Andalous is about as close to true Moroccan cuisine as one can find in the city. And coming from a middle eastern family, I would know. My grandma is a fantastic cook of middle eastern food and I would never tell her this, but Andalous was just as good if not better! For starters, the portion size is huge. Entrees can easily be shared and the prices are so reasonable for such quality dishes. I had the lamb and cous cous and it was excellent. The spices were spot on and the lamb was so fresh and tender and seasoned to perfection. True to form for middle eastern food, very little oil or butter used in preparation as well. The only complaint would be the limited spaces and the decor was a little tacky. But who cares when ur eating food this good.
Review Source:This BYOB is fantastic! The space is crowded, can get loud, the service isn't great, but the food is SO WORTH IT and it is pretty inexpensive for a nice evening out. Wonderful place for friends from out of town and great location--plenty of bars, comedy clubs, etc. surrounding the place for an overall amazing experience.
My favorite by far is the Atlas Tagine (careful! Don't eat the lemon!) but the Famous Couscous is also wonderful. It is disappointing that the grill is closed down on Fridays and Saturdays, but the other dishes are good enough that I don't miss it.
Every time I've been there the host has brought us free mint tea. I have no idea why, but I'll take it! Everyone else around us has to pay for their tea--maybe we're practically regulars here now??
"You want to go to here." ~Liz Lemon
My experience at Andalous can be described overall as "awkward" from the first interaction with the host until getting up to leave.
The space is quite crowded, and when our table for 8 was put together, there was one person pressed into a corner, surrounded by table on one side and a stream of four seats had he wanted to get out. Â We had a reservation, although it felt like everyone was confused as to what time, and the host didn't help.
The food, albeit not bad, took quite a while to make an appearance, and by the time it showed up, half of our party were 10 minutes from leaving to catch a show. Â While the appetizers had a variety of flavors and were very enjoyable with both veggie and meats, dates, and a completely new spice pallet, the main course sort of fell flat. Mixed opinions about if the lamb was overdone, and a complete lack of texture. Everything felt a bit squishy. Â
CASH ONLY. Â BYOB.
Small, cramped. Clean bathrooms.
I've been wanting to try this place for a while now. Came here on a Friday at around 6ish. We were the only ones in there! We asked for the most popular dish and ended up getting the famous couscous and another lamb dish.
My couscous dish was  HUGE which included veggies, couscous and lamb shank. My sister's dish was a measly lamb shank surrounded by peas in a sauce, no rice or couscous to go with. She had to take some of my mine.
It's BYOB. Okay place, not anything unique from what I've had before. It's a bit overpriced.
We went here on a whim on a Friday night since it was close to my friend's apartment and she was always intrigued by the idea of Moroccan food. Â Personally, I've had amazing Moroccan food across the globe, so I didn't necessarily expect the food to match the amazing experience I had previously had. Â In short, I was blown away by how delicious this food was, even relative to the other Moroccan food I've sampled.
I split the Atlas Tagine and Famous Couscous with a friend. Â Both dishes were incredible in their own rights. Â The Atlas Tagine was cooked in an incredibly delicious and flavorful sauce. Â The lamb in the Famous Couscous literally fell off the bone and was succulent and flavorful. Â Both dishes had lots of delicious vegetables, so it was the type of meal that left you feeling very satisfied because of the rich flavors, but still felt healthy. Â
We also enjoyed the fact that it was BYOB. Â The waitstaff was attentive and responded well to my corny jokes, which is always a plus. Â The only reason I couldn't give the place 5 stars is the ambiance. Â It was around 7 pm on a Friday evening, and our party of four was one of only two tables seated in the front room. Â This made for a rather quiet atmosphere that was dominated by the music they were playing. Â A large party was arriving as we were leaving though and mentioned a back patio, so I will definitely look into that the next time I come.
Went here as part of a large group for a birthday party. The manager was very accommodating as our party did not all arrive together and then it was downhill to steady to downhill to steady.
Service: 1.5 - 2? So at first when I read some of the other reviews, I thought.. large groups, packed restaurant, reasonable. Then I arrived and noticed it was the manager who doubled as the waiter and possibly the cook with one person clearing the tables and filling the water glasses. It was an epic failure and I do mean epic. I could not get a spoon for my soup, ice, utensils for other guests. It felt as if I had to wave a white flag to get him to notice me/us. The final straw was when my group kept tripping over a rug that was not flushed to the ground. I get up and start to move it out of the way -- do you know NO ONE helped? And no it isn't one of those I'm prissy or don't understand there are not a lot of people working. I SAW the manager watch me straighten it out and not pretend to offer anything. By then the restaurant was just us! Unbelievable.
