Café Orchid

Saw this on Check Please and decided to come check it out for lunch one day! We loved it! Looking forward to going back for a casual, delicious, Turkish lunch!

Honestly, when I walked the space heater fire places everywhere made me a little nervous. However, I was pleasantly surprised and the food was amazing. The best lamb dish I have ever had.

Amazing food. Quaint atmosphere. Packed on a Sunday night.
I came with a large party of 8. They were able to accommodate us with no problem.
We ordered hot & cold appetizers and combination meat platter. Ohmygosh their baba is incredible. Like — best ever.
I can’t say enough good about this place!

A bit of a drive for us from Skokie, but so glad we did it. The food was a delight to the palate – fried liver, zucchini pancakes, lamb dish in eggplant, chicken roll-​up. Service was a bit hectic, but not offensive. We were seated quickly as we had made a reservation. Tables are close and conversation somewhat loud, but does not deter us. BYOB so we had wine with no service charge for the glasses. We will certainly be going back soon. A real find!

The food is always consistent and excellent at this sweet little joint. Ambiance is lacking but it had a lot of charm as long as you are fine with a super casual environment (think folding chairs). Mediocre service. BYOB. Fair prices.

We had a great experience here last night. The service was prompt and the people were friendly. The food was very good.
We tried the cold appetizer sampler, the fried liver, and the Iskender. All were really good — probably the best turkish food in town — but the fried liver was just fantastic. I could eat that stuff all day. Three plates of it, in fact. Do yourself a favor and order lots.
I also want to note just how good the service was. We were seated next to a loud party in the back dining room and the server took the time to move us to a much quieter table when the space opened. Thanks!

One of my favorites in the neighborhood. I live around the corner and go here often. The food is excellent and so fresh! You know it is good when my Turkish friends like going here with me. I love going because I have several friends that are vegetarians and I am a major carnivore. We can all get dishes we love without feeling we are having to compromise. Try the kunefe for dessert. It is so yummy! The fact that it is BYOB keeps the bill very reasonable. Unfortunately, I agree with everyone about the service. I’m used to it now. It’s like when I go to my favorite places in Chinatown. They have a TV that I wished worked because I was actually hoping to plan a viewing party there. It just sits atop a corner collecting dust.

I’ve been here once. The server was super nice even though it was a busy Saturday night. The Orchid Favorite (chicken legs with rice and salad) was absolutely on point! I didn’t order any wine or desert, but I’m definitely coming here again. And they have parking.

Any day I get to shove a dozen charred shrimp in my face is a great day. When said shrimp are served on giant decorative skewers that, like all worthwhile kitchen tools, can be used to both slaughter and tastefully present one’s prey, it’s a day of ultimate perfection. Add a basket of homemade bread, a garlicky tabouleh salad, tender chicken kebabs and tangy yogurt sauce, and you earn yourself a 4 star Unilocal review! Would give 5 were it not for the atmosphere — is that indoor/​outdoor tent addition even legal? However, the location — one block from my kung fu school, where my most savage post-​workout cravings are unleashed — and the fresh, flavorful, delicious food is more than enough to keep me coming back.

I hadn’t been here in six or so years, but couldn’t remember why… I figured it out — its that my body doesn’t really agree with the absolutely delicious traditional Turkish food, but I digress.
The ambience is interesting — the older part of the restaurant is quaint and cute. The newer part is more tent-​like. Bathrooms are clean :)
Each menu item is full of flavor and well made. We sampled everything from the bread and lentil soup (make sure to squeeze the lemon in), to kibbe, the the baked eggplant, Iskander with doner, and baklava… All excellent in flavor, many stuffed with garlic and amazing spices.
It’s also BYOB = bonus!

I had wonderful birthday dinner with my family and friends. Food was excellent and nice atmosphere.
Everybody who is in party they enjoyed very much.
I will definitely came back to eat again.
Thanks.

