by Alberto M.
On election night, I was in Obama's neighborhood, anxious to hear the results. With Obama on the brain, a craving hit me hard for some Middle Eastern food (I guess Obama just morphed into Shwarma in my head) and I'm so glad I found The Nile Restaurant.This restaurant would get 5 stars from me, but the travel time to get there from Wicker Park is a deterrent; it's GREAT but, come on, there's always Sultan's Market. I wish The Nile was in my neighborhood because it has everything I need: Delicious middle eastern, great prices for full meals (they take credit cards) and a pleasant vibe.The service was good but we were the only people there, it's not really a place that you'll need to see your waiter/waitress much anyway. I ate the Kifta in Tahini Sauce entree. $11 for my dish including rice, pita, and a cup of soup. I could not shut up about the rice it was so soft and tasty, and trust me, you will want the Red Lentil soup to start.Give The Nile a shot if you're looking for great Middle Eastern in a very casual setting.
by Alex A.Anne S.g r.Lisa L.Shannon L.
The Nile is absolutely great. The food is delicious, plentiful and cheap, as long as you don't pay to much attention to the decor or service. We had the lentil soup, which was light, yet comforting. The hummus was also delicious, especially with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice. The lamb shish was the most tender, amazing thing I've ever tasted. Tender and juicy, my mouth just waters thinking about it!! My partner had an equally delicious, well-spiced chicken shawarma. The side of roasted vegetables was also tasty.Highly recommended!I had dinner here Saturday night, and the place was pretty empty.I ordered the lamb kabob with a salad. I thought the lamb was amazing, and the rice was pretty good. The salad was perfectly fine as well.The service was pretty mixed. We had several people attending to us. Some were very nice. They left a pitcher of water on our table, which I was appreciate since I drink a ton of water! However, the person that handled the bill was awful. First she asked me directly if I wanted a box, when I had an empty plate in front of me but my fiance's mother had food in front of her. I thought this was odd. But then when she returned the check, she gave the credit card to me, even though my fiance's mother was the one who gave her the credit card.Needless to say, she was not impressed.My south side adventure continues, as a new resident I've been trying out many places looking to build up my list of favorites. We'll another one bites the dust.I'm having a hard time understanding all the great reviews for this place. The food was okay, I've had better. Nothing outstanding:Hummos- as it is spelled on their menu, was good, but served with only two slices of pita. so we had to be conservative with our dipping. Rice- tasted like instant Uncle Ben's that food coloring was used on.Chicken Schwarma- good, but not trimmed of fat. I know I'm a snob.Vegetables- overdone and limp, again I'm a snob.Soup- The lentil soup was very good, it's one star of this review. Service- just okay, they never asked us if we wanted anything to drink, they put down a pitcher of water, which was good because they gave us the smallest of water glasses. Which was another strange thing, the table across the way had small and medium glasses on it, then across for them the table had nicer regular water glasses. Just very random.We ordered the Chicken Schwarma entree with the rice, if you order it with rice, you get no pita, or at least we didn't, other places I've been to give you some to go with it. We did ask for some, then about ten minutes went by I we told her to forget it and just give us the check.Ambiance- I have no idea what's going on here. Clean the place up, just a bit. The carpet could use a shampooing and at least vacuum The baseboards by the windows on the west side had visible peeling paint, and the window sill had loose paint and plaster on them. (Are they remodeling?) The table where we sat had a chair rail with uneven paint on it, some brown color. The other chair rails didn't, strange design?The tables have seen better days and so have the cafe style chairs. I don't know the place seemed very tired, so did the staff. I'd like to think it was the pricing, yes reasonable, however I've been to less expensive places that are cleaner and not exhausted. In my years of property management, I know old peeling paint when I see it, actually I'm sure you do too.It's really to bad, because it could really be a cute place. I know it's cliche, but I really wanted to like this place. However, the longer I sat there, and the more I saw I just got the heebie jeebies. Paint peeling, dirt here and there and ceiling tiles with water stains on them. This is what you see. Makes me wonder about what you don't.Was I really in the same place as the other reviewers? Or, I guess I'm that much of a snob, it's okay I know I'm picky. However, I have no weirdness about NYC street vendors, but something put me on edge here. Oh yes, non-snobby will eat just about anything husband, felt the same way.I was solidly impressed by this little spot in Hyde Park. I went here with a friend a bit ago, and we decided to split a couple appetizers and a sandwich a piece - definitely a poor plan! I was mislead by the cheapness of the appetizers, thinking that anything under $2 had to be a sample size, which was not the case at all. We could have easily skipped the sandwiches and just dined on the starters. All told, the two of us left stuffed and with leftovers in tow for a little over $20; if we had known about their portion sizes, we could have left for half of that.Aside from the cheapness of the place, it was also very tasty. Next time I would like to test out some of their entrees just to see if the flavor translates into a bigger dish.I'm happy to find more Middle Eastern places on the South Side; I love the cuisine but hate having to go out of my way to get it on the North side. I'm definitely going to be a repeat customer here!Shilpa - the last reviewer - inspired me to write a review. Almost 11 years ago she and I were placed together as college freshman roommates at the now defunct Shoreland dorm on 55th and South Shore Drive, just a few blocks away from the Nile. Shortly after freshman year started, Shilpa's dad was in town and he took us out to dinner at the Nile. Shilpa and I ended up eating at the Nile so often - we even negotiated discounted rates to get our dorm meetings catered with falafel and hummus - that the owner asked if we were interested in waitressing and we ended up basically splitting a job and taking alternating shifts.I mention this nostalgic background info to: 1) acknowledge my bias in this review having worked at the Nile, and 2) to highlight just how great the Nile is - it's more than 10 years later and I still think it has some of the best Middle Eastern food I've ever eaten. I haven't lived in Chicago since 2002 and no one I know lives in Hyde Park anymore, but every time I visit I make the trek down there to go to the Nile at least once.Must-haves: the lentil soup, hummus, and Turkish coffee - they're just THAT good.My personal favorites: * Mashwiya - a zucchini and yogurt dip served with pita, lighter than hummus and very refreshing* Kibbeh - spiced ground lamb and/or beef and pine nuts stuffed in a mini football-shaped bulgur wheat shell and deep-fried, served with lemon wedges to squeeze over each bite. Ahhh..... They're slightly pricey (and most of the menu items aren't, so it stands out), but totally worth it.* Chicken shawerma sandwich - spiced marinated chicken cooked on a rotisserie and shaved thin, juicy but with crispy bits, served in a pita with tomato, onion, and tahini (the tahini at the Nile is my favorite tahini of all time - I don't know how they make it, but it must have yogurt or something in there because it's thicker than the super liquid-y tahini I seem to find everywhere else that just dribbles off your sandwich onto your chin or shirt)* Kifta with tahini (entree) - spiced ground lamb and/or beef shaped into a very thin wide patty, simmered in tahini and served with potato slices on top and saffron rice to soak up all the tahini. Mmmmm.....* Mu jadara - lentils and rice with caramelized onions and homemade yogurt (this one doesn't sound that exciting but it's really delicious)Other good things to know** - they don't serve alcohol but you can bring in your own wine or beer, they deliver, you can find some of the menu items for sale at the various coffee shops on the Univ. of Chicago's campus, and the owner Abed is usually willing to negotiate prices to cater things like student group meetings, speaking events, or personal parties.**Disclaimer - these things used to be true and still are as far as I know, but it's been a while.
