Jibek Jolu Chicago Reviews

Not living too far away from Jibek Jolu, I had actually passed by it many times. Friends of ours picked this out because of the dumplings, so why not. The name of the restaurant, Jibek Jolu, means "silk road", which goes back to the storied trade routes through Central Asia during the times of Alexander the Great and later, Marco Polo. The food is Kyrgyzstan. And, yes, I had to find out how to spell it, before I could find the central Asian country officially known as the Kyrgyz Republic. It is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east. I think it is easier on the menu to put Central Asian restaurant. The restaurant is located on Lincoln Ave., about 1 1/2 blocks south of Foster, on the far northwest edge of Lincoln Square. There are only about fifteen tables, so if you are going with a group, you may want to check on availability. It is interesting on the menu that they have entrees in large and small portions, so we decided to do dinner here in a tapas style and try out a number of things and share. We were not disappointed. Our first selection was the Jibek Jolu special which was a salad with thinly sliced lengthwise cucumbers and pan fried beef marinated with garlic and soy sauce. I thought that the cool cucumbers along with the hot beef was really quite good. Then we ordered four plates. The manty which is dumplings stuffed with chopped beef and onions. Our second was the pelmeni which are triangular dumplings stuffed with ground beef. The third choice was golubci (in Poland, known as golumbki, or as we used to call them "pigs in the blanket".), which are cabbage rolls with rice and ground beef inside. The fourth choice was vareniki which are crescent shaped dumplings stuffed with mashed potatoes. Surprisingly, the five of us were actually filled when we were done and none of us had any room for dessert. When we received the bill, we were also pleasantly surprised, as well. For as much of the delicious food was that we ate, the bill was only $51.00. Our server was very nice, helpful and informative. My only complaint was the lack of diet Coke, as they only serve Coke & Sprite. Hopefully, that was because they had run out. This was a great choice for dinner and to meet with friends. I'm sure that we'll be back.

We have been there about 4 times and with different people and not once have we been disappointed! The salads (avocado with shrimp & the JJ special) both are excellent! Love the lula kebabs and shashlik...we always bring some home. It’s a small place and They are always busy so a reservation is highly recommended. The icing on the cake is that it’s a byob...enough said 😉

Went with my husband to check it out while in Chicago. It did not disappoint! The food was very good. I had a veggie pie (best way to describe it without knowing the name of it), some crepes filled with lots of cheese, and several cups of delicious tea. easonably priced and very good service.

The food is very delicious. From the taste it was obvious that the meat was fresh. The meats were slowly cocked. The soup was very good.

As of the time of this review, I was trying to find and get to know some hidden gems of Chicago, as well as doing and seeing things very different or almost impossible to find in my home country. Of course, food is included. Jibek Jolu is a central-Asian restaurant and I had no idea of what to expect. Besides a few words in Russian, all I knew was the geography pf the place. Turns out people there have a good taste in food actually. I started with a Chebureki (fried pie with lamb, pretty similar to Brazilian Pastel) and a Stuffed Blini, a Russian pancake with beef, the last one being very good. The one thing that got more of my attention on the menu was the Mongolian Beef. It was indeed a good choice, very good meat, but for some reason it got cold quickly. Overall, the food was above what I expected. I must say that what I liked the most was the Kompot juice. It is of some very clear pink color and looks like it is basically just water with some juice in it, but it is actually a very good combination of some fruits. If you like to mix things, go for it. For anyone looking for something different (as for most this would be different), you've just found it.

The best food I ever had! Warm atmosphere and excellent service! We enjoyed dining with them.As well, the restaurant was very clean. Thanks!

I had the laugman and salad and jerovnia and permeni. (noodle vegetable soup, salad, fajita, boil meat ravioli). A great and delicious bit of Central Asia food. The food is good quality and I highly recommend it.

Chicago has always been and will always be a city populated with immigrants. One shouldn't come to Chicago without exploring the rich offering of ethnic restaurants and Jibek Jolu should be on the top of your list. The first and only Central Asian (i.e. Kyrghyzstani) restaurant, there is a wealth of Russian and Mongol-influenced outstandingly tasting dishes. Bite into your first appetizer and the flavors explode in your mouth. Taste one of the soups and entrees and, just when you thought you've tried the best-tasting thing you've ever eaten, you're surprised with something even better. Don't expect haute cuisine or decor here. Make no mistake, this is a stereotypical hole-in-the-wall restaurant--good food, very reasonable prices, but a store front with minimal decor. No alcohol is served and BYOB is not allowed. Instead, try one of their ethnic drinks and enjoy.

This was our first time at a Kyrgyz restaurant. We ordered a variety of items and shared family style. Regretfully we could not try any dumpling dishes - they were all out! The service was adequate. Prices are very reasonable. Be warned - servings are very large.