On a mission to try Chicago’s ethnic eateries that fly under the radar, a friend and I did dinner at Café Orchid. Although I was glad to try Turkish food for the first time, I wasn’t wowed enough for a repeat visit.
To my untrained palate, Turkish food seems similar to Greek food. (The menu included hummus, dolma, musakka, gyro, baclava and other familiar favorites.) According to rudimentary research, Turkish food tends to be a little more flavorful, seasoned with warm allspice or bay leaves and seasoned with a heavier hand. You’ll often see yogurt on the side.
More than anything, I remember my meal as oily. To be a little healthier, I ordered the Sahanda Kebab, lamb meatballs («kofte») sauteed with red and green pepper, tomato and potato; although I liked the flavor, the entire dish was blanketed in a thin layer of shining olive oil. (I preferred my leftovers, because after refrigerating overnight, I could skim some of the excess oil from the top.)
The service was a little spotty – a new waitress at every turn.
On the bright side, I would recommend our dessert to anyone with a sweet tooth. At the waitress’ suggestion, my friend and I split künefe, a bufala cheese-​stuffed phyllo pastry soaked in honey. Perfect with dark Turkish coffee on the side!
BYOB.

Went here last Tuesday. Shared the hummus and lamb dish, Uskudar. Delicious! It IS the best hummus. And the dipping bread was warm, could’ve eaten just that. The lamb was very tender and the dish was full of flavor. Everything was yummy! The service was okay, European-​style, one of those places that they’ll let you sit there for hours. But we had an hour to get a bite. When we went inside, there was no one to greet us and it was our first time, so walked around to find someone. Then we had to find the server to get our check. The place is small, so it doesn’t take long to find them. Will definitely be back for the food.

The service was terrible and I mean terrible. No host to greet you once you step in. We were seated at a wobbly corner table. The waitress was inattentive, sluggish and spoke barely any English. We asked for a napkins she brought us only one napkin, we asked fro more beard — no bread was brought to us. The check was delayed 15 min. The whole ordeal was terrible experience which only the good food made less abhorrent. In today’s market, don’t waste your time with places like this one. The food is good so maybe order take out.

Mmmm… It was okay.
I ordered:
Liver and onions — okay
Meat pie — very oily, but still okay
Pistachio honey cake dessert — very sweet.
Service was awesome.

Amazing food which was unexpected because of the shabby surrounding. The place can use a little renovation or just freshening up. If this happens it’ll get them 5 stars. The food is exceptional, no doubt! Must try!

Food is excellent. Everything I have tried is well cooked and seasoned well. I am giving them 3 stars because I have gotten poor service a couple of times. I highly recommend the food but be prepared to wait a long time for your food.

After returning from a 10 day trip to Turkey, I needed a Turkish food fix, fast, and Café Orchid seemed the most promising. My favorite thing to eat in Turkey was manti (Turkish ravioli) so I was relieved to see Café Orchid offered it (and they have a vegetarian version too!)
The manti, while tasty, are way bigger than authentic manti. Manti in Turkey are tiny– almost like spaetzle. These were like tortellini. But very tasty. I’d get it again. Husband got some kind of kabob, maybe kofte? He was happy with it. We also tried the icli kofte and they were pretty tasty (tasted like what we ate on our trip). The only thing that was actually not good that we ended up tossing was the mucver– zucchini pancakes. These were really gross. Huge and SO GREASY. Like a big greasy sponge. I think they just hadn’t been fried in hot-​enough oil. They were oozing oil even in the box, and we each tried a bite and just couldn’t stomach them. I was sad because they’re usually great. Maybe this was a one time thing but I wouldn’t try them again from here.
For the most part, the food was pretty good. Nice to have an authentic Turkish place nearby!

Friends at dinner. They love love love this place. Say the liver is best anywhere. I am not a liver fan. Can’t voice opinion. Had the chicken with spinach. We think marinated in a sauce as it was spicy with a hint of lemon. Then the lamb. Also not a huge lamb fan but
Looked really really good. Place is ok in décor and service was ok. Had wine with dinner. Not a fancy place to look at. Would be interested to share the sardines wrapped in grape leaves and love love the eggplant stuffed with tomatoes and onions I can’t spell it but it is amazing. Definitely a wonderful meal.

