In the NeighborhoodTwenty more restaurants in Rogers Park
teff, a tiny grain indigenous to Ethiopia; many restaurants substitute farina. There are African beers and wines on offer, and service couldn’t have been more welcoming. Parking is free and ample. —Kate Schmidt
$African | Breakfast, lunch, dinner: seven days| BYO
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A storefront plastered with gyro and pizza puff signage gives little hint that an accomplished Assyrian restaurant might lie within. But this Rogers Park spot has been praised by the likes of Avenues chef Graham Elliott Bowles. Tasty starters include smoky baba ghanoush; falafel made from a flavorful blend of chickpeas and fava beans; lahim beajin—think Middle Eastern pizza on a pita; and kubbat Mosul, a delicious cracked wheat pancake stuffed with beef and onion. Tashreeb, a signature dish, is a meltingly tender lamb shank set atop a slightly spicy sour tomato broth and samon, a fluffy bread (the “big buns” in the restaurant’s name) that soaks up the juices. Cornish hen, marinated and charcoal grilled, is likewise terrific. Each plate is insanely generous for the price (there’s nothing here over $10), accompanied by a savory lentil soup, salad, torshi (pickle), and rice. —Gary Wiviott
La Cazuela Mariscos6922 N. Clark | 773-338-5425
Good? Damn straight. This budget-chic storefront across from the drab gray facade of an Evanston Police Department outpost serves moist, succulent jerk chicken and pork with some of the best smoke flavor you can get on the north side—no wonder the counterman wasn’t giving up any trade secrets. My friend’s special of small, firm curry shrimp was lip-smackingly good. Sharing a plastic spoon, we also tried the soup of the day, and if it was indeed goat head, as it said on the menu, well, that’s some tender, flavorful meat. There are all the Jamaican standards here—brown stew chicken, curry goat, oxtail, cow foot, and red snapper, served en escabeche or steamed—and I just might hike up again to try the fish-tea or cow-skin soup (“very chewy,” said the counterman, comfortable disclosing that much). In addition to wine and beer, there are juices and smoothies on offer, including the Iron Man (carrots, beets, and ginger), the Lady Love (cucumber juice and ginger), and, inevitably, the One Love (carrot, apple, and ginger). —Kate Schmidt
F 7.5 | S 8.0 | A 7.6 | $ (5 reports)Asian, Japanese, thai | Lunch, dinner: seven days | BYO | Vegetarian friendly
