Sanabel Bakery

Quite simply, the real deal! This Lebanese bakery makes fresh savory pastries, pita and other breads that pass the pinch test for springy fresh-​baked-​today texture. You could get a lot of food for a great price. You will need to buy a few extra spinach or meat pies or zaatar breads because you’ll eat a few on the way home. Don’t come here if you need to be in a low carb diet, but do come on you cheat day! Wonderful people, too.

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! They act as if they are doing you a favor. rude! Check dates, lots of expired spices etc. yes bread is good but the spinach pies are getting less and less filling in them.

Did a Unilocal search for a bakery where I could buy freshly made pita bread. After weeding through some of the less than objective reviews commenting on everything from the Chicago Dept of Health restriction about (non-​service) dogs in food establishments, to rancid sesame oil, & racial slurs, I decided to hit up Sanabel anyway.
Like numerous Unilocalers mentioned, Sanabel Bakery is an «odd» place. From the empty butcher case in the rear of the store to the cases of grocery items stacked on the floor, it’s a testament to disarray.
The bakery is off to the side, and packages are unmarked. If this is your first foray into buying Middle Eastern bread, ask «that» cashier (who some Unilocalers have totally dissed !!!) Friendliness/​customer service are clearly not her strong points, but she did manage to explain what product was in each bag. I purchased a flatbread with ½ cheese, and ½ zaatar. Heated it up in a 200 degree oven when I got home. The cheese remained stringy, the zaatar side of the flatbread was tasty. The pitas were much better. Another customer in the store told me the spinach pies were awesome. Will update you when/​if I buy some.

I’m going to visit my family in the Bay Area tomorrow… And good Arabic baked products are hard to come by. I Unilocaled all of the Arab bakeries in the area and took a chance with Sanabel closing about 30 min before I got there. I went straight to the owner and let him know what I needed– the freshest kmaaj (pita) both thin and the fluffier one, shraak, and pies he had. I bought 30 bags of bread– meat pies, spinach pies, cheese pies, zataar pies, AND a gallon of tahini (which is priced like highway robbery in SF)… And made out like a freaking bandit with HOT! Fresh out of the oven baked goods and tahini for less than $ 100. On the drive home… I couldn’t help but tear into the bag of meat pies… I don’t think they’re going to make it to Cali. I’ll probably have them finished before this review is. Oh, Allah. My new bakery of choice.

A great authentic Lebanese bakery/​grocery in Chicago’s Irving Park neighborhood.
Be sure to try the freshly baked manousheh FRESH from the oven! (when baker staff is available) upon request.
My favorite are the lahm bi ajeen (meat pies) that are similar to meat pizzas served at Turkish restaurants– very thin crust and spiced ground lamb topping. Only $ 1.50 each!
Stock up on all things Middle Eastern including EVOO, labneh, frozen artichoke hearts, various kitchen accessories incl. Turkish coffee pots, mortar/​pistil for crushing garlic.
Of course their Arabic bread (pita) is the best I’ve had in Chicago so far; very low in sodium and they have white/​whole wheat varieties. Enjoy!

Amazing pita bread and spices. Very reasonable prices for the bread. The pita freezes really well by the way, so if you need to stock up and put some in the freezer, that works.
My Lebanese friends told me about this bakery, and I am so glad they did!

As far as middle eastern groceries goes, this place really has just about everything! Very authentic and a wide selection of groceries to choose from. The bakery is amazing, especially the spinach pies. It’s a little fun down but still a great place for authentic items.

Habibi, please DO NOT SMOKE at the shop. I have seen you do this about ²⁄₃ of times i have been there.
and please DO NOT spit on your hand or put your fingers in your mouth to wet it before grabbing a plastic bag or handing in bills. It is GROSS.
Aside that I am grateful you are in Chicago, and sell delicious breads, and other fabulous middle eastern products.
I still give you 3 stars because i think you probably do not even notice what you are doing.