Came here on a work lunch — the service was really friendly and helpful, and the food was really good. We split an appetizer of hummus to start — it actually came with this soft bread (versus what I think is the standard pita/​naan bread), and was fresh and tasty. I got the lamb shish kebab entrée with a side salad and rice. The lamb was cooked really well and seasoned perfectly. I ended my meal with a turkish coffee (hello strong and delicious happiness to keep me energized through my afternoon meetings!!!) which came with a small square of Turkish Delight. It was the first time I had Turkish Delight and I’m not entirely sure I’m a fan, textually it’s kind of… squishy. and chewy. at the same time. But I think that is just how Turkish Delight is — all of the food that the restaurant cooked was on point and I will definitely come back for lunch in the future.

My husband and I stopped by Café Orchid on a whim one Thursday evening and were more than pleased with our dinner experience!
When we arrived at the restaurant, we were disappointed to find no parking in the lot; however there were numerous quick spots to the left of the restaurant; great, problem solved!
We get seated quickly in the indoor/​outdoor makeshift portion of the restaurant. It wasn’t fancy date worthy, but definitely a fine ambience for Thursday evening.
We received warm Turkish break with olive oil and butter. We had the sigara borek as the appetizer and it was delicious! It was just how I remember it as a child. This is a crispy cigar shaped phyllo dough and cheese vehicle of deliciousness. In addition to this, I ordered the Iskender and my husband ordered the manti. These were both the most authentic Turkish food that I have had outside of Turkey! The Iskender was very filling and both had an option of tomato or butter sauce.
The icing on the cake came when we asked for the check, and our wonderful Turkish waitress apologized for any wait we experienced and gave us the most delicious baklavah. We were in heaven. This baklavah wasn’t too syrup-​y or dry, it was perfect. She was so polite and apologetic, despite the fact that everything came out on time! We appreciated her making that extra effort! We will definitely be back!

Café Orchid is truly a neighborhood gem. The food is fresh and really well executed, the atmosphere is nice, and the prices are reasonable (and byob!!). The only issue I’ve ever had there has been related to the service. That’s not to say it’s bad, I’ve had both good and bad experiences, and it seems that most problems may stem from a cultural barrier more so than intent or negligence.
The baba ghanouj, lentil fingers, Iskander, pide, and Sultan’s Delight are standout items, always with lamb of course. The Doner is okay but doesn’t stand up to the quality of some of the other dishes.

This has been one of our go to places for years. I was surprised to see I hadn’t added a review. Their baba ganoush is the best. We also love the mixed grill kebab. Food is consistently very high quality.
Part of the reason I came on though was to take my review from 5 stars down to 4. Lately they have been very stingy/​forgetful about the extras like sauce and bread. My wife even got into an unpleasant argument on the phone about the amount of bread we got when we ordered extra.
Tonight we had one order of bread for two babas, and they didn’t include any sauces. I’m still going to order from here and would recommend it to others.

Had this for the first time last night. Wouldn’t consider Turkish food to be foreign cause I’m quite adventurous in my food choices and actually spent some time in Turkey last summer. My friend and I ordered the Chicken shish with bulgar and shared a lentil soup and green salad.
This was for a delivery service. Estimated wait time of 50 minutes. Actual time took was a lot faster than estimated, I believe it was somewhere around 30 minutes.
Lentil soup was very delicious. Smokey, thick and had really well developed flavor. The salad was perfectly dressed, the greens and veggies were crisp and tasty. Surprising considering the fact that it had to be delivered and generally salads are soggy messes. The dressing had perfect acidity and fruity notes of the olive oil really came out and complimented the salad well.
Finally onto the chicken shish. Cubes of chicken charred to juicy perfection. Upon initial glance, it looked as though the chicken would be dry cause of the appearance but boy it was JUICY! The bulgar that came with it was red and cooked in tomato paste. Paired very well with the succulent chicken. The meals usually come with a jajik? I believe, and a spicy red pepper paste that resembles sambal. I dipped the bread that they gave us in both sauces and scarfed it down with my meal, it was delicious.
If you haven’t tried Turkish food or have been wanting to try, head to Café Orchid or tried to get a take out. I hear the wait can be quite long on weekends so do take caution.

Wow, I’m impressed, the owner just called and apologized for the bad experience I had last night. He was a gentleman and did promise to deal with the delivery driver. As for the very slow service, it happens, but it’s about how a restaurant deals with a rough night. I am going to go back and try Café Orchid again, as I have had many good experiences in the past.
I will definitely follow up with another review after my next visit or delivery. Thank you for caring enough to reach out and care about your customers!