I really wanted to like Cedar's, and I did like it, I just didn't love it. We arrived at around 5:10 on Sunday and the servers were changing shifts. There were a few groups of people already there, not busy by any means. It took a while to get seated, and a server at the end of her shift, heading out the door, got us some menus and a table. We saw who turned out to be our server arrive about five minutes later. He checked in with us soon after for our beverage order, and delivered some pita for us. He forgot my iced tea, but he did remember the hummus appetizer we ordered. The hummus was delicious but there was a little too much olive oil pooled on top of it. My 7 year old who loves hummus wouldn't touch it with the pools of oil on top. The pita that arrived was indeed warm, but it was not fresh. Once it cooled off, the edges got hard, like it was stale. He took our order, was prompted into delivering the iced tea, and then we waited. I expected to wait, based on other reviews, but we waited nearly 45 minutes for our food to arrive. At the 30 minute mark, he came and told us there had been a mix up in the kitchen and our food would be right out. The apology was a nice touch, but the wait was still long, and the pita cooled off and showed its true colors in the mean time. The staple green lentil soup was delicious, with both my kids enjoying it (in fact they stole it from me and made it their own). It had a bit of cilantro in it and a slight chili taste to it. It was delicious, a bit like split pea soup. When our entrees finally arrived, the rice with my chicken kebob was a bit mushy (as another reviewer also noted) but had clumps of hard pieces too, like it had dried out. The kebabs were delicious though, done just enough and still moist. The Cedar burger was served in a pita and might have been vegetarian. My son did not eat it (he is more for traditional burgers) and the Cedar Homestyle Fries on the side were soggy. They we just sliced potatoes and undercooked. They shouldn't call them fries although I suppose they are fried. My wife had the falafel sandwich, which was the deal of the day at $4.50 for a huge sandwich, more of the undercooked fries and a bit of salad on the side. All in all, it was a good visit although it took far too long to get in and out (bad with kids) and the kid-sized drinks were charged at the same price as the adults' ($1.75 each.) For that reason, I say it's not good for kids. read more

Cedars was featured on Chicago's Best so I decides to take the hike to Hyde Park. It wasn't worth it. I ordered the beef and lamb schwarma, it wasn't thinly sliced and had ZERO flavor. The waitress saw my face and asked if I wanted something different, I got the chicken schwarma and it was better but still left something to be desire. The falafel was great but not worth the hike just for that. Cedars was featured on Chicago's Best so I decides to take the hike to Hyde Park. It wasn't worth it. I ordered the beef and lamb schwarma, it wasn't thinly sliced and had ZERO flavor. The waitress saw my face and asked if I wanted something different, I got the chicken schwarma and it was better but still left something to be desire. The falafel was great but not worth the hike just for that. read more

You lentil soup is my omg so delicious, i stopped goin to some place down the street bc their attitude and lentil soup sucks. I should honestly be making it at home. I have tons of bags of lentils @ home. It tastes like my moms. Except she uses pink salt read more

Why do you, Cedars, get so much more UChicago catering requests than Nile? To me, Cedars food tastes really bland, which I least expect when dining out at a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurant. Don't really know what's up, maybe they are skimping on the spices. To my dismay, various UChicago events always seem to cater from Cedars. Might just be that my taste buds are way off, but I think Nile is clearly the better Middle Eastern/Mediterranean option at similar prices. Please cater from Nile instead, and I will make sure to attend your event. read more

I placed an order for carryout and it was amazing. I got the Combination Kebab plate and my boyfriend ordered the spicy chicken wings dinner. We both loved the meal. The kebabs were tender and cooked perfectly. The wings were tangy and spicy. Our meals also came with pita bread, roasted vegetables, choice of rice/potato/fries, and choice of salad/soup. It wasn't CHEAP, but it was absolutely a great deal. I would definitely go back there again. read more

My colleagues and I had lunch here yesterday. It was about 14 of us, we ordered the family style meal. When the food came out there was a live roach on the bottom of a plate and crawled out onto the table. We killed it of course thrlady serving is showed little concern offered no discount and her tip was included into our bill. Disappointed by the experience certainly the last time any of us will have a meal here. read more

