Baba Saj - Palos Hills

I recently visited Baba Saj Mediterranean with my friends, and overall it was a good and satisfying experience. We tried a mix of items, including the chicken shawarma wrap, falafel wrap, and steak with pita bread roll, which gave us a nice variety to sample. The chicken shawarma roll was flavorful and well-seasoned, with juicy meat and a good balance of sauces. It felt fresh and filling, and the pita was nicely toasted. The falafel roll was another highlight—crispy on the outside, soft inside, and paired well with the sauce, making it a solid vegetarian option. It didn’t feel dry, which is always a plus with falafel. The steak pita roll was decent, though it could be better with slightly more seasoning and tenderness. The portions overall were generous, and the rolls were filling enough to share and still feel satisfied. The sauces complemented the food well and added to the overall taste. The ambience inside was clean and casual, suitable for a relaxed meal with friends. Service was quick, and the staff was friendly and efficient. Overall, Baba Saj is a good spot for Mediterranean food in Chicago, especially if you’re looking for shawarma or falafel with decent portions. With a little improvement in consistency, it could be even better.

Best Shawerma in Chicago! I’m extremely picky about my shawarma and thought this was the best I’ve had in the US. Their rice bowls are also very good! The service was great and the guys were very helpful and nice. We’ll be back many more times inshallah.

Everything was so amazing! The flavors are outstanding , and the bread so fresh and fluffy. Every bite contained bursts of flavor, each one was perfection! Will be a must stop shop for my late night flights into Chicago.

Had a good time trying the food here. Was somewhat busy during lunchtime on a weekday. The restaurant is self-serve where you clean up after yourself and are able to get your own supplies - similar to a shawarma fast food place basically. Food was fresh and yummy.

I had such a lovely experience at Baba Saj! The food was absolutely delicious — fresh, flavorful, and perfectly prepared. You can really taste the quality in every bite. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, and the staff were kind, attentive, and professional. It felt comfortable and family-friendly, which made the whole experience even better. I’ll definitely be coming back and recommending Baba Saj to friends and family. Highly recommend if you’re looking for authentic, tasty food and great service!

Hello, I’m a big fan of your restaurant and wanted to suggest opening a location in Wheaton Illinois. I’m really tired of driving 45 minutes for a chicken shawarma wrap (worth it though) or sometimes I make my man do the drive since he lives near you and drive to my area but it’s hard. You’d make my life easier if you opened a location near my home though. Sometimes it’s 10pm and I craving a wrap… so unfair how far you guys are. I know I have a few places that sell the same thing but it’s not the same as daddy Saj… & after I had your shawarma my taste palettes have changed.. Please consider the west suburbs. I will keep you in my prayers for this to happen. Please and thank you. Amazing food 100%

My Palestinian friend told me Baba Saj is the best shawarma in Chicago. Hence, expectations were quite high coming in but Baba Saj held up pretty well. The hummus was decent but the citrusy, tangy shatta drizzled on top made it truly excellent. If I am being critical, the whole chickpeas on top were a little firm and probably straight from a can. Baba ghanoush was pleasantly chunky and smoky. The pita, served at room temperature, was a bit stiff and would’ve been so much better if warmed. The chicken shawarma was packed with flavors and sliced super thin. A touch on the dry side, but still some of the best I’ve had. Overall, a quick, convenient, and delicious spot worth the stop.

Food is fantastic, they just need to bring music volume down a little for a more relaxed atmosphere.

Absolutely loved this gem of a place! The menu is incredibly superb and authentic, with dishes that well prepared with clean and fresh ingredients. Every bite was a flavor explosion! The staff were super friendly, attentive, and made us feel very good. I live close to Chicago so it was long drive for me, but was worth it Highly recommend for anyone craving delicious, genuine tasty food! 5 stars isn't enough - I'd give it 10 if I could!

I got the zinger meal from Baba Saj which is essentially a breaded spicy chicken sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, cheese, and their special house made sauce wrapped inside their house bread and served with fries and a drink. They do have a drive thru too which is nice and what I did. Don't expect them to be fast tho, it's not actually a fast food spot. I thought the meal was good! My only complaint was that it wasn't as crispy as I wanted, i think both the fried chicken and the wrap being meh in terms of that crispy bite you'd expect. As you can see it is toasted but it was still more chewy than crispy. Otherwise the flavors are decent and for like a $15 meal, it's ok. The portion is good and it does the job.

