December 2018 Roundup

Salam/hey guys! Sorry I have been busy yet again. Here's a roundup of the places I've tried in December 2018.

This month started out with a trip to Austin. There, I tried two places: Kismet Cafe and Halal Bros. Both places have a strong reputation for their NY Style over Rice. Kismet cafe is location just outside downtown Austin on E 41st street near its intersection at I-35. I got their mix over rice with both sauces (which is what I usually get when I go to Gyro King back in Houston). The price? Only $8.65 (Tax included). Kismet Cafe also offers Mediterranean BBQ plates, salads, and wraps, and everything is under $10!.
The food was on point. The meats were well cooked and the rice was flavorful. A good start.

Mix over rice with both sauces

Service: 8/10

Food: 8/10

Total: 16/20 = 80% (B)

Pricing: $ out of $$$$

Address: 1000 E 41st Street, Austin, TX

Phone: (512) 236-1811

Website: http://www.kismetcafe.com

Menu: http://www.kismetcafe.com/menu.html

Timings: Sun-Wed: 11 AM - 1 AM; Thu-Sat: 11 AM - 3 AM

Caters: Yes

Before heading back to Houston, I went and checked out Halal Bros, which was near the UT Campus. The first thing that I noticed is that the place has a huge parking problem. The inside was packed. It was no surprise to me, given how the place always has so much hype from folks in Austin as well as Houston. Like Kismet, I ordered their combo over rice. Like Kismet, the pricing was $8.65 (Tax included) and you get a lot of food for that price. But this place doesn't offer BBQ plates. 

When I got the food, I felt that they were skimpy with the sauces. But that's just me I guess, since I'm used to Gyro King dousing their plates with both sauces. In the platter, the white sauce and the gyro meat were on point. However, the chicken could've been much better. They have a truck on 7th Street as well as two other stores throughout Austin.

Combo over rice from Halal Bros

After trying the same dish at both places, I'd say Kismet takes the edge because of the chicken.

Service: 8/10
Food: 7/10
Total: 15/20 = 75% (C)
Pricing: $ out of $$$$

Address: 2712 Guadalupe Stree, Austin, TX
Phone: (512) 284-8105
Website: http://www.thehalalbros.com/
Menu: https://mavn.is/halalbros/
Timings: Mon-Thu: 11 AM - 11 PM; Fri-Sat: 11 AM - 3 AM; Sun: 12 PM - 11 PM
Caters: Yes


The first place I visited after the trip was an Indian restaurant called Godavari. Godavari is another Indian restaurant chain that has locations all over the country. They offer  The inspiration of this trip was my mother. She really wants to try the place out after hearing good things about the place. I went during my lunch break from work.
For lunch, they do a buffet. One side is vegetarian, and another side is non vegetarian. I went for the non vegetarian side. It's more focused on South Indian food. To drink, I got a Thums-Up. All the meat is halal here.

The food was honestly average as a whole. The only plus point in the whole buffet was the butter chicken, and that is a north Indian dish.

The Buffet Plate: dum biryani, butter chicken, selam chicken, raita, gongura fried chicken, and gongura kodi kabab. The items available change daily

Service: 8/10
Food: 5/10
Total: 13/20 = 65% (D)
Pricing: $$ out of $$$$

Address: 28092 Westheimer Street, Houston, TX
Phone: (832) 581-2922
Website: https://www.godavarius.com/houston/
Menu: https://www.godavarius.com/food-menu-south-indian-food-menu/
Timings: Mon-Fri: 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM and 5:30 PM to 10 PM; Sat-Sun: 12 PM - 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM - 10:30 PM
Caters: Yes


Happy New Year!