My favorite of the two Mediterranean places in Hyde Park, this is one of the classier establishments in the neighborhood- I'm talking cloth napkins and free bread- and it has amazing food at pretty good prices. I prefer the red lentil soup at the Nile (other Mediterranean place in Hyde Park) but the eggplant appetizer and the eggplant and cauliflower sandwich are excellent. read more

Im no mediterannean afficionado.. but dammit I had the Kushary w/ Chicken and it was delicious.. I love things like roasted garlic & carmalized onions so this was the perfect dish for me. the chicken was seasoned to perfection & since the portion was so huge, I had the leftovers for lunch the next day & it tasted even better! very convenient alternative to harrolds chicken shack :/ read more

Always a good choice for Mediterranean when in Hyde Park. Sure there might be better stuff in Chicago, but Cedars has been doing this for ages, and this place pumps out solid food, and as a BYOB, you can have a great meal and drinks and not break the bank. read more

actually, 4.5 stars. i would have given this place 5 stars, if it were not for 3 minor details: the restaurant was too cold for my liking, the women's bathroom needed a clean-up and fix-up, and the lamb shwarma was dry*. now for the good stuff: - byob with liquor store right next door in the plaza, which has free parking and bike racks - our server was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable - the family style meal (for groups of 4 or more) offered many options for each course. i believe there were 4 or 5 courses, check the website to be sure. either way, it was delicious and very filling (lots of leftovers) even at an amazing low price of $15.50 each. - items that were made-to-order for this meal (e.g. salads) were especially tasty. the date and goat cheese salad is amazing! - with the exception of the lamb, other dishes (e.g. roasted veggies, tabouli, hummus, desserts, etc) were expectedly pre-prepared and served hot/cold and moist as they ought to be. next time i go (and i will!) i'll order an individual meal. the feast is really just too much food for my belly and i don't need to be taking home dry lamb* * just a note about the dry lamb, it's not an excuse, but we didn't eat dinner until quite late and often that stuff is prepped and dries out throughout the night. may i suggest trying it for lunch or an early dinner? read more

I arrived in Chicago after an awkwardly-timed flight - I left for the airport at 10:30 in the morning and arrived at 1:30 Chicago time, which was 2:30 my-stomach time. As I was staying with a friend in Hyde Park, she recommended stopping at Cedars for a quick lunch. I love Greek food (and Mediterranean flavors were conspicuously absent from my food plans for the weekend!), so in we went. Everything, from the ambiance to the service to the food, was good but not stellar. Our server was very attentive - but almost to the point of being irritating. At one point we started counting the number of times she hovered over us to check if everything was OK. It's hard to fault a server for caring too much, so I thought we had managed not to show any annoyance - but at the end of the meal she disappeared for a solid 15 minutes, so perhaps she did pick up on that vibe. Oh, well. We shared the "Dip Trio" to start, a dish of pita bread with a choice of three dips. I was not impressed by the pita bread; it was dry and not very flavorful. The dips, however, were absolutely delicious. My favorite was the Jerusalem salad. I expected it to be vinegar-dressed, but instead the cucumber and tomato are in a creamy yogurt dressing. I would have eaten a bowl full! The lebna, a thick creamy cheese, was also delicious. It tasted like butter, but it was acceptable to eat giant hunks of it. We also had the hummus, which was good but not particularly memorable. For an entree I had the kushary - rice with lentils. I had mine topped with chicken and yogurt. It was delicious, but honestly I would have been just as happy to have the rice plain with the chicken and the yogurt. I think the take-home message from my experience at Cedars is that anything involving yogurt will be creamy and delicious, and everything not involving yogurt could be skipped and you'd never miss it. read more

This place can be hit or miss, but I love it all the same. Stars here are the red lentil soup (and you do have to specify the color because they have a bunch), three cheese flatbread, and the lamb shwarma. The other lamb dishes (except the lamb chops) tend to involve a lot of sauce and not a ton of meat. read more

