy bulgur encasing ground beef. Both Al Amira and Sahara Kabob serve kubba mosul, with Sahara Kabob offering an interesting steamed version as well.

Kubba Mosul



Lamb Kalala is on my order again list, sweet caramelized onions really popped the flavor of slightly chewy lamb.

Lamb Kalala

Habibi wrote:As for the samoon -

I was going to say yes, George's is using samoon, but on reflection I'd guess it actually halved french bread. They were very generous with the portions, though the bread was nothing special.

George's Kabab



Thanks to Habibi for the post, good food, reasonable prices, comfortable surroundings, efficient service, fluffy rice and an overall relaxed atmosphere, George's Kabab, along with Al Amira is another tasty arrow in the Kedize/Lawrence 24/7 quiver.

George's Kabab



Enjoy,
Gary

After reading an New York Times article on masgouf earlier this fall, I was quite thankful of this post; as it happened, a friend randomly asked for "catfish that wasn't fried." And we were off.

Now, don't get me wrong: this was a very pleasant fish dish, cooked until tender and mighty tasty with a shot of acid and a forkful of rice. But it's also a cruel tease: the crispy pieces surrounding the bone are smoky, haunting, transcendent--a veritable glimpse of what masgouf, I figure, is supposed to be. Alas, the dish itself was mostly just a well-cooked, flaky piece of catfish; the "real" masgouf portion seemed ethereal and ephemeral.

Also: the hummus is surprisingly excellent, and can really only be compared to Joel Robuchon's pomme puree, in that it was mostly olive oil and some chickpeas (just as his mashed potatoes are all cream butter with a little potato added on top). I didn't care for the lamb kalala, which I found not unlike a severely overcooked pepper steak; we left most of it half un-eaten.

We were comped dessert and tea; service was excellent, and the polyglot of folks that make up the place (eastern European waitress, Ecuadorian cook, the large Mexican family next to us who ordered only masgouf, the cabbies) make this place truer to what Chicago is than just about anywhere.

According to FishBase. The two most commercially available fish in Iraq are the Common Carp (which was introduced), and a of type of Perch called Snubnose Emporer (which closely resembles the Pomfret served by some local Assyrian Restaurants). There are some other perch refered to as SeaBream and "Nile Tilapia". There are also at least two dozen native types of river carp. Some local names for Carp are Shilik, Mangar or Biss, Shabbout, Himri and Bunni. Obviously River Carp are very important in the culture. There is also a native mullett called Hishni and a shad called shour.

I wonder why local Assyrian Restaurants don't use carp instead of catfish? It probably actually lends itself better to grilling (being oily). I wonder if they are catering to American's aversion to carp or they actually prefer catfish. I have had whole carp in Chinese restaurants. Not my favorite fish for sure (but certainly edible).

I (heart) FishBase. I can get lost for hours there.

http://www.fishbase.org

edited:

Upon closer examination of Fishbase, it appears there are several types of Catfish living in the rivers and ponds of Iraq. Two are native species and two were introduced, including the North African Catfish, which is grown widely for food in Africa (and walks on land at night).

Is George's closed? Somebody tell me George's isn't closed ....

!!! لا سمح الله

Closed and the building for sale for several months now.

Sorry, wish I had better news. I enjoyed my few visits to George's as well.

Buddy

A Puerto Rican restaurant has taken this spot! El Picosito Jibaro
http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-picosito-jibaro-chicago
They still have the George's Kabab Grill awning over the store front.
PS. sorry for blurred picture took it while driving by! ::))

Je Suis George

Yeah, we live nearby, and I posted about it several months ago in the Openings & Closings thread.

Puerto Rican, based on the name and menu items.

@jeffB
Thanks changed my post from Mexican to Puerto Rican restaurant

Rif ::))