Food: The food was between okay and better than okay. I had the lentil soup which was great after you added some fresh lemon to it (thanks to my dinner mate for the suggestion), the starters we had the Andalous deal (appetizer sampler), and the Fish Pastilla. The appetizers probably would have been good if they were served above warm and not room temperature. I want to feel like food was prepared for ME! The Fish Pastilla was fantastic. It's like a pastry of sorts baked in a phyllo dough stuffed with fish, spices, and other goodness. Compared to the other dishes, I thought it was a great choice. My friends ordered everything else (lamb, fish, beef, etc) and the portions were GIGANTIC. I mean even a "meat-head" would not be finishing off this dish.
Perks: This place is BYOB which is always nice, especially with a large group. It's right at the end of Wrigley if you want some late night foolishness, you are not far from it.
Remember to bring CASH. This place does not take cards (so they say). A previous visitor said they used their card before, but I can't say for sure. And hold your bladder.. the bathroom gave me the heebie-jeebies.
We randomly came here one night after realizing Standard India down the street was closed on a Tues, and thank God it was on this particular occasion. The service and atmosphere here was nothing to rave about, but the food. was. amazing. The pita bread and bean sauce was piping hot and fresh. We ordered lentil soups, despite the hot humid weather that evening, and it was the best lentil soup I've ever had.
For entrees, we ordered a Rabat Tagine (beef tenderloin and veggies in a buttery sauce) and an Andalous Tagine (Roasted veggies and a mountain of amazing couscous with sauce). The beef dish was super tender, sauce was mild but rich, and it went really nice with the flavors of the vegetarian dish, which has roasted peppers, onions, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, and a lovely tomato sauce.
The prices are not too bad, about $13-$16 per entree, and we had leftovers for the next day. BYOB is always a thumbs up in my book. I will most definitely come here again.
I ate here 10 years ago and liked it a lot. Â Last month, I saw a restaurant in major decline. Â The place was drab, service was lazy, and all of the food was mediocre at best. Â Server forgot our appetizer order entirely, and other server got huffy when I asked for it to be removed from the bill. Â And what kind of place refuses to serve grilled items on the weekend? Â I thought the server was joking about this one, but no, I could not order a kabob on Friday. Â
If you want authentic Moroccan and BYO, take a drive to Irving Park jusr west of  Pulaski to Shokran.
Sadly in the 3.5 years in Chicago, Andalous was my worst experience in a restaurant. Â It was my birthday and I thought i had found the perfect spot for a group of 12 that was BYOB and close to our final destination. Â I however was proved very wrong.
I made a reservation 3 weeks in advance for 12, when we arrived they only had prepared us a table for 10. Â It took them 5 minutes to find 2 more chairs as we squeezed 12 people into a 10 person table. Â Then the wait began...
30 minutes after we sat down they finally brought a corkscrew and a handful of wine glasses, not enough for the table
1 hour and 15 minutes after we sat down and countless times informing the staff we were ready to order, our order was taken
1 hour and 45 minutes after we sat down we received pita bread and a red bean dip that lacked any flavor.
2 hours and 10 minutes after we sat down we received our food
2 hours and 40 minutes after we sat down we had to argue with the management that we in fact were not going to pay their self-assessed 20% tip because a trained cat could have given us better service, we instead felt charitable giving 10% tip. And no we did not want to wait around for another 10 minutes for free mint tea, we were already 40 minutes late to our next destination.
As for the food, my sweet lamb couscous was the highlight at the table, most of the group was disappointed with their meals.
Was it memorable? Yes but not in the good way
I'm disappointed to have to bump them down a star, but sometimes service can effect a restaurant review as much, sometimes more, than food. I was here on a Saturday night, armed with a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> coupon, looking for some tasty Moroccan food and a good BYOB. We had good service and good food, mostly. I ordered the Lamb tagine, and my fries were not fully cooked. It ruined what would have been a great dish, and turned it into a good dish. No worries about that though.
My issue is that when I tried to pay with my coupon, the owner told us that they did not accept those on the weekends. Having thoroughly read the fine print before purchasing, I argued with him that it did not state that and my coupon was good by legal standards. I also told him that <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> was a reputable coupon supplier, and they would have stated "weekdays only" if that were the case. The owner (server?) kept arguing with me and would not accept the coupon. This really only lasted 5 minutes, and I didn't want to cause a scene so I let it drop.
I emailed <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> to see if the owner was right, as that's just the kind of person I am. And they offered me a refund, apologized, said that Andalous should have taken the coupon and that they were contacting them to see if they still wanted to partner with <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a>.
In short, Â there are so many Moroccan/Middle Eastern options in Chicago, for the same price, and they are almost all BYOB. Sorry, Andalous, but it had to be said.
