Garden Grill

I reviewed this restaurant when it was a Mediterranean restaurant and gave it terrible reviews. Garden Grill is now a Mexican restaurant. They actually have very good burritos. I purchased them a few times and have been satisfied every time. A $ 10 burrito is big enough to feed two people. I’m glad I get to update my previous review.

The food is pretty good, so I’ve been here a few times, and the service had usually been decent, until tonight…
Last time we dropped by, the place was closed with signs saying it was being worked on and would reopen under new management. New management? The place has only been open a few months!
Well, apparently new management is not so competent…
Went in today and should’ve known it’d be awful from the start. The person in front of me finished ordering and the woman at the register just ignored me, got on the phone to make a call, came back from the call, continued to ignore me (as a few more people got in line behind us) for a moment until finally acknowledging there’s a customer waiting. I wouldn’t have minded waiting if she’d simply asked me to hold on a second but she essentially acted like we weren’t there.
As I’m sitting incredulously for what seemed like 4 – 5 minutes of being ignored, the people behind us asked if it was always this way. We responded saying no, it’s not usually this slow… We placed our order, then the couple behind us timidly still decided to order even after witnessing this «service»…
Well, over 20 or 25 minutes went by at a place that’s «casual fast» and we’re not seeing anyone’s orders coming out, but whatever, I’ll be patient. The couple behind us? Not so tolerant (and well within their reason/​right not to be!) — so they went up and asked what was up with their food.
They got served. The people after them got served. So now I’m wondering what the heck happened to our food.
I go and ask and sure enough they misplaced our order or something. They say they’ll make it right away, but nobody apologizes at this point. As they start scrambling to get my order, the slow /​inconsiderate woman from the cash register «corrects» them on my order — meaning although they had my order right, SHE told them to change it and that they were wrong… so I jumped in and re-​corrected that situation.
A couple minutes go by and now my food is a garnish away from being ready… I’m looking at it on the counter… it’s RIGHT there and it’s DONE.
This is the point when they decide to task switch again, and my food sits fully cooked in front of me for a good couple of minutes before they come back to it and finally give it to me.
I’m offered extra bread, I’m given a bit of an apology by the one guy there who seems to kinda sorta give a damn about customer service…
We ate our food, but it wasn’t hot thanks to sitting there so long. We did have a couple of people come out and ask if we wanted anything else and check on us, but it was frankly too little too late.
Because of past not-​so-​terrible service experiences, we may give it another try and chalk this up to a horrible/​off night. However, when I see that the place is going to reopen under new management, and my first experience their under said «new management» is utterly inexcusable, it’s kinda rough.
If we come back, that’s definitely the last chance we’ll give. It’s too bad, we live extremely close (as in less than a 1min walk) and would love a place to frequent for tasty eats.

Decent Mediterranean food.
My chicken shawarma pita was pretty good, but all the veggies (including a huge slice of onion) was all in one spot. I think it was supposed to come with hummus spread, but I saw none of that. The falafel was pretty good. The lentil soup looked good, but I didn’t try it.
Service is a bit slow too. It is byob though.
They deliver to my house, so likely I will order from them again some time. If they weren’t so close to my house, I probably wouldn’t make the effort to eat here again. Food’s alright, but I have definitely had better.

Lured by the multiple five star reviews, my husband and I decided to eat here. We waited at least 30 minutes to receive our food and watched as pick up orders came in who then waited longer than we did for food they presumably ordered earlier.
All that might be ok if the food is good, however-​the rice was obviously thawed and reheated, the dolmas were bad, the falafel was rock-​hard and flavorless. And they forgot our pita and lentil soup.
Positives: yes, it was clean. and. the bathrooms were nice-​however, there was no toilet paper in EITHER of the bathrooms.
We won’t be going back.

I ate here three times in one week. I was embarrassed to go back the third time, so I sent my boyfriend.
I generally get the combo entrée with baba ghanoush. It is easily three full meals. The flavor is incredible — I make sandwiches lined with either the white sauce or the baba ghanoush. So good!
Go eat here!

Yum! I am so happy to finally have a great Middle Eastern restaurant in my hood. I went twice this week! I’ve had the Steak Shawarma sandwich, boorek (like an egg roll filled with meat and spices!), and hummus. Each item was delicious!
The décor is nice and the restaurant is really clean.
Try it! It’s cheap and delicious!

