Reza’s Restaurant

Just ordered dinner… Had chicken kabobs, dill rice, baked feta, and lentil soup. It was delicious. Good sized. The chicken was tender and perfectly cooked. I mixed the sauce of the baked feta with the rice and chicken. It was delicious. Next time I’ll order a side of yogurt sauce to mix with all of it. I’ll be ordering again soon.

Went there on a weeknight for the first time and was happy with the food we had ordered. The vegetarian shami stole the show though. I haven’t tried it before, its falafel in a gritty pomegranet sauce. Loved it! The chicken koubideh i ordered was really good too. My husband ordered the kebab platter and seemed to be satisfied. The portions are huge. We had to box up half of our food.
Will definitely go back to try other dishes.
The only complaint I can think of is that despite not being busy the service is very slow.

I’ve been going to Reza’s for a few years now and had great experiences. So, it was to my dismay when cold bread was brought to me and my friend. My friend had to send the falafels back to the kitchen to be warmed. Our entrees of vegetarian combo and salmon/​chicken were served wonderfully, though.
I felt being rushed towards the end. Our waiter and busboy kept asking if we want to wrap leftovers while we were still eating. I’d understand if people were waiting to be seated. However, there were plenty of tables on a Friday night.
I think I’ll wait for a long while before returning.

Great food and service. They had large portions of food. 1 plate is enough for 2 people. Very affordable and they have a large bar and restaurant in general. Go here when you have a chance

As I’ve grown older I have come to appreciate Healthy Food Choices
and Reza’s fits the Bill for me nicely.
Now, for the record, Reza’s offers a Lunchtime Buffet during the week
where you can eat till your hearts content with lots of Kabobs, Pita’s,
and Dill Rice which I never eat because I think it’s Nasty but all of you
people seem to like it!
And you guys like that Hummus stuff too yuck!!!
Okay, I always skip the Buffet and I always order the same thing, my very
favorite Lemon Chicken Kabobs on a pita, and boy, is that good and I
always put lots of fresh lemon juice all over that Sucker. Ahhh…
And tonight for the first time I tried Reza’s Flatbread and it was warm and
it had Oregano and other Spices attached to it.
For the record, I was Loving that too!
And, Reza’s gave us this Light and Fluffy almost Churro like dessert
thing with a Honey Glaze.
Okay, here it is Folks, my 1^st OMG of the year.
This thing was Heavenly.
Reza’s is a lovely Casual Place with a great atmosphere/​ambiance,
and I Love the fact that they always make my Lemon Chicken Kabob
Pita always taste so darn good!
And, it’s Healthy too! Which makes me one happy girl/​woman person.
Because, in my case, after having 2 Heart Attacks as much as I want
Lou Malnati’s on the Regular No can do.
And, that’s more than okay with me because with Reza’s I’m doing
so much more than settling, I’m enjoying while being smart,
And, that says a lot…

Absolutely great food. Kabobs and rice were delicious. The dolmeh appetizer is so, so good. Minus one star for no changing table — wound up sitting on some treasure chest in the women’s bathroom trying to change the baby across my lap. Otherwise, again, food was great.

One of my friends growing up was Persian, his parents University of Chicago professors. Brilliant, but not the best of cooks. This was one of the first successful Middle Eastern restaurants in Chicago, and my first taste of good Persian cuisine. One of the things I learned here is that Arabic Arak is NOT the same thing or even related to South Asian Arrack. That may not be very important to you, but if you come here with a Sri Lankan you might want to point this out to him. Since those days there’s been a proliferation of Middle Eastern restaurants all over town, and it says something that this place is still here, with the same basic menu, in the same location, and it’s still pretty crowded weekend evenings. Trendier more expensive places have come and gone, some right next door. I returned recently to meet with some old friends, who also encountered Persian food for the first time here. The consensus this time was that although it’s all still good, it’s not as exciting as it once was as we’ve had better elsewhere. But I’m willing to bet that this place will still be around long after the other places, even those with better food, have shuttered. I think it’s because Reza’s became a stalwart local food institution somewhere along the line. Service is good, the very solid menu remains the same, I do recommend the salmon kebabs, and parking is virtually impossible.

This place isn’t quite the bustling restaurant I remember it to be when I had last gone there in 2005. We used to come here all the time for food when I lived in the city, but since we moved farther away it became an after thought. This place came up in a discussion with the wife and we wondered why we haven’t come back to this place for so long. After our last visit here, we wonder why we stayed away for so long!
Ok, so the service isn’t exactly top notch, so that may have something to do with this restaurant not doing as well, but the food, is still awesome. Probably the best lamb chops I’ve had are served at this place, and best of all, they come with rice. As an Asian, that is very important to me. In the menu, it said the Lamb Chop dish came with 3 chops, to my surprise, 5 chops were sent out on my dish. Thank you for tomorrow’s dinner too! They all came out perfectly seasoned and cooked with a huge plate of dill rice. Accompanied with a glass of red sangria and it was the best meal I had had in a while!
I know, I’m basing my review of the restaurant based on one dish, but if this dish is what is representative of the restaurant, why would I not come back?

