Tawakal Kafe

Bad news here… first time I have ever used Unilocal,felt compelled to share. It was bad.
Similar experience as the others, for the most part. Smell is very odd upon entry to the building, limited menu, credit card machine was «down,» and only a handful of food items (already prepared) were sitting in a serving window — falafel, rice, biryani. The couple that works there is very nice. However, they do not have a kitchen on-​site… food is being prepped elsewhere and brought in… food is in shallow serving containers, similar to what you would see in a home kitchen versus a commercial food-​service kitchen. Had the chicken tandoori wrap which was a little light on flavor. The part that makes it difficult to swallow is the tandoori chicken came from a tupperware style serving container, and reheated in a microwave, making the food seem like Indian Leftovers versus something fresh.
Again, nice people, but this was not a good restaurant /​café experience.

I don’t want to be too harsh, because the guy running it seems nice and obviously just has no idea how to run a restaurant… but this place is a total disaster. They don’t seem to cook any food in the place (smells like a building under construction rather than a restaurant); they have one entrée per day that I would guess they cook elsewhere and bring in; some dried up falafel that look like they have been sitting there for days; and some microwaves. I ordered the chicken, not sure what it is called. I don’t mind Indian/​Pakistani food cooked on the bone, but all told I got three mouthfuls of chicken and two cups of greasy, chicken fat sauce and one greasy piece of naan. My «salad» consisted of some scraggly shredded iceberg and two quarters of a rotten (!) lime.
They serve soup and sandwiches, too, but if you wanted that why wouldn’t you go down the street to Brett’s?
Sad to say, but I doubt this place will be around much longer unless they go back to the drawing board.

I am an adventurous eater and will try just about anything, which I guess is why I didn’t turn around and walk out. This restaurant has an odd smell to it and isn’t too clean.
The food is just sitting out (for who knows how long) with no cover. When you order your food, it is carefully… microwaved. This type of food should be prepared fresh if nobody is coming in there, or at least have it prepared properly and cooked up on a stove for service.

Hate to be the party pooper being that the other 2 reviews were so positive but I think their ratings were out of sympathy.
Now I love hole in the wall ethinc foods just like the next guy, but first impression when I walked in is that they just moved into the place that morning! There was still a bottle of 409 sitting on a table and the food was placed in cheap foil serving trays with nothing to keep them warm. There was only 2 people working the whole place and luckily I came in before several others came through the door.
I ordered a fallafel sandwich which might have been good, had it been hot or at least warm. If it was the case that they’d just open that day, I probably would not have put this review up and giving them some time to fix the place up, but from an earlier post it sounds like they’ve been in business for over a month.
Friendly service and very good prices, but I will be checkin in on you really soon to see how it goes.

I spotted this place one day when the word «biryani» leapt out at me from the menu posted on the wall inside. I love a good biryani! A couple weeks later, I finally had an opportunity to give them a try.
The Pakistani couple running the place are still working out how to run a restaurant, and the service shows that, but it’s also a somewhat endearing trait since they’re very sweet and earnest. Chatting with them, I found out that they do delivery, that they’ve been open for just three weeks, and they handed me a few xerox copies of their menu with daily specials on a menu ranging from the biryani (tasty!) to wrap sandwiches, tikka and even pizza by the slice.
What’s amazing about this place, though, is that at noon on a Monday in bustling River North, I was the only person in the restaurant. This is a small mom and pop deli-​style place that you expect to find in an ethnic neighborhood, not in touristy River North on a street full of galleries and fine dining. This is the sort of neighborhood where even McDonald’s gouges prices! However, I am not one to complain since it means I now have an inexpensive lunch option just one block from my office. I hope that Tawakal Kafe catches on and stays awhile!
One word of warning: take cash. They aren’t able to run credit cards, though I get the impression that it’s something they’re working on.