Pita Island

Had to wait 15 min for the food way to long for a sandwich, the food was okay doent even come close to compare to pita inn the kabob sandwich didnt even have the ride overall i wouldnt go back again waste of $

Words cannot describe how bad the food is at this restaurant. I arrived at 530 pm and placed an order to go. The food took almost 25 minutes to arrive. I checked the order and was shocked by the portion and quality of the food. The combination feast had three small pieces of meet that were rubbery in nature and seemed to be heated by a microwave. Please do not waste your time here. I will never ever go to this restaurant again.

One star is overly generous. I don’t typically review places, in fact, this is my first because this place was so terrible, I had to inform others. I was hopeing for something similar to Pita Inn, which never disappoints. I was encouraged when I looked at their menu and realized that it’s identical to that of Pita Inn. I ordered the business lunch combo #1 (shish kabob and kefta kabob). It was inedible… literally… I had to spit it out in a napkin. It tasted like bad boiled meat. I’m not a picky eater but the only place this meal ended up was in the garbage. Unfortunately, I took the order to go and couldn’t get my $$ back. So disappointed and definitely NOT coming back.

Would you believe I had planned to go to Chipotle for lunch but my gift card got lost in a library book I planned to return so I ended up here. I had limited funds so only got a chicken kabob sandwich to go. The place was empty. I’ve been to Pita Inn, I’ve eaten there many times, I enjoy Pita Inn… this is no Pita Inn. The kabob was not a kabob. It was more like a flattened ground chicken patty, overseasoned with pepper. Spongy texture, like a dried out omelet. Not pleasant eating, though it was filling. I will be going elsewhere for middle eastern food.

This place has a menu virtually identical to that of the Pita Inn, where I have been many times (I wonder if they can sue for copying). Plus, it’s new and 5 minutes from my house. So, despite the mediocre reviews here, I decided to give it a try.
I took out the falafel plate, a chicken shawarma sandwich for my wife, and an order of hummus. All were very similar to the quality of the Pita Inn, and I see no reason to drive 15 minutes more for the same thing. Next time, I’ll try the meat entrees, such as the Combination Plate, and see whether that stacks up to the Pita Inn.
Maybe this place had some starting up hiccups, but right now it seems to be a good choice for this type of food. If I find out otherwise next time, I’ll update my review…

We enjoyed the food and the service, and we met the owner M.A. Aleem and he was so nice! We had the lunch special which was 5.95 and there was enough food to share between the two of us. I thought it was not only priced right, but the food was excellent. We love Pita Inn in Wheeling but thought this place had some great qualities Pita does not. The Pita bread was fresh and warm and soft! The rice and falafel were warm and soft, and full of flavor. The shwarma was just as good. The chicken kabobs and tenders were also extremely flavorful! This is a little different from Pita Inn since it has a Indian/​Mediterranian flair, so a little spicer but we love Indian food so we really enjoyed that! Definitely worth the wait, but hey if you need your food in 5 min there is always a McDonalds right down the road… BTW, this is NOT a fast food restaurant! lol, but we were served within 10 – 15 min, and it was fresh!

I got the falafel sandwich, which was $ 4. I handed the man my credit card and he informed me only cash for orders less than $ 5. Seemed like a great scam to get customers to buy more from them. This is probably the only fast food chain that has this rule. I’ve ordered from dollar menus before and restaurants take the card.
The food was Blah. Pita bread, tomato, lettus and flafel. It comes with a container of sauses, one hot one semi hot and neither were good.
There are better Pita places out there.
Parking is lousy, the cars at busier restuarants at the end of the strip mall go whizzing past you. Careful backing out of your space.

Just returned from my second attempt to eat here. My favorite restaurants to eat at are Mizrahi Grill and Pita Inn so I have been waiting with baited breath for this place to open for months. I finally saw that it was open so last week I stopped by for dinner BUT it was closed. The sign next to the door does not list when it opens but it shows that the place closes at six Mon-​Sat. Must be closed Sundays. So today (Sat) I make sure to get there early to get some food to go even though it would be early for dinner. I arrived at 4:40, strolled up to the door and… locked. I looked through the glass and there was someone behind the counter who shrugged at me and then walked to the back of the kitchen. THAT’S IT! I am giving up on this place. Based on the quality described by the earlier reviews it probably will close faster than than the time it took to open. Sounds like reheated factory food, not fresh.