I wanted to get some pitas from Sanabel that I’d heard so much about. First of all, $ 1 for six giant, fresh pitas is a deal! I am sure I will never want to purchase the kind from the grocery store again.
I walked in and wasn’t sure where to go first. The interior of this place, for a lack of a better word, sucks. There are bags and bags of baked flat breads and pitas stacked on the floor. There is an unattended, unlit bakery case containing baklava and other unlabeled treats. I didn’t browse any of the aisles, as they mainly looked dusty and dark. It felt a little dirty, but I wanted my pitas.
The staff here is definitely aloof. One man smokes openly while walking the aisles, and the one cashier was too occupied to assist a customer. I blindly chose a mixed package of pastries. There were three types in the container, one was baklava, and the other… no idea what they are called. They were good. I know, real helpful right? As it turns out, the baklava was just okay. The one other treat, with cashews and shaped like a star or flower, was delicious. I would’ve liked more of these. Too bad I don’t know what it is!
I like the no nonsense style of the place, but my dad grumbled about there being no cashier, and I found the unlabeled bakery items (what is it? how much is it?) an inconvenience. If they were a little more friendly and organized, maybe I would have remembered that I also wanted to try the spinach pies and coconut cookies too. They could have been right in front of my face.
I went to another bakery in the area a few months ago (Jaafer) and much prefer their set-​up and bakery variety to Sanabel. However, I have yet to find a Middle Eastern bakery with employees who are willing to explain to me what they are selling behind the bakery counter.
Worth stopping for the pita if you’re in the area.

Delicious food, great produce… I love this place, it’s my favorite middle eastern grocery store in that whole area. They have the best sweets, freshest bread, and a clean store. I think they have reasonable prices and to date products.

Sanabel, what the hell?
Let’s ring the bel (s). 12 fresh baked pitas for a buck! Lots of cool Medi treats so what the fck!
Well for one thing. I don’t know what some of those bitchin treats & spreads are since the employees are lackadaisical at best and there’s a language barrier. Not a huge issue but I’d like to be able to know or be directed. Second. The smoking.
Yes. The staff openly smokes in the store. That’s not cool IMHO. If I’m not allowed have a ciggy at Jewel or even in a ~bar~ why can employees at a grocery/​bakery puff away in everyone’s faces? Getting back to the language barrier, blasé attitudes, and not giving-​giving-​a-​sht-​itis of the place I had been informed by various staff different things regarding bringing my yorkie George inside. From it being ok. To grunting and pointing at the door (does that mean take him outside or tying him to the handle?). The last time an old guy puffing away and a young dude got in a fight over him and where he should be. I don’t need the drama, I recap soap operas.
I like pitas, I like mom and pop joints, but I don’t like PITAs. George already grunts and growls. Maybe I’ll teach him to smoke and then he will be welcome and maybe even hired as future «Employee of the Year.»

I got some rancid sesame oil and tried to return it after it ruined some food I had prepared. The woman who’s always working behind the register said you have to talk to my manager, I can’t return an open product, if I do it comes out of my paycheck. She had me write down my phone number and told me to come back.
I returned another day and her boss was there. He said we have to call the company (Ziyad) and ask them if they will take it back. They both kept arguing with me and bringing up all kinds of reasons why I couldn’t return the oil. Mostly they focused on the notion that they will lose money because the product is already opened. I said ok, it’s true that you may lose money, but that’s not my fault. I lost money too! You pay wholesale rates and I’ve lost $ 6. Yes, someone’s going to have to take a loss, and you are saying it has to be me.
They kept insisting that they needed to contact the company to aks if they could return it. It was getting so absurd, I told them why don’t you call India where it was manufactured and ask them too? Even another guy in line vouched for me and said, from a customer service point of view, you should refund the oil.
Look, I realize this is a local shop and they don’t have the easy overhead of a big national chain, and that they actually might feel the pinch more acutely than the local Jewel or Aldi. But to be so insistent that this was on me was too much. There are plenty of other middle eastern markets in Albany Park. I will take my business elsewhere if a $ 6 bottle of oil is more important to them. They could have offered me an exchange or anything to make this better, but they kept talking about their own bottom line. They lost me as a customer for many future trips, which is a bigger loss financially. My future trips would have been worth more than a $ 6 bottle of oil.
Probably this oil had been out on the shelf too long in a clear bottle and that’s how it got rancid. A lot the products on the shelf there are dusty. I have learned my lesson that I should only buy oil in metal tins or brown bottles. I’ve also learned that Sanabel has no interest in customer care.

Great middle eastern bakery. I love their 12 freshly baked pitas for $ 0.99 deal. You can also get 6 wider, thiner lavash-​style pitas for the same price. They also have other great items like spinach pies, lamachun (flat bread with meat), and za’atar (flat bread rubbed with a spice mix), along with some tasty middle eastern pastries. Everything is super cheap — $ 4 will get you a terrific lunch! I haven’t even really explored the grocery store offerings, just the baked goods. A lot of times you have to ask someone to help you if you need something, they don’t seem too eager to help unless you ask. But after you do, they are happy to get you whatever you need.

expired food founded in their store many times
i advice everyone to check if the cans or frozen food expired or not, last month they had hot dog was 1 month expired. today i found one of their frozen food that i bouught last month was expired from last year september.
im so mad at them. i dont trust them anymore even on their fresh bread or any of their bakery goods.

