I-Cafe Sukur’s Place

This is an update for my old review. I some time order on the phone for pick up. They take forever to prepare the food. The times they day are not accurate. I wont comsider this place again. Very inconvenient to order from here

Wr ordered several dishes for our group, and they were all high quality. Also, the service was very good. The only complaint is that they stuffed our take out order (Iskander Kebab) in a very small container. That caused the bread to become soggy in what otherwise was a good dish.

They’ve got thhe best kazandibi in town. Pide is great and lahnacun is really delicious. Don’t forget to have a traditional turkish tea after.

I like their lentil soup, pide, lahmacun and Turkish tea. It is self service. Price is good.

I am so glad I tried this place! When I was in Istanbul, I never tried pide, and it’s been a regret of mine. Thankfully, I was able to try it here and I think it just might be superior to regular pizza. The crust was divine. My roommate also enjoyed it. I ordered it with ground beef and onions, and it was definitely one of the best late night meals I’ve had. Every time I promised myself that this would be the last slice, my hand kept reaching for me. Aiyayaya what am I gonna do…
Also, their lentil soup is super good! It was very creamy with a delicate taste. Quite delicious! Give it a go!
The décor is very simplistic, a taxi driver spot one might say. But I don’t know. I find these places to have a certain charm, and I really enjoyed it.

Some of the Mediterranean food I have had in Chicago. Extremely friendly staff, good prices on food and quick service. I recommend the Steak Sandwich as my go to favorite. Also a great spot to come and watch a soccer match or two!

I’m really disappointed by this place. We got carry out. We went here because it had 4.5 stars on Unilocal.Am I missing something?
Our food was all cooked to order, so it took about 25 minutes (we walked in to order). While taking that long to cook doesn’t bother me too much, no one ever said anything to us about the length of time. We were standing outside on the sidewalk for most of the wait, then every so often we’d go in, stand at the counter, they’d stare at us and say nothing. The whole thing felt very awkward.
So when we finally get home with the food (hummus, lentil soup, and a combo dinner of chicken & beef with rice) we dig in only to find that this is some of the blandest, most flavorless mediterranean food I’ve ever tasted. The steak was cooked to well done and very tough. The rice was literally just plain white rice. The chicken had very little flavor to it. The hummus didn’t have any flavor and nor did the soup. Honestly, most of the food got thrown away (and we don’t waste food in our house).
All of this came to the tune of about $ 25. I just don’t see any point in trying this place again. I’m bummed since it would be nice to have a great mediterranean place close by.

Great food (and vegetarian-​friendly) at reasonable prices, and friendly service to boot. The space is very casual, perfect for lunch.
We had 2 of their lunch specials: a half pide (like a Turkish pizza) with lentil soup and bread, and two samsas (baked phyllo hand pie) with lentil soup and bread.
The lentil soup is great (love the mint) and the homemade bread has a great chew. I preferred the samsas (feta/​parsley) over the pide (mixed vegetable and cheese), but my partner preferred the pide.
I want to go back and try the Turkish breakfasts, and the milk pudding.

This place gets MAD BUSY on weekend nights. 90% of their customers are regulars because they come in and order right away, and they seem to love it! If you come here, do not expect 5 star customer service and expect to wait (we waited 40 – 50 minutes our food).
We arrived here via Google Maps and were confused because we didn’t see I-​Café anywhere. Reason being is because they don’t have a real sign, they got some poster board in the window above the door. So don’t waste your time driving around looking for this place to stick out. [Note: You can take the brown line here]
We went inside with a group of 7, we each went up individually an ordered stuff from the 2 menus they had in the restaurant (ONLY 2 MENUS! See what I mean when I said only regulars come here?). ⁴⁄₇ got the food, and they missed 3 of us somehow. After 20 – 25 minutes of me waiting for my friends to get their food, I went up and asked them what’s going on. They didn’t tell me they forgot about the order, but I stared them down as they went to the back and realized they forgot it. He came back and told me 10 more minutes. I didn’t really care… we weren’t in a hurry. My food did get cold due to waiting, but at least we were with friends!
I got their gyros sandwich, it was good but if you want it spicy, ask for their red spicy sauce and put it on yourself. They won’t do it for you even if you ask them to make it spicy. Their complimentary bread is amazing! My friend got the $ 9 Cold appetizer something and it was delicious with the bread. One of us got a rib eye steak sandwich, he got his sandwich with barely any meat on it and he went back and told them (another mistake). He said he didn’t want to wait another 15 minutes and just to put whatever meat on their, so they loaded that thing with gyros (I guess they felt bad and threw in extra meat).
Overall, an outsider would think of this place as a 3.5÷5, but all their regulars would rate it as ⁵⁄₅. The only reason why I would go out of my way to go here is because they are open at 3:00 AM.

Sekerpare.
Baklava.
Kazandibi.
Heaven.
Sex in your mouth.
Which of these do not belong?
Ha! Trick question, they all belong in the same category.
These 3 desserts are that exactly. Heavenly sex in your mouth.
Sekerpare especially gets to me. The dessert is so moist (such an odd sounding word, moist) and has the perfect balance of sweetness and with their Turkish coffee, it’s meant to be. Can I also mention that it’s only a dollar? A DOLLAR!!!
If you know what’s good for you and that pretty mouth of yours (not creepy at all), you’ll come here and feast on some delicious Turkish food. Get ready for some moist goodness.