I ordered a chicken Tikka sandwich and lentil soup. The sandwich came filled with roasted vegetables, potatoes and salad on the side. The salad dressing was amazing and the chicken Tikka reminded me of those I would buy at train stations in London. The flavor was wonderful; service was extremely friendly, generous and prompt. I wish more restaurants in Chicago would follow in their footsteps. The decor was contemporary and nice, noise level was low to moderate and the bathrooms were extremely clean. I'm looking forward to going there again soon. read more

My favorite Middle Eastern place. All the food is exceptional and fresh, while the service is also wonderful. Anytime I take my parents to their doctors appointments, I make sure to get over there and get some hummus and shwarma. Their think is leaps and bounds better than other places. I honestly cannot wait to go back. read more

I'd order it again! The chicken kabob was seasoned well and the portions of hummus and side vegetables were excellent. The chicken kabob may have been a little dry for some but I'm ok with drier meat. read more

I have been a fan of Cedars for a long time, even before they moved to Kimbark Plaza. The service is excellent, the ambience is serene and contemporary and the menu is diverse....chicken, lamb, beef, and a lot of vegetarian options. The hummus is quite good as is the falafel. The chicken tikka is one of my favorites, the grilled shrimp appetizer won't disappoint, and all the salads are very fresh and well seasoned. In lieu of rice I often double up on vegetables, but they also offer a grilled vegetable side that includes grilled eggplant & should not be missed either. Servings are plentiful and carry out is efficient and well packaged. This is a Hyde Park hidden gem and even if you don't live in the area it is worth a trip for good middle eastern food. read more

This is a nice restaurant, though the walls are a little bare for my taste. The food was pretty good. I had a chicken sandwich and a friend ordered the lamb. Both were good. The portions are huge. read more

Nice find in Hyde Park. Food is fine, not hing exceptional. Service was overly slow. Jerusalem salad was tasty and the babaganoush had a touch of mint. The eggplant stew contained crazy amounts of eggplant and would have been good with rice. read more

I am surprised I hadn't reviewed this sooner. I love Cedars. The food is lovely. Last time I was here, I had a falafal sandwich that was just delicious. The hummus is perfect and always reminds me why I dislike grocery store hummus. Even for dinner, the kabas are always yummy and the smells of lamb and chicken get my appetite going. This place is also BYOB and Kimbark liquors is right next door making it super easy to pick up a nice bottle of wine on the way in. read more

Food here is mediocre at best. Falafels here are dry, bland, and tasteless, and a huge disservice to the fragrant, delicious crunchy morsels that I had in real Turkish eateries. They taste NOTHING like what falafels ought to taste like. Hummus is terrible too - lacks the silky richness of what real hummus should have. The rest of the menu is barely serviceable, but let's faced it, Hyde Park has limited options when it comes to Meditterranean/Middle Eastern food. Thankfully, I've found better options and I plan to not eat here again. read more

The lemon chicken here is way good and comes with a salad, rice, and grilled veggies. I used to have this same meal delivered all the time to my apartment and it saved me on quite a few wintery Chicago evenings. read more

Overall, given location and price, excellent food and atmosphere. I love a good BYOB place - no corkage! My Chicken Kabob was good, but nothing compared to the fillet kabob... The lamb looked amazing. The veggies served with the kabob were amazing, mini squash and zucchini with tomato. Also, with entrees you can choose between salad and soup as well as rice, potatoes, or more veggies. Overall, the amount of food, the tastiness, the location and BYOB factor all made this a great location for a nice dinner. Can't wait to eat my leftovers for lunch tomorrow -- there were a ton! read more

A complete failure. The chicken shawarma was completely tasteless and dry. The lamb shawarma was better, but didn't taste at all like real shawarma. The falafel was way too crunchy. It was awful. And they put sumac on it! What kind of lunatic or vicious criminal puts sumac on falafel? Even the hummus was bad. It was too grainy; hummus should be a bit smooth and creamy. They probably forgot the tahini. And to finish off a bad meal, there was poorly done baklava. It wasn't flaky and doused in syrup as it should be. It was too crunchy, and there wasn't enough syrup and the little syrup they did have had not enough rose water. Based off the quality of the food, I'd guess there isn't a single person from any where in the Middle East in the staff. read more

Love, Love ,Love Cedars. The food was excellent and the service was great as well.

