Taza Cafe

Best under-​appreciated hidden gem in the middle of The Loop!
From the outside, Taza is pretty unassuming. But once you get your food, you’ll realize the storefront is deceiving.
The workers will immediately make you feel right at home. They’re friendly, funny, and help you figure out exactly what you’re craving that day.
Definitely would recommend the Hummus Bowl with chicken shawarma or gyros. They fill the container with hummus and pile on the filling inside and top off the whole thing with a sample of their delicious falafel. And don’t forget the warm pita on the side!
Taza’s a great place if you’re looking to grab a quick bite and need to get right back to the office, or if you’re just craving some delicious mediterranean food with welcoming company.

Delicious and healthy! What more could you want in a lunch spot? I got the chicken shawarma hummus bowl, which was delicious and filling, and came out to about $ 9. Like another Unilocaler recommended, grab a cup of ice water with your meal.

Your lentil soup is so awesome. I love you lentil soup from Taza. You make my heart beat with glee and my tummy so happy! ^_​_​_​^

My friend and I were exploring Chicago for a week and stumbled upon this little place. They have this really yummy Chicken Schwarma plate that I couldn’t get enough of. You can get it spicy or mild. Their homemade Baklava is to die for and I never liked falafel until I tried theirs. The owners were supper nice and inviting, which is why we went back 3 times before we headed back to Arizona!

I went to Taza for the second time today. The first time I was impressed with the Lentil soup and Tabbouli. This time I was delighted for a different reason.
I got back to my office after lunch and realized I left my purse at Taza. When I returned to retrieve it, I was relieved that the staff had it waiting for me behind the counter. I looked in my purse on the way out and found the walnut baklava I had wished I ordered earlier. They turned a stressful situation into a pleasant one and it scored them a loyal customer.

Lots of things are great here: friendly employees, quick service, and I’ve always gotten a sample of falafel. However, I find the food bland with not enough seasoning and flavors at other middle eastern places nearby.

Ordered carry out for the first time today. Great portions for lunch– I had the chicken shawarma plate which came with dill rice, chicken, tomato/​cucumber salad, hummus and pita. I would have liked some sort of spice to it but probably my bad for not indicating that. I’ll certainly be giving them another try!

Pretty great food and quick service. Make sure you get a cup of water if you dine in, the food is good but also really dry. I made two sandwich/​gyro style things with the chicken and something combo. It was extremely filling, ended up paying around $ 12 I believe with tax.
I would give this place a five, but I came in thinking I’d pay $ 8.50 for the combo (based on their website). It’s definitely more expensive than the menu on Unilocal/​website menu suggests. It’s expensive for a lunch place to be honest, but it seems well run and something different than larger chains. I may come back here, definitely something new to add in the loop list.

This is the best Mediterranean restaurant that I have been to so far! I mean the food was so delicious and flavorful that every bite was great. Upon entry they offered us a sample of falafel which was great. I opted to get the combo special it was a mix of the chicken and gyro shawarma that included humas, a pita, a falafel and rice. For the rice you got to choose between the lental rice and the dill rice. I choose the dill and was not disappointed. The portions are a good amount as well. The combo was almost enough for 2 people depending on their appetites. The inside of the restaurant is rather but it does have a few areas where you can dine in. The food is precooked in serving trays so you can get in and out very quickly. Did i mention that the price was reasonable as well? Yep will be going back for sure :)

I love the dill rice and chicken shawarma here with the spicy sauce. It is simply one of th best, and in some way reminds me of the NY Chicken over rice.
The pita chips were stale, so I would exercise caution in buying that.

By far the best Mediterranean food in the loop. I have been going here fairly regularly for a couple of years, and it never disappoints. I have tried pretty much every other Mediterranean food spot in the loop and nothing compares. The owner and staff are extremely friendly and the food is amazing. Huge fan of the chicken shawarma plate and the lunch combo plate special. I would highly recommend.

I have ordered many things from this place, and I have enjoyed every one. Staff is super friendly and they throw everything together very quickly.

The food was .meh
I wished Olive: Mediterranean grill did not move.
Sorry to do a full blown comparison:
Plate was more expensive
Meat was not as good… heck, food was not as good
Portion was about the same
yea…I miss Olive

This place is awesome! I am actually still here, enjoying my delicious greek salad with amazing chicken and a really good falafel thrown in. The staff is very kind and helpful, AND they have free wifi! Eat here! The baklava looks amazing and if I were hungrier, I’d grab one of those too!

