The 10 best restaurants in Skokie

This guide ranks the 10 best restaurants in Skokie for residents, North Shore neighbors and city diners willing to make the drive. Every pick has a Skokie address. Eight sit on Dempster Street, where a deli founded in 1960, a 1969 hot dog stand, Palestinian and Assyrian kitchens and a Georgian dining room share about two miles of storefronts. The other two are downtown on Lincoln Avenue and on Gross Point Road.

The list favors places with staying power, then adds younger kitchens cooking Georgian, Mexican and northern Chinese food. Most picks are counters and casual rooms where a meal tends to land under $20, and a jianbing crepe cost $7.99 in March. At the top end, Georgian mains run $25 to $30.

How we chose

Rank follows track record. The places that have cooked in Skokie the longest and drawn the most independent coverage, from WTTW and WBEZ to the Chicago Tribune, Axios Chicago and The Record, sit at the top. Newer kitchens with a shorter public record fill the back half. Every pick was checked against a 2025 or 2026 source, and places known only through review apps were left off.

Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

Kaufman’s Bagel & Delicatessen

Maury Kaufman, a Holocaust survivor who settled in Skokie after World War II, opened Kaufman’s Bagel & Delicatessen in 1960, and a 2022 Chicago Tribune profile describes the deli as a place where fellow survivors could eat and work. The deli still smokes fish and turkeys in house, cooks the corned beef on site and bakes bagels, rye and pastries from scratch. Corned beef is the top seller, followed by lox and tuna salad. Kaufman’s takes the top spot for more than six decades in the village and a longer record of press coverage than any other pick. Plan on breakfast or lunch, since the doors close by 5 p.m. every day and at 3 p.m. early in the week.

Hours: Sun-Tue 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Wed-Sat 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Address: 4905 W Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60077

Why they made the list

• A kitchen fire on November 7, 2011, shut the deli for a year, and customers were back at the counter in November 2012, CBS Chicago reported.
• Bette Dworkin, whose parents bought the business from Kaufman about two decades after the opening, was the owner when the Tribune profiled the deli in 2022.
• The bakery works with butter, cream cheese and sour cream and allows no margarine or shortening in the building.
• New corned beef and caraway scones sold for $5 when Axios Chicago stopped by in March 2026.

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Hub’s

Tony Thanoukos left Greece at 16, washed dishes at a Des Plaines restaurant and in 1976 bought a small Dempster Street eatery with his brother John. That eatery became Hub’s. When the restaurant turned 50 in March 2026, a half-price promotion sent lines down the street toward McCormick Boulevard, The Record reported. The menu has grown from 10 items to 165, with barbecue ribs, rotisserie chicken, gyros and kabobs alongside pastitsio and moussaka made from the brothers’ mother’s recipes. Hub’s ranks second for half a century under one family. Call (847) 677-7695 to confirm hours before a trip.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 3727 Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076

Why they made the list

• According to The Record, Hub’s was the setting of a 1993 Saturday Night Live sketch with Chris Farley and Adam Sandler built around the line “You like-a the juice?”
• The Skokie restaurant has been expanded three times since 1976.
• Son Bill Thanoukos works in the kitchen beside his father, and Ann Thanoukos often runs the front of the house.
• An Axios Chicago reader recommended the Greek salad with ribs or gyros in a March 26, 2026 roundup of Dempster Street favorites.

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Poochie’s Hot Dogs

Harvey Bernstein opened Poochie’s Hot Dogs on Dempster Street in 1969, and Chris Christou bought the stand from him in 1992, Skokie Patch reported when Poochie’s moved about two blocks east in 2011. Christou planned to bring part of the old counter, the stools and the photos to the new space. Hot dogs come charred or steamed, but the stand’s own site leads with the burger: a third of a pound of never-frozen beef under Merkt’s cheddar, with fresh-cut fries on the side. Poochie’s ranks third for 57 years of hot dogs and burgers on the same street. Plan dinner early on Sundays, when the counter closes at 7 p.m.

