I had been wanting to try this place for a while but just never got around to it. We used to live closer to a spot in Tinley where I would always get my shawarma, but it's a bit of a hike now. So today I finally decided to give this place a shot. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed -- not only with the presentation, but also with the skimpy portions of toppings. The meat and rice tasted like they had been sitting for a while, and I was surprised that I had to pay extra for sauce. I selected feta as one of my toppings, and they literally placed a solid brick of it on top of the bowl. ‍ The other toppings looked like maybe a couple of tablespoons each. The wrap was also served in a floppy tortilla. From what I'm used to, places typically crisp the tortilla slightly in a pan before wrapping it so it has some texture and a little crunch. I'm glad to see that others seem to be enjoying their meals here, but unfortunately this experience just wasn't it for me. I guess I'll have to make the drive to the GOAT -- Sem Sem. read more

Loved this place. Food and service was amazing. Got the falafel wrap, houllomah wrap, hummus and barley pudding, plus a fresh pressed juice. Will def be back when we're in the area. Loved it so much we were talking to the owner about opening an Indiana location! read more

We frequent this restaurant. It's so good. Excellent service. Excellent food. We like the shawarma's and the yalla burger. We have gotten chicken and steak shawarma's. Both are very good. Hummus is also very good. Go get your self some. You won't be disappointed. read more

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Hurry up and get yourself to this restaurant. Burgers are great. Sharwama bowls are tasty. And all Zabiha Halal read more

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I go here often for lunch. I love their sharwama chicken bowls and wraps. The portions are quite large, so if you're like me and you like leftovers, you'll enjoy being able to finish your wrap or bowl the next day. read more

We had Yalla cater out family dinner with many of their delicious dishes. We had hummus, babaganoush, Jerusalem salad, Taboula, grape leaves, Lentil soup, kofta kebabs, chicken shawarma, lamb chops and for dessert Baklava. Everything was delicious! Best middle eastern food I've ever had. Good portion amounts. Enough that we all had something to take home. The owner was very accommodating and went above and beyond in helping. I highly recommend! read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Catered meal - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

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Have been driving per this place since they opened. Finally decided to give them a try. We were pleased with the quality and the food was made to order the way you want. Great flavor. read more

Monet, It was great meeting you! You have a very welcoming personality,and it was great talking to you! Next time I will have to take a photo before I dig into it. This steak on pita is a work of art!!! It is delicious with the cucumber and tomato salad, the yogurt sauce, the pickles, caramelized onions, and the parsley and olive oil added the extra tastiness. I WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK. I like that you can take it to go or eat inside at one of the bar tables. The lighting is not bright, but soothing,and creates a calm environment as you eat. Everything on your menu sounds good, and I will definitely taste other menu items in the near future. Keep up the good work. read more

Excellent food. All the ingredients are very fresh. The Jerusalem salad is perfect. I recommend this place 100%. If you haven't been there, go now. The chicken Shawarma is excellent. Excellent wraps. Delicious desserts. read more

I normally don't do reviews. This was my first time ordering an order from here (takeout) and it was terrible. It was a big bowl of soggy food!! It wasn't even super warm and the steak didn't even taste seasoned . I just threw it in the garbage. Wasted $20! Highly disappointed. read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

This is the GO TO HOT SPOT of the south suburbs! Friendly service, with AMAZING food. Fresh, healthy ingredients. I felt like I had a home made meal. The shawarma bowls were to die for The wraps were quick and full of flavor The falafel.... OHH MM GG. BULLSEYE We will be back again and again Trust me when I tell you .. This is the best spot in the south burbs Will and Dina Adams read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

People are very nice. Food is delicious. Might have to come here more than once Middle Eastern is so good! Also, the falafel is delicious. I recommend this place. Go try it yourself And it's inexpensive read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

Good food, knowledgeable (and friendly!) staff, and a clean and comfortable dining area. Came here for dinner on a friend's recommendation and was really impressed by the business and food. All was made to order and the kofta was incredibly soft and spiced very well. If I am in the area, I would definitely go back. read more

My FAVORITE falafel place by far!!! They really do make the best falafel-- great crispy outside but moist inside. On top of getting a bowl, I get an extra dozen falafel (made fresh with each order btw) to dip in both tahini and garlic sauce. I also love their spicy options. I love the spicy rice but what really impressed me is the spicy hummus. You're not going to see spicy hummus anywhere else... trust me. Food aside, the owner is also very nice and considerate. He always offers little samples to try and you can tell he is very passionate about making sure his customers have great, fresh falafel. Overall, the place is 10/10 and I'm so happy they opened. I travel far to grab great homemade falafel, and I'm so happy this place opened in the area! read more

The food was wonderful and exquisite with the flavor and the service was not to bad the ambiance was not to bad. 5/5 stars

I had the steak shawarma bowl. It was delicious. Layers and layers of flavor. The vegetables on top were all fresh and tasty. There was a lot and I couldn't finish it. Service was great and the restaurant was very clean! read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Steak Shawarma bowl - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

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Ordered the chicken shwarma wrap, falafel bowl, baba ghanouj and side of pita bread. Everything was made fresh. Absolutely delicious. Go!! read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Menu - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

I created a Yelp account just to leave a 5 star review. This place is absolutely delicious and deserves all the praise. There's not many Middle Eastern places in the area and I hope this place is here to stay. All of the food is made fresh and I had to happily wait an extra 5 minutes or so just so they can grill the hwawchi and scoop and fry the falafels. The baklava are absolutely amazing as well. The Chicken Shawarma bowl was by the best I've ever had with fresh grilled pitas, you can absolutely taste a massive difference over a place like Naf Naf Grill where you'd get something similar. Just flat out delicious food. All 3 sauces I added extra were delicious and made my pitas that much better. The 3 workers there were all very nice and considerate. The experience was fantastic and will definitely be back soon and recommending to everyone that will listen read more

