Sofra Turkish Kitchen

I didn’t finish the review I started for SOFRA Turkish Kitchen. I returned to continue my study on the Turkish Cuisine, and the restaurant is called now «ALA TOO» and it is specific Kyrgyzstan. I am so glad the Turkish chef didn’t leave!!! We had Lentil soup (Turkish specific) and Manty (steamed dumplings stuffed with beef and onions — Kyrgyz specially). Both were very good.
The lamb shank was AWESOME, sooo tender, it was melting in your mouth!!!
Another power dish (Turkish style) was the Iskender Kebap (layers of Doner Kebap on a bed of lightly crisped pieces of pita bread, garnished with yogurt and homemade tomato sauce).
Lagman (beef fried with vegetables and home pulled thick noodles) is good too. But the Iskender Kebap is my favorite!
I miss the Turkish music, though!

Great place for dinner with family. Authentic Mediterranean and Turkish foods. Their lentil soup & iced tea are so fresh as well. Great place overall.

⁴¹⁄₂ the meat was very good. Baklava was questionable but they were gracious enough to change it to a different sweet. It was a great date and I would go there again.
P. S. The décor was very middle eastern and I felt like sitting inside a tent while eating which added to the experience.

Friendly service, good, fresh, authentic food. Beautiful interior. Although I came with my family, this would be a great date spot.
Tip: try the Turkish white wine (I forgot its official name). It was delicious.

The lamb was delicious, and the moussaka was not the usual Greek style but also delicious. Prices were reasonable, and there was a belly dancer at 9pm for entertainment.
We used a travelzoo deal and can’t wait to go back.

Two words: Lamb Shank. Two more: Lentil Soup. Yet another two: Great Service. Beautiful interior, great place for a date. Cozy

Very friendly service!
Tasty food! Ordered kebab and their house special (the one with eggplant and beef) very satisfied.
This place is nicely decorated too.
We found it through Groupon deal. Will come again.

Ohhhh no don’t go there plz that place is one the worst and only Turkish food ve had, seriously who gives cold bread and an hour later food and the food suck ?!

My husband and I came here for a light early dinner on a Sunday evening. The place was completely empty, which was understandable given the time. Our server was very friendly and offered us either a floor table or a conventional one. We chose the normal kind, though if I were to linger there, I’d probably go with one of the comfy-​looking floor ones.
Since we weren’t starving, we ordered a few starters and one main dish to share. My main interest in trying Sofra was to sample the mushroom manti, which is kind of like the Turkish answer to ravioli. It’s not common to find vegetarian manti, especially here, so I was pretty excited. We also ordered enginar, which consisted of assorted veggies topped with artichoke hearts and a mozzarella-​like white cheese. Next was mucver, which are fried zucchini fritters with yogurt sauce. My husband also tried the lentil soup. The lentil soup was very tasty, and something that probably any self-​respecting Turkish restaurant should be able to do well. It was so nice for a cold night. The enginar and mucver were both good but not remarkable, so I would order something else next time. If I were to come back, I would definitely consider the manti again. My feeling was that they were homemade, rather than frozen or something. The skins were a little bit bouncy and the filling was pretty flavorful. The dumplings were topped with a pretty simple tomato sauce and seasoned yogurt (definitely contained dried mint). I regret not having the time/​stomach space to try manti when we visited Istanbul last February, so I don’t have anything to compare Sofra’s to. But they were good and hearty and worth getting.
They advertise their homemade bread, which is brought to the table when you sit. While it isn’t bad, it’s about the level of what I could make at home pretty easily – it doesn’t taste like something a professional baker would make. If you want really good, professional Turkish bread, go to Turkish Cuisine in Andersonville, and try their pide (kind of like a Turkish pizza).

