A tear nearly came out when I brought that chicken into my mouth. It's just so good…read more Good service. The seating and tables were sparkling clean. Plus, the food took like three minutes to come out.

When we walked in, the environment was not friendly. The food was okay, but it lacked seasoning and…read morecould have been better. It is a family-owned restaurant, and we respect their business and support local businesses in Peoria. However, the server could have shown more friendliness. He did not seem polite. We kept saying "thank you" when he took our payment and when he served our food, but there was no response--he just walked away. He needs to learn hospitality. However, when I took pictures of our food, they started becoming friendly. "get the hint" We hope their business do well. Danny the chef was friendly as we were leaving he was busy cooking

Our go-to place for Indian food. Have tried others but this one seems the best pricing and quality…read moreof food. Usually I get the same order paneer tikka, pulav rice, garlic naan. I always do pick up on the side window. Enjoy!

Aug 22, 2026. We visited today and the service was vastly improved over my previous visit. The…read moregentleman who took our orders was professionally attentive and kindly comped an incorrect item. Mozart playing in the background, quite unusual for an Indian restaurant and the food was excellent! Particularly the Chicken 65 and goat vindaloo. Also nice, was that film music wasn't blaring and the Bollywood, Tollywood and Kollywood videos that seem to be de rigueur these days at Indian places hadn't been fired up. The place wasn't crowded at 11:30 am on a Saturday either so definitely worth the schlep from Urbana-Champaign. I'll reluctantly take a star off when making a comparison to a couple of places on the East Coast else five stars for Central IL.

The karak chai with saffron is amazing. Do yourself a favor and get the large. The food is also…read moregreat but lunch (hot food) service does not start until 11am so please be aware of that. We got there a little early and had the chai and a date mamool while we were waiting. They ended up taking our food order a little early so it would be ready at 11am since they weren't very busy and I am pretty sure the front counter worker was enamored with our 2 year old daughter. This was our second time here (we went last year as well when my wife was at this same conference) so I was well overdue to review this place. The food here is fantastic which is why we repeated it - it has to be for us to do that at places we visit. Good or okay doesn't get a repeat from us. The dolmas are exactly what you want them to be and there is a perfect amount of salt on the arabic salad, the cabbage salad, and the pickled turnips. Speaking of which, the pickled turnips here are divine perfection. I would be hard-pressed to find better pickled turnips anywhere. The schwarma is quite solid - not as good as I recall from The Netherlands, but as good as any here in the U.S. The Middle Eastern vegan platter is quite a bargain and delicious to boot. The workers here are very kind and I have no knocks against this place at all. They even sell Dubai chocolate to go on a deal - Buy two original bars and get a Strawberry cream Matcha one for free.

The food seem like it had been sitting out for a while. I had the beef shawarma plate and the beef…read morewasn't really fit to eat. The venue wasn't air conditioned and it was full of flies. The staff were friendly but overall the facilities were on the dirty side making for a poor dining experience.

A friend recommended this for a quick bite ... it's packed with people at lunch hour and the lines…read moremove fast . I ordered spicy chicken shawarma wrap, bowl and a regular chicken shawarma wrap . We got enough food to feed an army . Everything was subpar or w eh e high standard coming from Chicago . Either way it was tad bit disappointing

Staff was wonderful. The food was very delicious nice and warm. I got the chicken wrap. The wrap…read moreis very large could probably feed two people. There are two locations. The one on Green Street is near the university. Love the staff here however it is extremely hard to find parking. The one on university is just as nice but easy to get in and out of that location.

Pleasantly surprised, the sliders were quite good and the slaw, pickle combination with the chicken…read morereally was quite good!

First time visitor, person at the register meant well in greeting us but we could not understand…read moremuch of what she said. Needs to speak more clearly but I appreciated the intent. Chicken slider was too much, the chicken did not fit the bread or visa versa. The tender was served very hot, which was nice, much rather have something served hot rather than cold. Ordered the tender with medium flavoring for heat, next time I would probably go a step down from medium because it was spicy. Seemed well staffed and the staff there was keeping busy. Not sure if I would go back, the flavor being delivered via a dusting might not be my cup of tea.