My cousin and I have driven multiple times for over an hour just to have their tasty Zinger Meal. Their Drive thru is fast and the Zinger wrap with their fries is worth the drive!

Best shawarma wraps and bowl in my opinion. Service is always good and ambiance is exactly what you'd expect from a shawarma restaurant. I always go out of the way to come here. Highly recommend.

My colleague and I were supposed to go Cooper's hawk but saw this beautiful patio at the restaurant and walked in. There was literally no one except us but the space was clean , huge and well decorated. I ordered the chicken shawarma and my colleague ordered gyro. Easily the most tasteless, flavorless meal I ever had . I love middle eastern and this was utterly disappointing!!! The restaurant has great potential in terms of ambiance but they need to make better food.

Came here randomly as I was visiting another shop nearby. Was only going to look at menu but decided to try once I saw a doner with the meat cooking! Also looked like they were hand making the wraps for food. Ordered the gyro pita combo and hummus. I believe I revised the gyro wrap instead but took it as it looked delicious and I was not wrong . Ordered it without tomato and made it a combo that came with fries and drink. Not cheap as total was 23$ but was worth it for quality food. Casual eatery with indoor and outdoor seating. You order and then find seat before they call Your number .

Ordered a zinger meal, found a hair in it, they didn't even bother cutting the chicken inside and gave me a whole piece.

Been there many times the Food is always has the right temp and taste very good service is excellent and you don't have to wait too long for your food

Amazing food! You feel like you're back home in the Middle East. I traveled far just to get here and it met every expectation. Highly recommend making the drive to come and get tasty food!

Came here from a instagram video claiming it was the best halal food in Chicago. It's in palos hills and very mediocre. The best thing they had was the zatar with cheese flatbread. The staff was very nice and service was very fast. Prices were very reasonable!

Amazing food super delicious! Amazing portion for the price. Staff are so friendly you can ask for any extra stuff and they never ask you to pay extra! I usually order the bowel and they can loaded up for you and I guarantee you that you will not finish it! I recommend all the items on the menu . Very generous even more than the restaurants in the old country.

service was not what I expected.. staff are Rude especially the woman that are taking care of the drive-through the staff/women taking orders are extremely rude when placing an order with them . I was at the drive-through waiting ten minutes for someone to take my order no one ever bothered to answer the speaker. I thought the speaker wasn't working and decided to drive to the window to let the staff know of the issue with the speaker of why I wasn't able to place my order since I Didn't get an answer.. instead of helping the young lady at the window still took five minutes more to open the window because she was busy texting on her phone and when she finally decided to open the window I explained to her the speaker situation and how I wasn't able to place my order because no one answered instead the young lady was rude to me and rolled her eyes at me and said the speaker was working I said no it's not when I was waiting for ten minute for someone to take my order she then decided to be rude and continue to lie and making me look like if I was crazy and lying I believe that as a customer this shouldn't be happening especially when it's not busy.. please baba saj work on your employees customer service and attitude.. they need to pay more attention to the customers and not their phones when being at work it's an inconvenience for costumers. Attitudes need to go!

My first time coming to this spot after hearing how good this place is. This is a long drive from where I live but the trip was well worth it. There is a drive thru which is what I used to order about $65 for dinner. I got 2 chicken shawarma wrap meals (comes with fries and assortment of pickles), steak shawarma meal, falafel wrap, dozen falafel, and the saj beef sfeha. Wow the chicken shawarma is very good! And surprisingly the saj beef sfeha was also very good. It reminded me a bit like taco meat you'd get from Taco Bell but seasoned with Arabic spices. The flavors were delicious. I would order this again. The falafel were huge and dense. Very crispy texture on the outside and smooth inside not as coarse as I'm used to eating them elsewhere. All the food is well seasoned and even can be a bit salty for some. I didn't mind. Even their fries are well seasoned. The garlic sauce is addictive! Overall I really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the fact I got to try the saj sfeha for the first time. I look forward to going back to try the zatar flatbread!

I have been coming here for years, the taste of authentic Shawarma never changes. They are really open 24 seven 365. They started putting less seasoning on the fries, but nevertheless, whenever I asked them to add extra seasoning they do or give me a side of that.