Those groupon/restuarant.com coupons sometimes make me feel guilty- like I'll go to the place only when I have those coupons because its so cheap.
The service here is excellent and they host you as if you are their personal guest. The food was decadent and I can't imagine how they could improve it. I had some chicken dish with filo dough and powdered sugar that was insanely good. My partner had royal couscous and it was enough for two. So good.
We'll be back, with or without a coupon.
To sum it up:
Long wait, 45 mins for entree
Poor Service, waitress was not attentive or friendly
Did not take our <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> coupon as they changed there policy "2 days ago".
The food was not good. Super fatty lamb shank and cold couscous
I came here with my roommate on a slow Tuesday night. In general, I was a fan. The eggplant appetizer (I don't remember the name), with tender grilled eggplant, tomatoes, and Moroccan spices, was delicious; largely superior to more conventional grilled eggplant puree appetizers I have had. The Moroccan mint tea was also really good - ordinarily I despise sweetened tea/coffee on principle, but this was good. For an entree, I had the fes tagine: lamb shank with prunes, almonds, hard boiled eggs, and sesame seeds. I should have gathered this from those ingredients, but this was way too sweet for my personal taste, and I was not a fan because of that. My roommate's "famous" couscous, on the other hand, was very good.
In all, Andalous is a solid and unique restaurant. Despite the three stars, I'll definitely be back to order a more savory entree and take advantage of the BYOB awesomeness. This is well worth checking out.
We went in one day when the restaurant was completely empty. We were a party of four. Initially it was just three of us out for a late lunch but another friend joined us at the last minute and because he had just eaten he just ordered an appetizer when we sat down to order. The server was so shockingly rude when he insisted everyone must order an entree. My friend even offered to pay for an entree but since he'd already eaten he didn't want that much food and the guy continued to bully him to order an entree.
After he walked away my friends sat there cowed until I was like HELL TO THE NO!
It made most sense to me to just leave the restaurant because the service was inexcusably abrasive but my friend stopped to tell the server on the way out that we were leaving. Heaven help him if I ever find out that he apologized.
I've heard from people that the food was good but I'll never set foot in this place again. It seemed dirty anyway.
I was in a happy place. The last few reviews I'd written were either 4 or 5 star ones and my faith in Chicago's dining culture was getting stronger .... Until I went to Andalous.
Usually when large groups dine out, they hardly notice the pace of the service. Everyone's busy catching up so minor delays here n there never make a difference. But when your party of 12 is seated at 7:45, everyone orders at 8:05 and the food doesn't come out until 9:15, you know this isn't going to be one of those fabulous dinners you'll talk about for years to come.
To be fair, the food tasted great. We had the Veggie Pastilla, Veggie Couscous, Veggie Tagine, Fish Pastilla, Chicken Pastilla & Kefta Kabob. The flavors were authentic and the spices were just right. The veggies tasted extremely fresh and were cooked to perfection. The texture of the pastillas was also crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, a definite thumbs up. While everyone was very very happy with their dish (most plates were empty within 15 minutes), the hour-long delay at the start of the meal was too much to ignore in rating our experience.
There was 1 server for most of the night and she seemed quite busy. After ordering, the only time she came to check on us was when we were almost finished. Too little too late, considering we had to repeatedly ask for wine glasses and water. And you know the bean dip they give you at the start of your meal? She gave us one (yes ONE) little serving for 12 people.
They also charge you an extra $10 to share entrees, which is perfectly fine seeing as how they have no corkage fee (just letting the 1st timers know). Andalous has the potential to be a great restaurant, if they get an extra server or two and let guests know how long their meals will take to come out.
I've been here several times but never wrote a review on my experiences, so I hope my memory serves me well. Â Usually when we go, the place is pretty empty. Â There are usually a few tables of people, but never anything too crowded. Â The last time I went was with a group of maybe 10 people. Â I had no problem making reservations (but since it was so empty when I got there I don't think it was necessary).
The staff was pretty friendly and filled up our waters and gave us glasses for the wine we brought (BYOB, which I love). Â My personal favorites are their lamb dishes (The Famous Couscous and Zagora Tagine), but I'm biased because I LOVE lamb and theirs is so tender it falls off the bone. Â I also love their Rabat Tagine beef dish...beef, mushrooms, garlic, zucchini, butter sauce...I love all the flavors in that dish.
While I've never had problems dining there, I would say to be prepared for slower service if you have a big group. Â As long as you expect that I don't think you'll be disappointed.
This was a very disapointing experience. Â I had a very good day and wanted to get some dinner with my friend.
