It claims to be a Turkish restaurant, but it's got a secret: it's also a Kirghiz restaurant with Russian touches (pelmeni, shredded carrots). We didn't try the Turkish fare (which appears to be mostly kebabs), but we can vouch for the Kirghiz dishes we tried: Shorpo, a delicious lamb soup, and Kuurdak, a rich stew of roasted beef cubes, potatoes, onions and carrots. Our server, a friendly Kirghiz native, told us the place has in fact two separate kitchens. She was amused when I said "spasiba" and surprised and appreciative when I said "rakhmat" ("thank you" in Kirghiz - rakhmat, Google Translate!). There were two Kirghiz desserts on the menu, Kazandibi and Seperkare, but they were sold out, so we split a Napoleon, which was quite tasty (can't vouch for its authenticity, having never had one before). I don't yelp much, but I think iCafe does itself a disservice by identifying solely as Turkish, so I'm here to correct the image. read more

I-Cafe is a hidden gem and a screaming deal (anecdotally, why are half the great holes in the wall in Chicago located under the Brown Line?) I ordered the special - for $21 you get a 'small' soup and a 'small' main dish. The quotation marks are there for a reason. The 'small' soup had a fatty, marrowy, tender hunk lamb in there that was significantly bigger than my fist. That alone would have fed me for a couple meals. My 'small' main dish was a full sized plate of manti that they warned me would be spicy, but was not, at all. (I find this par for the course for Central Asian or Russian places.) They were, however, sizable, beefy, and impossible to scoop up with a fork, and my only request would be enough sour cream to match their size! Three days later, I finally finished this $21 meal and had at that point eaten more meat than I usually eat in two weeks. If you're a red meat lover or just have a giant appetite, go immediately. read more

3.5 The foods of Kyrgyzstan. Adorable place and worth a visit. Not every menu item hits (carrot salad is a yes, chicken korma plate is a pass). A lot on the menu to explore. Neat and authentic vibe. read more

When I entered the cafe, it smelled so good. I can't remember the name of the food I ordered but one was like crispy roll with cheese inside, I loved it! The other one was a thin pizza like snack with ground meat on top. I had half of a pide which was also delicious. I will come back again definitely. read more

If I could, I'd turn this review up to 11. I've found my new fav restaurant! I had the pastrami pide, pelmeni soup, and the dumpling entree (sorry, I forget the name, but it's pictured in the menu). The service was wonderful, super kind, and food came out *hot*. Very chill late night dinner. Btw, the updated hours are on Google. read more

Definitely one of my new favorite spots in the neighborhood. The portions are huge and the restaurant is very authentic. The staff is friendly and I'll definitely be back. Ambiance is definitely authentic as well. read more

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Carrot salad is INSANE!!! What is this salad magic?!? I told them I needed something FAST, and between the yogurt drink, carrot salad and a savory pastry thing they heated up in 2 seconds, I had the fastest most delicious harika meal! read more

Amazing food but terrible service. Everything is super slow. Very very upset. Did 1 soup in 45 minute.

This place was fantastic! We ended up going on a whim while out running errands and we ended up having an amazing meal. The pide was delicious! read more

I absolutely love their chicken. Have gotten it often as a takeout and it is consistently good.

I love this place. The soups, especially the borsch and lamb (shorpo), are top notch. they have this AMAZING carrot salad. I also love the various dumplings, very traditional and reliably good. And read more

Sucuk is sucuk. Pepperoni is pepperoni. Turkish pepperoni is sucuk. And sucuk is not pastirma. These are the ridiculous exchanges I had with the employee at I cafe. I ordered a sucuklu pide and they gave me what was definitely NOT sucuk. If you have had turkish sucuk, you know what it is. This guy spent 10 minutes trying to convince me that whatever strange topping was on my pide was sucuk. I use to order sucuklu pide from here weekly. I have also ordered sucuklu pide from zizi, oda and antepli cafe. This was not sucuklu pide and it was frankly FALSE ADVERTISING. So sad as I was really hoping to support this place again. Should have heeded the recent reviews after change in management pointing out the decline. AVOID. you are better off at any of the other places I listed in this review. ÇOK AYIP. read more