This is a wonderful date restaurant. The décor is simultaneously warm and beautiful. There was soft, traditional Turkish music playing in the background. You can either sit in the front on cushions around a low table, or at a regular table in the middle or back. The cushioned spots are crowd pleasers, so you should reserve those tables head of time if you’re going during a peak time.
We ordered the humus appetizer, which comes with pita bread. Our bread got there a little after our humus, and we were so hungry that we ate some of it just with forks– and it was good that way too! Our waitress was very accommodating of us taking a while to decide and helpful explaining the food. I got the Beyti Chicken, and my boyfriend got the beef yogurt kebab. Our food came relatively quickly– but not so quickly that we felt rushed. It was very relaxing and romantic.
My Beyti Chicken was a 5÷5− my mouth is watering thinking of it right now. It was delicious, tender chunks of chicken inside a wrap bread (similar to Arabic shrak bread) covered with tomato sauce. The sauce was sweet and savory at the same time– mmm! And it came with rice pilaf and a salad made from good greens and spinach.
Boyfriend rates his dinner ³⁄₅ because he didn’t care for the tomato sauce and because the beef was a little chewy. However, he said that he probably wouldn’t like the tomato sauce regardless of whether it was well– or poorly– prepared because he thinks it’s just not his thing. As a rule, I don’t eat beef unless it’s to sample someone else’s dinner because I honestly just don’t like it enough to eat more than a small bite. HOWEVER, his was SO good. It was the first time I’ve had beef that didn’t leave that aftertaste (that maybe other people don’t mind but that I think is disgusting).
Afterwards, the waitress brought us a plate of the dessert to look at. She was very honest in her descriptions and recommendations, which I really appreciated because obviously desert should be a special treat. Her top recommendations were the sekerpare cookies, the kazandibi and the tube baklava. I leaned toward the kadayif because it reminded me of crunchy kunafeh, which I loved at Habiba in Amman. However, we ultimately went for the round baklava because we figured she knew what she was talking about– and it was SO worth it. I have NEVER had such good baklava at any restaurant, Greek, Lebanese, Iraqi, anything before. Not even in the actual Middle East. SO good.
This was such a great experience, and such a great date restaurant. As my previous reviews probably state, my experience depends a lot on the service. This woman was so pleasant, so friendly and nice, but also never felt like she was rushing us. I loved this place as A La Turka, and I love it even more as Sofra. I highly recommend it.

Although I’m not itching to go back anytime soon, my experience at Sofra was a solid one. I would like to give it 3.5 stars, but since Unilocal does not have this option I must give it 3. Why wasn’t it worthy of 4 stars you ask? Well I will tell you.
The atmosphere and overall concept of the restaurant was well stated. Our server was very attentive and was in no rush to get us out the door. However, some of the dishes were lacking in flavor and a bit overpriced.
Lentil Soup — very unique flavor. unlike any other lentil soup I’ve tasted — that’s a good thing
Shepard Salad — very fresh and the dressing was very flavorful — found out the spice they used is called sumac. I always thought hummus was topped off with paprika, but apparently it’s sumac spice most restaurants use
Dolma — the oil was a bit overwhelming. I probably would not eat this again.
Turkish Delight — my friend ordered this one. I guess it’s her favorite — Although, it was way too expensive. I tried the hummus and I wasn’t very impressed. I think trader joes makes a better hummus (not a compliment, obviously)
Vegetable Mussaka — I was really disappointed in this dish. I ate it, but there was no spice present in the tomato sauce. You could tell the sauce wasn’t freshly made — probably from a can. Furthermore, It was a bit on the expensive side considering the dish comprised of vegetables and rice.
I would come back, but probably stay away from the vegetable mussaka and dolma.

The atmosphere: Quiet & cozy. There is some floor seating, and quite a few western tables. My favorite thing about this place is that there is no rush to get the customers out of the store– which is rare to find in Chicago. We had a long meal, some tea & coffee afterwards, and at no point did we feel like we were pressured to leave.
The food was alright. The bite of Kabob I had was fantastic– next time, I’m definitely sticking to those. The lamb shank was a bit overdone, and the meat quality was good but not great, a bit fatty even for lamb. The beef in the Karniyarik looked drenched in fat, but other than that the dish was very well done.
This place is perfect for a rainy thursday night with friends, but I don’t think I’d come back. Maybe if I had the Kabob, I’d give it 4 stars.

I cane to Sofra with a large group for a friend’s birthday party on a Saturday night. The service was wonderful for such a big group, helping us with the alcohol we brought and allowing me to store the cake I brought in their kitchen. They also brought out a round of appetizers on the house, which was very nice.
The atmosphere was great, mostly due to the friendly and helpful staff. The belly dancer wasn’t that great but she was a nice source of entertainment for the group.
As for the food, it was okay. Definitely wasn’t bad, but not a whole lot stood out. The pita was fresh and the appetizer salad was tasty but outside of that nothing really blew me away. I’d like to say I would go back for the service but none of the food would warrant a special trip.

