Definitely on the radar now - thanks!

Had slight trepidation in bringing my sister and her 2 grandkids here for lunch because I've never seen a woman or a child in the place. Couldn't have been more wrong. From the guy who opened the door saying "welcome to Pakistan" to the free mango juice boxes for the kids, the questions of "do they like spicy food/cricket (on the tv)" and the frequent smiles from all around... it was an excellent opportunity for them to feel the love. Food was assertively seasoned w/cardamon and fresh ginger. They dug the naan and the limes most (kids) but we dug the goat qorma (and marrow), aloo gobi and frontier chix, that was as good as the 1st time I'd had it w/gwiv. And while not replacing Khan in my heart of hearts, it's a great addition to the playbook.

Does anyone have notes or a pic of their daily specials?

Jefe wrote:Does anyone have notes or a pic of their daily specials?

Your wish is my command . . .

While there's these pix, I've never found anything avail but what's listed on the main board behind the register, usually 5 items or so, that do not correspond w/what's listed here as daily specs.

Thanks for the info and tips guys! Hoping to score nihari or another goat dish this week.

Jazzfood wrote:that do not correspond w/what's listed here as daily specs.

I started cross checking the daily whiteboard menu with the listed daily specials in my picture files until I realized I was going full-on 246-toothpicks and stopped before I got the urge for Wapner reruns. From what I saw Alan is mostly correct, though there is some loose correlation. Anyway, half the fun is not know exactly whats available aside from delicious.

If there's something specific you are looking for call, Pakeeza seems to fill in the daily specials whiteboard around noon, though I imagine they know earlier.

Almost none of the boards show prices either, which is a disincentive to me.

Katie wrote:Almost none of the boards show prices either, which is a disincentive to me.

If you'd ever been there or anywhere like this, you'd understand. The place is dirt cheap.

=R=

I don't know about that; the prices I do see, for the Monday specials, range from $7 to $13. You may say those are dirt-cheap prices, but I can't help wondering if the prices not shown are higher.

I've had nothing over $13 and most good-excellent that I've felt is worth every cent. This Saturday they did offer me sm or lg, but I don't remember that happening before.

Don't forget to wash your hands, then avoid using your left hand (if pos) and tip well.

Katie wrote:I don't know about that; the prices I do see, for the Monday specials, range from $7 to $13. You may say those are dirt-cheap prices, but I can't help wondering if the prices not shown are higher.

As much as I appreciate being able to obtain information via the internet (especially here at LTH), sometimes there's just no substitute for getting out from behind one's screen and going out to actually experience something in person. This is how real knowledge and information are gained (and not just as they pertain to food).

One of the great things about living in Chicagoland is the plethora of legitimate food options available here. Even for someone like myself (living in Lake County), the 'barriers to entry' to going out and having a meal somewhere, anywhere, in Chicagoland are relatively low. Maybe one has to commute for a bit longer than one would like to get there. But after that relatively low price paid, one is able to sample all sorts of cuisines that might only be available in a few U.S. cities, if not the world.

The bottom line is that there's no substitute for experience and living here, there's no reason not to prioritize gaining such experience, especially in areas about which one is passionate.

That said, in the case of Pakeeza, even if you're simply going on information provided on this thread, it's pretty clear that it's a no-frills, neighborhood store front frequented by cab drivers - and it puts out some very legitimate food. But I'm confused how concerns about prices could even come to mind. Other than mass-produced fast food, this has got to be some of the least expensive food available anywhere in town. After reading this thread (and these forums for well over a decade), that seems clear enough, even if it isn't directly spelled out with tidy pictures of menus showing pricing of every item. Sometimes, I guess, it's hard to see the forest for the trees. *shrug*

=R=

We went and had a goat stew and the frontier chicken. The frontier chicken was really mediocre being bland, no caramelization and somewhat dry chicken pieces. The goat stew was better with a very subtle, cardamom heavy spice mix, but a bit overly rich and very high bone to meat ratio.

I also think a full order is expensive as it just seems like you get more naan, way too much for any one (or even two) person to consume.

3 of us shared 5 dishes and the bill was $38. Other than Ghareeb Nawaz (or Redhot Ranch), it doesn't get much cheaper than that. There was quite a bit of naan (included, making the meal an even better value) -- and it ended up being the best naan I've had anywere in town -- but after talking with the counter man, we decided we didn't need all that would have come with our lunch, so we only took half of it . . . with the assurance that if we wanted more, all we had to do was ask. I just wish I liked the rest of food more. I'll go back and give it another try sooner than later.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote: If you'd ever been there or anywhere like this, you'd understand. The place is dirt cheap. =R=

This is why the conversation turned to price. Family House, where I recently had five dishes for a total post-tax cost of $23 (and I think that was WITH tip) is "dirt cheap"; Pakeeza, where two dishes and naan was $26 on Friday, is not as. It's a good value, to be sure, but it's more expensive than Ghareeb or nearby joints (e.g., the Somali joint on Orleans, or the Jibek Jolu offshoot right off Orleans).

chezbrad wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote: If you'd ever been there or anywhere like this, you'd understand. The place is dirt cheap. =R=

This is why the conversation turned to price. Family House, where I recently had five dishes for a total post-tax cost of $23 (and I think that was WITH tip) is "dirt cheap"; Pakeeza, where two dishes and naan was $26 on Friday, is not as. It's a good value, to be sure, but it's more expensive than Ghareeb or nearby joints (e.g., the Somali joint on Orleans, or the Jibek Jolu offshoot right off Orleans).