Zain Mohammed

Giordano's: Finally, Halal Deep Dish in The City Where It Originated

Restaurant: Giordano's

Address: 1510 Market Street, Des Plaines, Illinois
Buffet or a-la-carte: A-la-carte
Date of visit: 11/23/18



Background:
Salam/hey guys! Today I will be talking about probably one of my most anticipated visits of all time. Why was it anticipated? Well, it's because of the fact that a location of a popular chain is getting reviewed! The chain? None other than the classic Chicago institution: Giordano's. And what is the popular Chicago food item? Deep dish pizza. Well, we had a spot in Houston for a while (D'Marcos, which closed down) and Fuzzy's (ask for options, but less stellar than D'Marcos). Then, when I was deciding where to go during the trip, I got a picture saying that one of the Giordano's had halal options and that it was prepared separately. I was amazed. I finally got to try the place that so many would always rave about when it came to deep dish. It's the Giordano's that is located in Des Plaines, which is located near O'Hare and a long drive from Burr Ridge. I headed there after spending the day in downtown Chicago which ended with an amazing sunset at 360 Chicago (John Hancock Building). I was going to meet a group of Muslim food bloggers that are based in Chicago (IG: adventuresofshakandb). The original plan was to take the rail by myself from downtown to there, since the location was 5 minutes from the station. But, I got picked up and then we headed there. Surprisingly, I-90 was not packed as I thought it would be. That meant a little wait. My dad was worried about me being alone, so I went inside and said that I would be back since they were on their way. I sat in the Panera Bread next door (didn't walk since it was cold outside). As soon as they were 5 minutes away, I went inside the restaurant.


Let The Experience Begin!
For a popular pizza chain, the location was SMALL. Only one row of tables and then there were some bar stools. And it was packed. A large party consisting of 14 people came in. There was even a line for takeout where the waiting time was nearing two hours. The wonderful thing? All but one group were brown folks like myself. And they were getting the halal toppings. The bloggers arrived, and we helped ourselves to the barstools and drinks (I got a Pepsi). Then, we ordered.



Let's Eat!
For appetizers, we ordered the fried calamari (squid). And before reading the next sentence, I would like to say that no fiqh discussions will be allowed. Different schools have different opinions about which seafood items are permissible to eat. The fried calamari came with artichoke fritters, lemon rings, banana peppers,  and fennel with their marinara sauce. For the main, we ordered a meat and more with the halal meat. The meat was halal beef pepperoni, halal beef salami, halal beef bacon, and halal beef sausage. You must request the halal toppings when ordering. They are available when dining in and taking out. For delivery, you have to call them in order to get the halal toppings. The large one, which we got, was $37.25 + tax. The appetizer was $10.95+ tax. One important thing to mention is that the cooking process for deep dish is long. So it's recommended that you order appetizers.

Menu: https://giordanos.com/content/uploads/menus/carryout/dt_co.pdf?_ga=2.73238743.532490501.1544395751-16509638.1544395751
The menu is like any pizza spot. You have apps, pizzas, and some plates and sandwiches. I also like that there is an individual deep dish option here. I'm assuming that the halal meats can be put in some of the other dishes, so just check if they can do that. As of now, this is the only location of Giordano's in the COUNTRY to have halal options available.

Fried Calamari

The Deep Dish

Our attempt at a cheese pull

Side shot of a slice

The Verdict:
The pizza was incredible. Incredibly cheesey and meaty. All of us loved the pizza. I can safely say that Giordano's was well worth the hype. This was definitely the greatest deep dish I've ever had. The calamari was great as well, even though there were some accidental bites into the lemon. Overall, two thumbs up.
One thing that made this place stand out was the service. The person working with all this rush was amazing. She was able to make everything calm despite the long waits, and she was incredibly friendly. The owners are also friendly. We had a small chat before leaving about how they were able to convince corporate to serve halal meat at the location, and thanked them for serving halal.

Conclusion:
Giordano's cheese may be great based on how it tasted along with the meat, but for a true deep dish experience with halal meat, head over to this location! It being packed is a testament to the fact that the halal options at Giordano's is a hit! Hopefully a Lou Malnati's location and/or either the Morton Grove or a new location of Pequod's would follow suit in the future, since it''ll be nice to have more than one option for halal deep dish in the city where it originated from. I'll definitely be back to try it again, no matter where I would be in Chicago.


