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Benjyehuda
Rating Details »
Category: Mediterranean [Edit]
Neighborhood: The Loop212 W Van Buren
(between Wells St & Franklin St)
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 408-2365
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Call for details
http://chicago.metromi...
- Nearest Transit:
-
Quincy/Wells (Orange, Brown, Purple Express, Pink)
LaSalle (Blue)
Jackson (Blue, Red)
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- None
18 reviews for Benjyehuda
If it was up to me, there would be a falafil/shawarma joint on every corner. This is especially true for the region around my office so I can enjoy this for lunch everyday. There is no more perfect food on earth than falafil in a pita, topped with baba ganoush with crunchy cabbage, pickles, and loads of tahini.
This place is super special because it's cheap and you can pick each topping individually and control the proportions. Tell them to load on the hummus and tahini and you will never suffer from a dry falafl sandwich.
Open one on the north side please, so I can enjoy you on weekends too!
My fabulous employer let the lowly wage slaves out at 1 pm the day before Thanksgiving. My husband, who works in the Sears Tower (I know "they" call it something else now, but "they" can suck it, quite frankly) was not so lucky. We decided to meet for lunch. But where? We rested our hopes on Yelp, and once again, my fellow Yelpers have saved me from a sad, hungry existence. Now that's something to be thankful for!
Benjyehuda has chicken shawarma. Chicken shawarma is one of my favorite things on the planet. Benjyehuda's chicken shawarma is very tasty. It comes on a generous bed or rice or romaine (or halvsies, which was my choice). You can top it with any number of tasty items, from hummus and tahini to various veggie-based salads. I believe I topped my shawarma with about 7 different items. All of this delicious food is put in a box (A box, you say? Yes, a box. Just go with it). And it costs you $7. $7! Added bonus? Unless you have multiple stomachs, you will definitely have enough food for 2 meals.
I must also give a shout out to kevin c. for the cheese fries recommendation. We split a bag, and they were phenomenal. The fries were cooked just the way I like them--crunchy all the way through, and the cheese...well, it's from Wisconsin, and so am I. Need I say more?
The best thing about this place really are their cheese fries!!! The cheese is totally unexpected ('cause it's that Wisconsin Merkts cheese ... the grainy, spreadable kind that's just warmed up) but lemme tell you ... it goes SO well with their bag of fries.
I tried their flight of yehuda (chicken shawarma, beef shawarma, and falafel on top of rice -- they ran out of mini pitas). The chicken was moist and flavorful, their beef was just ok, and their falafel was just ok as well. I'll probably stick to chicken, rice and cheese fries next time.
YUM! Cheese Fries!
New hot lunch spot in the Loop. Kind of a Chipotle/Qdoba set up with plenty of add-ins and options to fill your falafel or shawarma pitas. The staff here is extremely friendly and helpful as you come in. I tried the falafel pita and my friend had the shawarma steak box. Boxes include your choice of any add-ins AND additional falafel if your heart so desires. If you get the many add-ins to the box, it's a substantial meal for lunch time. Definitely enough for leftovers the next day. Reasonably priced and a great addition to the area. I also noticed that this place has drawn so much attention that the burrito place next door is now offering Mediterranean fair. Hilarious.
Chipotle theme but with Mediterranean recipes and a unique visual style. Very tasty fresh food. Sort of like Palestinian food but maybe 50% Americanized with some other influences.
Highly recommended. Only open weekdays--hope they can open on weekends too for the downtown residents.
This post-modern middle eastern lunch spot would not be out of place in New York or Europe... or Tel Aviv.
The food is consistently good and fresh and tasty, the portions large, and... you can get a seat at lunchtime.
I normally get the chicken shawarma in a box. It can be served on a bed of rice or on romaine lettuce. They will do half and half. And then you can have any number of toppings, like hummus, baba ganoush, tahini, jerusalem salad, etc., etc. In this way it is kind of like Roti, but hipper and without the annoying crowds.
I am always happy after lunch. Then I take a long nap at my desk.
The decor/style of the restaurant confuses the hell out of me, but the food is awesome. I tried a falafel with the traditional pita and tahini. I also put baba ganouj and hummus in it. They let you choose from a big number of things to put in there. They also have fries and other side items. And churros... Which confused me, but I like churros so it's okay.
Overall, pretty tasty. Better than some of the other falafel places popping up.
I've been here a few times already and really like this place. When coworkers look at my box they always awe at how good it looks and always ask for directions. I can never tell the name of the place with the strange font/long name, but I just tell them to walk past the burrito place with Indian food, and you'll see a chalk board with the tortilla or matzo ball soup special.
When you order the box you'll get your choice of rice or romaine lettuce (I get half/half), and then my fav is the chicken shawarma to top it off with. I've had the beef, but found that it had what tasted like curry powder on it. I'm not a big fan, but my coworker is a huge fan of it and prefers it over the chicken. Different strokes, for different folks. I've never had the falafel, but my coworker stated it was a bit too dry for his liking compared to Pita Inn. On top of the shawarma you get some really fresh and tasty toppings, ie a smokey baba ganoush, hummus, pickles,tomatos, cucumbers, etc. All of which make for a very colorful and tasty lunch.
Oh....the service is super friendly..and they leave samples of churros out to snack on as your credit card processes.
Around the corner from I Dream of Falafel, BenjYehuda makes some falafel that I could quite possibly dream about.
I have no idea what BenjYehuda means, but I like to think it stands for "I Dream of Who?" After my lukewarm/cold first impression of IDOF I don't see much need to go back, there are a few other solid Mediterranean/falafel options in the area including BenjYehuda.
I ordered the falafel on the laffa flatbread with hummus, Jerusalem salad, tomato, lettuce, tahini and hot sauce. I must say this falafel was most excellent! The ingredients were fresh and tasty and the laffa was amazing, I could envision myself making a meal out of that alone. My falafel was huge, no skimping here!
The only drawback was that my falafel was a touch messy. Next time I think I'll order the sauce on the side so it doesn't soften up the bread and I can control the spiciness. The hot sauce has good amount of kick to it, but it's not unbearably hot.
Since it was Friday, wait scratch that, since I am weak when it comes to sweets I decided to treat myself to a churro too - an unusual dessert choice in a Mediterranean place, but whatevs. The churro was tasty, nice and sugary. It was a little greasy, but then again I didn't order it because I was trying to be healthy. If they ever decide to go a little more Mediterranean with their sweet offerings, I can guarantee I could kill a homemade bag of their pita chips if covered with cinnamon and sugar.
The space is neat and minimalist; avocado walls with different sized black booths. The only complaint I have is that the table sat at wasn't quite long/wide enough for my liking. Had it been movable and had I eaten in, I would've wanted it a few inches closer to avoid the odds of my lunch ending up in my lap.
The menu is small, but with all of the different add-ons you can create several different sandwiches, rice dishes or salads and not get bored.
TIP: The garbage can is the black area with menus on top as you enter, it's very inconspicuous.
So an Israeli and a Mexican walk into a restaurant...
No, that's not the beginning of a joke (or even the start of a story about me and the ex-girlfriend). What it is the start of is a plausible explanation for how churros ended up the desert option at this brand new mom and pop (I think) falafel counter shop in the financial district. I had to inquire about this anomaly when I visited for the first time. The answer the counter person gave me when I asked, "why churros?" was "why not?"
Indeed, why not. If and when this place catches on (it's already getting repeat customers from the Board of Trade across the street) the incongruous churros on the menu will be the talk of the town. At $2.00 on the penny after tax, they really do make a perfect desert in size and taste to Middle Eastern food. Who knew? Hooray for open minded restaurateurs!
And the owners are progressive in other areas to. Instead of a homage to the past of the region (which is just hokey), diners are greated with taped rock concerts - Pearl Jam and Lenny Kravitz while I've been there - and movies while they eat. And how can you argue with the humor of a place that sells a half dozel falafel as a "ball sac?"
As far as more traditional fare from that part of the world (though maybe Israel has excellent Mexican restaurants, I've never been), Benjyehuda makes the grade (aleph?). They keep it simple to be sure but they put a new wrinkle on falafel and schwarma presentation - the box. A bread free option (for the three people in the world who still follow Atkins), the box is a simple, environmentally friendly thin cardboard stock box filled to my filling point (and that's saying something) with either (oh my goodness, mind numbingly delicious) seasoned rice or lettuce for $6.49. As a carbitarian, guess which base I picked.
I chose some Jerusalem Salad for my topping and it really was a full meal. Since I'm not a huge falafel fan, I only got one but they fill the box with four ordinarily and they gave me a discount (the one ball I did try was surprisingly good). A traditional pita based entree runs about $5 after tax.
As an added bonus, they sell bags of homemade pita chips for .99 cents. I took a bag home and they made a great pre-dinner snack (if I worked closer, I might pick up a bag every day to snack on at the office). That was before I went across the street from my apartment and got a burrito. What can I say? It seems like Benjyehuda was made for me.
Save your time, money and tastebuds from the hell that is I Dream of Falafel. Go around the corner to Benjyehuda. You will not be sorry.
Opened on Sept. 21
Really good Shawarma- standard options, but done the right way.
Your choice of falafel, steak or chicken in a pita, laffa, or over romaine or rice- plenty of things to top it with, including a really good hotsauce.
The churro for dessert was pretty good too.
My new favorite fast food place downtown. cheap & good & fresh. big portions for short money. falafel is a little crunchier than my default middle eastern place sultan's, which makes for some nice variety. their menu includes the typical middle eastern options- falafel, chicken shawarma, beef,etc, plus some unique stuff (for a middle eastern spot) like churros and merkts cheddar. hot sauce is also very good.
one problem is that they were playing some kind of staind documentary the whole time i was there. there is nearly no chance that a band could choose to call themselves 'staind' and then turn out to be good. staind is no exception. but i am willing to look the other way on the music for the food.
I rode my bike down to the area because I had an appointment, hit up yelp and was headed to some quicky korean place when a sign on the street written in chaulk said "matzoball soup", which as a rabid fan of all deli food drew my attention.
As I drew near, it looked more like a Chipotle than a deli, and I saw falafel on the menu, which sounded really good so I headed in. It was a really late lunch (3:00) and noone was there but me. I liken this place to chipotle/industrial chic meets a falafel stand in Israel (add a side of chese and churros), which for some reason REALLY WORKS. It's cheap(ish), delicious and plentiful.
I ordered the flight since 1) hadn't eaten here, 2) cannot ever chose what to get 3) was voraciously hungry. It came with fries, some melted cheddar to dunk it in, and 3 "mini" pita sandwiches, 1 each of falafel, steak, and chicken. Holy crap was this stuff good. Even the fries were crispy and spectacular. I can eat too, and had to chuck half the fries.
I think that I met Benji and Stacy. They seemed very very excited about their creation, and so am I. Thanks guys, this is a really cool idea and I can't wait to eat there again. Everyone do this city a favor and make this place a great success. I want one in my neighborhood.
P.S. They have a to go bag of falafel called a Bal Sac. Haha, hilarious.
wtf this place is awesome!
thank you Yelpers for putting me onto this spot!
I had the Flight... at first I wondered why not have an 'ethinic' side to go with it instead of fries. Then i started looking around and saw that there were no buckets of utensils anywhere. The place is hands-only food. The meals come with ONE napkin (talk about cost control!), and whether you order for dine in or to-go, your food is given to you in a paper bag stamped with the wolf.
I didn't order the pita because I normally don't get filled by them.. but I saw the size of the pita they serve... you can fit an entire meal in those suckers!!!
The hot sauce they serve is really mild - which is perfect for people who can't take spicy food (like me).
The decor is straight up industrial...and there is never a shortage of seats, as most of the people who patronize the place traders, so they most likely swallow the food whole during the short walk back to the CBOT & CBOE.
My only miniscule gripe is that they don't have a 'frequent diner' card thing like Roti and the other quick service spots offer.
I tried their sampler (Yehuda Flight) the second day they were open. The steak pita was the best, and the falafel and chicken pitas were also very good. The fries were fantastic - reminiscent of street food you get in Europe.
Only one question: What's up with the wolf on their logo?
went to lunch at Benji's today...i told Benji i was going to call it this since Benjyehuda is just too long! (btw, Benji told me Benjyehuda is the name of a street in Israel). i was surprised that there were only 2-3 tables of peeps in there at around 12:15pm, i rather expected a line out the door. however, this was a plus! we got to order right away and i had the Falafel "Box" which i had assumed to be a small, kinda large fries size type of box...nope! this was a major box, like pack a full lunch in it! i had it on a bed of rice and romaine lettuce, there were 4 falafel balls, and i got every single topping they offer in my box. their hummus and all of their toppings are so fresh and tasty and had a great spice to it. i was completely STUFFED after eating only half my box, and i can put it away, so this is saying a lot! of course i valiantly tried to press on for a little while longer but still managed to have about a quarter of my box for leftovers. then i dug into my tasty, tasty CHURRO....what a treat! great soft, chewy texture (how a churro should be) and just the right combo of cinnamon and sugar. the churro gets 5 stars since there are few places to compare it to! my friend got a falafel pita and liked it alot although she prefers Haifa's. we both think Benji's is better than I Dream of Falafel, which i like as well. for $11 total for my box, churro and drink, this was a good deal - you def get your money's worth of food!
the place itself is really cool, great space, lots of little and big booths as well as counter seating along the walls. love the rock vibe and music videos playing...this kickin atmosphere would def make me pick Benji's over any other Mediterranean lunch spot in the area. one strange thing we totally noticed...my friend and i were the only women in the whole place - it was completely packed w/men by the time we left! come on ladies...give Benji's a try!!
What a nice surprise! Great falafel, steak and chicken pitas. Everything was fresh and delicious and the fries were killer. Already thinking about what I'm going to have next time.