I don't believe that's actually why the conversation turned to price and all these places are very much in the 'cheap eats' category.

=R=

Fwiw, when I dined here solo I paid $9 for a half order of frontier chix with naan & bhindi. It filled me up plenty and I took half of my naan to go. The times I've ordered full plates ($13ish) its been enough food to bring home for a 2nd meal. So two meals-worth for $13, or $6.50 per serving.

$7- $9 for a huge lunch these days is cheap by any standards. Knowing the overhead of running a restaurant, I don't want to pay less than this.

Jibek Jolu on Orleans/Oak cheap?
Questionable cheburek is $3.75. Haha.
Russian soups for $5-$7 cheap?
Plus some people like to wash their feet in the sink and you can't do it in Jibek Jolu.

We Pakeeza-ed a few weeks ago, and it was GLORIOUS.
Oddly, for such A Pakistani tinged, meat joint, the veggie dishes were better than the meats. Our spread for two:


Chicken 65 tasted like an Indian tinged tobasco sauce. Still good, but not much depth of flavor to the heat, outside of, well...tobasco. When scooped with a ginger sliver, the flavor popped a little more:


Nihari was decent. I've had better.

Yellow potato dish seemed plain ish at first, but depth of flavor grew immensely as we ate.

Dal had a Texas chili flavor shining through. Probably a good hit of cumin. Loved it. Popped.

The un-named veggie dish was zucchini, I think. I ordered half portions of nihari, chicken 65, and daal, and then inquired about rice and naans. The gentleman behind the counter asked if I wanted him to just bring me a full meal out, and the potatoes, zucchini, and chicken biryani just showed up. This zucchini was perhaps one of the best things I've eaten lately, and I don't even know what it was. It was definitely not on the menu board, and as a matter of fact, the gentleman behind the counter told me they didn't really have any veggie dishes that day yet.
Tomato-y sauce, sizzling hot, garlicky, I wish I could explain better. It was, in a word, fantastic. I thought it had to be eggplant, but I'm convinced was zucchini:


This place surprised us. The price was a little north of standard cabbie joints, I think, but it was easily worth every penny. GEM.

WARNING: change in management alert.

I was in for lunch about a month ago and sensed a few new details– flat screens with a digital menu and a few familiar faces missing, though it did not prepare me for what we experienced today at lunch. We knew right away things were awry. New faces behind the counter. A very scant menu board (scrawled on the dry erase, the flat screens seemed to be malfunctioning.) There were no meat curries on the menu, I asked & they said they weren't ready yet. And they were "out" of silverware.

The place was busy. The naan was pretty much the same (though I thought it had a spongier/denser crumb, but still crackly in spots and well blistered.) We ordered frontier chicken and got a completely different dish– strips of white meat chicken (not dry, at least) in a red curry gravy with a decent spicing. Nothing exceptional. We ordered the other meat option on the menu, a decent and homey qeema matar. Bindi was okay and seemed pretty on course.

We agreed the naan is the star of the show at Pakeeza. But without rich meaty gravy for sopping and the bold textures of the old frontier chicken, the place has become a lot less tempting. I'll give it another shot, but I'm pretty bummed about the changes.

On the way out I saw a huge new chef/ under new management sign. Boo!

Yes, labmom53 and I noticed the changes in the "decor" along with the annoying paucity of flatware and paper napkins.

And the pool table is gone--can't eat & watch the spectacle of the guys juking the balls and non-English kibitzing each other anymore! *sigh*

At least, when we were there a few weeks ago, the paan man was still around to assemble his million-ingredient creations, and that helped preserve some of the previous ambiance.

mhl wrote:Yes, labmom53 and I noticed the changes in the "decor" along with the annoying paucity of flatware and paper napkins.

And the pool table is gone--can't eat & watch the spectacle of the guys juking the balls and non-English kibitzing each other anymore! *sigh*

I remembered the gist of MHL and Jefe's post, new chef, but not details or I'd taken a picture of both the pool table, yes, the pool table was very much in evidence, and loads of silverware and napkins, albeit in a different spot.

Most importantly, both my dining companion and I thought Pakeeza terrific noon today, in fact our white board special beef haleem tastier than previous, noticeably spicy with a rich viscosity and topknot of fried onions and jalapeno. Tender chicken biryani, wonderful rich goat quorma, also white board specials, fantastic naan, and gratis dal rounding out lunch.



Pakeeza, new chef, Count me a Fan!

Walked over to Pakeeza for lunch this afternoon to find that the restaurant is currently closed while the mosque is being rehabilitated. I would call first before I headed over again to see if they are open. It looked liked they might have been closed for a while.

Ashamed I had not given the new management another try in a year, I suppose I developed Egg-o-holism during the lapse.

I'm happy to report new Pakeeza was firing on all cylinders today. New, but friendly faces at the counter. Yes, new flatscreen menu, but dry erase too!

A little bummed no frontier chicken on the menu today (frontier chicken rice tho.) I got a good peak at the tandoor ablaze in the back and the naan was still the best in town.

New to me today was dal gosht and it was a good reminder that (old and new) Pakeeza excel in meat in gravy– several generous hunks of fork- tender goat with lil rib nubbins in a lusciously rich and spiced lentil-fortified curry.