This is a wonderful treat into asian cuisine with a Russian overtone - people are from Kazakhstan and have wonderful menu items you won't find elsewhere

Fabulous food! Can’t recommend it more highly. We sampled several dishes and all were delicious. The Tashkent tea is also wonderful - don’t miss it. This is a great little neighborhood place that was out of our way, but we’ll worth the trek. Will be going again the next time I’m in Chicago.

Used to live in Chicago and brought some friends from WA to this place. The food is amazing, the service is great, and the prices are good. Wish we had a place like this where we live now. When going with a group, highly recommend ordering a few different things and sharing.

It has been thirteen years since we adopted our son from Kazakhstan, and we were so excited to try this place! I can honestly say I have never had better food in my life. Inexpensive, and every single dish was amazing! Great atmosphere and very friendly. Highly recommend! Also if you are wanting to bring kids and not sure what to order, you can’t go wrong with blini or manty.

I took my fiance to this restaurant as a surprise. She just entered the US for the first time from Kyrgyzstan and absolutely loved the restaurant. I loved it as well. The food was fresh, large, and delicious. Fully plan on going again. Central asian food is beginning to get into the limelight of popularity. Wouldn't be surprised if this restaurant becomes the place to go to enjoy wholesome meals.

Fabulous fine on Lincoln Ave. Food is a wonderful combination of Eastern European, Indian and Asian flavors. It's not fusion but Kyrgystani food. We had two types of dumplings filled with ground meat and flavored with vegetables and dill. They were wonderful with homemade sourcream. Salads were similiar to Greek salads (minus feta) but flavored with cilantro (ala Asian flavors). Prices were very inexpensive. They seemed to do a lot of carry out which I can understand. Why cook when a wonderful appetizer came be three dollars or have a main course for a couple of dollars more. Not a big selection of drinks and they do not have a liquor license. Next time I will remember to bring a nice beer to enjoy.

Jibek Jolu which means "Silk Road" brings the cuisine of Kyrgyzstan to Chicago. With influences from Russia, Turkey, India, Korea, and China this is food everyone needs to try! A delicious part of my meal was the egg salad type appetizer! Yum! I ordered the Oroma, the traditional steamed pie made with minced potatoes, onions and pumpkin in a long thin wrap. WOW! Nothing like I expected it to be like and it was so yummy and I even took the rest home and it held up well in the toaster oven! I also tried the Vareniki, a russian dish of crescent shaped dumplings stuffed with mashed potatoes served with sour cream - pretty great. Cute little place and of course - BYOB! I thought the food was excellent, portions large and the service from a single waitress for a group of 25 was great.

We've been curious about food of this region and a friend discovered Jibek Jolu online. Their website had photos of the dishes on the menu. The three of us decided to try it. On a bitterly cold winter night we found street parking right in front of the restaurant. There were only a few occupied tables at 6:30 pm but they were doing a good takeout business from a window facing the kitchen. It was fortunate we had studied the menu because our waitress had little English, being a recent arrival from Kazakhstan. We ordered the big plate of assorted traditional dishes which featured several types of dumplings, a shredded cabbage dish, plov, lagman noodles with beef, and a couple other items to sample as much as possible. We also had "Jibek Jolu special" salad, a dish of plov (a rice dish flavored with meat and veggies) and lagman with lamb (hand-pulled noodles with a separate tomato-ey, vinegary sauce). The food came quickly. It was a plentiful amount, quite tasty and filling. It was not at all spicy, altho there was a small glass condiment jar of ground red chilis on the table to spice up the dishes, if desired. I tried it but didn't think it had much of a kick. The salad was our favorite, served cooked, which was a surprise. We would have shared a slice of honey cake for dessert but they were out of it. The decor is cosy, with the ceiling meant to evoke a yurt and Asian-design wall hangings. By the time we left at 8:30, the place was nearly full. Most of the patrons appeared to be of Asian descent, so the food must be pretty authentic. We thought it was a worthwhile experience. Go with several people, get a variety of dishes and share them.

Had a dinner with 18 attendees last night (Friday). There have been some slow service comments, after last night I have to believe that this is due to cooking from scratch. Wait staff was VERY friendly and made very good suggestions as to how much to order for our group. We did a lot of splitting of items so that we could try more, sort of Kyrgyz tapas approach. For the record, here is what we dined on: Chebureki - Fried pie filled with lamb Samsy - Oven baked pie stuffed with chopped beef and onions Korean Carrot - Spicy carrot with garlic mixed in extra virgin olive oil Oromo - Traditional steamed pie made with minced potatoes, onions, cabbage and carrots in a long thin wrap Manty - Steamed dumplings stuffed with freshly chopped beef, onions and pumpkin While I thought all the dishes were delicious, I very much liked the Korean Carrot, Chebureki, Manty, these items really stood out. I was surprised at how light the dishes were, I expected to be bogged down. I am looking forward to going again and having some of the hits from last night as well as trying some new dishes such as the Jibek Jolu Special (salad) and Lagman (gafan). Our group as well as other tables were BYOB

What a find! Food was very unique. I especially liked the dumplings, rice, and honey cake desert. Very comfortable atmosphere and equally comfortable service. Worth the trip to the Lincoln Square area for a special meal ..... and street parking was easily available!