I really wanted to like this place as well as give more stars cause the staff was fairly nice, but the food was just blah and for almost $ 30 for 2 people, while we were physically full from rice and so-​so meat, we were less than satisfied.
We were downtown looking for a late lunch spot. After scanning reviews, we had a taste for mediterranean and this place had decent reviews. After a short walk, we entered and saw there were some options for combination plate specials. So we order 2, one with chicken and gyros and one with kefta kabobs, also as it was a cold rainy day we got a bowl of lentil soup. The good was that the guy was super nice and we had a choice/​both of 2 types of rice (lentil rice which reminds me of rice from biryani and dill rice). The food was already cooked and in warming trays so to assemble the plate it took mere moments. Also, what was nice was that it came with Jerusalem salad and Hummus. We got our food and sat down. There was way too much rice to meat ratio, and while there was a nice healthy portion of Hummus, it was just ok. I had my Gyros and Chicken Shawarma, and while I ate most of it, I was longing for it to be much hotter. Nothing worst than semi warm food for me, it would have been nice if they warmed it up more or put it on a grill for a couple of minutes as we were the only customers. The Kefta was tough and not as flavorful or seasoned as I wish it could be.

Chicken was overcooked and dry though the rest of my plate was good.

New menu board; substantially higher prices (20−30% for the platters and salads); slightly smaller portions; still great food. Not the value play it once was, but probably still the tastiest Mediterranean food within a 2 block radius (and there are a bunch of options).
What! $ 7.00 for a Chipotle salad across the street — deep value relative to Taza! #WhatDoesntGiveYouEColiMakesYouStronger?

So pleased to see Taza’s high reviews. They deserve it! It’s a shining beacon amid the Chipotles and Potbellys that surround it. A clean, small place that nonetheless always has seating when you need it, and the service is both kind and lightning-​fast. They’re also generous with their lemon wedges on the side (a must). Recommended are the lentil soup and the Thursday-​Friday $ 7.95 lunch special.

I went there last week for lunch and got their Thursday/​Friday special — a chicken, falafel, lentil rice, hummus, pita bread and jerusalem salad plate with fountain drink– all for under $ 9. It was delicious and I had enough left over to add with a salad for dinner later, so it’s a good value too. Whether you are really hungry or a cheap SOB who uses lunch leftovers to make dinner, I recommend this place.

My favorite lunch spot in the Loop. Fast service, lines never too long, super friendly and patient folks behind the counter, outdoor seating, great food, and good value.
My favorite is the «Chef’s Sandwich» with falafel and gyro or shawarma in pita. Great place for vegetarians as well. Definitely get falafel.

I’d like to give them another star, I mean, they were reasonably nice, definitely prompt and the restaurant was in overall decent condition.
HOWEVER, the food… not terrible but DEFINITELY in the «meh, i’ve experienced better» category.
I was initially gonna go to Naf Naf around the corner but man, the line was long and getting longer. I figured ‘Taza is Mediterranean, I’ll just go there.‘
But no. So the food — I got the chicken shawarma as I wanted something light but with protein. I was kinda excited as chicken shawarma is usually pretty tasty and I’m trying to cut down on meat consumption. The sandwich was bland though. The hummus hardly had an ounce of flavor, the chicken was ‘nothing’ flavor and even the… what do you call it? the green stuff… all quite bland and flavorless. The falafel was… aeh. No tahini on the side though.
All in all, I don’t plan on returning. I’ll either take Naf Naf’s line or just go to some standard restaurant where at least you know you get your money’s worth.
*That too — not a lot of food considering the price.

The yummy Mediterranean food at Taza Café combined with the ever-​humid Chicago summer weather made me feel like I was luxuriously eating in the hanging gardens of Babylon. If only… because that would have been some epic shit.
Although there is another Mediterranean place that is still #1 in my heart of hearts I do really like Taza Café and their falafel that everyone else seems to rave about. Don’t let the three star rating blind you because most of my experience at Taza was great, but there were just a few decrements for me. Before I talk about what was bad I will tell you what was good!
The falafel was obviously amazing. It had the perfect flavor and it was extremely, extremely fresh. I had gotten the kifta kabob plate which only came with one falafel; I wish I’d gotten more than one falafel in my plate!!! They really are some of the best in the city. Other than the lonely falafel that came with the plate, the dish also came with hummus, two super fluffy and big slices of pita, lentil rice, cucumber salad and the meat of course! All of this was only about $ 10! What a good deal for that much food in city center!
Every single thing I just listed was delicious, but the kifta itself was quite dry. I had to chug a lotta water after taking a bite of the kifta. Despite the dryness of the meat it’s flavor was plentiful with all the delicious spices it was cooked in. if I were to go again I may try the chicken schwarma plate which seems to be quite popular.
The venue was quite small so don’t plan to sit in if you have a big group of coworkers with you at lunch time… that just won’t fly. Given that Taza Café is surrounder by many other yummy restaursnts, this place does seem to be hit up a lot during the lunch hour which is a testament to the quality and quantity of food you’re getting. The owner was also quite happy to give me the special (which was $ 2 cheaper than the plate without any special) so I can deduce that he feels comfortable knocking prices down for customers due to a high volume of people coming into his restaurant. With that being said, the owner was extremely friendly while helping out behind the bar. I can’t say that some of the other staff were as friendly as the owner, but it didn’t ruin my day.