I ordered the sigara Boregi and the cheese was rotten inside. As soon as I bit into one, the smell inside was putrid, like not just the regular smell of feta cheese, but definitely no mistaking the smell of rotten cheese. Everything else was fine, but that definitely put me off. read more

Cozy and convenient dive for comfort food. The staff are very polite and fluent in Kyrgyz, Turkish, and English. Cuisine reflects diverse cultures of Central Asia and the Mediterranean. read more

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Stopped by a couple weeks ago because the kids were craving pide and lahmacun. The sucuklu pide was delicious! We also got lahmacun but it was just OK. It got a little soggy by the time we got home - no fault of the restaurant but the flavors were OK. I remembered it being tastier in the past. read more

I-Cafe - Şekerpare- my fave! - Halal Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Mathis place is a hidden gem off the Irving Park brown line. They have decent coffee as well as tea. The pide is probably one of the best in the city. It's baked to perfection and it's so cheesy and delicious. A great spot especially for lunch. Staff is pretty friendly and it doesn't take long to receive your order. Highly recommend the chicken pide or the vegetarian one.Beef and Cheese Pide is also good. read more

I-Cafe - Delicious pide. Chicken and veggies - Halal Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I came by for the iskender and it was delicious! Personally I would've preferred a bit more yogurt and less of the melted butter but the meal was pretty close to what you'd get in Turkey. Price felt a bit expensive, $20 with taxes for the dish alone. I came by just after lunchtime on a weekday and there was plenty of space available. read more

I-Cafe - Iskender - Halal Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Very good food nice and clean I recommend it for you to try Very good food nice and clean I recommend it for you to try

Incredible. The quality of food plus price makes this a hidden in gem in the ravenswood corridor. If you are ever by the Irving park brown line, this is a must try. Turkish coffee is amazing and only $3! read more

Super friendly staff. Located next to the Irving Park Brown Line train station. A small an assuming location with a great opportunity to enjoy the famous turkish delicious causine. The new owner have kept the original chef/cook to maintain the fan favorite menu tastes. We had the Lentil Soup, Pide and lahmachun as appetizers. Huge quantities were served. Making our gang of 12 get enough to start from three appetizers. Kebab combo was very flavorful and came with rice, veggies, and salad. Iskandar doner kebab was a big hit. This us the first time we get acceptable tasting Iskandar in the US. Unfortunately the doner was not cut thin enough to complete the almost authentic experience. We will be visiting Chicago again in a few weeks and already looking forward for a repeat visit. read more

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Ambiance is ok, but the kabobs are on point, kafta and chicken. As well the fruit juices, lahmacun, cheese pide (that bread though!). The kazandibi pudding is the best around. Staff works hard. Will definitely return for lunch again. read more

My husband and I came here on a Monday for lunch. Street parking is accessible but the Irving Park brown line station is right there so very public transportation friendly. The restaurant itself if tucked away near the brown line station so a little difficult to find but GPS will get you there! We found street parking right away. For a Monday, the place was slammed for lunch but not surprising considering their lunch menu. My husband and I were seaTed right away and they even accommodated our stroller which was very nice. We ordered the pide lunch special of vegetable and cheese pide and ground beef and cheese pide. We also each had a lentil soup and lachmacun (sorry for the spelling error in advance). The soup came very quickly and was served with warm bread that was toasted shortly before it was served. Anyways, the soup was delicious - tasted so good. I highly recommend trying it. The pide arrived quickly but the serving size was smaller than what I was used to- almost half the size of the regular pide. I think they do it intentionally for the lunch special but I'm not complaining because it was perfect for my husband and me. However the lachmacun was my favorite- wow did it taste delicious ! Getting hungry just thinking about it. I didn't try a lot on the menu but I do look forward to going again jusT so I can try the rest of the menu. The only reason I didn't give this place 5 stars is because the waitresses weren't very attentive. The place was slammed and I acknowledge that it was difficult for the two of them to manage that many people alone during "rush hour". Management needs to consIder adding a bus boy or bus girl to pick up the food, clean the tables and add water to people's cups. Twice I had to go up to the waitresses and ask them for water and the table across from us wasn't cleaned for 13 mins after the people left- just unacceptable. This is an area that needs more work! Otherwise highly recommend checking it out! read more