I might not have even gone in if I had seen the menu first, but as it is not on the door and I live right next door, I decided to give it a try anyway. Â The prices were pretty high, and I didn't want to spend a ton, so we wanted to each get soup and split an entre. Â When we ordered the waitress said if we split an entre there would be a $10 charge. Â Ummmm? Â I've heard of split charges, but they are usually at nice places, and I have never heard of one so high! Â Also, because we were getting soup I thought it was silly. Â This place is not fancy enough to get away with the prices and this stupid rule, I mean, the people working here were wearing jeans, that does not exactly scream "high class."
I thought about walking out then and there, but didn't. Â Instead we decided to get another entre and skip the soup (which was the thing I wanted more than anything). Â I got the Pastilla chicken dish and my friend got Zagora Tagine (lamb), which ther waitress said was "the best thing on the menu."
Some beans and pita bread came to the table as a pre dinner snack and that was tasty, but it was all down hill from there.
I was very shocked by my entre. Â It was a filo dough four inches in diameter, half an inch thick, which was pretty small for $17, but the shocking thing was that it was CONVERED in powdered sugar and cinnimin! Â WTF? No where in the description did it say anything about it being sweet, and I was not excited, but I dug in.
Inside my donut was dry gross chicken. Â It was like meat dessert. Â BAD meat dessert.
My friend's lamb was pretty good, it was covered with frozen peas. Â Again it wasn't much food for $16, no rice, no couscous....those are extra! Of course, just charge charge charge us!
Basically I left hungry and pissed. Â My meal was gross and I ate about 1/4 of it. Â And dinner for two with NO soup, NO salad, NO apps, NO drinks of any kind, NO dessert was $43. Â AND I LEFT HUNGRY.
BAH, if I knew I was gonna be spending that much I would have gone to Mia Francesca or Socca next door and got more than enough food. Â Oh and it would have tasted good! Â
Oh, and our water was almost always empty and our server was in the corner of the restaurant on the phone. Â And there were a few bugs flying around.
NEVER EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!
It was a Wednesday after work and we were the only table there so we got extra special treatment. Â We were served by the manager and since neither of us were familiar with Moroccan food we let him pick what to bring us. "Do you like Lamb?" he asked me in a sweet sultry voice. Â I'll like anything you suggest velvety smooth sounding man, yes. Â "Do you like chicken with cream sauce?" he asked Mandy.
I don't know what our dinners were called but they were so fresh and so delicious. Â
Before dinner we ordered the appetizer sampler and delighted in choosing our favorite. Â
BYOB was why we came and the mint tea served to us as we finished up sealed the deal that we will be back. Â
Thank you Jay!!!
First, make a reservation. Especially if you plan to go on a weekend. The restaurant is not very big, and it fills up quickly. There were three of us, and we waited close to half an hour for a table. A party of 8 whose number had dwindled to 7 ended up at a table for 6. Ouch.
Second, make a reservation. There's no place to wait, so you'll end up smooshed between the kitchen and a bus station and the bathroom. And pray you don't get the table next to the crowd waiting for a table.
Finally, when you're done, get out. They need your table, and there will be no dilly-dallying over coffee or the rest of your wine. Let me take your plate and leave your check.
If that doesn't drive you mad, you can have a very nice dinner here. The servers are very helpful, in a brusque way, and the bussers keep your glass full. And whisk away your plate as soon as you're finished. Or if you're not careful, before.
We had the combination appetizer, which includes sauteed carrots and three dips -- spinach, peppers, and eggplant. The spinach was the best. The briwate, which are Moroccan eggrolls, were good, but confusing, because while the menu says "stuffed with your choice of beef, chicken, shrimp and vegetables," you'll get all four, and not know which is which. But they're tasty!
The sweet couscous was a little sweeter than I would have liked, but it's called sweet couscous, so they're not lying. Go for the lamb. It's served on the shank, and is not at all gamey. Most of the dishes are couscous or tagines -- braises or stews. All are fragrant with cinnamon, saffron, or cumin. The grilled entrees and seafood dishes didn't look terribly exciting.
I'm stuck on this one. If not for the rushed service, this would be a four star review. The food was very good, and it's BYOB with no corkage fee. But I'm not in a hurry to return. If I do, it will be on weekday night, to see if it's any more relaxed. And I'll make a reservation.
Rush, rush, rush! Â Are you finished with that? Are you finished now? How about now?
I really tried to like Andalous, but the way that the staff kept rushing us really didn't sit well with me. It wasn't attentiveness, it was flat out "get out of here so that we can seat someone else at your table!"
The food was good. I had never eaten Moroccan food before so I wasn't sure what to expect. We ordered a sample appetizer and I really loved the spinach that was included. I ate a chicken dish wrapped in filo dough. It was good. It didn't knock my socks off, but it was good.
