Bai Cafe

There are things I enjoy in life, fireworks, dynamite, meat and rice to name a few. I must say, this place has the meat (lamb) and rice that is cooked so awesomely. It’s dynamite and every bite creates fireworks of enjoyment. I love this restaurant. Sure it’s cash only and it looks obscure and easily missed from the outside, but it is one spot that cannot be missed! Open 24 hours 7 days a week, Bai Café is worth going to. It sure beats that Mexican restaurant on the corner. Also, it’s situated in a great location, the bus stop is right there on Ashland and the Paulina Brown line stop is a block away! Seriously it’s awesome! I love coming here.
^_​_​_​_​^ I’ll never say bai to Bai café! (bad pun?)

Since my Kyrgyzstan friend highly recommend this place, I came here from California, San Diego. They serve authentic Kyrgyzstan food. I ordered Lam Soup, it was really tasty. If you have chance to visit Chicago, stop by here and order soup. It makes you warm!

Excellent, I like lamb soap and brown rice with small pieces of meat. It’s amazing place to be, this place is going to be my regular place. service was great,

Delicious. It’s like a home cooked meal. Always fresh prepared. Menu might be limited. But whatever they have is always good.

I love this place from first meal. Everything is so delicious. Fresh Homemade. Sometimes when I don’t have time to cook I’m ordering meal to pick up and always happy what I got. My husband loves this place too. The owner is very friendly and polite. This is the best place of Central Asian, Kyrgyz cuisine !!!

Spooky fogged windows? CHECK
Spartan interior? CHECK
English as a second language for wait staff? CHECK
Non-​descriptive menu? CHECK
INCREDIBLY AWESOME ETHNIC FOOD? CHECK, CHECK, CHECK!!!
I’ll be honest. I didn’t know what to expect when I wandered in here.
IF you the type of diner that judges places by first visual impressions? Then skip this place. HOWEVER, if you are willing to be patient and base your opinions on the food, this is the place for you.
The lamb soup is flavorful and memorable with its rich broth, large chunks of veggies and lamb. My favorite is a simple phyllo triangle filled with veggies and meat. It was so good (and cheap) that I dreamed of IT instead of the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models. Yup. THAT good.

We were there for lunch on a whim, and I couldn’t agree more with the first reviewer. Café Bai is a very interesting addition to the Lakeview restaurant scene.
It’s an Uzbek «café» which consists of a large open restaurant space dotted with tables, some minimal decoration on the walls, and a tribute wall to Uzbekistan (or Uz-​beki-​beki-​beki-​stan-​stan as former political silly man Herman Cain called it some months ago). There are two coolers, both of which are about a third filled.
The staff consists of one cook, who appears Uzbek and speaks only a little English, and a constantly changing group of Uzbek men ranging from 20 to 40’s who seem to move between the kitchen /​back area and the front area with impunity. The cook acted as cook, server and busser.
As for the food, the menu is fairly spartan and gives no clue as to what the Uzbek specialties are. We put ourselves in the hands of the cook and asked him to make what he recommended. Out came a lamb soup, essentially large pieces of vegetables and well-​marbled pieces of lamb or mutton in a fairly flavorful broth. The meat was quite fatty for Western tastes but was pretty tasty once consumed. The lunch entrée was about 6 ounces of beef cut into pieces, with a small tomato salad, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and rice. The meat was again somewhat fatty and gristly, and certainly overcooked, but when combined with the rice, cabbage, potatoes, and tomatoes, made a decent ‘stew’ like concoction.
I can’t say I would strongly recommend it, but it’s worth exploring further to see what creative things lurk in the kitchen.
Finally, as an aside, the Turkish soft drinks here are excellent. Uludag Gazoz is something akin to Juicy Fruit in liquid form, and my wife’s sparkling water with green apple (didn’t catch the name, unfortunately) was really good.