Gargantuan portion sizes, super duper cheap, loaded with flavor… THANK YOU SIR MAY I HAVE ANOTHER!
But no really, Animal House jokes aside, this place is great. It’s a perfect addition to the never-​ending stream of cheap Mexican and [insert fried food/​sandwich here] places Chicago already has so much of.
This place is awesome. Combo entrée was enough for two servings. I’ll be back.

not bad at all! they do have two different web sites and that seems to be creating some problems for people, but i think once they figure out how to take the wrong website down, there’s won’t be any more issues.
i got to have the kifta plate, the falafel sandwich, baba ganoush and the stuffed fried potatoes. the kifta plate was delicious and flavorful, came with rice and lentil soup. the soup was great! not too salty, and a good texture. the falafel sandwich was good too, not too crunchy and not too mushy. the baba ganoush left a lot to be desired though. it really lacked any kind of flavor at all. the stuffed potato was the best! it was a fluffy mashed potato and seemed maybe fried, but it was still fluffy. it was stuffed with some meat and onions and spices and was just perfect and yummy. oh and everything was very reasonably pirced.
the biggest complaint i have about this place is that all the pita bread is served cold despite the menu saying that it’s served with warm pita.
it can really make a meal! the people who work here are really nice and i’m excited there’s a place like this so close to me!

I liked it quite a lot.
TRUTH: the online menu is not the exact same as in the store. But it was pretty close. We were pleased to find chicken shawarma in addition to beef. Only lentil soup was available at the time, but white bean soup is (supposedly) coming.
We ordered falafel, boorek (burek), hummus, and a combo plate (shawarma and kabob meat, salad and pickled veggies). Everything was really tasty. Boorek was new to me, but it was described as a dumpling-​thing — meat or vegetarian; and I would call it a delicious half-​way point between an eggroll and a potsticker. They even topped the hummus with a little sprinkle of tabbouleh.
Overall, I’m pretty pleased that this place is in walking distance. The fifth star is me waiting for them to offer delivery.

I was lost in Humbolt Park. As I pulled into this parking lot to turn around I could smell the deliciousness from my car and hear the rumbling of my tummy. It may look like a divvy place from the outside, but the interior is very clean and nicely decorated. I ordered the chicken shawarma sandwich and it was delicious. Piping hot, tender chickened with nicely grilled edges, delicious garlic sauce and crispy lettuce/​tomato/​onion. What a happy detour!

Pros:
–So many vegetarian options!
–Huge portions, low prices.
–Delicious dolma, rice, lentil soup, hummus, and pickles.
Cons:
–The falafel is rather dry and tasteless, but with enough of their delicious yogurt sauce who cares?
–The little side salad wasn’t very flavorful. I don’t think they dressed it. Again, get extra yogurt sauce and all your problems are solved.

In Chicago, when one decides they are too lazy to cook then a duality is presented and a choice is to be made. Either spend a moderate amount of money on decent overpriced food ($$) or a little money ($) on stuff that is only a step above what could be purchased at 7 eleven. That’s what I thought until this glorious day.
In the paved desert there is an oasis on kedzie and armitage. With 10 dollars and some change in my pocket I expected nothing short of disappointment. I was greeted by the friendly girl at the counter who guided me through the menu (which is indeed the same menu that is online) and helped me decide on the combo platter. I handed over my 10 and some change, then was instructed to enjoy a free soda and relax. After waiting a little less than 15 minutes for my freshly cooked meal (15 minutes is not a big deal for fresh food people! Relax and enjoy the meal you dang American) I was out the door and on my way home.
I got home, and opened up my massive quantity of shwarma, both chicken and steak, some sort of beef stick, rice, veggies, hummus, and lentil soup (not to mention my free soda). I filled up my first pita with an assortment topped with the garlic and tahini sauces and dug in. Holy mother of Mediterranean heritage laid her hand upon my taste buds with the other protecting my wallet and I tasted the first authentic Mediterranean I’ve had since Costa Rica. I had plenty of leftovers which is rare for me in Chicago, and surprisingly did not feel down and out for the evening like I feel after most meals at this price.
I will be back with my free falafel coupon because of the check in deal, and will return many times after. If there were six stars available I would give garden grill a 5.2. Quick tip: eat here.

I couldn’t wait for this place to open, and when i made my first visit i was pleasantly surprised!
I had the steak shawerma plate. The steak was amazing. So juicy, and tender. The flavor was like no shawerma i’ve ever had! The salad was fresh and delicious. The falafel was crispy on the outside, and moist on the inside. Rice was also very good. Pita was slightly toasted and also very fresh.
The price is right on the money, amazing bang for your buck!
Plenty of room and seating, and parking too!
I can’t wait to come back to this place! Its a breath of fresh air for this area!

