Lincoln Park’s Lebanese-Mexican Restaurant Runs Out of Meals on Opening Day

Evette’s, a Lebanese-Mexican restaurant that developed from a chef’s enthusiasm in tracing his household’s roots and melding them with a love from Mexican meals, has opened in Lincoln Park. Chef Mitchell AbouJamra is joined by co-conspirator chef Rafa Esparza (Finom Espresso, Dorian’s) in serving shawarma, kofta meatball subs, and taco arabes. AbouJamra is utilizing household recipes for fattoush and mixing previous and new faculties for objects like pita nachos.

The concept is to current these mixed Lebanese and Mexican flavors in a fashion acquainted to Chicagoans. The town’s has a whole bunch of sizzling canine stands (the tenant previous to Evette’s was The Canine Joint), and the ritual of watching staff inside an open kitchen grill, boil, or deep fry sizzling canine is a daily happenstance in Chicago. That’s the environment that AbouJamra and Esparza are attempting to recreate. However as an alternative of encased meats, clients will see trompos rotating within the background with meats on a spit.

Esparza says opening day on Thursday was profitable that they ran out of meals in two hours. That’s a great signal because the duo hopes they’ll open extra eating places whereas educating the general public, to present them a lesson in culinary anthropology. Esparza believes Individuals give the Spanish an excessive amount of credit score for the nation’s affect on Mexican delicacies. It’s time to place a highlight on the individuals who have been there earlier than these colonists.

However studying will be enjoyable, because the cooks have added quesabirria to the menu, a tacky taco that’s gaining reputation this summer season in large cities throughout the nation. Whereas the recipes are time honored handed on generations by AbouJamra’s household, Evette’s menu goals to permit the cooks to be inventive and so as to add objects on the fly.

Evette’s is now open for takeout with restricted seating in Lincoln Park, a number of toes west from the Park West theater. They’ll be open 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. till Monday when the restaurant will change to common hours.

Evette’s, 350 W. Armitage Avenue, now open; common hours begin Monday, October 19 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.