Absolutely horrible service. We were stared at the whole time by 3 employees. The 3 guys were standing staring at us and whispering the whole time. We didn't feel comfortable at all to eat our food and enjoy our time at this place. First and last time. I don't know if this is your first time seeing black people but c'mon get it together and treat people kindly!

They were good when they started but now the meat portion is smaller and more expensive I feel like I just had an onion sandwich

I heard this place was good, so decided to order a steak shawarma wrap to-go when I was in the area. I was able to request fries to be added inside the wrap, so that was cool. The meat was tender, and having fries inside the wrap was a nice touch. However, the sandwich was dry. I wish they added garlic sauce inside. And the bread seemed like tortilla bread, not thin pita as I had expected. Aside from that, service was friendly, and the interior seemed hip and trendy. The orders being served for dine-in looked good on the wooden platters. It was very busy when I went, so that's a good sign. I was confused by the signs that stated the restaurant is self-service, though. I'd say 3.5 stars overall. It would easily be 4 or maybe 4.5 stars if there was some sauce in the sandwich to counter the dryness.

Not so good quality food i ask something and my order get something els and Melted with lot White sauce.

Bad experience, did not like the customer service nor the food nor anything that combines with this company I completely regret spending my money here and I do not recommend anybody to this place

Chicken shawarma combo is my go to. Can't get enough of the French fries with garlic mayo.

Service: busy but it's fine. Self service- place an order and wait to pick up- take out or seat yourself. Overall clean tables, however bathroom could use more cleaning. Food: prices were worth the food quantity. Quality of food was fine.

All of the good stuff here from pitas to humongous platters of Middle Eastern food. Baba Saj is a favorite in the near suburbs and one of the best places in Palos Hills. It has lots of better healthy options. Good prices for the massive portions you get. This place is friendly to vegetarians and has many choices for plant based beyond just typical stuff like falafel and tabbouli. Because I've been to the one in Oak Hill, it was time to try the one in Palos Hills. It pretty much is a counter service restaurant where you place an order and they call you when it's ready. The Vegetarian Platter is an incredibly good value. It's $11.99 for so much food. This comes with the falafel, pitas, and 2 salads. Falafel was crispy without being burnt. These are also humongous pieces. Among the salads are some classic favorites. There's obvious ones like the baba ghannouch, grape leaves, hummus, Jerusalem salad, and tabbouli. Let meat eaters know there's chicken and lamb meat. There's lots to choose from such as the famous Middle Eastern pita sandwich called a shawarma. Baked goods such as baklava also are here. It has some pretty good sweets. The prices are kind of high on some items but the platters are among the area's best values.

They cheap out on the pickles and meat in my opinion it should be a little more packed otherwise taste is good

My friend recommended this place , and it was a big disappointment , the shawarma wrap was so small looked like kids meal size for $14 . I won't recommend this place to anyone and I won't go back

I've recently took a liking to Mediterranean food in the last few years and this place is one of the best that I've come across. I've visit their other location in Oak Lawn but the Palos location is it! I always get the steak shawarma meal. Steak is never under cooked or over cooked and ingredients are always fresh. Not to mention that it's open 24 hours so if there is a late night of kicking it, it's always open.

Love the fact that there is a drive thru. Always get the chicken shawarma meal, their garlic sauce is Weak though , needs more garlic and a little thicker please. Don't water it down and then charge me extra. On another note: Best falafels I've had in Chicago so far.

Their Chicken Swarma wrap may be as good as it gets at noon or midnight. Open 24 hours but at any hour it gives a family owned feel with professional service. Great job.

The food was ok. Came in for the first time to try cuz of the hype, and it wasn't bad but nothing amazing. The saj bread was closer to tortilla bread than actual saj, the shawarma flavor was missing something and I think it was their tahini sauce was not all that great. Service was ok also. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be back.

Best food best customer service the Dalia the girl she works the she the best. And the place so clean and the tea is great.

I tried mostly everything here and I am not a fan of anything but the zinger sandwich and the fries. The zinger meal is the best in there, overall the workers there are nice and customer service is pretty good.

My regular late night place to get food at but this time I found a hair in my fries. Come on y'all!

Can't believe this place is not nation wide yet. The food is really amazing, fresh and on point with flavor and service. The variety of food you get to choose is amazing, my favorite is the Che shawarma wrap, it's so juicy and delicious.

