My bud and I pulled into Al Safa Mandi House for lunch recently. This Yemeni establishment is tucked in a strip mall at the corner of Touhy and Kedzie, with parking available. We had the entire dining room to ourselves, and were presented rather nice-looking menus to peruse. I ordered the mandi lamb with rice and onions (heck "mandi" is in the name of the place, so why not?). The fatty hunks of bone-in lamb were piled atop a bed of rice with onion. It was a good-sized portion with plenty for me to take home for another meal. The two sauces were not bad, and were needed to add some much-needed flavor to the dish. My bud digested his lunch special with chicken shawarma, rice, hummus and salad with no complaints. We were both amused with the menu's depiction of the weekend special - an entire lamb head with rice. It's probably quite a treat for carnivores craving a lamb head. We each drank a can of "Healthy Cola" - zero sugar and zero calorie beverages out of Saudi Arabia. My lemon mint was AOK, and I presume my bud was fine with his cola, as he prefers a diet cola anyway. I was facing outward towards the street view, so I could not tell if there was just a one-man gang working at the restaurant. We asked one time for a take-out box, but we had to ask the server three separate times for the check, and finally we were asked to come up to the register to pay for our meal. read more

Zurbuian fish was not good at all. Waste of money. I have had zurbian fish at other Yemeni places and it was not comparable. Lamb dish was okay. We were hungry so we ate some but really didn't like it. They tried I guess but food was not authentic at all. Al-Diar Restaurant and Zahra Yemeni are 5 stars!! read more

Small shop in between rogers park & skokie with late hours for when you're having a later dinner. This spot has parking spots up front to either pick up food quick or dine it. It's sit yourself & food is brought out pretty quick! The picture was for 2 people. The food met our timing, our cravings, & showed us a new canned zero sugar soda drink (not pictured) from Saudis Arabia. Random but the one thing I remember was how fresh the olive oil tasted. I don't like eating plain olives but I love olive oil. It was the first time I could really taste the olives & remember the oils origins. read more

Al Safa Mandi House - Falafel wrap & Combo Shawarma Plate - Sandwiches Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Solid Yemeni restaurant. The highlight is the mandi. The family size portions are enormous and they can easily feed five people. The restaurant isn't super fancy so dress casual and it's located in a super small strip. Great for carry out and friendly staff! read more

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The salad was so smelly The place is not clean it was stinking like rotten meat The service is not so good read more

I didn't have much expectation before coming to this place but Lamb Zurbian and chicken Mandi are really good. I am sure other food items are equally good. I Highly recommend it. However, ambience and sitting is average Dhaba style. food is good read more

Great zubian biriyani. Meat was delicious and tender. The quantity was also a lot. Thanks for the good food. read more

Great Yemeni restaurant. Stopped in after an extremely busy day, absolutely starved. Starters- Baba ghanoush- 4 Hummus (with meat): 3 Falafel- 3 Lentil soup: 3 Entrees- Lamb mandi: 4 Biryani: 3.5 Kabsa: 4 Haneeth: 4 Kefta kabob: 5+ Zurbian lamb: 5+ Irani tea: 5+ (milky, cardamom black tea) Service and setting; 4 read more

Just stopped here after a wedding gig. Needed something warm before going to bed. Met the coolest guy named Mohammed who was very earnest. Had the BEST Falafel sandwich I've ever had and only took around 10 minutes at 1:30 in the morning. It was also only $8. Absolute gem of a place! read more

I've been going here for years and have had chicken shawarma from many places, this place takes the medal. I've also had the soup. Chicken Mandhi here is top notch read more

Really delicious Lamb Head with super friendly staff! Very cozy ambiance with lots of variety on the menu!

The Food was great, I ordered the shawarma which had some cool Arabic spices while my mom ordered the shish kebab with lamb and the food was a unique experience! Now the service, although there was only one man working but still I would say that he was relatively nice! Finally the ambience, it's a cool ambiance although it lacked some decoration for the tables so yes it's a good restaurant to eat overall. read more

Came here based off Yelp reviews. Maybe they were having an off night. Seemed to be miscommunication in the kitchen and up front . Ordered a lentil soup and lamb chops dinner. Lentil soup came out like a porridge. Maybe this is how they serve it? There were chick peas in there too and they were undercooked and hard. The lamb chops were four and they were burned. Everyone knows you don't overcook lamb chops. When I returned it, the person in the kitchen who may have been the owner said that is how they prepare them. I asked for something else. My wife really wanted lamb, so they brought out a different lamb dish . That unfortunately lacked flavor, and was underwhelming . It was served with a mountain of rice. . I wanted it to be a good experience . It just wasn't read more

Al Safa Mandi House - Lamb Chops plate (They were over cooked) - Sandwiches Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

They used to be the best but I don't know what happened in recent time I am really unhappy I ordered Chicken mutapaq it used to be amazingly delicious now ruined it tastes completely different and also ordered Lamb zurbian my favorite also ruined no salt at all literally zero salt in food I am highly disappointed with the service as well zurbian and mutapaq served with garlic sause and tomato sauce never provided unless asked for it Sorry but I never do reviews unless it's that bad I am really disappointed with Al Safa unfortunately never going to visit again. read more

Looks like Yemeni cuisine from the menu which has been popping up in the area and offers something different from your usual kabab shop. Mandi would be a good start as a rice dish with both lamb and chicken as a combo for $16.99 (you can get just lamb or chicken too). Otherwise for lunch, there's Arabic sandwich which is like a grilled shawarma sandwich which is then sliced into finger food portions. Comes with fries. Other shawarma, kofta, and falafel sandwiches are under $10. read more