My biggest issue with Garden Grill is that the online menu is different from the on-​site menu, especially since literally everything I wanted to order wasn’t available. Argh!
Let me back up.
Last Friday night, after a long week, all I wanted to do was not cook, lie on my couch and gorge on Mediterranean food. Garden Grill had recently opened up in my neighborhood and even though they didn’t deliver, I decided I could muster up enough energy to make the short drive over there and pick up food.
As I often do, I looked at their menu online and picked out a bunch of stuff so that when I got there, I could get in and out quickly.
I settled on a beef kabob, three-​way combo, house salad, fries, and white bean soup but when I got there and looked at the menu board, none of what I wanted seemed to be an option. Like literally, nothing. They don’t offer a beef kabob, only serve lentil soup, the house salad is nowhere in sight, they serve rice but not fries and the three-​way combo has magically morphed into a different combination. When I asked the clerk about it, she said «Ignore the online menu, it’s completely different than what we’re serving.»
«No shit» was what I said under my breath.
Anyway, since I had come all the way down there, I wasn’t about to leave empty handed so I opted for a fattoush salad, baba ghannouj, chicken kabob plate and steak shawarma plate. The food was ready in about 15 minutes. I did appreciate that the food was cooked to order. As I waited for the food, I noticed how immaculate the place was, so I took this as a good sign.
I got home and started unpacking the food. Everything looked good, but man, they use a lot of whole chick peas. The baba ghannouj and salad were covered with them (and there was no mention of them in the salad description at all). Granted this is Mediterranean food, so chick peas are rather prevalent in this type of cuisine, but it was raining chick peas.
The chicken was tender and flavorful, but the beef shawarma was kind of tough and chewy, as was the pita bread. I love warm, soft pita to scoop up baba ghannouj or hummus but this was so dry and stiff, like it was sitting around.
I am happy to see this kind of place so close to me, so I’ll probably give them another try at some point. I hope they improve their pita and fix their online menu.
2.75 stars.

This is a new restaurant in the area, and a welcomed find. As mentioned they do have a small parking lot so if you’re picking up, no need to worry about paying a meter or finding a spot!
Nice and clean environment and the staff was very friendly. The food took a little long to prepare (I didn’t order ahead, because I didn’t have a menu), however that’s because they make everything fresh — including the falafal.
We ordered the hummus (very olive-​y), falafal (fresh and tasty), chicken kabob sandwich, steak shawarma, beef kabob (name’s escaping me) sandwich. All was very good and portions were plentiful. I too am not a fan of the tomatoes but looks like they are doing a better job with the mixing things up in the actual pita.
The menu isn’t very extensive but since everything is made fresh it is probably for the best. The options they do provide are tasty and I would definitely recommend!

I loved the place the food was excellent, I will be returning back.

We tried the vegetarian platter with 2 appetizers. It was enough food for 2 people with leftovers for dinner tomorrow and it was under $ 20. The food was extremely fresh and very good. They included a ton of condiments (tahini, cucumber sauce, and red spicy stuff) in the bag.
There is nothing like this in Logan Square. They are part of the family that runs the video store on the corner. Grab dinner, rent a movie, and help keep our local businesses thriving!

As a Logan Square native, I am very excited to have Garden Grill in the area!!! Especially since I also work in the area, a super plus!!! The food was super duper awesome, very pleased with everything right down to the service. Im writing this review 10 minutes after coming out of Garden Grill. The food was seasoned so well, every bite had flavor. if Garden Grill keeps up the good work, They could knock Sultans market off the map. Oh another plus, they have parking! :) highly recommend. I had the combo plate, for $ 10 it’s a steal! I Couldn’t even finish it, so luckily I have lunch for tomorrow! Try it out, not everyone can be please, but if ur open to trying good food and supporting new small businesses, go for it!!!

It’s nice to see another restaurant open in the southern part of Logan Square. This is a good place for a quick meal.
They gave both my husband and I a free side of white bean soup. We both agreed this was a solid soup that we would eat again.
I had the steak shawarma sandwich. I had the white garlic sauce on the side. It was a good addition to the sandwich that I would just have them put on next time. For the most part I really liked my sandwich. The top was generously filled with steak. The bottom however was a salad/​veggie mixture. I could’ve done without the tomatoes. They were large so they were easy to pick out at least. I would’ve preferred a better mixing of the salad and steak before it was put into the pita. Instead I got a wonderfully steak filled sandwich at the top, and a veggie salad pita sandwich at the bottom.
My husband had the Kefta Kabob sandwich. He thought it was really tasty and would get it again. He liked the mediterranean slaw that came on the side and wished it had just come on the sandwich. The hot sauce that came on the side had too much of a vinegar flavor. He also had the same problem with the meat and veggie salad not being mixed in the pita. He also would’ve preferred no tomatos in the salad mixture.
Next time we go we need to try the hummus. They had samples out to try but we didn’t take advantage.

They just opened up a week or two ago. I found that this is one of those restaurants where I would go 3.5 stars but I gave the extra half because the hummus was really good or at least I thought it was really good. I also has the chicken shawarma sandwich which was good. The hot sauce is quite tasty but the hummus was my favorite. They probably have 7 or 8 tables. I think they take credit cards and it is dine in or carry out. It’s a good addition to the Logan Square area and I look forward to more lunches in the future.