Took a roll today. Excellent service, nice, fresh food prepared in front of you. Very limited choice of soda. Could add some dessert. Clean and neat sitting area. Does brisk business. Would go there any time, again.

Great place to stop and grab a quick chicken wrap. I like that they allow you to customize wraps to your preference. I like adding a bit of hot sauce to mine. Fries are always crisp.

Took my mom there for the first time. We had the beef and chicken shawarma plate. It was very good and we especially liked the tahini and garlic sauce that came with the meals. We will be back soon!

Describing this as the best Shawarma in the States would be an understatement. Baba Saj is on par with a top-5 Shawarma restaurant in Jordan.

The actual chicken shawarma wasnt bad. Its the garlic sauce... im from LA and the garlic sauce we have here is the actual garlic paste that tastes fire. Their "sauce" was just weird. Wasnt for me

Bad service, I ordered chicken shawarma and i got a cold salty meat shawarma!!!! اذا مش قد انكم تفتحوا ٢٤ ساعه للخدمه لا تفتحوش اشي بيخزي الاكل استغفرالله حتى الحيوان ما بيقدر ياكله . .. راح احتفظ بالاكل لغايه بكره و راح ارجعه الكم و بدي قيمه الوجبه يا شاطرين

I happen to enjoy the food here especially the chicken shawarma meal. I like the garlic sauce and they also make a blend with shattah (middle eastern hot sauce) which is super tasty. Knocked two stars off for the rude ladies working drive thru. Lady with the head set screaming at customers who are ordering this is for you. To the owner, you should take a look at what your customers are saying. You know where there's a lot of smoke usually there's fire. The correlation being if the consensus amongst customers is that the employees are rude, well the employees need an attitude adjustment or Baba Saj needs more pleasant people working customer service. Middle eastern establishments please take this seriously and stop letting your own people ruin the integrity and reputation of your business.

4.5 easily. I found this place since I was in the neighbourhood and hungry at midnight. - The staff are friendly and nice - price is reasonable - open very late - food is fantastic and delicious! Good portions - everything tastes very well made.. like they put in the extra effort to make it well - falafel is excellent - music is good too I'd definitely be back here if I'm in the area.

Walked in after midnight. The shawarma is great. Honestly one of my favorite spots in Chicago for a good shawarma sandwich. The place was busy and people were sitting outside enjoying this great place.

I normally don't leave reviews BUTTTT Omg this place!!! Hands down killed it! I'm a very picky eater to begin with, and they surpassed my expectations. The price is great, the amount of food you get is a lot & they definitely don't cheap out when it comes to meat. Most places in this area, the hype is there but the meat is gamy. Boy oh boy this place definitely is not that, meat is flavorful and you get sooo much. We ordered the chicken shawarma wrap. steak bowl & the flat bread with olives! Did I mention omg! The food over all was great! Definitely driving 20 mins to come here again!

Food is good. Service not so much. Yall have to do better with the girls taking the orders. The portions are so much smaller now too. The last time i went my sandwich barely had any chicken in it.

Amazing Chicken Shawarma, awesome San sandwiches, made to order, friendly staff. Highly recommend

Visiting here from California to try different restaurants to see what tastes like back home and so I gave the chicken shawarma wrap a shot and it was delicious! The chicken was nice and juicy with the special sauce that comes with it makes it very good, wish California has the same!

I was convinced that my friends were marketing for this place because of how much they were sharing positive posts about Baba Saj. They genuinely loved this place and after hearing that they make their bread fresh, I couldn't wait to go there. I was elated to see that they had a drive-thru! Getting a traditional middle eastern breakfast flatbread rather than the usual fast food breakfast sandwich is such a great concept. To make things even better, the drive-thru is open 24/7. I ordered two flatbreads: the white cheese and the meat/sfeha. Both tasted fresh. For such simple ingredients, they were both very flavorful. I can't wait to go back and try their sandwiches next.

One of the best middle eastern joints in the area in my opinion. The food was amazing and the service equally good. Found this randomly and thought of trying it. And the trial was a huge success. Had the steak shawarma, the chicken shawarma and the zatar cheese flat bread. Each dish was fresh and tasted great. Another great halal place that you should not miss.

Excellent Shawarma plate and Gyro. Freshly made. Hummus is also excellent. Would highly recommend for Quick Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine.

terrible food, it was raw and had hair on my food. service was terrible. Really wasn't worth the drive..