I was excited to try this place, have never had Kyrgyz food before. Overall it was a good experience. the restaurant isn't that large of a place, maybe about 12-15 tables, the feel was very comfortable, and the decor was very cool, it actually felt like you were in Central Asia. the staff was great, they were very patient with us, guided us thru the menu and also helped us with pronouncing the names of the items on the menu (we completely butchered the names lol). the food was very good, I had ordered the Borsh and Jarovnya Beef. the portions were large, and the meat was cooked to perfection. I will definitely be back to try more items on the menu

I went with a former exchange student from Kyrgyzstan to experience food from her country. We ordered Jibek Jolu "the Silk Road" special salad, Funcheza, steamed Manty (dumpling) Plov and Samsy. I recommend then all. It is a cozy place with Kyrgyz decorations.

We visited Jibek Jolu in hopes of finding familiar Asian/Russian foods and we did. We ordered belyashi, chebureki, manty, borsch, golubtci, tefteli, lagman and all of that was delicious and affordable. The restaurant was clean and comfy, Russian pop music channel was on TV and the service was fast and courteous. We will definitely come back for another shot of nostalgia cure.

One of the most unique ethnic restaurants anyplace, maybe our 5th time here. We recently had friends in, looking for a unique dining choice, and even though this was a half hour from their downtown hotel, we brought them here. Definitely worth it! Avocado salad a favorite, also the boscht. Hard to pass up the hand-pulled noodles (lagman...we prefer with lamb, but beef also great). Many many wonderful choices on the menu; I got the assorted traditional dishes (yet again), because that way you get a taste of lots of them and they're all good. Very reasonable pricing. BYOB. Friendly staff--recognized us even though it had been 4+ months since the last time. We love love love this place! And not expensive, either ($86 before tip for four, including a pot of tea).

We go here every few months for a long BYOB dinner with friends. They have tables of different sizes that accommodate small and large groups. They don’t rush you, so you can enjoy a long evening without feeling like you are holding them back. The food is delicious. I have tried almost everything on the menu, and everything is good. We usually get a few things to share. My favorite is Lagman soup. This review is for the Lincoln Square location. I think they also have a downtown location, but I haven’t been there.

Been waiting to try this Central Asian (Russian-Mongol-Krysygstani) food for a while...and was better than pleased with everything. Good homemade noodles, lamb and beef turnovers. Pelmeni dumplings as good as anywhere. Simple place, reasonable prices...you won't be disappointed. Another wonderful immigrant addition to our long Chicago tradition. Waiting to go back!

I can't attest to the authenticity, but I enjoyed everything we ate there. It is like China, India, and Russia had a beautiful food-baby. This one of the things I love about exploring new foods, you can taste the influence of all the cultures along the Silk Road. The history that makes this food is marvelous. Fusion food before it was a thing. The wheat drink is something that should be tried at least once. You might not want to go back to it, but you should try it. The background is provided by Kyrgz music videos, which I found fascinating and entertaining.

The only Kirgis restaurant in Chicago proved to be a real disappointment on our recent visit. We had our expectations pretty high, but sadly none of the dishes worked for us. Some of it (but not all) perhaps could be explained by a peculiar day of our visit – next day after Christmas. Was the main chef having a day off? I do not know. Chebureki (which were our first choice for appetizer) were not available so we settled on Samsy (oven baked pies stuffed with chopped beef and onions). Unfortunately 3 out of 4 happen to be burned, which is not good of course. Another appetizer Blinchiki, advertized as made in Russian style small light pancake served with sour crème, were a huge disappointment. Blinchiki were prepared not in Russian style at all. Everything was wrong including the choice of dough. Korean Carrot was pleasant enough, but Beshbarmak was remarkably lacking in flavor. Admittedly, I had never tried this traditional Kyrgis dish before, but served boiled diced meat mixed with boiled noodles with some stew added, was completely unimpressive. In contrast to Beshbarmak, Plov, which is a cult dish not only in Kyrgistan but all over the Central Asia, is well known to us. We have enjoyed it many times both in Uzbekistan and USA. Alas, the Plov which was served to us this day in Jibek Jolu had very little in common with a famous Plov served in former Russian republics. It was tasteless, uninspired and bland. The service was friendly, but inefficient. When we came in, only a couple of tables were occupied, but gradually the restaurant was getting full. The only waitress, as much as she tried, was unable to take orders, serve the dishes and clean the tables in timely manner. She did not have time to refill our tea cups or to remove used dishes. With so many good restaurants in Chicago, we would not come back.

