I've ordered from Reza in Evanston twice now. Once on a week day and once on the weekend. Both times, the food was fresh. The rice was soft and cooked well. The kabobs were tender (chenjeh and koubideh) and the cooked tomatoes, onions and green peppers were delicious. Even when I thought I was full, I didn't stop eating because the flavors were scrumptious. I appreciated that the meals arrived hot off the grill. Make sure to ask for Sumac spice to sprinkle on the kabobs and rice.
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Koubideh Kabob with Dill Rice, Beef and Shrimp Kobob, Chicken Kabob, Kabob on Persian Bread
Kevin Ware
I've been here twice and the second was just as good as the first. Really good food served timely, and tasting great. And humongous portions that allow you to keep having great food the next day as well. (Try the salmon kabob...it's awesome.) I'll definitely be back for more when I'm in town.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nicholas Finia
Great tasty food! Always!!Vegetarian options: They have good Mediterranean vegetarian selections.Parking: Street parking poses a challenge to find a spot close by. However, Sunday parking is free.Kid-friendliness: Family friendly place!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kabob Makhsoos Entrée
Casey W
Lovely meal. Went for the lunch special! 9.99 for a big plate of delicious food! Will be back again soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Koubideh Kabob with Dill Rice
Cora W.
I have always loved Rezas, the Evanston location is wonderful. Delicious fresh food and friendly service. Thank you for the lunch special is was so tasty!!!!
Serendipitously walked by on my way to somewhere else and saw their “lunch special” sign. I couldn’t walk by.The kabobs were juicy and delicious! The rice and veggies were proportioned perfectly. Even had a bite of the falafel!!!I added their hot sauce. It was refreshing and spicy!!! Super delicious!!!Don’t let the lower rating draw you away from this awesome place!!!I highly recommend a visit!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Elahe Javadi
DoV (date of visit): 2/17/2024Portions: huge!!!Quality: good!Food: 4 out of five, fresh & in generous portions; I have eaten better persian around the world and in the US. Entree comes w bread & soup. Very nice!Service: ok; the lady was nice enough. We all know Middle Eastern restaurants don't pay their staff well.Disaappoing: they didn't have dough (yogurt drink).More disappointing: they didn't have Bamiye!!!Nice seating area, clean bathrooms!Is it worth trying? Not sure, depends on the other options you're considering!Parking: Had to pay by an app: Evanston parking or something like that
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Lamb Shank
Mehdi Safavi
I will not return
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Deb Kauzlarich
I understand completely why my friends and I were the only people in the restaurant. Service was adequate. Barely. No offers on refills for drinks and never came to ask how anything was but did the basics OK. The food, however was pretty bad. I've eaten a LOT of Reza's in my lifetime and have always enjoyed it. The Reza by me has closed so we went to Evanston. My friends, who I took out for their birthday lunch, also love Reza's food. Maybe not so much anymore though. Let me start. We got hummus and the feta cheese plate for apps. The hummus tasted like it was out of a Saba container, not made fresh. It was grainy and just a little off tasting and really thick. The feta tasted like the brine it was stored in had been around for a while. The veggies on the plate were...sad. The parsley was wilted. The onions and radishes looked as though they had been around for a while, accidentally frozen and then tossed on the plate. You couldn't have paid me to eat them. One friend got the beef koubeideh (sp). She said it was dry and pretty tasteless. The other friend got the chicken kabob and shrimp combo. She felt her chicken was better than the other Reza's we used to go to so that's a plus. I got a veggie combo with a skewer of chicken kabob on the side. The chicken was good and my dill rice was OK. The rest of the combo was not. All of it looked and tasted as though it had been around too long. The veggies were almost ready for the compost pile. The dolmeh weren't terrible but were about the size of my little finger. The falafel seemed as though it was made another day and just dropped in the fryer to put another layer of crunch on it. It tasted of old oil and crispy bits but nothing like falafel. I was never offered a refill on my iced tea and my friend had to ask. All in all, as I said, I can see why no one else was there and I will NEVER go back. I am really disappointed as I used to be a real fan of their food. There's just too much really good middle eastern food out there to waste your money here.Oh! and it was freezing in there.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Marion Klaus
What a disappointment! A friend invited me, so I was too embarrassed to send my food back, but it was awful. Dry chicken cubes, flavorless rice. Waiter was impatient, and arrogant. Floor of the place was dirty, and so was the bathroom. Never again!
