Taboun Grill

They still have a location in Skokie!!!
8808 Gross Point Road,
Skokie, IL, 60 077,
Phone (847) 965‑1818
Fax (847) 965‑1866

I just saw this location has closed! Regardless, you should still check out the location in Skokie… yes, I know it is out of the way but it is so good. How good? Well, I made my friends ride the train from the city all the way to Skokie on a Saturday only to find out they were closed (duh). The next day I made the trip by train again just to get some Taboun. That good.

This is exactly the kind of place that West Rogers Park needs, and unfortunately, it appears that they got their Skokie location up and running and then closed the original. Too bad, so sad.

I am unsure of how I missed reviewing Taboun Grill. It was possibly one of the best finds on Check Please along with Katsu.
This was a no frills no thrills place with just good food. There are folding chairs and families with children running around so I don’t know if this would be a great 1^st date place but its wonderful for a family gathering.
I recall delicious meat filled cigars and lamb chops. The lamb chops are shoulder cuts but they had 3 or 4 huge ones with each order. I am usually in the clean plate club but I took half of my order home with me. The wait staff was friendly and attentive. I will be awaiting my next lamb frenzy here.

They earn 5 stars because:
They speak Hebrew
The owner is wonderful
The restaurant is clean
The above average quality is worth the above average cost
The Israeli food is great along with the Moroccan influenced options

Delightful service and lovely salads. The food’s a little pricey (maybe cuz it’s kosher meat), but they give you a lot, and the free refills of pickles and pickled beets and fresh, warm pita make up for it. The Moroccan salad (eggplant, red peppers and garlic) was delicious. Girlfriend loved her beef kebab pita. My chicken mixed grill pita was good, but there was nothing mixed about it – the for-​real version of this sandwich as served in Jerusalem is a mix of gizzards, hearts, livers, etc. and it is mm-​mm good! I guess that wouldn’t go over too tough here in America.

I’ve only tried this place a couple of times, and at first, I wasn’t too impressed with it because… well, as I’ve said in other reviews, I’ve been way too spoiled by Pita Inn.
Yes, the prices are a bit over the top. But the one thing I do love from this place is the Chicken Shwarma in a lafa. Its not pita, but it reminds me of an Indian flatbread delicacy called paratha. And it is really really good, and quite filling, although the $ 11 dollars I spent on it makes me want to cry.

Hands down, awesome! The best pita, middle eastern (flavored) meats, and baba ganoush I’ve had anywhere in the city. I’ve been twice now and even with hyping up the 2^nd trip with family in town, this place did not disappoint. The hot appetizer mixed combo, while a little fried, is an excellent variety. The pita (I want to find out where they get it!) is A+, baba was standout, and falafel and shwarma are as close as I’ve found to being back in the promise land… I live around the corner from Sultan’s, which is always a solid go to for a quick, cheap falafel, but is not even in the same discussion as this place. And for the reviews about the poor service… well…yeah, it’s not exactly what this place is known for, but they are efficient and it doesn’t hurt the experience, in my opinion. First time the service was ok, 2^nd time was excellent. I cannot wait to go back!

Who knew kosher could be so good? :does the horah:
What a fantastic little gem in West Rogers Park – thanks to a friend who lives nearby, we had a wonderful dinner here the other night. She had been raving about their falafel – I’m a loyal Pita Inn customer – so reluctantly and cautiously, I determined to have as neutral a palate as I could. Well, needless to say, we ordered their falafel as an appetizer, and it was crispy and hot on the outside, smooth and flavorful on the inside. Totally impressed and I think my falafel loyalty has been transferred to Taboun…
For my main dish I ordered the beef special pita, with marinated chunks of beef, sauteed mushrooms and onions in a huge fleshy pita. Ohhhhh, the meat was some of the best I’d ever tasted – so tender, full of flavor – I was officially stunned. I was OBLIGATED to eat the entire thing (definitely qualified as something bigger than my head) but I knew that if I didn’t, I would regret it for the rest of the week (or life?) But at least I can go back. =)
The only reason this isn’t a 5 star review is because of the service. Our waitress was just, like, off. She wasn’t assertive enough to take our orders or deliver anything to the table without seeming kind of creepy, and she would leave us for lonnng stretches at a time. I wanted the bill about 20 minutes before she dropped it at the table. This isn’t a huge place!
I will absolutely be back for more delicious kosher meat and falafel and pita, oh my!