Al Safa Mandi House - Chicken haneeth with rice - Sandwiches Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Every time I order the same thing and every time the food is radically different from the time before. There is no consistency in their product. Sometimes it it good, other times it's horrible. I am about to give up on them. read more

I will never go here again. I have been in so many Middle Eastern restaurant that you spent $25. You don't get no pita bread or soup with mix girled . That cost you $ 25 read more

Had Zurbian lamb and chcken, and Kabsa chicken. If you eat lamb, go for Zurbian lamb. The place is recommended, but the only thing I didn't like is that they don't serve water. read more

We tried Mandi which was tasteless. It use to be very good earlier when Arabs owned it. Now it's very tasteless and very dirty. I have discovered the rice. Meat was dried. I will not recommend anyone to eat Mandi. read more

DIRTY This is the right word that describes the place Starting from tables, plates until the disastrous crew who mix food in the kitchen with gloves and go in and out, serving and taking orders. Kabsa is the worst Not family friendly at all Not sure why it is yemeni and the crew is not!! Even the customers are usually south/middle asia!! read more

Best food I've had in a long time. I love this place, Mandi is the thing to order. Just give this place a chance. SB

great food and the staff is amazing and so friendly will be going there again for sure

Oh wow this food is so fresh and delicious. I had the chicken shawarma lunch special It was so tasty served with mendi rice! The taste is so flavorful and not dry like most places . read more

Al Safa Mandi House - Chicken Shawarma Plate after I devoured most of it - Sandwiches Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The food was amazing! All the food was also in great quantities. It was amazing. Also the people working there were super helpful. Very family friendly and nice. read more

Just finished dinner. Really excellent. Dishes are plentiful and family is very friendly. Definitely will be back. read more

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Had the best shawarma of my life here. Random sorry. Uber driver was talking up this place on way home from airport. We ended up stopping through and no matter how hard I tried driver insisted on treating. Sooo good. Came back next day for lunch. Beautiful family owned spot super good authentic iraqi cuisine. read more

Al Safa is the place! They have delicious dishes and, boy! do they offer enough of the food to feed quite a few people. The dish I ordered was rice with chicken. Everything was tasty and plenty of it. The chicken was so tender. Delivery was fast and friendly. Enjoyed my experience with AL Safa. read more

This place had a delicious shawarma sandwich fresh packed with beef I would definitely recommend coming here if your in the area also prices were good read more

Al Safa Mandi House - a hand holding a sandwich - Sandwiches Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Just opened less than one week nearby. Everyone is very friendly. Everything is made to order. Nothing is premade or reheated. Knowing that the food came out in a timely manner. We ordered lentil soup, tabbouleh, chicken shawarma sandwiches and falafel sandwiches. Food was perfectly seasoned! Reasonably priced. Delicious!!! This restaurant is family owned and we will be coming back again. read more

This was our second time to try it. First time we tried fish it was delicious today we tried haneeh and it was fire! There food is really good. Also costumer services is on point. Highly recommend Al Safa!!! read more

I ordered chicken Haneeth, They behaved cheap and unfriendly by not providing garlic sauce with it and also food was crazy untasty. Since I brought my own water bottle due to that employee fucking got mad at me. read more

Top notch across the board. Tasty, authentic, friendly staff. Home brewed te, lentil soup and Falafel all excellent

The best kofka chicken I've ever eaten. Hummus delish. Could taste fresh chickpeas. Greek salad was perfect. The seasoning on everything was the best I've had. Fresh and tasty. read more

Actually terrible service, I ordered almost an hour and a half ago and I am still waiting on my food. My delivery driver told me it was gonna be an hour late because it was busy, and asked me if I could cancel my order. I go to cancel my order, relaying the information my delivery driver told me and emphasize if it's not gonna be here quickly in 10-15 minutes to cancel it. They said it'll take 3-4 minutes to be ready and then delivered, insisting on this after I said I wanted to cancel, so I said okay. It has been HALF AN HOUR. I live 12 minutes away, and I'm still waiting, my delivery driver told me nothing changed so I don't blame him, I completely blame the restaurant for lying. Do NOT order delivery. read more

very nice environment and food is just awesome. We order Hanith and Zurbian. The meat melts in your mouth. Staff is very friendly.

Came here for chicken shawarma it was amazing came back for the beef and some how it was even better. Now I have been going back if for the same thing for 2 months now read more

Delicious food good prices and big portions... good pleople I wish the is 10 stars I would give it to this restaurant love it

Awesome food, try the baba, lentil soup or hummus with lamb. Amazing!!! Service is also great, very kind people!

This is a diner-sized eatery on a strip mall, bright, clean, not very large. Five stars for the food -- I ate lentil soup, baba ganoush, beef shawerma wrap, all excellent. The bread was excellent too, and plentiful. My friend had the mixed pickles and milk tea. Friendly, helpful, very nice service, if a little amateurish, just what you'd expect from a family business. We ordered economical lunch dishes: the dinners are relatively expensive but not unfairly priced for what you're getting (I'm bringing my girlfriend back for the four-lambchop platter). The television audio was loud and intrusive but no worse than any sports bar. I imagine they get very crowded at dinner times and then I think this might be a better carry-out restaurant than eat-in. Some of their family dinners seem suitable for feeding catered events. Unreservedly recommended if you bring earplugs. read more

Very good! We had the lamb mandi which was tender fall off the bone good with a full plate of rice. Also had beef shawarma sandwich, lentil soup and falafel. Fattoush salad was very fresh! Flavors and spices were just right, not overwhelming. Our new neighborhood go-to spot. read more