Cairo Kebab

Wow- this koshary dish is so good. Very heavy I will say but if you have a cheat meal, this is a good one. It's rice, lentils, macaroni, fried onions and you can add meat to it. Got the lamb/beef that comes together. The two sauces on the side are a must. I almost wish there was something like a veggie on the side just to cut through the richness of it. The portion is HUGE and will last me 2 meals. The staff was so friendly- you can tell they take great pride in the food. They even brought over an umbrella because I was using a comp to help the glare/heat. I will def be back. I can see myself craving this.

Needed to alleviate my craving for falafel and saw this place pop up on Google Maps. Why haven't I tried this place before?!The menu is Egyptian which deviates from other Mediterranean cuisines by adding some local Egyptian dishes like Koshary (butchtered that spelling). They also had a sliced marinated liver appetizer, never seen it before but liver is amazing. Their whole menu was screaming at me to order it all!I ordered the Meza appetizer platter, extra falafel, and the liver. Plus a steak kebab dinner and added the lentil soup. Finished the order with baklava. Why not?Pick up was super simple, their service was great. Easy to order over the phone and no ridiculous tipping request for takeout. Their dining room looked really nice! Inside of the Maxwell Street plaza south of UIC, it had a lively ambiance with cultural touches. I'd definitely come back to dine in and try more of their food!Food overall was excellent. All the mezas were delicious, the baba ghanoush, hummus, and tabouli salad were light, refreshing, and not overpowering. I've found some places to be too strong, sour, or heavy, not the case here.The falafels were also very crisp, moist, but not wet. Also light and tasty.Liver. So good. Great flavor, not too gamey, tender, and the sauce pairs well with rice or flat bread.Soup was solid, my wife loved it.Kebabs were delish, fragrant rice and grilled vegetables was a complete meal by itself. I wish there was a little more meat, but I was satisfied with the overall quantity of food.Baklava was amazing. So crispy, flaky, light, not drenched in honey. Just enough flavor, one of the better one's I've tried lately.I'll be back.

Koshary - very flavorful rice based dish, twist of added macaroni was surprisingly good, fried onions toppings was pretty good too. Although the fried onions didn't seem freshly friedSpicy fried eggplant - Very unique dish with beautiful flavors. A wetter roasted eggplant, goes well with pita bread. Eggplant is super soft and juicy inside, with slightly spicy toppings, wrap it in a hot fresh pita is perfect.Molakheya - chicken is very soft and tender, with seasonings well preserved in the meat. It comes with chicken vegetable soup, interesting sour flavor.Baklava - it's perfect. You can feel the layers crunchy and melt in your mouth with right amount of sweetness Staff are very friendly!

Woah, an Egyptian restaurant has opened on Maxwell and close to where I used to live and work in Chicago! After my one visit, I can say it definitely deserves all the stars it can get.Finally, I have a chance to try Koshary, Egypt's national dish. If you look at the reviews and photos, you'll see that it's a mix of rice, lentils, and pasta, topped with a tomato sauce and fried onions. All of it is naturally vegan friendly which made this an easy order for me.I really enjoyed my first experience trying their koshary. The plate looked massive but somehow I was able to finish it on my own. It's definitely a sharable plate so I would recommend that if you are with others and can do family style. Egypt's national dish is a plus in my books.I tried some of my friend's fries from their pitas and they were some of the best fries I've had in a very long time.Service here was super friendly and attentive. They explained the different dishes to us, made suggestions, and even apologized when our food took "longer to come out," which it really hadn't been that long either!Thanks Cairo Kebab for the great meal and I hope that you all continue to stay in business.

I was surprised by this place. The foot was affordable & actually had good flavor to it. I'd have to agree with another reviewer in stating that I detect potatoes in the béchamel dish. The garlic sauce paired with the shaewerma sandwich was worth mentioning. I believe it contained yogurt & what I assume was a quite enjoyable mint note. My wife & I spent under $50 which is rare territory.

10 out of flippin 10!!! This place is absolutely amazing! Every dish we got was delicious and filling. The koshary alone could feed 2-3 people depending on your hunger level. We got three dishes: The spicy fried eggplant: oh my words! At first, I was upset we didn't get the baba ghanoush because I looooove that dish. But I was so glad our waiter told us to get this one. It was so refreshing and had a subtle spice that warms you up without being too much. You can eat it on its own or treat it like a dip. And the warm bread that came with it...absolutely incredible. I highly recommend getting at least one appetizer so you can get some of that bread. The koshary: TIP: GET IT WITH THE BEEF AND LAMB SHWARMA it's so good! I've never had a dish like it. It's savory, it's hearty, it's got some sour notes, and it just feels like it was made with love. It gives me a disassembled middle eastern lasagna. The sauces that come with it are also fire. There's a tart dressing like sauce, a spicy sauce, and I asked for extra garlic sauce (which I highly recommend doing). This dish is perfect on a cold or winter day when you just want to warm up and fill up on delicious food. Bechamel:This macaroni tastes like what I imagine a mother's love would taste like. It's so warm, and cozy, homey. It tastes like an elevated Alfredo pasta that's been baked and packed with love. This is a great dish to warm you up and melt your heart during these cold Chicago nights. My only issue with this dish is I didn't get any any of the ground beef. (Granted my friend devoured this dish so I wasn't able to eat that much). The best part of this dish, is it tastes even better as left overs.

Oh my god. The NEW go to spot. Everything was amazing from the baba ghanoush to the koshary. The baba ghanoush was $8 and I got one at Beatrix on the river which was probably 3x this one. I would pay way more than $8 for this baba ghanous. And the texture contrast in the koshary: crispy onions and the softness of the pasta was amazing. I'm definitely bringing my friends here next time for some late night drunkies

Delicious food, great service! First time trying Egyptian food and it was amazing! Cute little restaurant in UIC campus

My first time trying Egyptian food and very happy I tried it!!The service was very nice. The whole staff was kind and even the chef came to check-in. The staff was very knowledgeable and explained what everything was.We tried the...Reyash - tender and succulent grilled lamb chops seasoned with traditional herbs and spices.Lemon mint juice - lightly sweet and refreshingMezza - baba ghanoush, hummus, tabboula and taamiya with fresh pita breadKoshary - classic Egyptian dish, blend of rice, lentils, and macaroni topped with crispy onions. Served with a tangy dressing.Macaronna bechamel - classic Egyptian dish, cooked macaroni with ground beef, topped with a rice savory bechamel sauce. It's like an Egyptian lasagna.Roz bel laban - rice pudding with Egyptian spicesBasbousa - Egyptian dessert made with semolina flour, almonds, coconut, sweet rosewater syrupIf you are thinking about trying the food here, this is your sign to go for it. The food is very thoughtfully cooked that you will leave satisfied.

Visiting Chicago for the weekend and this was my favorite meal of the trip. Firstly I am not very familiar with middle eastern food so I did not know what to expect, I was very impressed with everything. Service was fantastic, server helped use decide what to get and was very attentive throughout the dinner. We were also greeted by the chief which was lovely. The dishes were quite shareable, we split 2 appetizers, 2 main dishes, and 2 desserts among 3 friends and had plenty left over. The highlight dishes for me were the Mezza (includes small plates of hummus, baba ghahoush, and taamiya with warm pita bread) and the koshary (lentil rice with macaroni topped with crispy onions). I highly recommend these. Wish to come back and have more.