They don't have any dessert. Do Moroccans not eat dessert?
I would love to try Andalous again on an off night. All of that rushing made me feel a little on-edge. I prefer to have a leisurely meal and enjoy a nice conversation.
Let me preface.... the food was definitely yummy!!! :-)
HOWEVER..........
in spite of the food, I would NEVER go back. N-E-V-E-R.
No room for 2nd chances with this place.
Everything started out on a positive note, the restaurant was packed, and we did not have reservations, but they held a table while we ran down the street for a bottle of wine. No corking fee, was very nice....
After they held the table for about 5-10 min for us, which was great... right by the window, an added bonus... we ordered appetizers, and our entrees. Literally, we were seated MAYBE 30-40 min, and we still had 1/2 bottle of our wine... the waiter comes by and PICKS up our plates.
Not only was I not done eating, cuz i was picking the server NEVER asked me if i wanted to keep my leftovers, and i had MORE THAN half of my plate left.
I was like WTF???? where is my food????
THEN... after so abruptly taking the plates we were presented with our bill. So we left it on the table, while we were finishing our wine, and the waiter was staring us down, and kept pacing by looking at the check if we paid yet. We could sense he was getting a little antsy... and after about the 4-5 swoop around our table, the manager (?) i am guessing came over... AND LITERALLY...
I am NOT EXAGGERATING... told us we had 5 minutes to wrap it up, they were giving our table to the next people.
Who gets kicked out of a restaurant? We spent decent amount of money - AND we were not there an hour. Sure i understand that they might have been busy, and the place is about as big as a walk in closet.
But NOT MY PROBLEM... you do NOT ask people to leave.
What were we supposed to do???? Take our wine with us on the street?
And what if we didn't leave? What would they have done then????
He was not even polite about it... it was like MOVE, you ate, your done - BUH BYE!!!
Never, if i am paying for seated service, i had better not be kicked out.
There are way to many places to go in the city, and I certainly will not give my business where it is not appreciated, and i am disrespected!!!
While we were leaving... we did notice the line of ppl waiting in the hallway - standing room only smashed together like sardines against the wall.
Sorry not my idea of good time....
Any comments on rude service or weird waitstaff is, in my opinion, an indicator that SOMEONE takes themselves a little too seriously.
I went here last night for the first time (with a seasoned regular) and had a great experience. The servers were hilarious, seated us right away, and kept us entertained/ happy throughout the meal.
The food was amazing, and considering the portions I couldn't believe how cheap everything was. I had the Tetuoan Tegine and my friend had the  Fes Tagine- both were perfectly seasoned, tender, and delicious.
The fact that it's BYOB makes it irresistible. I'll be making frequent stops here every chance I get.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience each time I have gone to Andalous.
The waitstaff are always very nice and will answer any questions you might have. Â I highly recommend the chicken pastilla. Â Where else can you get phylo dough, chicken, powdered sugar and cinnamon in one dish? Â The only problem that I had with it was that it was huge; I couldn't finish it all. Â It's phenomenal.
Bring your own wine to Andalous; there isn't a corkage fee. Â And, please, don't forget to order the mint tea. Â
One thing that I noticed in some of the reviews is people saying that the service is slow. Â Some of their food takes time to prepare. Â So you wait for quality food. Â If you want food in 3 minutes, go to Chili's. Â The service isn't slow, they just don't rush you out of there. Â They let you relax and enjoy your experience. Â That doesn't always happen around here.
Here's a first: Â I am going to tell you what a great time I had at Andalous, but I am also going to caution you to pay close attention to the reviews that are very, very negative. Â I saw first hand how one might have a great evening at Andalous (our experience); I also saw how one might pull their hair out after eating there.
We called Andalous in the afternoon on a Saturday to ask if we could make reservations for 8 pm that evening. Â We were told that there was no need - we wouldn't have a problem getting a table at that time of the evening. Â I don't actually know if they take reservations... or if this is what they tell every person who calls the restaurant. Â We actually arrived at 9 pm later that day, and we found that the restaurant was packed. Â Fortunately, a table for two was about to open up. Â We were seated within fifteen minutes, and our server promptly brought out glasses of water as well as glasses for the bottle of wine that we brought with us. Â (Andalous is BYOB.) Â
We both ordered couscous dishes - and they were fabulous. Â The meats in the dishes were very tender and not overly fatty, and the couscous was perfectly seasoned. Â I absolutely loved my meal - the "royal" couscous. Â By the end of our meal the restaurant had cleared out, and our server brought us complimentary glasses of mint tea. Â The tea was delicious. Â Throughout the evening the service was prompt and courteous and it was never intrusive. Â The restaurant is small and a bit cramped, but it has a lot of character.
