The Peacock Cafe and Restaurant

I am sad to report that the Peacock Café has closed; on the door is a sign with a phone number (773−968−4846). I called it up and I was told that they are currently looking at two more locations roughly in the same area.
I am going to miss the old location, but i really hope the restaurant opens up again. Peacock has a great small family restaurant feel that is also welcoming to people like myself that stopped by once or twice a year.

I would have to disagree with those that say it matches the high levels reached by the Diamond. Granted it still was good, ethiopian/​eritrean food is just downright tasty but I’ve had better at many other places in town. i just felt there was a little punch left out of each dish.
i do like the homey feel to it and the prices were good. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back but i wouldn’t be opposed to trying it again.
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I love Eritrean food. This seemingly the only Eritrean place in Chi-​Town, I get excited. Then I see the menu, and there isn’t just, as searah d. says, a «lack of meat-​free items on the menu.» There are zero vegetarian items on the menu. We ask the server, who if I were to guess is the son of the owner, and he said there was some vegetarian soup with spinach and potatoes. Since we don’t want to walk out, we try it.
What comes is not soup, but a lentil or garbanzo stew, alicha, and hamle. So separate and not together. The potatoes and the spinach were pretty typical. The legumes were a little different than anywhere else I’ve been, a little better than average. Still should have asked for it spicy, I don’t know why we didn’t. The injera (bread/​utensil) was sour, which is how I like it
Two orders seemed about right for 3 people, and was like $ 20 ($ 10 each) before tax and tip. As I said the staff is friendly and accommodating. A little laid back. The place was empty on a Thursday, except for 2 people who left soon after we got in, leaving us alone with Al Jazeera English on the TV. That’s OK, because it’s a cozy little place.
BTW bring cash, no cards accepted.

This is in my hood. This will probably become my new haunt. I am learning about the flavors of the edgewater neighborhood and I ma LOVING it. I head that this was a real mom and pop kind of place an indeed it is. What could be more perfect. I was in with a group of friends and I left incredibly proud to have a place like this in my neighborhood. The food was excellent and they even went out of there way to bring me something from tbe breakfast menu and it was late at night.
Food was premium and and there was nothing over $ 9.50 on the menu. From as far as I can tell, it was all pretty healthy options as well.

First and foremost, ask yourself how many Eritrean restaurants are there in Chicago for you to enjoy. Peacock is not just unique in origin, but it’s also an intensely flavorful and fun experience. The cuisine is close to Ethiopian and eaten the same way with everyone’s orders coming on a communal tray. This shared experience is great for groups, and we had a full table of 8 people. BYOB.
The restaurant is a family enterprise with the son and daughter sharing table duties bringing water and taking orders. Mom is in the back doing the cooking. We loved our meal and were busy eating when mom brought out a complimentary taste of a chicken dish we had not ordered — very tasty. We also had a round of wonderful bread — not the injera that we had been eating — but a more typical bread that had a nice sweetness that helped balance the spicy heat of the food.
We found this restaurant both through our fellow Unilocalers as well as Misty Tosh at
Update: 1÷12÷08
A group of us went back to Peacock — we enjoyed it so much the last time — and I’m happy to report that we had an even better experience. The owner/​chef/​mom that runs the restaurant took great care of us. We had six people and ordered most of the dishes on the menu. Again, very tasty, and the injera is more mellow, not as tangy sharp, as the nearby Ethiopians. The chef brought out a couple of extra dishes which we appreciated, even though there was plenty of food. At the end of the meal she brought out an Eritrean preparation of coffee, strong and flavorfull — think Arabic/​Greek/​Turkish coffee. Totally comp’d! Amazingly, the bill came to $ 10 bucks per person, and safe to say we left a huge tip.
Go to this lovely family run restaurant and enjoy a wonderful meal.

Veggies, don’t be scared off by the lack of meat-​free items on the menu… they will make you up a super-​duper yummy vegetarian plate if you just ask. We had a great meal there last night and I will totally be back!

As Ethiopian/​Eritrean food goes, this place is Edgewater’s little secret. I won’t knock the Diamond, but I think the Peacock is better.
Friendly service but sometimes a bit sporadic.