Sofra is the best OVERALL turkish experience I’ve had yet in Chicago. The atmosphere, service, and food are all fantastic. When I went, the place was completely dead minus our table, but the place gets packed on weekends apparently with dancers. The atmosphere is very comfy and warming compared to other places nearby. If you are lucky you can have the option to sit at a floor table with pillows, etc.
The food is great, and was served hot and quickly. The waiter was attentive and helpful for my mother. He gave us good recommendations and was able to help out with our orders. The prices are manageable, but after the appetizer, food, dessert, and tea + tip, it was $ 50 for 2 people. Seems a little high…
Overall, a great place that I’m sure is even better when swingin (literally, with the belly-​dancers). After a few more visits I may increase to 5 stars… maybe.
Service: ⁹⁄₁₀
Food: ⁹⁄₁₀
Atmosphere: ⁹⁄₁₀

My husband and I came here for an early dinner. First people in the restaurant for dinner. Waitstaff was friendly, and the fresh bread and pita good. Our main dishes were chicken kebab and iskender were quite good, a little pricey but flavorful and reminiscent of the same dishes we had when in Istanbul.
I may have given this place four stars except the dessert left ALOT to be desired. We ordered baklava, my favorite Turkish dessert (I don’t even want to disclose how much baklava I ate in Istanbul). Well this baklava had no nuts (a key component) and barely any honey and the phyllo tasted like it was stale and had been resting in the fridge for days. So we asked for a different dessert. We tried kadayif, also stale and lacked flavor and the classic crispy phyllo strips. And this disappointing, unattractive dessert was $ 5.50
Basically if you go to Sofra their main dishes are good, just don’t waste $ 5.50 on dessert.

I came here on a freezing ass February weeknight and it was well worth it.
There was only one occupied table and Im sure it was due to the freezing temperatures. Very turkish looking interior as they had areas where you could sit on the floor with nice, comfy looking pillows.
The menu itself was packed with delicious looking items. I decided to try the Tarvuk Sarma which is chicken breast stuffed with sautéed spinach, cheese & onion alongside sautéed vegetables. Very good, but my lady got the lamb shank which looked and tasted even better… will def have to try that next time. You can bring your own bottle of wine, but they have what seems to be a full bar.
Not too far from my current residence so I can see myself returning a few more times. FYI there is a belly dancer that performs here on some nights…

I hate to be honest, but I was really disappointed in my experience & even more disappointed because this was my choice for date night, My partner & I take turns picking a place for a our date night, this was my choice & I wasn’t pleased, the only upside was that I purchased a dinner for 2 voucher from Travelzoo. I had been here once before & it was a completely different experience. This place needs work, the food wasn’t horrible, it was tasty, but I’ve had better from nearly ½ the size of this location. The carpet needs to be shampooed, it smelled as if they just vacuumed the place, not a good sent. Apparently It’s BYOB which wasn’t advertised nor mentioned when I made my reservation, important information which should have been shared.
I had the chicken kabobs, which were flavorful, my partner ordered the beef kabobs, which were decent, the meat could have used some seasoning, we shared a cold appetizer which wasn’t too appetizing (eggplant) & we shared the shrimp appetizer which again was decent but nothing to memorable.
The belly dancer, which I thought they’re would be Dancer“s”,” not «a» belly dancer was decent as well.
Unfortunately need to say, I will not be back.

This is a great place to go for an overall EXPERIENCE. The entire restaurant is covered in Turkish artifacts and Persian rugs. It’s very cute, but rather dark inside. Above the restaurant is a hookah bar that we were unaware of and it would have been nice to check it out.
I went with a coupon for a girl’s night out. As a group, we felt this restaurant was a hit and not everyone was so sure about it going in. Two of my friends are extremely picky eaters and don’t generally like to try new things. One of my friends is a vegetarian and she was able to find something that she liked as well. We split a bunch of appetizers and they were all fantastic. One friend had some sort of salad and the feta on this salad was like the best cheese ever! That just blew us away. I had a beef kabob plate and the meat was so well seasoned and cooked perfectly.
The highlight of the night was sitting near the big window on colorful and festive pillows rather than a boring old table. That was a very cool experience and to top it off, the belly dancer came out and performed for us and even got me up to show me a move or two. I don’t think I’ll be doing it professionally anytime soon, but getting up and busting a move had my friends cracking up. Everything about this restaurant was incredible! It’s a nice change of pace.

There are so many reasons I love Sofra Turkish Kitchen.
1. The food. The bread is fresh baked and really good with the hummus and baba ganoush, and I am not even usually a fan of baba ganoush. My favorite dish is turkish delight, which is hummus with lots of yummy sauteed vegetables. The stuffed grape leaves are good, not too vinegary.
2. BYOB with no cork fee. It doesn’t get any better than that.
3. It is a family business, and the restaurant owners are genuinely great people.
4. There are fun and talented belly dancers on Friday and Saturday nights. Check out the video!

we came on a weekday and walked into a completely empty restaurant. We ordered
mixed meze — really good selection of appetizers. Great house yogurt!!!
karides tava — ok little bit acidic
lamb shank — good, melt in your mouth!
we would not sit in the cushioned area again, because our legs were cramping up later.