The entrees at Andalous are very reasonable, and the fact that it is BYOB with no corkage fee really helps to make this an affordable evening. Â Our entrees were around $18 to $20, and we had enough food to take home for two more meals. Â
Everything we experienced about Andalous was incredible - but at the end of the meal a group of four was seated at a table right near us. Â The waiter told us that they had waited two hours for a table. Â He said it with pride (presumably we were to infer that the food is always so good that people are willing to wait two hours), but the four people sitting at that table looked supremely pissed off. Â I didn't overhear their conversation, but from reading their body language it didn't appear that they had waited two hours "willingly". Â Again, we had a great experience - but I would take into consideration all of the reviews for this restaurant before you go.
Lakeview is a great neighborhood. most famous b/c of Wrigley Field. but my brief stay made me realize this is the area to hang out next time i come to the windy city. the nitelife was kicking in high gear. tons of cool bars swarming with hipters. the best part is there are a bunch of very cool theaters (art deco, which i love) around this area.
anyway, we came here b/c the girls we were with love this restaurant. the place was jammed on a Monday night. we were seated quickly though. the restaurant was buzzing and was pretty loud. its byob, which worked for us, since we brought a few bottles of wine to drink for the night.
we were recommended to start with the Moroccan mint tea -a must if you eat here. i have had several different version of the mint tea, but this one has been the best. it had the perfect blend of mint and sweetness to it. each person had to order an entree (weird concept for a place like this) we had Lamb tagine, Chicken pastilla, Andalous tagine and Fish tagine. the portions were large, and even though everyone shared, we ended up taking some back home. my recommended dish was Marrakech tagine. the lamb shanks were not too gamey and that made all the difference. the chicken & fish were good, but another fave for me were the roasted eggplants with bell peppers & zucchini & couscous on the side.
the service was quite good. the server who also was the owner, said the food is his moms recipes. infact, there were two women in the kitchen cooking the food. it looked like a family business, and i could tell they took pride in making their dishes. during dinner, i accidently spilled my wine of the linen and the floor, and they promptly and without any fuss cleaned it up.
next time im in Chicago, i plan to dine here.
I came here for a friend's birthday and it was a party of 7. Â I was having high expectations of this place but was very disappointed.
The service at Andalous is horrible. Â The waiter was extremely rude (or maybe that's just their culture) and made unfunny jokes. Â He told a friend that the dish she chose (beef kabobs) was a bad choice. Â I mean who the F says that?! Â He was also hitting on my friend and that was just totally gross because he looked like such a sleeze ball. Â Dinner took 3 hours because it took FOREVER to get the dishes and another eternity to get the damn check. Â UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Â
The food was good but nothing spectacular. Â I ordered a chicken dish with fries (yes I know fries aren't Moroccan but I was craving them). Â The chicken was nothing great and the fries were all soggy. Â Really gross. Â My friends liked the lamb and other dishes but they were not anything great. Â However, I did like the warm pita bread with the bean dip but it took forever for them to give us another dip replacement. Â
I don't recommend this place. Â Sure it's nice to try ethnic cuisine but not when there's bad service and when the food is mediocre.
Came here for dinner yesterday night with 20 other people for a school event and had a great time! Â The restaurant is BYOB (no corking fee) and is conveniently situated very a few blocks away from Binny's. Â We ended up at the restaurant with 16 bottles of wine.
Some appetizers were ordered for the group and I found them ok, though not amazing. Â One was a plate of chopped vegetables and the other was something similar to fried spring rolls. Â A lot of our table found the spring rolls amazing, but I don't like my meat-filled carbs sprinkled with cinnamon & powdered sugar. Â They had brought some pita bread over to the table to eat the appetizers with and though it was delightfully warm, it was also store-bought and tasted only ok.
For my entree, I ordered one of the vegetable tagines (the one without the cheese) with a side of couscous. Â An assortment of vegetables came hot, stewed, and very well-seasoned in a red tomato-y "southern Moroccan" sauce. Â The couscous was very fine and sopped up the juices on my plate very well. Â I loved it.
Everyone else at my table were pleased with their dishes as well. Â I heard very good things about the lamb, which was served so tender than the meat fell off the bone when poked with a fork. Â I don't eat lamb so I can't attest to the taste, but it seemed very popular with my friends.
Service was very good. Â Our water glasses were constantly refilled and they didn't show any sign of annoyance when faced with 16 unopened bottles of wine. Â The waiter also made some good recommendations for entrees that my friends were very satisfied with. Â He also remembered what every single person at my table had ordered.
The tab came to less than $20pp and I left stuffed and drunk. Â I would definitely come here again!