Pretty much every review up here nailed it spot-​on, except the lone person who gave it 4 stars. There were warning signs I noticed as well– yes the 4 months warning of a grand opening, but no opening should have raised concerns… or the hand written sign on the door requesting «room or basement to to rent» with the restaurant’s phone number underneath… yes the odd smell when I walked in should have raised concerns (I convinced myself it was because everything was new and it was paint or new furniture or something)… but I was commited to some Med. food which I haven’t had in awhile.
After I ordered, I too noticed «the bumbling morons» another reviewer saw.(now I started getting really nervous).
I was clearly the first customer of the day. I wasn’t paying attention to how long it took but it was at least 10 – 15 mins. I figured, «hey, first customer… it will be nice and fresh!» I got the businessman’s special. Price was reasonable and when I picked up the order I saw the portions were fairly decent. It all ends there though… hot and fresh? Nope. Everything was cold to just barely warm.
Falafel? dry and blah.
Kafta and shish kabob? Dried out and tough.
Schwarma? warmed over gyros meat.
When I was finished the lunch time crowd started coming in and I felt sorry for them. There was a group of 7 or 8 next to me and their orders were all coming out mixed-​up and at different times… and a line began to form as the owner (I assume) took phone orders while making the customers in front of him wait a good amount of time.
Avoid. I doubt it will be there much longer anyway.

NEW NOTE: MY PREDICTION WAS CORRECT. THEY ARE CLOSED. THIS IS A GOOD THING.
One star-​and-​a-​half (and I’m feeling generous)
First tip: Read the Unilocal reviews before ordering.
Second tip: Trust your nose.
I had just ordered and paid. Then, while waiting, I idly checked Unilocal for reviews of this new pita joint in Buffalo Grove. One four-​star and four one-​star reviews. And my seventeen bucks cash already spent. Methinks I got the order of things screwed up.
Okay, to business: Is it as bad as the bad reviews indicate? Maybe not quite, but not far off. I’d give it a star-​and-​a-​half, and use the half star to add to the four-​star I’d give Pita Inn.
The place smelled funny. I’m not sure what it was, maybe not related to sanitation, but not pleasant. I even mentioned it kindly, and the young lady at the counter thanked me and said others had noticed it. I always enjoy it when someone praises my nose or my palate.
To the food: Oversized pita, not a pita pocket, meager amount of falafel, tomatoes and lettuce. Not much to it, not bad, but «not memorable» as said Beautiful Wife. (I should add this was take-​out — she would not have put up with the odor.)
Jerusalem salad: mediocre
hummus: pretty decent
baklava: small slice, ok but no doubt store-​bought
Was it terrible? Umm, not exactly, but there are about five other places to eat within a couple hundred yards, and I’d go to any of them before coming back here.
But if you do decide to go, go soon. I don’t think they’ll be around long.

I guess I’m the only one who didn’t have a terrible experience…
Yes, service is a little pokey, but I can’t hate on that too much since they were packed and they just opened.
I do have to say they put up a fight against Pita Inn. Their meat was TENDER, the falafel was moist (2 things that don’t often happen at Pita Inn) and their kifta was comparable.
But, they are a little bit pricey. At 5.95 for their lunch special (3.95 at Pita Inn), I would probably have to be short on time to come here for lunch.
Hopefully they can get it together so the other Unilocalers can have as good an experience as I did!

As said in the first review of this restaurant, the service was very slow, our meals came out in a strange order even though we ordered the same food and the prices were much higher than Pita Inn. The initial feeling is oh boy this place isn’t very good with the service.
Then we tasted the food… the shwarma tasted like they took a block of scrapple, burned it, shaved it and served it. The falafel was cold and blah. The rice was inedible, the tahini and the hummus were bland.
The entire meal was so bad in fact that I was mad I didn’t have my phone to Unilocal it right there. I went with 4 co-​workers and not one of us finished our meal. Skip this place… If you want good pita foods, hit up Pita Inn. We have it twice a week at least. I won’t stray again lol.
It took them a year to get this place open and with food like this it won’t

Lots of red flags were raised today as I walked into Pita Isalnd for some lunch. To start the service was slow, there were only 4 – 5 people in front of me and it took nearly 30 minutes to get my order from standing in line to getting in my hands. Additionaly, I ordered some beef shawarma and looking into the kitchen just beyond the staff of bumbling morons the beef rotisserie is not moving and there are just uncooked scraps hanging from it. As i thought «oh crap» what did I get myself into they start cutting it off and then im pretty sure they were frying in a skillet to get it cooked. At this point I’m thinking wtf. When I finally got the food it was pretty hazardous and I could certainly see people walking away unsatisfied and not happy. Also, they are nowhere to be found on google maps or Unilocal.Seriously, you should not be opening a business if you are not aware of either. Lastly, they had a grand opening sing up for at least 4 months whitout opening. Now I know why they were so slow with getting orders out the door.
I want to give these guys 2 stars just for the fact that they are new and could improve but I just can’t do it. I have to call it like I see it a taste it. One star it is. Not going back unless I hear something good.
So the nearest competition is 7 mi away and I thought I would be saving time by going to the close Pita Island. Turns out I could have drove to the competition got my food and come back to work in the same amount of time.
— A guy whos stomach is now hurting