For my son’s birthday we decided to order food from Reza. I ordered the food online. The total was over $180, which included 20% tip and taxes. I live few miles from the Evanston location, so I requested delivery when placing my order. The food arrived on time, and was delicious. I responded to text I received to write a review and I did, but it was through their website. I gave them 5 stars for my order, however 2 days later I got a text from them telling me that my credit card was charged $10 for delivery. I called the restaurant and requested to speak to the manager. The woman who answered the phone said she’s the manager. I told her this was an unethical practice to not state the charges when I ordered the food. She promised to credit me for the charges. 2 weeks later, the charge was on my credit card statement. I called again and the same woman answered and said the charge were for future orders. I said I’m not ordering from them again and decided to call my card company and dispute the charges. I ended up getting the credit back. I decided to go back and edit my 5 stars review but couldn’t since it was through their website. I told them they gained $10, but lost a customer.
Food: 4
Service: 1
Zainab Gilani
Horrible horrible experience!!!!!!!! I ordered 2 plates of keboudieh kebab with dill rice and I got the wrong orders. I came back to speak to the waitress and she said the chef must have been confused so there’s nothing she can do about it. I was shocked!!!! I said I didn’t drive 30 mins to eat plain rice. I didn’t order this. The girl who took my order was hiding at the back and refused to come out. So this rude waitress told me to come back when the manager comes back. She said I can’t do anything about it. I have never experienced such horrible service ever. I was so upset, the food was soooo disgusting as well. Please don’t waste ur time of money going here
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Recommended dishes: Beef Koubideh Kabob with Dill Rice
Beni M.
For my son's birthday we decided to order food from Reza. I ordered the food online. The total was over $180 which included 20% tip and taxes. I live few miles from the Evanston location, so I requested delivery when placing my order. The food arrived on time, and was delicious. I responded to a text I received from them to write a review and I did, but it was through their website. I gave them 5 stars for my order, however 2 days later I got a text from them telling me that my credit card was charged $10 for delivery. I called the restaurant and requested to speak to the manager. The woman who answered the phone said she's the manager. I told her this was an unethical practice to not state the charges on their website when I ordered the food. She promised to credit me for the charges. 2 weeks later, the charge was on my credit card statement. I called again and the same woman answered and said the credit would be for future orders. I promised her that I'm not ordering from them again and decided to call my card company and dispute the charges. I ended up getting the credit back. I decided to go back and edit my 5 stars review, but couldn't since it was through their website. I told them they gained $10, but lost a customer.
Arbel Hidoo
Not impressive at all. Their menu says you can substitute rice with couscous or grilled vegetable. The waitress response to my choice of grilled veggies to replace rice was NO!! It already comes with grilled veggies so she forced me to get cous cous. Also cold served food. Not a good atmosphere. Fridays are not good to be in this place. Bad service and lack of options. BTW: grilled vegetables are : burned ONE SLICE of green pepper. A quarter of tomato and quarter of onion. Will not return. Noon-o-Kebob beats this hands down
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Tony H
I have been in the original Reza on Clark and been going there since 1988, so i have a point of reference. Their Evanston restaurant is horrible. Service, food quality, options. They have meals premade and heat them up. Not fresh. My Sultani had Burnet meat and rice was cold. Server did not even bother asking if we needed desert. Which we actually would have ordered because we saw their Bamieh on menu. Their drink options on Friday Night was: sprite and diet coke. So i ordered water. Table had no salt. Serving forks were all sizes ans shapes. Waitress or hostess was fighting with each other in the background. Tjis was Horrible experience. Never again. I am sticking to original Reza on clark or just somewhere else like noon o kebab.
I've ordered from Reza in Evanston twice now. Once on a week day and once on the weekend. Both times, the food was fresh. The rice was soft and cooked well. The kabobs were tender (chenjeh and koubideh) and the cooked tomatoes, onions and green peppers were delicious. Even when I thought I was full, I didn't stop eating because the flavors were scrumptious. I appreciated that the meals arrived hot off the grill. Make sure to ask for Sumac spice to sprinkle on the kabobs and rice.
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Koubideh Kabob with Dill Rice, Beef and Shrimp Kobob, Chicken Kabob, Kabob on Persian Bread
I've been here twice and the second was just as good as the first. Really good food served timely, and tasting great. And humongous portions that allow you to keep having great food the next day as well. (Try the salmon kabob...it's awesome.) I'll definitely be back for more when I'm in town.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great tasty food! Always!!Vegetarian options: They have good Mediterranean vegetarian selections.Parking: Street parking poses a challenge to find a spot close by. However, Sunday parking is free.Kid-friendliness: Family friendly place!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kabob Makhsoos Entrée
Lovely meal. Went for the lunch special! 9.99 for a big plate of delicious food! Will be back again soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Koubideh Kabob with Dill Rice
I have always loved Rezas, the Evanston location is wonderful. Delicious fresh food and friendly service. Thank you for the lunch special is was so tasty!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Koubideh Kabob with Dill Rice, Falafel, Chicken Kabob
Serendipitously walked by on my way to somewhere else and saw their “lunch special” sign. I couldn’t walk by.The kabobs were juicy and delicious! The rice and veggies were proportioned perfectly. Even had a bite of the falafel!!!I added their hot sauce. It was refreshing and spicy!!! Super delicious!!!Don’t let the lower rating draw you away from this awesome place!!!I highly recommend a visit!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
DoV (date of visit): 2/17/2024Portions: huge!!!Quality: good!Food: 4 out of five, fresh & in generous portions; I have eaten better persian around the world and in the US. Entree comes w bread & soup. Very nice!Service: ok; the lady was nice enough. We all know Middle Eastern restaurants don't pay their staff well.Disaappoing: they didn't have dough (yogurt drink).More disappointing: they didn't have Bamiye!!!Nice seating area, clean bathrooms!Is it worth trying? Not sure, depends on the other options you're considering!Parking: Had to pay by an app: Evanston parking or something like that
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Lamb Shank
I will not return
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
I understand completely why my friends and I were the only people in the restaurant. Service was adequate. Barely. No offers on refills for drinks and never came to ask how anything was but did the basics OK. The food, however was pretty bad. I've eaten a LOT of Reza's in my lifetime and have always enjoyed it. The Reza by me has closed so we went to Evanston. My friends, who I took out for their birthday lunch, also love Reza's food. Maybe not so much anymore though. Let me start. We got hummus and the feta cheese plate for apps. The hummus tasted like it was out of a Saba container, not made fresh. It was grainy and just a little off tasting and really thick. The feta tasted like the brine it was stored in had been around for a while. The veggies on the plate were...sad. The parsley was wilted. The onions and radishes looked as though they had been around for a while, accidentally frozen and then tossed on the plate. You couldn't have paid me to eat them. One friend got the beef koubeideh (sp). She said it was dry and pretty tasteless. The other friend got the chicken kabob and shrimp combo. She felt her chicken was better than the other Reza's we used to go to so that's a plus. I got a veggie combo with a skewer of chicken kabob on the side. The chicken was good and my dill rice was OK. The rest of the combo was not. All of it looked and tasted as though it had been around too long. The veggies were almost ready for the compost pile. The dolmeh weren't terrible but were about the size of my little finger. The falafel seemed as though it was made another day and just dropped in the fryer to put another layer of crunch on it. It tasted of old oil and crispy bits but nothing like falafel. I was never offered a refill on my iced tea and my friend had to ask. All in all, as I said, I can see why no one else was there and I will NEVER go back. I am really disappointed as I used to be a real fan of their food. There's just too much really good middle eastern food out there to waste your money here.Oh! and it was freezing in there.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
