The 10 best Mediterranean restaurants in Chicago

This list ranks 10 restaurants in Chicago that cook from the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean: Greek, Lebanese, Palestinian, Israeli, Turkish and Egyptian kitchens, plus one that ranges across the whole Levant. Italian, French and Spanish restaurants are left out because they have lists of their own. The list is for locals hunting for a new regular spot and for visitors who want more than a gyro on Halsted Street.

The picks lean on named awards and long track records, and they cover the city from Dunning to Hyde Park. Prices swing widely across the best Mediterranean food Chicago has. A cash-only Lebanese counter in Andersonville keeps every item under $10, while the No. 1 pick charges $98 a person for a tasting menu. At the Egyptian kebab house at No. 9, wraps run $11 to $15 and grilled entrees $17 to $30.

How we chose

The list is ranked. Named awards set the top of the order, with a Michelin star counting for more than a Bib Gourmand and James Beard recognition breaking ties. Below that, placement follows how consistently readable local sources such as The Infatuation, Time Out Chicago and Vocalo have recommended each restaurant, with 2025 and 2026 coverage weighted heaviest and years in business deciding close calls. Star ratings on review sites did not count. Every pick was checked against the restaurant’s own website or a 2025 or 2026 report to confirm the doors are still open.

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

Galit

Chef Zachary Engel and partner Andrés Clavero opened Galit on Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park in 2019, and the Middle Eastern dining room is the only restaurant on this list with a Michelin star. Dinner centers on a tasting menu, priced at $98 a person in The Infatuation’s September 2026 guide, and that guide steers you to the hummus under cinnamon-braised brisket and the falafel with mango. The star, plus a James Beard nomination, puts Galit first. Tables go quickly on Resy; if your date is booked, join the Notify list and watch for cancellations.

Hours: Tue-Thu 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Fri-Sat 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Sun 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Address: 2429 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

Why they made the list

• Galit held one Michelin star in the 2025 Chicago guide, which Michelin announced on November 18, 2025.
• The James Beard Foundation named Galit a 2025 nominee for Outstanding Restaurant.
• Saffron mujadara stuffed cabbage is another dish The Infatuation recommends in the September 2026 guide that ranked Galit No. 1 among the city’s Mediterranean restaurants.
• Large parties and private events book through a separate events website, not Resy.

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Sifr

Most of the cooking at Sifr happens over a charcoal and wood-fired hearth, and chefs Sujan Sarkar and Sahil Sethi draw on Levantine, North African and Turkish cooking for a River North menu built on mezze and shared plates. The Infatuation’s 2026 guide points to the blackened mushrooms and the lamb kebab with tzatziki. A Michelin Bib Gourmand puts Sifr second. If you want a rooftop table, book for Thursday, Friday or Saturday, the only nights the roof takes reservations; on other nights, book the ground floor or the all-seasons terrace.

Hours: Sun-Thu 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Address: 660 N Orleans St, Chicago, IL 60654

Why they made the list

• Sifr lists the Bib Gourmand for both 2024 and 2025 on the restaurant’s website.
• The restaurant opened in June 2023.
• Besides the a la carte menu, the kitchen runs a full chef’s tasting and a shorter express tasting.
• You can bring up to two bottles of wine for a $35 corkage fee on each.

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Andros Taverna

Chef Doug Psaltis cooks on a rotisserie hearth and a charcoal grill at Andros Taverna, a Greek taverna on Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square whose name honors his family’s roots in the Greek islands. Start with the kataifi cheese pie and prawn saganaki, move on to a whole fish, and save room for pastry chef Hsing Chen’s baklava frozen yogurt. A place in the Michelin Guide’s 2025 Chicago selection, plus spots on The Infatuation’s Greek and Mediterranean guides, makes Andros the top Greek pick at No. 3. The online reservation form goes up to parties of eight or more, so a big group can book without a phone call.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 2542 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Why they made the list

• Andros Taverna opened in early 2021 with about 110 seats inside and 75 on a back patio, according to Resy’s opening report.
• The kitchen bakes pita in a wood-burning oven and finishes the octopus over charcoal.
• Weekend brunch brings egg-in-a-hole koulouri and tsoureki French toast.

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Greek Islands

Konstantinos Koutsogeorgas opened Greek Islands on Halsted Street in 1971, and more than 50 years later the Greektown dining room still runs on avgolemono soup, kokkinisto with lamb shank and saganaki set on fire at the table. The Infatuation also recommends the grilled octopus. No other pick has lasted as long, and that record puts Greek Islands fourth. Plan around Mondays: the Halsted room is closed that day, and the restaurant’s website cites a staffing shortage.

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

Address: 200 S Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60661

Why they made the list

• A second Greek Islands operates in Lombard at 300 E 22nd St.
• Tomatoes and peppers stuffed with ground meat, rice, herbs, cheese and pine nuts are one of the house specialties listed on the restaurant’s website.
• Greek Islands appeared on Food Network’s The Hungry Detective in January 2008.
• The Infatuation put Greek Islands on both a November 2025 Greek guide and a September 2026 Mediterranean guide.

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Fiya

Pita comes out of a wood-burning brick oven at Fiya, the Andersonville restaurant from Mindy Friedler and Mark Bires that bills the menu as “soul food of the Levant.” The kitchen ranges from Israel and Palestine to Yemen, Morocco and Georgia, so khachapuri shares the table with Yafo pot pie and Moroccan fish. Fiya ranks fifth: the Michelin Guide lists the restaurant and The Infatuation rated Fiya 8.2, but there is no star or Bib Gourmand. Ask for the patio, which seats about 70 people; when the weather turns cold, the restaurant sets up igloos out there.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 5419 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• Friedler and Bires opened their first restaurant, a sandwich shop, in 2002.
• Cocktails are built on gazoz, the Israeli street soda, and about 20 craft beers are on tap.
• The Infatuation’s review points diners to the roasted chicken with gribenes hummus and the Israeli cheesecake.
• The indoor dining room seats about 90.

