What started as a grocery is now also a cafe in suburban Mount Prospect that serves simit, lahmajoon, menemen, borek, and more. Dine on heaping portions amid shelves of Turkish ingredients and baked goods to-go. It’s a bit of a trek, but worth a stop if you’re headed to or from O’Hare International Airport.

This Lebanese restaurant has one of the more extensive menus on the list, including regional specialities like sfiha–a flatbread with a spiced minced meat topping–and fatteh–chickpeas over toasted pita bread with yogurt, tahini, garlic, sumac, and melted butter. All of the mezzes are excellent, but the baba ghanoush is especially good, with the level of smokiness you find in Beirut. That’s no surprise, as the restaurant originally opened in Raouche, Beirut in 1935. Though the family immigrated to Chicago, they still source spices from Turkey and make their own zaatar, which is fresh and tangy and should be added to every order.

Baghdad Bakery on Devon Avenue mostly caters to restaurants, but if you go in the morning you can find fresh, warm, pillowy samoon — Iraqi bread baked in a stone oven. Buy this by the bag, along with cheese and spinach pies, flatbread with meat or zaatar, and kahi–phyllo pastry best eaten with honey and popular in Iraqi cafes for breakfast.

Come for the grocery, stay for the grill. This shop has supplied Chicago’s home cooks with Middle Eastern, Turkish, and Persian ingredients for almost 40 years. You’ll find spices, olives and cheese sourced from abroad, as well as fresh pita, pies, baklava, and other baked goods made on-site. Grab a shawarma wrap to-go.

Taste of Lebanon in Andersonville serves some of the best falafel and lentil soup outside of the Middle East. The falafel is flavorful and light, the hummus is extra creamy, the tabouleh is fresh, and the affordable price and consistently friendly staff make up for the fact that it’s cash only. Most items travel well.

在這個休閑波斯在奧爾巴尼公園,你或der at the counter and wait for steaming plates of food to be brought to the table. The menu is large, as are the portions (plus all lunch and late night meals come with hummus and salad), so it’s great for sharing or taking some to-go. While they serve a variety of Persian dishes, the juicy kebabs and biryani are the highlight. They even have a 10 p.m. to midnight late night menu, which you can also order for delivery. A great addition to any party.

這種雜貨店有中東和英蒂an cooking supplies. It’s a storefront for a massive wholesale operation that provides pita and other baked goods to restaurants and stores across Chicago. There’s also a Middle Eastern bakery with cakes and an astonishing array of baklava. Order via third partieson the bakery’s websitefor delivery.

This family-run Persian eatery opened in 1977. It’s since tripled in size and serves fabulous kebab, as the name suggests, but more importantly dishes up Persian classics like fesenjan, a pomegranate and walnut stew; adass polo, rice with lentils, raisins, caramelized onions, saffron, and barbeerris; and tadig–Iran’s crunchy rice specialty. Spices are imported from Iran and the recipes are family secrets. The menu is large, so come with friends to sit among the soft lighting and pretty Persian tiles depicting Sufi tales.

Galit, owned by Andrés Clavero and James Beard Award-winning chef Zachary Engel, feels like stepping into a seaside spot in the Middle East. Turquoise tiles, an open hearth, and an eight-foot grill greet guests, who dine on mezze and fragrant cocktails in a light-filled space. There are plenty of veggies here, from coal-roasted carrots and beets to trumpet mushroom hummus, a selection of pickles, and kale tabouli. But don’t fear, the Iraqi Kubbeh Halab features saffron-crusted lamb with golden raisins and almonds, and a steak with parsnips, Brussels sprouts and grape molasses puts meat lovers at home.

This family-owned Lebanese restaurant opened in 2018 and has built a loyal following over the last two years for its juicy kebabs and shawarma sandwiches. The lentil soup and hummus are classics, and everything comes with freshly baked pita. Don’t skip dessert; the baklava is crispy and sweet, never soggy. There’s a large patio with heaters, and the restaurant is BYOB with a $15 corkage fee.

This tiny counter spot run by a Palestinian family on Armitage serves some of Chicago’s best falafel, along with hummus, kebab, wraps, and rice inside Plaza Food Mart. Head to the back of the convenience store and get in line–the wait is well worth it, or you can call ahead. The spinach pies and lentil soup are perfect for nibbling while your order is prepared, or to snack on on the way home. Yaba’s is carry-out and delivery only.

Inside a Wicker Park strip mall, Cafe Istanbul specializes in wood-grilled fare that skews toward traditional Turkish food. Helmed by a former chef at Roscoe Village’s Turquoise, one of the more unique items is the cag dza kebab. This isn’t a garden variety meat cone,theReader’sMike Sula notes. It’s made from lamb stack horizontally and cooked, giving it more of a char than those rotating pieces of meat that are staples at Turkish restaurants. The restaurant, which also has a Lakeview location, is a Jean Banchet Award winner.

At Zaytune, in Bridgeport, everything is made-to-order, even the flatbread, and owner Daniel Sarkiss prides himself on adherence to traditional recipes and ingredients. Everything from the falafel to the sauces is made from scratch. The shawarma is solid, whether in wrap or platter form, and the herbed fries are crispy and served with a garlic dip. Build your platter, bowl, or wrap with a choice of protein, sauce, and vegetables, and add a few salads and sides for a full meal.

Al Bawadi, which recently opened a second location in North Suburban Niles to accompany its South Suburban Bridgeview spot, is a longtime favorite in Chicago for its excellent kibbeh, the kebab cooked over charcoal, pita made on a stone turntable, and kanafeh–crushed phyllo dough topped with cheese, warmed, and soaked with syrup and rose water. The servers dressed in keffiyeh and abundant camel decorations can feel a bit put on, but the food is good. Really good. And one needs only to talk to the staff for a few minutes to see that cheesy or not, their hearts are in the food.

Down on Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview, there’s a convergence of Middle Eastern businesses with many places for kebobs and falafel scattered around many strip malls. Further down, passers-by will find Oozi Corner, a spacious restaurant that has offered socially distanced dine in throughout the pandemic. There’s also a drive-thru window for sandwiches and wraps, but the true stars of the menu are the chicken, lamb, and beef grilled over charcoal.