Hours: Mon-Sat 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Address: 3602 Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076

Why they made the list

• Roadfood put Poochie’s on a list of the five best hot dogs in the country for Serious Eats in January 2007.
• The char cheddar burger was $6.99 and the char salami sandwich with caramelized onions and mustard was $9.69 in March 2026, per Axios Chicago.
• The current shop at 3602 Dempster St has about 30% more room than the old one.

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Pita Inn

Back in 1982, Pita Inn opened on Dempster Street as a two-person operation. The business now has branches in Wheeling, Glenview, Mundelein and Naperville, which makes Pita Inn the one pick with locations across the suburbs, but the Skokie original is where the falafel and kabob formula started. Axios Chicago credited the Palestinian kitchen with “delicious and affordable chow” since 1982 and priced the vegetarian combination plate at $12.99 in March 2026. Pita Inn ranks fourth on longevity and price. Late hours help: the dining room stays open until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Hours: Sun-Thu 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Address: 4710 Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076

Why they made the list

• Pita Inn marked the Skokie location’s 40th anniversary in 2022.
• An Impossible kefta entree, for diners who skip meat, was $16.99 in March 2026.
• An Axios Chicago reader named Pita Inn a personal favorite in a March 26, 2026 roundup of Dempster Street picks.

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Taboun Grill

Strictly kosher, with Israeli and Moroccan influences: that is how WTTW’s Check, Please! described Taboun Grill when the show featured the Gross Point Road restaurant in 2007. The grill turns out kefta and beef kebabs, chicken thigh skewers, lamb chops and skirt steak, with Moroccan cigars and hummus to start. WBEZ’s Steve Dolinsky wrote in 2010 that the kitchen makes “the best baba-g in town,” and an Axios Chicago reader pointed to Taboun for Israeli and Yemeni Jewish food in March 2026. Taboun ranks fifth for nearly two decades at one address. Plan around the Sabbath: Friday service ends at 2 p.m., and the restaurant is closed Saturday.

Hours: Sun-Thu 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Sat.

Address: 8808 Gross Point Rd, Skokie, IL 60077

Why they made the list

• Check, Please! put the price range at $16 to $25 when the episode premiered on November 16, 2007.
• Panelists on that 2007 episode pointed diners to a Sunday Yemenite brunch.
• Taboun once ran a second location in West Rogers Park, according to WBEZ, and the restaurant’s site now lists only Skokie.
• Rib eye steak and chicken shawarma round out the grill menu.

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Ascione Bistro

Alex Argirov and his wife, Lauren Lucchesi, expanded Ascione Bistro beyond Hyde Park in 2025 with a 5,000-square-foot second location in downtown Skokie, Fra Noi reported, citing the Chicago Tribune. The cooking leans on generations-old Lucchesi family recipes from southern Italy, so expect handmade pasta, grilled octopus and braised meats. Ascione is the full-service Italian dining room on this list, and the one downtown pick. The bistro ranks sixth as the newest arrival in the top half, backed by the Hyde Park original. Weekend service starts at 11 a.m., so lunch is an easy way in.

Hours: Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sat 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Address: 8006 Lincoln Ave, Skokie, IL 60077

Why they made the list

• The Skokie room has a 24-seat bar plus patio and semi-open-air seating.
• Skokie’s Village Board approved funds for the project on July 17, 2023, What Now Chicago reported.
• The 2026 North Shore Restaurant Month menu included wild boar pappardelle, Chianti-braised short rib, cioppino and a 16-ounce USDA Prime ribeye done Tuscan style.
• The original Ascione Bistro opened at 1500 E 55th St in Hyde Park in 2019, What Now Chicago reported.

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Larsa’s Mediterranean

Pizza shares the menu with Assyrian and Middle Eastern plates at Larsa’s Mediterranean, a casual storefront between Prairie Road and Ridgeway Avenue. Axios Chicago ordered the potato chops, crisp balls of potato stuffed with beef, for $7 in March 2026 and noted that yellow lentil soup comes free. Kefta and chicken kebabs, beef shawarma and laham ajeen, a flatbread topped with spiced meat, fill out the board. Larsa’s ranks seventh on low prices and staying power; a Niles West News reviewer in 2017 compared the food to Pita Inn’s, with more spice. Kubba had sold out on the Axios visit, so call (847) 679-3663 ahead if you want some.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 3724 W Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076

Why they made the list

• Plates such as charbroiled catfish come with soup and rice, according to Time Out Chicago.
• The beef shawarma plate arrives with pita and rice on the side, per the February 2017 Niles West News review.
• Larsa’s sits in the same 3700 block of Dempster as Hub’s.

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Metekhi

Georgia, the country, gets a full sit-down restaurant at Metekhi, near the east end of Skokie’s stretch of Dempster. Khinkali, the twisted soup dumplings, come five to an order for $25, and the stews run higher, with chakapuli at $29 and satsivi, chicken in walnut sauce, at $30. Axios Chicago steered diners to the chicken tabaka and the cheese-filled penovani pastry, $16 for a small, and noted the traditional Georgian wine. Metekhi ranks eighth because the restaurant has a shorter public record than the places above. Book a table: the restaurant recommends reservations.

Hours: Mon-Thu 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Fri-Sun 12:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Address: 3341 Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076

Why they made the list

• Metekhi was the first stop in a March 20, 2026 Axios Chicago guide that ran east to west through 20 Dempster Street treats.
• Ajapsandali, a vegetable stew of eggplant and peppers, is $25 on the posted menu.
• Meat crepes cost $18.
• Pkhali and ojakhuri salad also appear among the starters and small plates.

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My Little Kitchen

Red and green salsas come in squeeze bottles at My Little Kitchen, a small Mexican restaurant whose menu draws on traditional recipes from Puebla. Puebla is the home of mole poblano, and Axios Chicago paid $15.50 for the plate in March 2026. Tacos are the cheaper route, with al pastor at $3.95 and shrimp at $4.75. My Little Kitchen ranks ninth as the list’s Mexican pick. Mind the short Monday: service ends at 3 p.m., and the restaurant is closed Sunday.

Hours: Mon 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tue-Sat 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Sun.

Address: 4031 Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076

Why they made the list

• My Little Kitchen made a March 20, 2026 Axios Chicago list of 20 Dempster Street treats.
• Online ordering is available through the restaurant’s website.
• Hours can shift around holidays, and the restaurant asks diners to call (847) 324-9912 to confirm.

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Monkey King Jianbing

Jianbing, the griddled egg crepe sold as street breakfast across northern China, is the specialty at Monkey King Jianbing. Axios Chicago paid $7.99 for the original vegetarian version in March 2026 and likened the wrap to a breakfast burrito eaten with plastic gloves. Fillings go well past the basics: fried chicken, fried shrimp, crab sticks with ham, and a minced pork and beef hot dog version rolled with vegetable spring rolls. Monkey King ranks tenth as the list’s breakfast pick. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., which makes the shop an easy first stop before the rest of Dempster.

Hours: Mon 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wed-Sun 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; no Tuesday hours posted.

Address: 3411 Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076

Why they made the list

• Noodles, rice dishes and dumplings fill out the rest of the menu.
• Orders can be placed for pickup, dine-in or delivery.
• The shop is at 3411 Dempster St, about a block west of Metekhi.

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Also worth knowing

Family owned since 1996, Grecian Kitchen at 3938 Dempster St is a Greek American grill built around rotisserie chicken, gyros and barbecue ribs. An Axios Chicago reader recommended the chicken breast dinner with Grecian seasoning, along with the Greek potatoes, in March 2026.

The newest arrival worth a look is Caribana, a 170-seat Caribbean restaurant and bar that opened in February 2026 on the ground floor of a hotel at 5203 Old Orchard Rd. Owner Bret Paul calls the cooking island-soul fusion, with oxtail, jerk chicken, seafood tacos and Rasta Pasta, The Record reported.

See a place we missed or a detail that has changed? Send us a correction.