Grading:
Service: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Total: 20/20 = 100% (A)
Pricing: $$ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:

Giordano's

Address: 1510 Market Street, Des Plaines, Illinois
Phone: (847) 635-8550
Website: https://giordanos.com/locations/des-plaines
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GiordanosDesPlaines/
Timings: Sun-Thu: 10:30 AM - 10 PM; Fri-Sat: 10:30 AM - 11 PM
Caters: Yes

Feel free to comment below, send me a message on Facebook, or email me!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed

Earl's Kitchen and Bar: A More Affordable Halal Steakhouse

Restaurant: Earl's Kitchen and Bar

Address: 1538 N Clyborn Avenue, Chicago, IL
Buffet or a-la-carte: A-la-carte
Date of visit: 11/23/18



Background:
Salam/hey guys! Today I will be talking about my experience at a place where you can get halal steak in Chicago. The place is called Earl's. Earl's is a steakhouse chain that is based in Canada. I first heard about Earl's after seeing someone post about how they use Creekstone Farms beef (100% halal btw) at their restaurants. It turns out that they use Creekstone Farms beef at their US locations (I don't know about Canada locations). I looked up hoping that there would be a location in Houston, but there's one in Plano, near Dallas. Hopefully they'll expand to Houston in the future.
Originally, I was not supposed to go here. When I was planning my trip, I did polls for a few days leading up to the trip to determine which places I would try when I spend the day in downtown Chicago on the 23rd. I was originally going to Epic Burger and Tahoora, but that was for if I was going myself. I was in fact spending the day with my cousin from Cleveland. His favorite food item is steak, and he isn't a burger fan. So I thought of going to Prime and Provisions in downtown, but for some reason they were not open for lunch since it was Black Friday. I looked on Yelp and zabihah.com for places that had halal steak. I then saw that they had an Earl's in Chicago, so I reserved a table for two. After Friday prayers in downtown, we took an Uber to the restaurant .


Let The Experience Begin!
While the address mentions N Clyborn Avenue, the actual entrance is located on the northeast side of a roundabout that is to the right of the intersection of N Halsted Street and W Blackhawk Street. After confirming the reservation that I made, we were helped to the table by the friendly host. After taking a few minutes to read the menu, I was ready to order.



Let's Eat!
I decided to be adventurous and order the beef bibimbap. Bibimbap is a Korean dish that consists of rice, sesame chili sauce, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, and a soft boiled egg served in a hot stone bowl. I ordered it because I never had a proper Korean dish in Houston (Coreanos is a fusion of Mexican and Korean; Bento Hut in Atlanta, which had chicken bulgogi, closed down), and that there's no halal Korean BBQ spot (though it's the highest in demand after BBQ and steakhouse). I am also confident that this location uses the Creekstone beef since there is no mention of any other beef supplier in their menu. The price was $17 + tax. My cousin got the 6 oz steak frites. It's a 6 oz sirloin steak that comes with fries and garlic bread. I decided to teach him the finer points of steak eating by making him order it medium rare. The price? $17.50 + tax. To wait, I watched UH get their butts kicked by Memphis.

Menu: https://earls.ca/locations/lincoln-park/menu/kitchen
The menu of Earl's is one of huge variety. At one end you have Asian food items like the bibimbap. At another end, you have pizzas, and at one end, you have steaks. As mentioned, Earl's uses Creekstone beef for its US locations. But this location also uses halal chicken from Crescent. I found out a few days after the actual trip there. I don't know if they also use the halal chicken at the other locations. When ordering, just mention to them that you want it cooked separately and that the grill would be cleaned, and they would be happy to help.

Now in order to eat the bibimbap, read through the captions underneath each picture.

Step 1: This is how the dish comes. The red stuff on the left is the sesame chili sauce.

Step 2: pour the sesame chili sauce into the bowl

Step 3: Mix it. This is what the result should be like. Do not eat before mixing.