Review long overdue. The freshest of pita bread, same for the flat bread, oh so good and FYI the pita bread has only 30 mg of sodium, some of the other store brought brands clock in at around 200 to over 300, so theirs is healthy too.
Today as I was leaving the woman at the register, I’m guessing she’s one of the owners told me, over here, these just are coming out, there’s spinach and cheese. These little puffs of pure breaded joy. Well of course I had to buy a bag of each. I ate a couple while driving home, which is a good thing because at home I have to fight my husband off for them.
Tonight I made spinach tofu pizza with their large flat bread, you can put anything on top of the flat bread on a preheated pizza stone, 8 to 10 minutes does it, just don’t overload, since the bread is thin. This is my new healthy pizza!
This is a special trip for me as I don’t live on the north side anymore, so you lucky peeps that live close, if you don’t at least give this place a try, your loss.

Stopped in for the first time on Sunday and was very happy with the experience.
The baker was putting fresh cheese pies into the oven and packed us some so hot they were almost melting the bag. Everything was hot and fresh out of the oven and the smells were intoxicating. The lady working there was so nice and helpful… she gave us free spinach pies to taste and we wound up buying a dozen! The baklava was the BEST I have ever tasted from any other place, hands down. But my favorite find was these freshly baked coconut cookies sandwiched together with apricot jam. It took everything in me to not bust open the bags and eat most of this stuff in the car on the way home! I would give this place 10 stars for their fresh bakery.
The canned and dry goods were another story. I picked up a few items and many had old expiration dates… one expired in 2010. They had a ton of imported things and most were fresh, but I was still a little leary about it.
The cold case had a nice selection of cheeses and frozen items. They also had some shelving with hookah tobacco too.
The back of the store had giant, but EMPTY, cold cases. The lady told us they are going to start selling meat and prepared foods there soon. I can’t wait for that!
The neighborhood is crowded and street parking can be difficult, but we were lucky enough to find an open spot right in front.

Ooooooh pita so fresh the package has slight condensation on the inside. Hummus so fresh you”ll never want to buy that national brand again. A hookah tobacco selection so big it’ll make your head spin. Yes! I love this bakery. All kinds of imported Middle Eastern goodness including teas and bulk beans and lentils.
Coming soon they will have carry out food too!
The owners are so nice and excited about their offerings it makes me want to go out of my way to come back!

This place has everything that you might want when thinking about middle-​eastern food. It is a go to place for dried felafil mix, and imported appetizers in cans (hummus, babba ganoush). The pita is fresh, and they have piles of spinach pie, meat pie, and other great bakery items. I stop in here for rose water to add to lemonade. There are also great selections of teas, and other staples of a Middle Eastern diet.

*Note that as of 2÷6÷10, Sanabel moved a block south on Kedzie*
I was a big fan of Sanabel when it was just a bakery with a few staples. Now, it’s a full-​on Middle Eastern grocery with baked goods produced in its own bakery up the street.
Go get a copy of a Claudia Roden and get cooking — anything you could want for Middle Eastern cuisine (though maybe not N. African) is here. And lots of other stuff you need too: I bought cardamom, semolina flour, and pomegranate juice — none of which you can get at Jewel. I also noted they have graham flour, dundicut chiles, and some other things you would otherwise have to mail order.
The one thing they don’t have is produce — but you can get that across the street (just don’t park in the Cermak lot and go into Sanabel!). But if you need flavored charcoal for your hookah, broad skewers for kefta kabob, sumac, and a few pounds of basmati rice, this is your place.
I was there 24 hours after it opened, and can only imagine great things to come. They even gave my son and I some wonderful baklava as a thank you on the way out.

This tiny store front bakes fresh pita and sells them 10 for a dollar. MOTHER OF GOD they are fantastic. I always eat one on the walk home.
I live a few blocks away and the first time I wandered in at the suggestion of a friend there were 3 people ahead of me in line… all buying pitas. I could see into the back and watch pita’s on a conveyor coming out of an oven. My pitas were still so warm there was a little bit of condensation inside the bag.
The woman behind the counter on my first visit gave me a spinach pie to taste. I ended up buying six. I always ask what came out most recently and buy a few items from the case. Everything I’ve ever had there is just great. It is also nice to support a small business owner who is there, friendly and gets how to interact and encourage repeat business. The product kicking ass helps too.