I went to Andalous tonight and had a wonderful experience!! We had 7:30 reservations for 5. Â The place was packed, so we had a short wait (maybe 10 mins?) until a table was ready. Â Much like Mia Francesca, the dining room is packed, so if you aren't comfortable with a tight dining room - then this isn't the place for you. Â We had a good time laughing with the group next to us bcs we were so close.
The owner, Hadji, was our server. Â None of us had been there before, so he offered to order for us! We shared 2 appetizers, the Andalous Deal (combo plate of different veggies - eggplant, carrots, spinach and something else?) and the egg rolls (can't remember the name). Who knew meat, deep fried in a pastry (like an egg roll) would be SO good with powdered sugar on top! Seriously, amazingly delicious. Â He ordered us 5 entrees. Â I won't pretend to know what styles, I just know we had 2 beef, 1 chicken, 1 fish (salmon and shrimp) and lamb shank. Â THe chicken was inside of a pastry and probably my favorite, but all were outstanding! I think one of the beef dishes was a tagine.
I wish we would have tried the couscous, but next time! Hadji was very friendly and warm. Â We had a great time!
As mentioned, NO corkage fee for the BYO. Â Does life get any better? Dinner for 5 was $98 plus tip - so prices are VERY reasonable.
There was a group of 10 or so seated next to us, so this place is very group friendly too! Noise level was just fine, we had NO problem carrying on conversation - in fact, we might have been the loudest group there...
I'll DEFINITELY be going back!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS. you can valet park at mia francesca for $8.
PPS. credit cards are accepted, but a lot of reviews mention they prefer cash. i had no problem giving them my card, but the rest of my party paid cash.
Cute waitstaff and delicious food! Our group was late for our reservation, but the waiters could not have been more charming - and then comped us some appetizers. All around a very warm, friendly dining experience.
The food was excellent - reasonably priced and delicious. I wanted to taste a bit more variety of spices, but I would definitely go back. Lots of other unusual dishes on the menu that I'd like to try - very authentic Moroccan food.
Have you ever tried to cook food from a cuisine which you've never tasted? I had tried to do that in the past, with Moroccan food. I've made couscous, "Moroccan Lamb" and so on, relying on recipes. That's not how I cook normally, but the recipes sounded so fragrant and delicious I had to try them!
Now that I've had Moroccan food at Andalous, *real* couscous and lamb shanks, I know what it's supposed to taste like! I had "The Famous Couscous" (how could I not order something that proclaims itself as famous), which was a HUGE mound of food. A perfectly spiced and braised lamb shank, braised vegetables (cabbage, eggplant, carrot, zucchini, potatoes, and possibly others), all piled high on a bed of deliciously delicate couscous. The braising juices flavored the couscous with tasty moistness, and the whole thing was a beautiful, edible sculpture. It was amazing.
The service is friendly and definitely hardworking. Water glasses were always kept filled, and wine bottles opened cheerfully. This place is BYOB, with no corkage fee, so take advantage of that and bring wines that you feel complement spicy (but not hot), and sometimes fruity, foods. I brought a Shiraz-Grenache since I'd planned on eating lamb; I think a Riesling would be great for any of the chicken or fish dishes, especially those with fruit and nuts.
It's a lovely little place that I look forward to enjoying again!
The guys that run this place, cook the food, wait the tables make it really special for me. They're just nice people making lovely food. What more could one ask for?
Its BYOB. The food rocks. Bring cash (they like it when you pay cash).
I don't know a better Moroccan place in Chicago, its that simple. Enjoy.
Went to Andalous for a friend's birthday last week, and everyone was extremely pleased with the food! We started with the appetizer sampler, which had an eggplant dip, sauteed bell peppers, marinated carrots, and chopped spinach. It was great being able to try everything, but I think next time I go I would get an order of just carrots...they were my favorite.
For my entree, I went with the Atlas Tagine. (Okay I'll admit, I looked it up later...a tajine is the traditional type of cookware/presentation dish used in Moroccan cuisine). Anyway the dish had marinated chicken and veggies and I don't think I've ever come across such a flavorful combination of spices. All of the dishes have saffron, cumin, paprika, coriander, lemon, olive oil...just so tasty.
Entrees are about $12 on average, and it's BYOB! I am definitely going back soon.
I need to go back to Andalous. The last time I was there, I had this AWESOME couscous with chick peas, raisins and beef. It was sweet, spicy and HUGE.
I loved it.
The place is rather small though if I remember correctly. There was a family next to us and we were practically part of their conversation.