The Verdict:
For someone who's having a proper Korean dish for the first time ever, I thought the food was good. The spice level was adequate, and the food quality was high. My cousin really enjoyed his steak frites. He said that the steak had a lot of flavor.
The service was wonderful. The folks there are really friendly and really accommodating. They always had a smile on their face when talking with customers. 

Conclusion:
Earl's is a good spot to try if you want halal steak and/or Asian fare in Chicago without having to pay a lot at places like Prime and Provisions or Roka Akor (Chicago locations only have halal and not the Houston location 😒). The really friendly folks will definitely take care of you. I'll head to their Plano location, hopefully during my next trip to Dallas, and try their steak.

Grading:
Service: 9/10
Food: 8/10
Total: 17/20 = 85% (B)
Pricing: $$$ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:

Earl's Kitchen and Bar

Address: 1538 N Clyborn Avenue, Chicago, IL
Phone: (312) 929-3952
Website: https://earls.ca/locations/lincoln-park
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earlslincolnpark/
Timings: Mon-Thu: 11:30 AM - 10 PM; Friday: 11:30 AM - Midnight; Sat: 10 AM - Midnight. Sun: 10 AM - 10 PM
Caters: Yes

Reservations accepted

Feel free to comment below, send me a message on Facebook, or email me!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed

Shibam: Yemeni Food in Chicagoland

Restaurant: Shibam
Address: 9052 Harlem Avenue, Bridgeview, IL
Buffet or a-la-carte: A-la-carte
Date of visit: 11/22/18 (Thanksgiving Day)



Background:
Salam/hey guys! Today I will be talking about my experience at one of Chicago's most respected Yemeni spots: Shibam Restaurant. Shibam has two locations: one near Devon Avenue, and one in Bridgeview (South Cook County). I spent my thanksgiving break from work in Chicago with my aunt and grandma. Since I was staying in Burr Ridge, which is in southern DuPage county, I decided to check out the south location. I was hoping that the South location would be as good as what many folks said about the north location. So when I had some free time, I headed to I-55 and headed there.


Let The Experience Begin!
Shibam is located in a strip complex near the intersection of US 80 and W 90th Place, not too far from I-294. When I came in, I was confused. I didn't know whether to order at the counter or sit down then order. So I sat down. A few minutes later, I was given the menu. Thus, you have to sit down and then order.



Let's Eat!
I decided to go with the lamb haneeth, which is basically roasted lamb with rice. They had a $11.99 deal, so I decided to take it. I also got muttabaq. It was actually my first time having it since moving here from Saudi! I also got some to go for my parents to give it a try. While waiting for the food, which is a while since haneeth is a slow cooking process, I got free soup. A nice touch.


Menu: https://us.orderspoon.com/shibamsouth
This spot has popular Yemeni food such as mandi, Zorbian, and Fahsa (a meat stew). They even have breakfast options such as fuul, fasolia, and shakshuka. I thought it was reasonably priced to be honest.

The Free Soup

Lamb Haneeth

Chicken Muttabaq

The Verdict:
The food was incredible. The haneeth was very tender and flavorful, and so was the muttabaq. The soup was also very satisfactory. Given the hype that I saw about this place before hitting the road, I didn't regret coming on a day like Thanksgiving day. Two thumbs up for the food. 

Now one thing to keep in mind in regards to the service. There is somewhat of a language barrier. You just have to be patient when speaking to them.




Conclusion:
The reviews of the spots that I visited on this trip to Chicago started out with a bang from Shibam. I can tell you that regardless of the waiting time that some may be annoyed about, the food would make up for it. But, if you expect it to taste like biryani after seeing the pics, don't go there. I'll be back in the future, and hopefully in the north location! I also hope a full fledged Yemeni restaurant will open up in Houston, or anywhere in Texas in the future.


Grading:
Service: 7/10
Food: 9/10
Total: 16/20 = 80% (B)
Pricing: $ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:
Shibam
Address: 9052 Harlem Avenue, Bridgeview, IL
Phone: (872) 215-9665
Website: http://shibam.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShibamRest/
Timings: 24/7
Caters: Yes

Feel free to comment below, send me a message on Facebook, or email me!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed