Qaato Restaurant

Very good food. I’m a longtime customer but the problem with the restaurant is that the health dept. Is always suspending thier license. They’ve moved a couple of times and have gotten thier license suspended. Makes ya wonder.

Okay this restaurant has the best Nigerian food in Chicago hands down. The Egusi and pounded yam here is so delicious that it will have you coming back for more. This restaurant passes with flying colors on the food. Why they get 2 stars from me is because they have unbelievably (jaw-​dropping) poor customer service. The slim short cashier from the time you enter acts like you are her enemy. She is extremely rude and she acts like she is doing you a favor by serving you food that you are paying her for. When taking your order over the phone, the tone she uses is appalling. When signing the credit card receipt, she roughly throws the pen in your direction and barks sign here. I was so offended by this behavior that I stopped patronizing this place. The food is fantastic no doubt about this but the customer service is too poor and substandard it is a joke to be labelled restaurant. All is not lost, they should retrain their staff with the realization that they are running a customer pleasing business with customers who can easily patronize other eateries in the neighborhood. In fact they should go to the Jamaican restaurant good to go which is around the corner from them and learn how to treat customers in a friendly pleasant way. Thats where I now buy my dinner.

Today our school has an culture event. My African friend brought rices and meat from this restaurant. That is very very very great taste. I will go to this restaurant by myself in future.

Super good. I have lived in West Africa, and this place knows their egusi (with goat) meal. Yeah, the décor is not so great, but whatever, if you want awesome West African at a good price, this is the place. I’ve even brought friends who’ve never had West African and they also loved it.

Had an excellent lunch there (goat stew of some sort) with very kind service. Will go again.

Sorry Qaato but thumbs down for your Ayamashe 01-​19-​2012. I bought 2 plates of this dish yesterday, one for my co-​worker and one for me; but you guys disappointed me big time. I recommended their special Ayamashe to many Ghanaians but oh Lord! It was so nasty, it tasted bland. Honestly, the dish didn’t taste like the good ol dish i’m used to buying. It was not worth the money, i may go there for their Jollof rice and Okro dishes but not for the Ayamashe. Never again! My three stars are for Buki’s customer service, Buki is the owners daughter; she is very friendly and she makes you want to come back.

Yes! I went here for the pepper pot soup because I have a cold. I used to go to a few different Nigerian places on Broadway, Devon, Morse and my all time favorite was a lunch truck downtown. When ordering pepper pot soup I have been refused before because it is too spicy for Americans and I have quite a story about the first time I tried it. Since this is Unilocal,I will just briefly mention that I started seeing stars and collapsed and went into a hallucinatory state and woke up soaking wet in my own sweat. I had gotten it for a cold then as well, and perhaps over did it with the loss of sensation after the first bite. Ohh, I feel so good when I eat this soup, I am sure it kills the germs, why else would it clear all traces of congestion so rapidly? Yes you will sweat and your nose will run and you will cough and then waves of warm pleasure will wash over you. The broth also has readily available proteins to manufacture antibodies, after a blissful nap you will awaken feeling so much better. Of course I was so happy to discover Qaato a few blocks from my house. They make the soup to order from scratch so call ahead as it takes at least 45 minutes. That means you can customize your soup which they did for me. I did ask for very spicy. She seemed amused, I thought I would need to sign a waiver to get the soup but a verbal agreement was all she required that I eat this at my own risk. She doesn’t know me. I do miss my old friend on Morse, who made the soup that had me collapsed and hallucinating. This soup wasn’t as spicy, but it’s understandable, it’s not something you want to be handing out to strangers, could be used as a murder weapon. They also Americanize it a bit, with tons of meat. Next time I will order extra broth, since meat is not appetizing with a cold. I can tell she does what she promises in the menu and selects the finest ingredients for her restaurant. I will enjoy the meat when I get my appetite back. But the broth is lovely with hand picked spices. Now I am about to savor the last swallow of soup and slip into a hot bath, it is almost a welcome occasion to catch a cold now and then…

Edited on 10/​9, as I recommended the wrong soup on the original review. (You probably want to order the egusi soup and not the ogbono, which has a stringy and slippery consistency that wasn’t appetizing for the uninitiated.) Egusi is the way to go, and ewedu is pretty yummy as well.
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This place is easy to miss, as it’s sandwiched between a few nondescript storefronts on Clark. But it’s well worth a stop for flavorful and spicy Nigerian food.
I generally stick with the fish soups (stews, really) — egusi, with a rich sauce of ground mango seeds, shrimp, & spinach or greens, is one of the greatest things I’ve ever tasted. Their ‘soups’ are eaten with pounded yam or yari — they have several kinds, and will let you sample ones you’re curious about.
If and only if you have a cold, try the peppersoup. And bring lots of tissues. It’s a shallow bowl of insanely spicy broth with fish or meat that will clear you up in no time. There’s another similar soup they make a couple days a week, according to a cabby i spoke to there, that’s even spicier, also for those with colds only.
Not somewhere you want to go for any semblance of atmosphere, and service is slow, but so well worth the wait. And the waitstaff are pleased to answer questions if you’re unfamiliar with the cuisine. Dishes are all under $ 10.