The reason that I'm giving five stars is the fact that the owner of the restaurant was so sweet in taking care of us and everyone around us. For a Saturday night this place was packed. The lentil soup on a cold snowy day was amazing. We had the veggie combo plate and the cedars kebab combo plate. Both were delicious. The veggie plate had hummus, stuffed grape leaves and falafel. My husband loved the falafel while I just loved the grape leaves. The meats were juicy and the variety was excellent . Dessert with their pineapple cheese hasasa was so good with tea. A great meal and most likely will come again since it's so close to home read more

Really delicious food. Never had falafel or mediterranean food before I went here but I would recommend it to anyone. You won't even worry about the bill because the food is so good, tasty, and nourishing. Besides it's quite reasonable! read more

Yum! Tasty food, good portions, lovely atmosphere, friendly staff.

Overall, good place to eat. I actually like the appetizers better than the entrees, though; the sandwiches I've had at Cedars were a little too greasy and messy for me. The lentil soup, falafel appetizer plate, and hummus are all consistently excellent, and make good meals by themselves. Portions are generous. Cedars offers a "family style" dinner: for $12 (or maybe it's $13) per person, you get three entrees, a few appetizers, two types of salad, and two deserts to share. This is a pretty good deal, considering that they give you a TON of food, and you get to try several things. Service is generally pretty good, but can be a little slow on the weekends. read more

I had the hummus and veggies pita sandwich which was awesome...hearty portions, with salad and thinly sliced potatoes (circular french fries!). it had roasted eggplant, cauliflower, and other veggies with a yummy sauce. to drink i had a PHENOMENAL smoothie called "melon mint" (made of frozen honeydew melon and crushed fresh mint)....mmm it was delish. great menu, great portions, great prices. check it out! read more

For less than $7 you can get a falafel sandwich with "chip fries" and a salad. It is sooo good (Thanks Sabrina!!!). I just ask them to hold the tahini and yogurt stuff because I don't do dairy. My son had the spicy chicken wing appetizers and loved them! I always call in and pick up my order so I can't comment on the dine in service~ read more

Good Middle Eastern Restaurant. Enjoyed the fatet makdoos dinner.

My boyfriend go here about once a month; we get the same thing each time. I love the melon smoothie and he loves the cheesecake.

Delicious. Not a single complaint. Ordered by phone, picked up in timely fashion. Everything was exactly as we asked and well prepared. Excellent experience. read more

Cedars is nice, but nothing special. We tried the fatouche salad which was very disappointing. My wife ordered the chicken shawarma which was decent, and I had the chicken tikka which really isn't middle eastern, but was juicy and tasty. So not bad, but not great. Reasonable prices and decent service. read more

Easily one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago. The pomegranate marinated spare ribs are amazing. I don't even look at the menu anymore; that's my order before I walk through the door. Grateful to enjoy the whole wheat pitas and lentil soup, too. Highly recommended. read more

Mmmmm, just okay. Went with a friend from out of town a few months ago when I was trying to get around to all the restaurants in Hyde Park. The atmosphere was good...crowded but not cramped, fun, lively. The food was just okay. It wasn't that memorable actually, and not really what I was hoping for bringing someone out of town. Eh, I guess that's Hyde Park. It was pretty reasonably priced, and I've heard it's even better for lunch, so if you're in the area, you might try it. read more

This is one of the best restaurants in HP, but if you have gum disease or if your teeth are made out of wood then the falafel might be a bit too crunchy. I've brought a couple of friends here and, after trying the falafel, they told me that it was the best they'd ever had. I'd be inclined to agree as the overall flavor is wonderful but, yes, the exterior might be a bit crunchy. Kabobs, hummus, jerusalem salad and dolmas are absolutely delicious. And it's all a great value. We've fed three hungry people here for $25. read more

I went for my roommate's birthday and the owner gave us complementary samplers. BYOB.

Great lamb, lentil soup and other food. Service is kinda lame but the open kitchen is nice. My girlfriend dies for this place. Soup is the best! read more

This place is definitely the best option for middle eastern food in the neighborhood. The falafel sandwiches are pretty bomb, as is the pearl couscous dish. Not a destination restaurant, by any means, though the food is fairly good. read more