Taboun’s food is really outstanding and I always leave very full and very satisfied. While the falafel isn’t as great as the stuff I’ve had in Jerusalem’s Old City, it’s still the best I’ve had in the U.S.
But the service is absolutely horrendous. It’s one thing for the service to be slow or for the server to lack attentiveness. But after waiting a half hour for the bill after the to-​go boxes were dropped off, I walked to the register and waited another 5 minutes at least. It wasn’t crowded in there, so who knows what the deal was.
When the first server showed up at the counter, she completely ignored me and got the pops out of the fridge for another table, then asked what I wanted, why was I standing there. I told her I needed the check, it had been a very long time. She ROLLED HER EYES AT ME and yelled something to the other server in Hebrew.
Luckily I speak Hebrew. She probably didn’t think I did since I look like a WASP… Anyway…
She said, «Who does she think she is? I’m supposed to stop everything for her?» Nice. The other server shooed the first one away and took care of me, albeit with a massive frown on her face.
Maybe next time I’ll just try take out.

You know, all the people that wrote great reviews in response to my calling Taboun Grill out for their lameness, I believe them. I believe that they really like the place and have had good experiences there. I too had a good experience there, about four years ago.
But the last time I went, the time my review is based on, it was a clown show. The service alone warranted a one-​star review. And yeah, kosher meat is more expensive. Believe me, I know that. But our meal was super light on the meat, and still extremely expensive.
Unless you’ve got to keep kosher, do yourself a favor and avoid Taboun. I ain’t trying to start a fight here, people, I’m just saying it really doesn’t deliver the goods.

This place has excellent high quality fresh food that is always really good. I have never had a bad meal here. I disagree that is is SO expensive, but have to say that if you find the cost to be a bit higher than you are used to for this type of cuisine, you may want to take into consideration that this is a kosher restaurant. If you do not know what that means, I would love to explain it, but feel I will not do a proper job of explaining thoroughly, so look it up :)
Kosher food is admittedly usually more expensive but the reasons why make sense.
As far as this being a «fast food» joint, no way! Just because they cook on a grill in the middle of the very small restaurant doesn’t make it «Fast food», comparing this place to McDonald’s is ridiculous, get a brain.
I highly suggest the chicken thigh Kabob with their daily rice, hummus and their super fresh Israeli Salad.

I’m slightly confused about other reviewers commentary on the prices. It is not fast food cheap, but I can’t see how you spent $ 60 on dinner unless you eat way more than an average person.
We had 2 appetizers, 2 sandwiches, coffee, and desert for around $ 30 and it was way too much food.
Moving on, we went here following seeing the Check Please about it. I was really excited, excited enough to rent a zipcar just to get there! Did it live up completely to the level of excitement I had over it? No. But, was it good? Yes.
The Pita is amazing, unlike any other place in the city. The salad sampler was also delicious, as were the Petals (deep friend potato dumpling).
The falafel was good, though not my favorite. It had an ingredient, maybe clove? that was very overwhelming. That aside, it had great texture and was obviously very fresh.
The restaurant itself is OK but definitely leaves a little something to be desired. The staff, however, was amazingly friendly and welcoming and the food was coming out so fast, we couldn’t believe it.
I suspect that I’m probably missing out on what makes this place truly great because I don’t eat meat. So, overall great place but probably not worth anymore special trips to the area.

I come from a neighborhood that has a high population of Jewish people, and therefore there are many places that have Mediterranean food. I know good Mediterranean food from bad food. This place is by far the best food I’ve ever had. I didn’t try a whole lot here, but everything I had was amazing. I wanted to eat all I ordered, but I was so stuffed that I wasn’t able to. It just means I’ll have to come back for more.

Great Middle Eastern food. Most of the people do seem to be Jewish (as am I) who go there but I think even for a novice to Middle Eastern food, this would be the best. Everyone raves about the falafel but all the food is great.
I read a couple of negative of reviews and all I can so to those is «everyone has an off day now and again». I have never been in Taboun when they were having an off day.

Miss Bee B. had a birthday recently, so we went on over to Taboun and I gave it a try. On first glance, the prices were pretty gosh-​darned steep. The place is painted nicely and has tables, but it is essentially a hot-​dog stand set up… and I’m not used to seeing $ 20 price tags for such a place.
BUT! That is where the negativity ends. It turns out that the portions are ginormous, and you are allowed to order half-​plates of the entrees which are plenty big for one person, plus leftovers… and that makes it much more reasonable (this is not an option on the menu… you have to ask for it). Plus, eatin’ kosher usually aint’ cheap.
I had the beef kabob pita and it was amazing. The beef was really tender, done medium, and you can bite straight through it. My hubby got the schwarma wrapped in lafa bread (like a huge pita) and it was also quite good. The falafel was amazing (I have NEVER liked falafel until I tried this stuff), and the mixed appetizers were quite good.
We had mint tea and Turkish coffee to end our meal and it was really quite nice! I have never eaten Israeli food in the states and felt like nothing was missing before… this place is authentic!
Another note… this place is BYOB, but the wine has to say yayin mevushal on it. Don’t ask… it’s a complicated kosher thing.