Absolutely delicious!! Hands-down the best Turkish food I've had outside of Turkey itself. We had the Shorba (Lentil Soup), Iskender and Cubed Beef Piede. Finished off with the milk pudding and Turkish tea. Highly recommend everything I just stated, everything tasted so fresh and FULL of flavour. We were literally fighting over the leftovers the next day. This place is not to be missed! read more

I-Cafe - Cubed beef piede - Halal Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Woah this place is amazing!!! Everything I got is amazing. That honey cake!!!! So smooth and silky and sweet. The texture is like a soft crumb, hard to describe, just order it. I havent finish eating yet, it's that good!! The pide is so soft and cheese and delicious!! My cat smelled it from miles away lol everything on it is amazing, bc i got the one with everything on it. That milk custard is also amazing!! It's like a silky flan. More of a creme brule texture, but not as fragile. Has a good bite to it and super aromatic. This is definitely gonna be one of my favorite restaurants. And that's from a delivery order, can't imagine how good it's gonna be when I dine in read more

I-Cafe - a pizza in a box - Halal Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I tried the chicken pide, salad and bread. The pide tasted very good with chicken and cheese on top, but later I realized it had hot red pepper in it, so it's too hot for me. A green salad came with tomato's, cucumbers, feta cheese and olives. The bread was excellent, warm and homemade. I'd go there again. read more

Delicious. Iskender and chicken sish especially. Sigara borek for appetizer. Liked the pot of Turkish tea too.

I went in there 3x and I always ordered the same thing.. If you ever order rice on the side for to go.. it's a damn joke... Carrot salad was missing from the order the first time.. with a joke portion of 4 orders of rice is like one.. Second time was perfect because I called on the phone Third time.. my food was cold ( out from the refrigerator) and literally half portion with no carrots salad or bread! Who do they think they're !?!? I bet you if I was Kazakh or speak Russian I would get my food the same way without anything missing... read more

The food we ordered was yumm! The eskandar, and the other two things in my pics, but I forget their names lol, they were good. No complaintsa dn we thoroughly enjoyed it. The bread they brought out when you sit was just ehhh. I was debating if that should be included in the review or not since it table bread. I decided not to and I'll tell you why. The bathroom was soo nice! Lol don't know if that is a parallel or not, but I give points for bathrooms. Haha either way, I would recommend. Maybe an off day for the bread. read more

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After coming here for seven years it's turned terrible with the new owners. There is one server and the portions are extremely small and the food is not good. The business was sold last year and it is not the quality that it was before. The bread is not good and the food is not up to par the prices have gone up. Don't waste your time unfortunately go to another place to eat like the Indian restaurant next-door. read more

A very pleasant surprise. Good food on good portions at great prices with good service: this place has it all. I had the lamb/beef done kebab and it was delicious. read more

This is probably the best Turkish food I've had in Chicago! As soon as you walk in you can smell the spices and food cooking. My fiancée and I split the hot appetizer--feta and parsley wrapped in phyllo dough. Yummmm! I think there's a little lemon in there too that gives it some tang. It was probably the best thing we had. I could've eaten 3 orders. For $3.99 we got a flatbread dish that started with an "L". It was topped with minced meat, tomato and spices. The entree we split the donner kebab plate which was flavorful, the rice was delicious and it game with a salad full of cucumbers and tomatoes. Also, entree came with a big basket of freshly baked bread. This place is fantastic and very affordable!!!! read more

I-Cafe - Haha we already split these in half / ate some but they are SUCH a good appetizer! Filled with melty feta cheese and parsley - Halal Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Cannot recommend more. Do not sleep on this place.... ambiance thru the roof!! and delectable food.