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Cedars Mediterranean Kitchen

Sudki Abdullah opened Cedars Mediterranean Kitchen in Hyde Park’s Kimbark Plaza in 1992. After he died in 2019, his son Amer took over and refreshed the place under a plan he called “Mideast meets Midwest,” and the menu now puts harissa fried fish tacos ($5.95 each) next to falafel and kebab plates. On weekends, look for Palestinian musakhan chicken. More than 30 years in business earn Cedars the No. 6 spot, and the restaurant is the only South Side pick on this list. Online ordering for pickup and catering runs through the restaurant’s website.

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

Address: 1206 E 53rd St, Chicago, IL 60615

Why they made the list

• The Infatuation’s September 2026 guide recommends the chicken shawarma tacos and the lamb barbacoa tacos.
• A meal of harissa fried fish tacos costs $16.
• Executive chef Amado Lopez led the new menu, according to a University of Chicago blog post on the relaunch.

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Taste of Lebanon

Ali Faraj’s father opened Taste of Lebanon as a small falafel counter on Foster Avenue around the end of 1996, and Faraj, who started working there at 14, told Vocalo in 2024 that the menu has barely changed. Chicken shawarma is the best seller, and a bowl of lentil soup is a cheap add-on. Every item cost under $10 when The Infatuation put the Foster Avenue counter on a September 2026 guide. Taste of Lebanon ranks seventh for nearly 30 years of the same short menu at counter prices. Bring cash; cards are not accepted.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 1509 W Foster Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• Time Out Chicago ranked Taste of Lebanon first on a 2017 list of the city’s Middle Eastern restaurants.
• Faraj says keeping the family business small helped Taste of Lebanon get through the pandemic.
• The short menu covers falafel, shawarma, hummus, baba ghanoush and lentil soup.
• The counter sits on Foster Avenue just west of Clark Street.

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Bereket Turkish Mediterranean Restaurant

Everything at Bereket Turkish Mediterranean Restaurant is made in-house, bread included, according to a 2022 review in The Infatuation. The setting is plain: a yellow room with drop ceilings and an old cafeteria line on South Franklin Street, a block south of Willis Tower. Order the iskender, doner over tomato-sauced croutons with yogurt, or the manti, beef or mushroom dumplings in garlic yogurt. The only Turkish restaurant on this list lands at No. 8 on an 8.1 rating and a fourth-place spot in The Infatuation’s September 2026 guide. For a fast lunch, the Sampler 4 lets you swap items until the plate holds the spreads you like.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 333 S Franklin St, Chicago, IL 60606

Why they made the list

• The standard Sampler 4 plate holds falafel, hummus, eggplant spread and dolma.
• Lahmacun, a thin flatbread of minced lamb with pickled onions, shares the menu with sucuklu pide topped with mozzarella and Turkish sausage.
• The restaurant took over a former counter-service space and stays open all day, seven days a week.
• Union Station is a short walk west across the Chicago River.

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Cairo Kebab

Head chef Ahmed Saleh runs the kitchen at Cairo Kebab on Maxwell Street in University Village, carrying on the cooking his brother, chef Hussein “Baba” Saleh, passed down. Start with koshary, the Egyptian staple of rice, lentils and pasta, or taamiya, falafel made from fava beans, then add a $12 hawashi sandwich. Cairo Kebab is the only Egyptian kitchen on this list and appears on The Infatuation’s September 2026 Mediterranean guide, which puts the restaurant ninth. For takeout, The Infatuation’s review suggests calling the order in ahead.

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

Address: 730 W Maxwell St, Chicago, IL 60607

Why they made the list

• A kofta kebab entree with two skewers and rice costs $17, and the reyash lamb chops cost $30.
• The original Lincoln Park location closed at the end of 2022, leaving Maxwell Street as the only Cairo Kebab.
• Falafel wraps cost $11, and chicken shawarma sandwiches cost $12.

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Lenci’s Greek Pita

Pork gyros are the reason to head out to Lenci’s Greek Pita, a casual Greek spot on Narragansett Avenue in Dunning, just south of Irving Park Road. The pork is shaved thin and wrapped in pita with seasoned fries and housemade tzatziki, and the classic Chicago gyro of lamb and beef is on the menu too. Lenci’s takes the last spot on the strength of a fresh review: The Infatuation’s John Ringor rated the restaurant 8.0 in August 2026. The same review says the gyros burger, a beef patty under shaved pork, is worth ordering only if you live nearby.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 3958 N Narragansett Ave, Chicago, IL 60634

Why they made the list

• Chicken souvlaki and hand-cut fries round out the menu, which the restaurant posts online as a PDF.
• The Infatuation recommends Lenci’s for lunch, takeout and solo meals.
• At 6400 W on the city grid, Lenci’s is the farthest west of the 10 picks.

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Also worth knowing

Late-night shawarma in Albany Park means Salam Restaurant & Grill at 4636 N Kedzie Ave, a short walk from the Kedzie Brown Line stop and open until 1:30 a.m. most nights, according to the restaurant’s website. The combination entree piles shish kabob, kifta kabob, shawarma and chicken taouk onto one plate.

In Roscoe Village, Sinya Mediterranean Grill is a small counter at 3224 N Damen Ave that shaves shawarma and gyro off spinning spits for rice bowls and wraps. The Infatuation rated the shop 8.0 in 2024. Roscoe Village was the first Sinya; the owners now run two more in River North and Albany Park.

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