Great hummus and fresh falafel. Chicken shawarma was alright but I find a bit dry. Very friendly owner.

I am actually surprised that Taza has the reviews that they do. I went today and got 2 chicken shawarma salads. I am Indian and I eat a lot of kebabs (Indian, Mediterranean, Turkish etc.). The salads were meh to say the least, and the chicken not all that flavorful. In addition, I didn’t realize until after the fact that they charge extra for hummus (which was later reversed). Given that the city of Chicago has seen a huge explosion of Middle Eastern fast food that includes Roti, Naf Naf and I dream of Falafel to name a few, Taza ranks at the bottom for me and I will not be back. Finally, Naf Naf and Roti offer unlimited toppings, and Pita bread, Taza offers neither and is the most expensive of all.

The bread of the sandwich is quite different!
The shopkeeper also very nice to introduce the menu if you don’t know

Being from Detroit it is difficult to find middle eastern food better in other parts of the country. Luckily for me I found one right next to my office.
I usually go with the veggie platter. The falafel are always fresh and crunchy not like some other places where they have been sitting is the bin and are soggy. The pita is always ultra fresh and needed to wipe that last drop of hummus or tabouli off the plate.
The staff is also very friendly.

This place is good, but it’s highly over-​rated. Although it’s possible that I may just have been lucky enough to have experienced really awesome and authentic Mediterranean food, making me jaded. This place has all the favorites and like I said they are all pretty good but nothing special. Portions are large… If that’s your thing… The chicken shawarma was very vanilla, but the falafel was pretty good. Worth a stop if you’re in the area and in the mood for Mediterranean, not worth going out of your way for.

With seemingly hundreds of Mediterranean offerings in the area, I was curious to see what made Taza Café stand out from the rest… and it was pretty clear… the amazing falafel.
I had ordered the Chicken Sharma plate on my first visit. The portion was quite sizable. A healthy scooping of chicken, a bed of nicely spiced rice, hummus, Jerusalem salad, were enough reason to stop by here, but it was the one ball of falafel that changed my attitude for the whole meal and has made me a somewhat regular.
The chicken was slightly dry but seasoned nicely. The rice while flavorful, really was more fitting for dinner than for lunch. The salad is nice and the hummus is about average from what I would expect. The pita that comes with the meal is nice and chewy with an interesting taste. However, the falafel is awesome. It is super flavorful and well spiced. They are fried to a perfect brown and crumble nicely when bitten into. After my first visit, I now frequently order the falafel plate which comes with a bed of lettuce with falafel, Jerusalem salad, pita, and hummus. I top the falafel off with some nice tahnini sauce and some housemade spicy sauce (quite heavenly).
Overall, I really like this place. At around $ 8, the plate is around the average Loop price for food. I might give the meats another try, but so far have found little reason to stray away from my new found usual.

Easily the best falafel I’ve had in the Loop, and the freshness of everything else just rounds out the experience.
I got a chicken shawarma plate. With a drink, it comes to just over $ 10, which seems like a lot, but you a good amount of food: the bottom of a steel disposable plate thick with hummus, two pitas, one falafel and a layer of chicken.
The chicken was seasoned, but the hummus was fantastic. Fresh lemon juice makes all the difference with hummus. And the texture was good – smooth, and dippable with the pitas, which were nice and soft.
Next time I’m getting the falafel plate, because the falafel was the size of a hush puppy but tasted so, so much better. Fresh lemon (or is it lime?) juice on the inside, moderately crispy on the outside. I’m looking forward to having more.
Taza is a bit of a hike from River North, but it’s worth making, and the accolades it has received are well deserved.

I pass this place every day on the way to work, so figured I’d try it out for lunch. Unforunately, I wasn’t too impress. It’s a tiny space, so you may want to go on off lunch hours if your looking to eat in.
Service was great! Everyone was really friendly and greeted you when you came in. I went with the Falafel Hummus Dinner Plate. The Falafel’s were okay, but something was off in the seasoning. I did however, like the texture and the fact they weren’t ridiculously hard like some places. The Hummus was very bland and I didn’t care much for the salad. It was okay, but compared to the Hummus Plate I normally get at Naf Naf it really didn’t do it for me.