What a disappointment! A friend invited me, so I was too embarrassed to send my food back, but it was awful. Dry chicken cubes, flavorless rice. Waiter was impatient, and arrogant. Floor of the place was dirty, and so was the bathroom. Never again!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Restaurantji Recommends
For my son’s birthday we decided to order food from Reza. I ordered the food online. The total was over $180, which included 20% tip and taxes. I live few miles from the Evanston location, so I requested delivery when placing my order. The food arrived on time, and was delicious. I responded to text I received to write a review and I did, but it was through their website. I gave them 5 stars for my order, however 2 days later I got a text from them telling me that my credit card was charged $10 for delivery. I called the restaurant and requested to speak to the manager. The woman who answered the phone said she’s the manager. I told her this was an unethical practice to not state the charges when I ordered the food. She promised to credit me for the charges. 2 weeks later, the charge was on my credit card statement. I called again and the same woman answered and said the charge were for future orders. I said I’m not ordering from them again and decided to call my card company and dispute the charges. I ended up getting the credit back. I decided to go back and edit my 5 stars review but couldn’t since it was through their website. I told them they gained $10, but lost a customer.
Food: 4
Service: 1
Horrible horrible experience!!!!!!!! I ordered 2 plates of keboudieh kebab with dill rice and I got the wrong orders. I came back to speak to the waitress and she said the chef must have been confused so there’s nothing she can do about it. I was shocked!!!! I said I didn’t drive 30 mins to eat plain rice. I didn’t order this. The girl who took my order was hiding at the back and refused to come out. So this rude waitress told me to come back when the manager comes back. She said I can’t do anything about it. I have never experienced such horrible service ever. I was so upset, the food was soooo disgusting as well. Please don’t waste ur time of money going here
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Recommended dishes: Beef Koubideh Kabob with Dill Rice
For my son's birthday we decided to order food from Reza. I ordered the food online. The total was over $180 which included 20% tip and taxes. I live few miles from the Evanston location, so I requested delivery when placing my order. The food arrived on time, and was delicious. I responded to a text I received from them to write a review and I did, but it was through their website. I gave them 5 stars for my order, however 2 days later I got a text from them telling me that my credit card was charged $10 for delivery. I called the restaurant and requested to speak to the manager. The woman who answered the phone said she's the manager. I told her this was an unethical practice to not state the charges on their website when I ordered the food. She promised to credit me for the charges. 2 weeks later, the charge was on my credit card statement. I called again and the same woman answered and said the credit would be for future orders. I promised her that I'm not ordering from them again and decided to call my card company and dispute the charges. I ended up getting the credit back. I decided to go back and edit my 5 stars review, but couldn't since it was through their website. I told them they gained $10, but lost a customer.
Not impressive at all. Their menu says you can substitute rice with couscous or grilled vegetable. The waitress response to my choice of grilled veggies to replace rice was NO!! It already comes with grilled veggies so she forced me to get cous cous. Also cold served food. Not a good atmosphere. Fridays are not good to be in this place. Bad service and lack of options. BTW: grilled vegetables are : burned ONE SLICE of green pepper. A quarter of tomato and quarter of onion. Will not return. Noon-o-Kebob beats this hands down
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I have been in the original Reza on Clark and been going there since 1988, so i have a point of reference. Their Evanston restaurant is horrible. Service, food quality, options. They have meals premade and heat them up. Not fresh. My Sultani had Burnet meat and rice was cold. Server did not even bother asking if we needed desert. Which we actually would have ordered because we saw their Bamieh on menu. Their drink options on Friday Night was: sprite and diet coke. So i ordered water. Table had no salt. Serving forks were all sizes ans shapes. Waitress or hostess was fighting with each other in the background. Tjis was Horrible experience. Never again. I am sticking to original Reza on clark or just somewhere else like noon o kebab.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1