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We ordered chicken shawarma wrap, shawarma bowl, hwawchi. Food was very tasty. I liked the Arabic music in the background while waiting for food. The only feedback I'd give is that I wished the service was faster but noting they're just starting out. I look forward to coming back. read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

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Forgot to take pictures of the foot itself but it was very good! We got wraps and falafels. The wraps were very well sized and was a big fan of their garlic sauce. Personally I liked the Steak shawarma more than the chicken so I'll be getting that next time. The falafels were very crispy and flavorful, not greasy at all. Overall would definitely return read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - front of menu - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

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Delicious flavorful food! Super polite employees. Can't wait to go back and bring more people with. read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Chicken Shawarma Bowl - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

The food here is so incredibly fresh and SO delicious. The staff is always super friendly and nice. Definitely recommend!

The shawarma is fantastic! Best I've had anywhere between Chicago and St Louis! The people working here were so kind and helpful! read more

I've given this place a couple trys. Initially I was very excited. Finally didnt have to drive all the way to SemSem or PitaPita! But I was unfortunately disappointed. I've tried nearly every shawarma shop in the Chicagoland area.. and Yalla is very near the bottom on the rankings. Being Palestinian I've grown up eating the best shawarma abroad so my standards are high. I dont like giving out low ratings but when I come into Yalla I dont see any passion in the food or the service.. just another business venture. That being said I would still reccomend you going in and trying it out especially if you've never had shawarma before! read more

Amazing food! The owners are lovely people, so friendly. Beautiful restaurant and decor too read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Seating area with murals - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

Came in tonight to pick up an Uber Eats order. I was given a sample of the steak AND baklava. Both were delicious!!!! They take great pride in their business and are so friendly! read more

I order here at least once a week and I have to tell you this is my favorite restaurant! I've had the falafel, chicken shawarma and steak shawarma pita's, and the lentil soup! They are all AMAZING! read more

Absolutely amazing food! I had the steak shawarma bowl. I added onions, pickles, hummus & the root veggie. Very fresh and reasonably priced. So happy to have a new option in the area. Don't forget the garlic sauce. read more

Love their chicken shawarma, falafels, and hummus. We rotate between wraps, pitas and bowls. Love that they freshly fry their falafels!

Excited to finally have a solid option for falafel and shawarma in my local neighborhood. The falafel was really good and NOT greasy at all. I enjoyed my chicken shawarma wrap. I would give 5 stars if wraps were made from pita or aish baladi. Any kind of naan type bread would put it over the top. The toppings and homemade pickled veggies were all fresh and tasty. The restaurant is brand new and super clean. Loved the the hummus, tahini sauce and the hot sauce had decent kick as well. Looking forward to trying some of the bowls on the menu. read more

Amazing food amazing owner. A true American support this business. Food is always fresh and hot. Very hard to find a better restaurant for this style Cuisine read more

This place has a lot of room for improvement - and I hope they can/will make the changes to improve. First the Chicken Shawarma was so dry and over cooked we just picked it out of the bowl and threw it out. The Steak Shawarma had good flavor but way to much grizzle and tough pieces to chew. The falafel was very good and made fresh to order. The humus was also very good and had great flavor. If they can get their chicken and steak consistent and good quality, this place could have potential - if not it will just be another crappy south suburban short lived Resturant. read more

Decent little place. I ordered the steak shawarma bowl and it had good flavor. I don't typically eat this cuisine so I wasn't sure what to order. The staff was friendly and helped me decide what to get in my bowl. Falafel was very good. read more

Very solid Mediterranean! The chicken shawarma is excellent. Fresh, homemade ingredients. Really friendly owners. High quality

The chicken shawarma was very good! Great service and super friendly. I recommend checking this place out!

Just tried this new neighborhood spot. The food and service was incredible. The food was made fresh in front of us and lots of healthy options. The team at Yalla gave us samples of different sauces so we could customize are meal. Will definitely be back! read more

I've been hoping for a Middle Eastern restaurant to open in my neighborhood! My family and I were overjoyed when we saw the Yalla opening process. We tried it today and were blown away. To begin with, the environment is spotless and welcoming. The arabic music really brought the whole thing together. Aside from that, the customer service was outstanding. The owner and employees are both extremely nice. The food was delicious and very fresh. My family and I tried a little bit of everything, and it was truly amazing. This is definitely a place I'll return to! read more

We were looking for something new and different and we decided to try YALLA. We were here yesterday and had the falafel...the steak shwarma bowl and the chicken Sharma bowl. EXCELLENT!! We came back today and had the falafel again and I tried the hwawchi.. It was very good, but I prefer the shwarma. My husband had the chicken wrap.. read more

We have never been disappointed. The food is fresh and the flavors are perfect. You get to select to toppings you want in your shawarma bowl. The falafel are some of the best I've had. If you go at dinner time, he's got lamb chops that are so tender and delicious. Baklava for dessert never disappoints. It's something much needed in the area, something besides pub grub, pizza and hot dog/burger shops. read more

Yalla Middle Eastern Cuisine - Chicken Shawarma Bowl with feta, humus and vegetables as well as falafel and tahini sauce. - Middle Eastern Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

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I never would have imagined a Middle Eastern restaurant would open in Mokena, but I'm so glad they did! I had a rice bowl with half steak half chicken shawarma, my husband had a steak shawarma wrap, and we split an order of falafel. Everything was delicious and portions were generous - plenty for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. We'll be back soon. read more