I feel like a ridiculous human being for just now discovering this place after living four blocks away for… three years. Yes. Three years. For three years I have gone without pides. I have gone without their glorious trio of dips into which I dunk their warm, doughy bread. I’ve gone to Mariano’s to get soup instead of picking up their silky lentil. And that was okay. But today, life is so much better.
That is all.

Everything is amazing here, except the time that you have to wait for your food.
I have been here many times and non of them had less waiting time than 30 minutes. However, the food worth the long waiting time, but if you are starving do not go there lol

I’m tempted to give a five (5)-star review on I-​Café Sukur’s Place, but I’ve had a slightly better Turkish/​Arabic coffee at Hala In on Lawrence in Mayfair neighborhood. Not being able to render a full score isn’t equivalent to a markdown on this review; I’m just being critical and hopefully no one takes offense because I do like this place a lot for its convenience (right off the CTA Irving Park Brown Line station – the main entrance), values ($ 11 for two people), and the atmosphere (relaxing and the hostess/​cashier/​clerk was friendly).
We had the Turkish coffee, humus, kazandibi (Turkish milk pudding), and Turkish iced tea. Every dish or beverage was solid and delicious. By no means, the Turkish coffee here was superior, but hubby is also a foodie and generates preference on where he likes to go for certain things. However, I LOVED the kazandibi. The combination of honey, milk, and gelatin made the entire desert refreshing. Along with the Turkish iced tea, it was exactly what I needed for a 70-​degree spring afternoon.
I don’t know if they accept credit cards, but you don’t need lots of cash to spend in here since everything is reasonably-​priced. I believe they close on Tuesdays. Otherwise, they have ridiculously great hours (morning to way-​beyond wee hours). We will for sure stop by when we can.

Çok teşekkur ederim. My final exam was due and my computer crashed. They let me use the computer for at least two hours and I was able to get my research paper in on time. I really appreciate it!
After the stress of exams, I had delicious chicken korma with rice, salad, and their home made bread. I really enjoy having breakfast or tea here, watching Türkçe televisiyon, especially when the owner’s wife is working because she is genuine and kind and it feels more like an Aile Solonü (family restaurant) now than the taxı driver place except when Beşiktaş or Antalyaspor has a big game on.
I had to edıt my last post from two years ago because I Café has changed for the best.

I love this place, it’s been a clutch late night eat, if you want proper food.
I usually get the steak sandwich or the chicken sandwich. It’s perfectly cooked meat and amazingly flavored.(Turkish peeps do meat amazing). And you have to get their appetizer sampler.(hummus, some yogurt stuff and some red peppery stuff). make sure u ask for extra Turkish bread with it.
I have had their Donner kebab, Adana kebab and grilled chicken breast platters. Again all well executed dishes.
But the item that brings me back is thier Kazandibi (milk pudding custard). It’s soooo heavenly.
I enjoy going to the nice sit down Turkish places like turquoise in roscoe village which is just another level. but I love this place bc it’s cheap, fast, no frills and open late.

My girlfriend and I split the Turkish breakfast number 1 which consisted of three eggs over hard, sliced pepperoni cucumbers, tomatoes two kinds of cheeses and a hearty toast with jam. Everything was simple but well prepared and very tasty.
We also had meat samsas. They were flaky and buttery on the outside and moist on the inside which was filled with meat, onions and spices. They were delicious and very filling.
The restaurant is small and simple with a friendly staff. Definitely will return for another Samsa or two.

I pass by this café every day on my way to the CTA station, but I never tried the food or the drinks until my friend was craving turkish coffee. I suggested I-​Café, and I’m glad I did.
My friend ordered a turkish coffee, which came in a small tea cup, and it was very strong. On the counter, we spied these small almond cookies, which turned out to be honey almond cakes. The cake wasn’t drenched in honey like Indian gulab jamun can be drenched in rose syrup. These two items alone were just 3 dollars!
It was nearing dinner time, so I ordered a pide. Just as the menu states, it takes 20 minutes for the pide to bake. The meat filling was generous, and the crust/​bread was crunchy. For 11 dollars, you get two slabs of pide, which makes for another filling meal.
There is good service, but it can be slow because the food takes a while to be made, not because the staff are inattentive. The staff brought us two glasses of water and extra plates, without us asking.
Most of the patrons are taxi cab drivers, which makes sense because the place is open almost ²⁴⁄₇. I like how the owner comes and talks with his patrons.
Overall, good value for money and good food!

Came here for an evening coffee and pastry. Really Delish Turkish coffee in a little cup! Loved the pastry, really balanced out the shot of coffee. Also waiting on an order of a pide :)

I ordered pide. Didn’t like it. At all. Also I was told for pide it’ll take 10 min. Took about 30 min. For appetizer ordered samosa which was ok. I preferred staying hungry at that place ((. Oh and service was friendly. But I’m not going to that place again.
P. S. My friends liked meat serving with rice.

Yes they have very good authentic Lentil soup.
Lahmacun is not authentic, probably if somebdoy gave me a Lahmacun like this in Istanbul, I would beat the guy, not pay and leave.
Kebaps are good. I think little pricey though.
Pide is ok too, but definitely not as good as it is in Turkey.
In overall they are doing good.
Defintiely good place to stop for a lunch or late night snack.