Lina Pita

I don't take pleasure in writing negative reviews...but our experience warranted this feedback and it wasn't based solely on one experience as we ate dinner here twice to give them the benefit of doubt.   I'm tempted to write a long and detailed review chronicling the missteps but I'll keep it somewhat brief.  

I'm intimate with  this cuisine as I grew up with it.   But believe me, it's not necessary because we're not talking about palate extremes here.  They're attempting to serve Mediterranean/Moroccan cuisine but the result is horrible based on two separate but similar ending dinners.  

Nothing tastes like it should.   That would be acceptable if it were simply good even if not correct to the cuisine standard.   A number of the items that we had were old and very stale.   The chicken tagine--it was a thigh that was undoubtedly tossed in the fridge the day(s) prior, microwaved upon order, then simply topped with a tired sauce.  It was ready in a few short minutes which should have given us a clue.   Dry, stringy, old meat with virtually no seasoning, yet over salted.  The lamb tasted as it were prepared in the exact same fashion--reheated from a leftover batch.   We were speechless--that's how bad it was.  And no, I am not exaggerating.

Yes, there were some exceptions on the appetizer side--mostly mediocre at best.

To make matters worse, we gently brought the nearly inedible dishes to the attention of the manager/cook.  He immediately acted as if we assaulted him by our suggestion that we order another dish in substitution.  He literally began arguing with us that the dishes were just fine.  We recoiled at his response--wow, so unprofessional.   We didn't want to cause a scene (though it was not easy to restrain ourselves--my wife was pissed off and with good reason).   We tossed the dishes aside and focused on the appetizers and pita bread...

A glimer of hope for a positive turnaround occurred when the owner strutted in 10 min. later.   I very respectfully approached him and explained the situation.  
Wow...his response was nothing but defensive.   No consolation, no substitution, no remedy offer whatsoever.  Just pride and protection of his cuisine.  Total amateur with seemingly no restaurant customer retention skills or experience whatsoever.  

In my earnest opinion, this joint is destined to fail because of both aptitude and more importantly, attitude of the proprietor which cascades to its employees.  

Chicago metro is a tough restaurant market.  Saturated with great offerings within a short walk nearly anywhere in the area.   No need to subject yourself to this.

Baba ganoush was fantastic and the pitas are soft and yummy.  But the chicken shwarma sandwich was not for me.  The chicken was in little pieces - clearly not cooked on the rotating stick. And I didn't like the seasoning - too much curry and some other spice that was not good.  And it was really dry. It came with sauce that was overly runny and made a mess.  All in all, I've had much better.

Beef shawarma sandwich. Never had shawarma before. Saw the end of the Avengers where they were having shawarma and it piqued my interest. Um, never again. Not TERRIBLE but kinda bland and I was left asking "where's the beef?" I am always disappointed when I pay almost $7 for a sandwich and feel like i got gypped. Not cool. And on top of that, the owner asked me to pay in cash instead of using my credit card for the $6.57. NOT happy. Never again.