The Tikka Masala Chicken was phenomenal. Great portions in terms of moist & flavorful chicken…read more The rice was perfect. The Garlic Naan was not disappointing. All in all, everything was simply yummy. The service was great and restaurant welcoming.

Good for a quick dinner as it stays open until later hours whereas everything else closedown…read more Authentic Indian cuisine. Mango lassi was pretty good. Dosa was okay, we've had better. Cleaning should be better.

Food was fresh and very good. We tried the hummus (5*), tabbouleh, grape leaves, chicken kabob and…read moredelicious Tikka chicken platter. Great food. Family business.

Salaam, everyone!…read more Mention anything Middle Eastern and my friend gets excited. She loves her culture and where she comes from so she gets excited to have meals that are close to home for her. We've talked about trying Jenin Village for awhile but life finds a way to keep everyone busy. But we got lucky and our schedules lined up and we dropped in on a chilly Wednesday afternoon. I told her that she may have to explain some of the menu to me. As culturally diverse as Peoria is, there doesn't seem to be nearly as many Middle Eastern restaurants to try as there are Mexican, Italian, and Chinese... so my knowledge of them is iffy at best. We walked in to an empty restaurant (possible missing the lunch rush) and were quickly seated. I had the pleasure of having the sun in my eyes so I fidgeted with the blinds until I could see properly and stop fidgeting in my seat. Ivonne took the time to explain a few of the menu offerings and what things would taste like. She said she would get super mad if I ordered a burger. Thankfully I was fully on-board for trying something new. That new thing was Beef Shawarma. Ivonne got a mixed platter of their meats that was basically a 3-meat kabob meal. She said the offerings were large and I said I was hungry but boy, did it look like a challenge once the food was placed in front of us. The wait was a bit longer than usual for the restaurant but I assume that is from them cooking everything to order. My first few bites were confusing. It being middle eastern food, I was expecting it to have some spice... some kick... some pizzah (is that how you spell that?). This was 180 the other direction. This was sweet. Like, nutmeg sweet. Once my mind wrapped itself around the idea of sweet meat and rice, I was fully on board. The rice was long grain which was new for me to try. I asked Ivonne if I am supposed to mix the rice and beef together and she said it's however you want. So, I alternated bites of them together and them separate. I didn't have a preference on how I ate it cause it was delicious either way. Ivonne let me try her pita bread and dip and that was also confusing at first. The hummus dip made me think of peanut butter due to the texture but after I was halfway through the pita bread, I was starting to appreciate the flavor and texture. We also ordered water with our meals and that came out in bottled water. Not sure if that's normal here but something to note if you are thirsty. They may charge for additional bottles if you are feeling like a camel? The interior was nice, clean yet somewhat sparse. I am used to ethnic restaurants taking pride in their culture and adorning the walls with things that evoke the feeling of their country. Jenin does the complete opposite and keeps it plain. While it would've been nice to see some Middle Eastern stuff hanging up, it doesn't detract from how the food tastes at all. This isn't the first Middle Eastern place I've ate at and it won't be the last. Ivonne told me about all the places in the Peoria area and we are going to try and visit them all starting in 2024, adulting be damned!

Cafe Sababa is absolutely a hidden gem inside the Illini Hillel!…read more I ordered the sweet potato croquettes this noon, which is listed on their menu for the restaurant week. The croquettes were just amazing! The sour sauce and the vegetables made the food more refreshing. The amount (5 croquettes in total) was just suitable for a quick lunch. The people here were so nice, while there were not so many seats for dining inside. Anyway, it must be a 5 stars cute place on campus!

I've been going to Cafe Sababa inside of the Cohen Jewish Center for about a year now - and I have…read moreyet to be disappointed. Aaron Stevens and Matt Harsh work in the kitchen, occasionally with a student (like myself) who will help out. The lunch is non-meat, so tuna melts, grilled cheese, pizza slices, and BYOB's (build your own bagel) are the standard fare. They also do some really tasty nacho fries, which is jalapenos, cheese, tomatoes, and onions on seasoned french fries.