A Rare Chicago Yemeni Restaurant Catches a Critic’s Attention

Yemeni cuisine has found a new home on the city’s North Side. Sheeba Mandi House, located in North Park in the former WokNChop, showcases the underrepresented food of the southern Arabian Peninsula. Chef Abu Hani whips up offerings like haneeth, a meat-and-rice dish featuring a “complex and variable” spice blend known as hawaij. There are also “burbling” bowls of saltah and fahsa — meat and root vegetable stews topped with fenugreek goam — as well as “snacktastic” mutapq, which are griddled pouches of flatbread containing meat or eggs, mayo, and melted cheese. Mike Sula calls the beef version a “kind of proto cheesesteak” and thinks “Hani could sell nothing but mutapq and the restaurant would still be a destination.” And to finish, masoob is an Arabian banana bread pudding that provides both sweet and savory notes. [Reader]

Maddon’s Post is an Italian-Polish mashup that “makes a strong case for itself,” writes Joanne Trestrail. The Wrigleyville restaurant from chef Tony Mantuano and former Cubs skipper Joe Maddon is “imaginative, tasty and highly appealing.” A platter of grilled sausages comes with an “unorthodox but fabulous” warm potato salad while pappardelle with egg, pancetta, fontina cheese, cabbage, and onions is “homey and sublime.” Pierogi are also “completely winning; a blueberry mascarpone rendition knocks the ball out of the park.” And for dessert, buttery fruit cobbler “makes for a rich finish.”

Concertgoers heading to Symphony Center would do well to avoid dining at Opus, the restaurant located inside the building. Joanne Trestrail says “most of the food is nothing to write home about.” Beef short rib comes in a “small portion” and is “too chewy,” and the pesto chicken cauliflower bowl is “super dry.” Service is also uneven as some dishes arrive hot while others are “nearly cold.” Overall, the whole experience feels like “going to the early-bird, pre-show meal on a cruise ship.” [Crain’s]