Solid 4 star casual Turkish/Azerbajan cafe with authentic, tasty home cooked cuisine. The lentil soup was very tasty as was the Banaganoush and the flat bread with meat and seasoning. The house made Honey Cake is delicious. Friendly staff and fast efficient service. Lots of natives to this type of cuisine eating there which is always a good sign. I'm a fan. read more

I'm tempted to give a five (5)-star review on I-Cafe Sukur's Place, but I've had a slightly better Turkish/Arabic coffee at Hala In on Lawrence in Mayfair neighborhood. Not being able to render a full score isn't equivalent to a markdown on this review; I'm just being critical and hopefully no one takes offense because I do like this place a lot for its convenience (right off the CTA Irving Park Brown Line station--the main entrance), values ($11 for two people), and the atmosphere (relaxing and the hostess/cashier/clerk was friendly). We had the Turkish coffee, humus, kazandibi (Turkish milk pudding), and Turkish iced tea. Every dish or beverage was solid and delicious. By no means, the Turkish coffee here was superior, but hubby is also a foodie and generates preference on where he likes to go for certain things. However, I LOVED the kazandibi. The combination of honey, milk, and gelatin made the entire desert refreshing. Along with the Turkish iced tea, it was exactly what I needed for a 70-degree spring afternoon. I don't know if they accept credit cards, but you don't need lots of cash to spend in here since everything is reasonably-priced. I believe they close on Tuesdays. Otherwise, they have ridiculously great hours (morning to way-beyond wee hours). We will for sure stop by when we can. read more

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This cafe was a great place to grab a quick meal. I got the chicken wrap which was delicious. The chicken was not dry and there was definitely enough sauce to make sure each bite was flavorful! Can't wait to be back to try the other Turkish dishes read more

I-Cafe - Chicken wrap - Halal Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Food was alright, got the pide ground beef n cheese and the beef and lamb doner kebab. The taste was slightly off but I assumed it was just how doner kebab here tastes. Issue was the food poisoning I had for almost a week after eating here. I'm sure it was the doner that did it. Really wanted to give them 5 stars but using old meat or any stale food product is a big NO in my book especially if you run a restaurant. read more

It was great lunch. Ambience is casual. This place is best for having casual breakfast, lunch or brunch during your busy work day. It was busy so fast turnover. Place is clean but little bit old. There is some cultural influence in design of the interior, gives more like cafe feeling rather then restaurant. I had multiple dishes including mercimek soup, white beans with rice ( kuru fasulye), pide with meat and cheese, and lahmacun. Presentation was 3/5 but as I already mentioned this place is kinda has that feeling of cafe where you grab you lunch sandwich so it fits little bit to the purpose. Some of the foods were great others ok. Mercimek-4/5 White beans with rice-3.5-4/5 Cheese pide-5/5 Cheese and meet pide 5/5 Lahmacun-3/5 Pide was really good. If I go back I am going to order pide for sure. But I think lahmacun needs little bit more improvement. Over all impression is 3.8. For my American friend I will recommend try this place for lunch if you want something different authentic and you will love it. For Turkish friends go for pide. Also, heard breakfast is great but unfortunately could not try it. read more

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The best place for lunch time! I live near with the awesome Turkish cafe, you can also buy there food of Central Asia! It's like manty (my favourite!), lagman, shorpo (lamb soup). I went there before and don't like, but with the new owner it became the best place for my lunch! read more

Great place. Delicious food. Especially lamb soup and lahmacun! Turkish tea at the end was great. Kunefe was another great thing to taste! read more

I-Cafe - Halal Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I don't know how to start. Worst Kazak food ever. I don't say Turkish because I don't think It is a Turkish restaurant. My friend ordered Iskender kebab and he got some kind of a sliced meat with tomato sauce and butter. Meat seemed From 1970's and taste like plastic. I called the waitress and told her hat this is not iskender kebab she looked at me that I said something super unethical. Restaurant itself is dirty plus smells super weird. Would never ever go back NE V E R RRRRRR. DONT GO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR Authentic TURKISH FOOD. This place and environment was a joke read more