#113: Elia's Mediterranean Restaurant

I feel the need to preface this post by saying that I had not even heard of falafel until I got to college. Actually, several years into college. That being said, I cannot recommend this restaurant enough, and, although I'm an admitted neophyte, this place is, without question, the best Mediterranean food around (please enlighten me if I'm wrong or if I'm inadvertently leaving some worthy restaurant out!).

Elia's serves a wide variety of that Mediterranean-style cuisine including the aforementioned falafel, gyros, shish kabobs, and much more. If you like hummus, my friend swears by their recipe as well as the baba ghannouge (an eggplant puree similar to hummus; don't worry I had to ask too).  They are open for both lunch and dinner, and the service is unfailingly friendly.

I can't write about Elia's without mentioning their great move and re-design combo of the past year. Elia's has been open since 2000; initially in a location on 933 close to Roseland. Since May of this past year, however, they have been located on South Bend Avenue. I had been once to their previous location and just recently visited their new address for the first time. While the quality of the food has remained unfailingly high, I was incredibly impressed by the decor and ambiance of the South Bend Ave. location and give the restaurant high marks for initiating such a big change.

Location:  2128 South Bend Avenue
Hours:  Lunch  11:00am-2:00pm     Dinner  4:00pm-9:00pm
Visit their website here to browse through the menu.

Tip:  In case you're as inexperienced as I was:
Falafel: (noun) 1. A spicy mixture of ground vegetables such as chick-peas or fava beans shaped into balls and fried. (Ed. note- It's great.)