I swear I wrote a review of this place this summer… or did I?
The food here is excellent. My daughter and I had kubeh, moroccan cigars and falafel appetizers as our entrees.
The meat plates are large enough for two people; my husband and his friend, both pretty big guys, split a plate of the thickest lamb chops I have ever seen. Yeah, it’s pretty expensive but as another reviewer noted, it’s because of the way it’s processed. And kashered meat is the most flavorful meat you’ll ever eat, trust me.
My father-​in-​law was a little upset because they didn’t have mint jelly for his lamb (so not kosher!) and they didn’t have regular coffee, only turkish. The mint tea was great; yes, it’s just Lipton, I know, but come on, those are fresh mint leaves in that huge water glass.
Service was very good; the water glasses were always full, our server very attentive. They don’t serve alcohol but you can bring your own wine… though it has to be kosher mevushal, in case a non-​jew is serving it.
They don’t have a large dessert menu… chocolate mousse cake, a layer cake which was very much like tiramisu, and an outstanding baklava. I think the honey syrup had rosewater in it… it was sooo good!
My only complaint is the chairs are a bit uncomfortable and it’s not like I have a huge ass… they’re just… small. Despite the tiny chairs that don’t fit my butt, I would go here every week if I could.

My husband and I recently went to Taboun Grill after seeing it on Check Please. I have to say that the beef kabob was wonderfully prepared — it was so flavorful and cooked to perfection (sooo juicy). The kefta was equally flavorful as well. I ordered a side of grilled onions and loved that they gave my a saucer full of grilled pearl onions — such a nice touch. My husband LOVED the Moroccan Cigars.
Additionally, their service was great. The waitress continuously checked on us to make sure we were ok. She seemed so genuine about making sure we enjoyed everything.
The reason I give it only 4 stars is because its much pricier than we expected. Our bill for combo appetizer, 2 entrees, 2 soft drinks, and tip was almost $ 80, whereas I know of other places (towards the Southside) where we could have a comparable meal for close to half the price.

Okay guys, this restaurant is amazing. It is by far the best kosher restaurant in chicagoland, though by no means need you be a person of the book to appreciate the Moroccan-​inspired middle-​eastern delights.
I think that pretty much everything on the menu is tasty, but I will give you a few of ma faves.
I was, at one point, a vegetarian, and there are some great veggie options here, including the hummous with mushrooms (grilled mushrooms and onions on top of the amazing hommous that everyone mentions!), the «pastels» (an appetizer of potato dumpling things, the eggplant salad, and of course the falafel sandwich.
As far as non-​veggie foods go… um, they rock. I am partial to the «taboun mixed grill» which is chicken with onions and spices, and the beef kabob. A friend of mine had a revelation when eating one of the beef kabob sandwiches… She actually bit through a piece of kabob, ending up with half the piece in her mouth and half in her sandwich. Wow, she bit through food, some of you might say, but if you have ever had a charred-​up kabob before, you understand why this is a big deal.
All the different types of chicken/​beef come in sandwich or plate form. The sandwiches run from about 6 – 10 bucks, while the plates can go up into the 20’s, but include 2 sides, like salad, rice, green beans, french fries or grilled onions.
There are a few things to beware of — 1. the décor is a bit «bare bones» (but so too will your plate be when you’re done with it! har har) 2. It can be FREEKING CROWDED here, especially on sunday nights. This makes it a nice option for a weekday dinner or lunch, or take out. I am not knocking any stars off for this, however, because the food is SO darn good.
PS – once when I was here they were filming scenes for 190 North. Anyone ever see Taboun on TV?

My boyfriend and I were looking for a place to grab some falafel sandwiches and we saw Taboun, right on the corner of California and Devon. It was a weekend and the place was packed with families eating dinner but we managed to get a table in a few minutes.
The food was good but compared to Sultan’s Market (our usualy falafel spot), it was a little pricey. A falafel sandwich will run you $ 5 or $ 6 here. However, the atmosphere was entertaining because the party next to us inexplicably broke out into song. We were also the only non-​Jewish table in the whole restaurant but it wasn’t intimidating or anything. If you live in the neighborhood, Taboun’s a decent place to satisfy your falafel craving. They also have a more expensive grill menu ($ 20-​$ 30) that might be good.