I’ve been coming to Reza’s for quite some time now and I have never left disappointed. Came in for their Thanksgiving Brunch Buffet. My family’s thanksgiving plans were set for later in the evening and I wanted to try something a little different before the main event. We were fortunate to place our reservation last minute for a table of six adults very easily. We came in around 12:00pm and to my surprise the place wasn’t as packed, considering how lively Andersonville was during Thanksgiving.
We came in and were immediately seated! Our waitress was very attentive, our glasses were always full and our table was never a mess. The food was definitely on point, as expected! It was my first time here for the holiday and everything was nothing short of perfect! They had a great selection of their typical buffet options in addition to the American Thanksgiving options. I was hoping for falafel but it wasn’t out there, ah well. I was the only vegetarian at the table and I was very happy with what they were serving, so many options and not enough room! Everyone at the table had nothing but great reviews over their plates, we had a great time and definitely enjoyed the at home atmosphere. The place wasn’t overly crowded, even as the restaurant filled up, there was an order to their buffet and everything was nicely presented. There was a ton of staff around and I’m very thankful for their great service, especially for Thanksgiving!
Everyone enjoyed the buffet, averaging between 2 – 3 plates! Reza’s was the best choice to start the holiday right! I have absolutely no complaint over my experience yesterday and more importantly my family and boyfriend left completely stuffed and satisfied! Definitely patted myself on the back for planning this!
I’ll definitely be coming back for more and continue recommending this place!

Overall: Good service, good food, good atmosphere. Nothing mind blowing but great place!
The good: Great friendly service. They were very attentive and kind. The atmosphere is good as well, nothing crazy but it’s a nice touch. The food isn’t mind blowing but it’s pretty solid. Portion sizes are great, you’ll probably leave with leftovers. A lot of seating and space.
The bad: Food could’ve been hotter. They lacked bringing out water after awhile. Prices climb too much.
Atmosphere: ⁸⁄₁₀
Service: 8.5÷10
Food: 7.5÷10

Reza’s. You fill my stomach with food, and then my wife’s, and then my Unilocal review!
Reza’s is great. At least for the buffet. I’ve never gone to Reza’s for anything other than the weekday/​weekend brunches, but I’d say they are awesome enough that I don’t really care about the rest of the menu. It is a little expensive at around $ 18 – 22 for a buffet, but they definitely bring out good quality.
I should add: they have a highchair on wheels they can bring out for kids, which is a nice plus. All of the staff love children and kept my little banana highly entertained throughout our meals. I suppose that’s a unique plus for us.
So, they have this giant buffet. On weekends you can get some champagne with your brunch. What you get however, is pure deliciousness. Whether you’re a vegetarian or not, there are plenty of excellent options here ranging from the fried potatoes/​hummus/​falafel to excellent and tasty lamb. Oh, and don’t skip the desserts, either. All the buffet items are good quality and all Reza’s cares about is that you don’t order more than you can eat.
Some of the more unique items I’ve seen there:
spicy rice
dill rice
scalloped potatoes sans cheese
grilled mushrooms
an actual spicy sauce that is somewhat spicy (as opposed to most)
Oh, and if you sit by the windows keep in mind that they don’t have a lot of shade from the sun.
I’ve come here before, I’ll be coming here again. Probably with Jen and Rafael again.

I’ve been here a few times. The food is generally OK … sometimes stellar, occasionally subpar. Like last night: the rice tasted «old,» the beef was way undercooked («well done» means I should not be seeing a very pink center), and my mojito had maybe a thimbleful of alcohol in it. On the other hand, the shrimp and scallops were excellent, the huge pan of bread was a masterpiece, and the lentil soup is amazing (although a very stingy portion size…)
Service is generally reliable. I’ve gone solo and in groups, and I’ve never observed or experienced some things some reviewers mention. Service has been attentive and I’ve never had an issue with poor service.
But the one thing I can’t resolve — is WHY do I break wind so MUCH the next day after eating here?!! No matter what I order, it happens. Shrimp and scallops don’t cause gas. Bread, never. It must be the lentil soup that is causing these horrific anal winds of war, but the portion is so minuscule, I don’t see how or why this would be happening.
Some of the waiters and busboys are absolute eye candy!

Vegetarian-in-Training…and it did NOT disappoint!!! Had the falafel with sweet and sour sauce, feta cheese with radish, Persian salad, and grilled salmon kabob with grilled vegetables.
PHENOMENAL!!!

Buffett. Do it.
*Drops the mic*
No but seriously do the lunch/​brunch buffet. I believe it’s $ 16 per person which is pretty reasonable if you’re, like me, planning to stuff yourself until you, a. can’t move or b. begin to hate yourself because you’re such a cow.
Once we were shown to our table, we immediately hit the buffet, no need to wait for the waitress.
The buffet has a little bit of everything: salads, schwarama, falafel, rice, desserts, and a few sauces.
My fav entrée was some sort of beef roast. Oh my god, it was so juicy and flavorful. I also stocked up on falafel and hummus.
My only complaint was the pita. I prefer a thick and fluffy pita and this was more like thin, tough, and flavorless but it’s complimentary so maybe that’s why.

