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An untapped resource for fans of ethnic food...

Because I miss writing about food, and because I’m too poor to review Chicago’s fine dining scene on any regular basis, I’ve decided to start a new restaurant-related project here on the blog. I think it’s a pretty great idea, if I do say so myself.

One of my very favorite things about Chicago is the seemingly limitless variety of ethnic food we have easy access to. That’s the good news. If you’re like me — willing to eat just about anything — this is an awesome opportunity. Unfortunately, unless you happen to know someone who hails from every country whose cuisine you’re hoping to explore, you’re not likely going to be able to discern which restaurant features the most accurate representation of each culture’s culinary style. I know what you’re thinking, “But, David, why don’t I just go on Yelp and see which place has the best reviews?!” Well, that’s alright if you’re in a pinch, but I’m pretty confident that if you scroll through the 75 five-star reviews that Ethiopian restaurant has racked up, you’ll notice that about 90% of them were written by white Americans who have never even been to Africa, let alone spent much time learning the ins and outs of Ethiopian cooking.

To address this conundrum, I’ve come up with a system to gather all the restaurant recommendations I can from people who spent most of their lives living and eating in countries other than the U.S. It’s pretty simple; Chicago has a veritable army of international ambassadors roving the city at all times, willing to give you a ride and a bit of insight for a nominal fee. That’s right, cab drivers. I don’t think it’s too politically incorrect for me to assert that the overwhelming majority of Chicago cab drivers are fairly recent immigrants to the States. So, starting a month or so ago, every time I get in a cab, I make it a point to ask the driver where he’s from originally and what one restaurant in the city would he recommend as the best, most authentic example of his homeland’s food. Since I began doing research for this project, I’ve been compiling a list, which you’ll see below. I’ll continue to add to this as I receive new recommendations with every ride.

Now, this project isn’t without challenges. For one, English is definitely a second language to a lot of these guys, and their accents are usually pretty strong, so it can sometimes be difficult for us both to accurately convey what we are trying to communicate. This is most commonly a problem when the spelling of the name of a restaurant isn’t immediately obvious (e.g., Al Bawadi Grill was originally saved in my phone as “Bellady”). The good news is that I can usually figure out the right place with a little help from Yelp and Google Street View.

The second problem is that a significant portion of these cab rides have taken place very late on weekend nights when my cognitive abilities are moderately impaired, thanks to my friend Captain Morgan. This leads to situations like the time a very obviously African gentleman told me that he was from Alaska, and that I should go to Shaw’s Crab House to get the best Alaskan food in Chicago (as a side note, any Alaskans want to confirm or deny this suggestion?). At the time, I remember thinking that he might be messing with me, but I couldn’t be sure, and I didn’t want to come off like a racist by pressing the issue.

The last problem is really the main reason I have to take cabs in the first place; I don’t have a car. A fair amount of these places are easily accessible via a quick trip on the CTA, but there are others that will either require some significant planning, with transfers between multiple buses, or expensive cab rides to places on the outskirts or other side of town (but, hey, at least I could get a couple extra recos out of the ride, right?).

That being said, I think I can make this work. At this point, I’m leaning toward starting with some of the African places in Edgewater, so be on the lookout for the first reviews to arrive in the coming weeks (I’ve already been to Ethiopian Diamond and Bolat, so they’ll probably start at the back of the line). In the meantime, check out the list below, broken down by region. Let me know if you’ve been to any of the places I’ll be heading and what you thought. I’ve made each restaurant’s name a hyperlink to its Yelp page, so you can read what other people thought and see all the other important details.

Wish me luck!

- DGH

• Ethiopian – The Peacock Cafe and Restaurant – 6014 North Broadway – Edgewater
• Eritrean – Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant – 6120 N Broadway St – Edgewater
• Nigerian – Vee Vee African Restaurant – 6232 N Broadway Street – Edgewater – X2
• Nigerian - Nigerian Kitchen – 1363 W Wilson Avenue – Uptown
• Nigerian – TBS African Restaurant – 4507 N Sheridan Rd – Uptown
• Nigerian – Bolat African Cuisine – 3346 N Clark St – Lakeview
• Nigerian – B&Q Afro Root Cuisine – 4701 N Kenmore Ave. – Uptown
• Somali – Muqdisho Grill – 2826 N. Lincoln – Lakeview
• Somali – Banadir Restaurant – 6221 N Clark St – Edgewater
• Somali – Mogadishu Restaurant – 931 N Orleans – Near North Side
• Ghanaian – Grace’s African Restaurant – 4409 N Broadway Street

Pan-Asian:

• Pakistani – Usmania – 2244 W Devon Ave
• Pakistani – Sabri Nihari Restaurant – 2502 W Devon Ave
• Indian - Flaming Wok N’ Grill – 903 N Halsted St – Goose Island
• Nepalese - Chicago Curry House – 899 S Plymouth Ct – South Loop

Middle Eastern:

• Palestinian – Al Bawadi Grill – 7216 W. 87th Street – Bridgeview
• Moroccan – Zad – 3112 N Broadway Ave – Lakeview

American (by region, for cab drivers from the U.S.):

• Chicago Pizza – Father & Son Pizza – 2475 N Milwaukee Ave – Logan Square

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