The price and taste totally makes up for it, though. :)
Now I know us Chicagoans have somewhat low standards when it comes to exotic cuisines, but the ultra-positive reviews here really blow my mind. Â It's not bad in any way, but it's not good in any way. Â
There are very few places in town that make superb Middle Eastern food (e.g. Tizi Melloul) while there are plenty of blah restaurants (e.g. A La Turka). Â
The food is very bland but it is reasonably priced. Â The only real reason to come here is if you want to do BYOB and have a big group which makes it affordable and with a big group the quality of the food itself doesn't matter too much.
Andalous is a great place to have a relaxed, tasty dinner. Â For those like me who had never had Moroccan food, the food reminded me of middle eastern and Afghani cuisines. Â The fact that this place is BYOB with no corkage fee is awesome, but the restaurant is CASH ONLY (so come prepared or you may have to jaunt out to the nearest atm). Â
We got the Andalous appetizer sampler and loved the variety of flavors, although the eggplant was our favorite. Â For dinner, my fiance loved her chef's tagine -- essentially a Morrocan chicken curry. Â The chicken was tender and flavorful. Â I had the couscous with lamb, and it was great. Â The lamb fell off the bone, and the vegetables were succulent. Â The wait staff does not rush you, and this might not be the best place if you are in a hurry as it seemed to take a while for them to prepare the dishes. Â Make sure you do not leave without getting the mint tea!
I had dinner with Kathleen O. and Lisa B. at Andalous. Â It was a ruse - you see, those two are roommates now, and they both happen to be hilarious theater chicks. Â I was laughing so hard my diaphragm ached, so had to stuff 'em both with eggplant to get any rest.
We started with the Andalous Deal - a combo of Zaalouk, Taktouka, Carrots ala Sharmoula and Bakoula (eggplant, green peppers, and carrots, I think in that order) and flatbread - awesome. Â The two actresses had lamb, I went for the beef tangine. Â All wonderful.
The dining room is really small, so make reservations. Â The put the three of us at a two top, a little cozy. Â The best part was that I was sitting with my back to the cellar door. Â Every time someone went down there, there was this cold blast of air and the sound of children playing. Â I can't think of a better scene suggestion for a couple improv girls and their grateful audience of one.
BYOB.
Andalous is the first restaurant I ever went to in Chicago, and there's a reason I keep going back - the food is outstanding!
My most recent trip to Andalous found me, my boyfriend, and my boyfriend's parents looking for a hearty dinner on a Friday night. Â Since I'm the "native", everyone was looking to me for something different, tasty, and fun. Â I suggested Andalous and off we went! Â It's located on a busy stretch of Clark Street just north of Belmont. Â When the weather is nice, they open the windows in the front, so the place can get a bit loud. Â
In order to maximize our experience, we decided to just get a ton of stuff and share it all. Â That way, we could try as much of the menu as we could. Â We started out with the Andalous Combo Deal for an appetizer - it's a sampler plate of the appetizers they offer. Â The Bakoula (spinach sauteed with Moroccan herbs) was outstanding, as was the zaalouk (an eggplant dish). Â We actually had to order a second plate so that everyone could try everything!
In terms of entrees, we tried to do a little of everything. Â I ordered the Sweet Couscous off of the special menu, and if you have a sweet tooth like I do, you'll love this dish! Â My boyfriend had the Tetouan Tangine, which is a beef dish marinated with onions, peas, artichokes, and spices. Â They meat was incredibly tender and flavorful - and I usually don't like beef! Â His mom had a Zagora Tangine, which was a lamb dish that was similar to what I described above, and his dad has a pastillo, which is chicken and spices baked inside phyllo dough. Â I have never had such good chicken - it was juicy and wonderful. Â
The place is BYOB, which is a huge plus in my book. Â The waitstaff are friendly and unobtrusive, and the whole experience is just lovely. Â Check it ou!
I LOVE this place. BYOB with no uncorking fee, and with Kafka wine store right nearby, there's never a dearth of alcohol options.
The food is unbelievable. My favorites are the lamb couscous (I don't even normally like lamb, but this is delicious) and the beef Tagine in the saffron sauce with peas (don't remember the name) - certainly the most tender beef I've had in a restaurant.
Nice ambience - complete with an American flag in the corner, no doubt placed there to deter xenophobic morons from harassing them.
I went with a group of friends one evening when the Cubs were playing, and despite the madness outside on Clark, Andalous was very pleasant inside. It was fun to watch from our window seat as all of the crazies walked by. I've enjoyed the food each time I've gone, even if it is sometimes on the expensive side. The mix of spices and and flavors are really a treat. Don't leave without trying the PASTILLA, a tasty mix of cinnamon chicken-stuffed bread that will trick you into thinking it's a dessert.
It always helps to make a reservation, especially on busy nights. The pleasant owner will treat you that much better. Bring your own B, and they won't even charge a corkage fee.
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