Came here not having any expectations and it was a decent grub. There was 3 of us dining in and we ordered 2 dishes to share amongst the table and even with those two dishes, it was still a lot for 3 people. Their portions were humongous! In the beginning, we were accompanied by a large pita bread that was freshly made. The bread was good but the sides that accompanied it wasn’t too great. It was just cheese that was actually hard and radish. After, we ordered the Tuesday special and a vegetarian platter. I was not too fond with the items on the vegetation platter. The only thing I enjoyed was the falafel and hummus, other than that, it was not to my liking. The Tuesday special was great. There was 3 kabobs just enough for the 3 of us and we grab some potatoes with it too and it was good. There was also dill rice and it was good with hummus. I wouldn’t mind stopping by again.

Most of the bad reviews mirrored whatever the hell it was we experienced here today, so I’ll try not to add to the redundancy.
*We were shouted at when our party did not all arrive at the same time. (They had at least 10 open tables… so I’m not sure why this was a problem.)
*No menus were provided until ¾ of the way of our self-​guided «Sunday Brunch» (so we confusedly proceeded to the buffet)
*No water refills throughout the duration of the meal
*We had to retrieve our own tab as our waiter (whoever that was) was nowhere to be found… and even then he ended up overcharging us for a guest at our table who did not partake in the buffet.
Need I say more? If you don’t want to take my word for this hell-​hole of a restaurant, go and read the last 30 million reviewers who had similar things to say. We can’t all be wrong.

This place is huge inside. I mean gigantic. And when you walk in and see how big it is, then there is actually more space in party rooms downstairs and other hallways that leads to who knows where! Such a big big restaurant, so I expected big things, but the food really was just so so to me. I had great company though and the service was so friendly, just thought we’d get a little more flavor in this place.
The falaffel was a little dry… and no matter how much hummus I put on it, I didn’t like it anymore. Their kabob meat was actually okay though with the lamb definitely being the best meat by far. The chicken again seemed overcooked to me, but they are definitely very generous in their portions that they serve you here! You get lots of rice on the platters, some veggies, and then all of the meet. So it made for a great group dining experience since we could easily share and sample everything bite by bite. Their other side salads like tabouleh and such were also all fine, but again nothing super incredible but definitely good side dishes to accompany everything else that we ordered. Their sangria they serve (also not sure why they serve sangria exactly?) also packed a secret punch I think so be careful if you order that!

This restaurant, in it’s location for as long as I can remember about 25 years, is a staple of ethnic cooking in Chicago. Their cuisine is persian and it’s delicious and dependable. For all the years I have dined there over the past 25 years, the food taste and quality has never changed. A kabob is a kabob, but their dill rice is incredible and unique.
I chose the marinated chicken on the bone with dill rice for my dinner. My husband and I also split an order of tabouleh that was very delish. I have to give props to my friend and neighbor, though, who makes his special by adding fresh mint to his and that really kicks it off but this was good nevertheless. My husband chose the combination beef and boneless chicken and he said both were moist and tender, which is the same, ‘olé dependable way it always is.
Service is very attentive and everything our party ordered was delivered with no changes required. Call this place dependable, reliable, consistent and delicious, and visit it soon.

In Andersonville for shopping, my mother and I wandered into Reza’s for the $ 10 lunch buffet. (A relic of another time, right?) At first I grumbled to Mom about the critical reviews on Unilocal,but by the end of our meal, I was eating crow with my lip-​smacking lamb kabobs. While I wouldn’t make a special trip for the lunch buffet itself, I’d stop in again for a fresh, filling Mediterranean meal!
RECOMMEND: Those lamb kabobs (wow!), the falafel, the dill rice, the garlic-​studded flatbread that’s brought to the table and the tart lemonade that’s included in the cost of the buffet.
NOT: the bland hummus or the cucumber salad, which would’ve benefitted from a sprinkle of sumac or another spice.

I’m not sure what the difference between this Reza’s is and the one downtown is, but this was easily one of the worst restaurant experiences I have ever had. To make things worse, I wanted to bring my mom here for mother’s day, and it was just a terrible experience.
First of all, the service was awful. When the server came up, she did not even ask if we wanted something to drink. When I asked for water, she started turning around before asking my mom or boyfriend if they wanted something to drink. She never came back for our silverware, and we did not have salt, pepper or somaq. She didn’t even refill our water until she heard us complain.
The service took a turn for the worse when our food came. Our rice was cold, very greasy, and uncooked. My mom’s kabob kubideh was still red on the inside, but they insisted that it was medium-​well. As someone who has eaten A LOT of kabob in her life, I know kubideh is never dark pink on the inside. When my mom complained, she had to talk to two servers and they acted as if she should eat it anyway. One server tried to convince me I did not know what medium-​well was. Then, we talked to the manager, who was very useless. He did not apologize. He did not say he would talk to the chef. He did nothing.
This experience was absolutely horrible. I am so confused, but it definitely ruined Reza’s for me. I will be much more hesitant in recommending them in the future and will certainly advise against anyone going to this location.