This restaurant has 2 locations. We went to the one on Oak str. If you don't know about this place, you will never find it. It's small and located in the end of a street. The sign is so tiny, we didn't even noticed it at first. It is a kazakh restaurant and most people there are local kazakhs. But the food is great! If you want a taste of a hot home cooked meal, you should go. The food is middle eastern.The menu is big and they have a variety.

Interesting little local Central Asian eatery. Kyrgyz cuisine offers one of the most interesting hybrid of indigenous, Mongolian, Korean, Russian, Turkish, Middle-Eastern fares that belie its historical “Silk Road” heritage. Try any of the tandoori dishes, kebabs, traditional Kyrgyz offerings. I love the Korean Carrot Salad and order it every time I dine at this establishment. Space is limited. Seating can be hit or miss. If you are looking for something different- this place might hit the spot!

We happened on this place and tried it. Liked it so much we came back a second night with friends, and will bring more later this week. The food is "central Asian". That means there are dishes that are Slavic (like the borscht, which had a broth redolent with flavor, meat, veggies, and a dollop of sour cream and bits sauce of fresh dill). Some are found in western china (like the Langan, which is a hand-pulled noodle with different kinds of sauces available). There are also really delicious salads--eg, avocado salad has chunks of avocado, chunks of tomato, cucumber, dill--a very very distant cousin of guacamole. Tandoor chicken was succulent and flavorful, can't say exactly what it was flavored with; not like Indian tandoor...more a marinated flavor. Wait staff is sweet beyond belief. It takes a bit of patience to explain what you want sometimes. Seems like many many more of the patrons are from Kurdistan, and there will be families with young kids, young guys being with other young guys, and not too many ordinary Chicagoans. To me, that's just part of the fun. Going there the first time? Get an assorted traditional dinner dish. All of it was good. You can sample almost everything. Good value. Lots of food...one of those plus an appetizer enough for two people. Inexpensive too. About $50 plus tip for two our second time. It's a BYOB, so that saves too. (There's a liquor store with decent selections and prices a 3 minute walk away. )

The chickeb salad was WAY toos salty. Send it back, and the second attempt was still barely edible from too much salt. And we like salty foods. Beef and cucumber salad was ok, Cabbage roll and dumplings were good. The service was painfully slow and inattentive. Always interesting to try new foods, but no reason to return here.

Being from out of town, I assumed restaurants in Chicago would be open later than out in the sticks. Not so here. The kitchen closed at 7:30, the restaurant at 8:00. We arrived at 7:20, not knowing of the early closing hour. The waiter told us that we would have plenty of time to eat. By 8:10 they were shooing all the customers out of the restaurant. We shoveled in the last of our food and headed out. This restaurant has a smaller menu than the one in Glenview. We loved everything we had, especially the Samsy and Vareniki. The Plov, Lagman gan fan and kuurdak were all very good as well. I would have given 5 stars, but being rushed out of the restaurant after being told that we would have plenty of time to eat, kind of ruined the mood.

I had never had Kyrgyzstani food before trying this place on a friend's recommendation. We had a big group of 10 or so, and they took a reservation for us earlier that day and got us seated right away. The wait staff was very helpful and helped us pick out a bunch of dishes to have family style. The waitstaff was very friendly and helpful and after they brought us an extra couple of dishes by accident, they let us keep them for free! The food is an interesting mix between eastern European and Middle Eastern, which I suppose makes sense. We especially loved the kuurdak beef which is savory and salty, the grilled skewers which are perfectly fire grilled and tender, the tangy and savory Jibek Jolu special salad, the herbal and refreshing carrot sald, and the fried beef pastry appetizer that I forget the name of. All of it was very good--very hearty and filling, not spicy at all though, FYI. The prices are also extremely reasonable--dishes are between $8-20 and we ordered probably a total of 12-15 dishes and it ended up being only about $25 per person with tax and 20% gratuity. Great find!

I believe this may be the only Kyrgyz restaurant in Chicago area, if not in Illinois. It is not a fancy one but has good home-cooked type food. Menu seems to have influences of the Russian,Mongol and Turkish (plus a few others?) cousines. We had samsy,Korean carrot salad,manty and plov and recommend them all. For drinks airan (yoghurt drink) is very good. We liked both the honey cake and baklava. Service was fine. It is a small restaurant. We went early on a Saturday night with reservations, but there were empty tables. The restaurant is near N.Lincoln and Foster and parking on the street was easy(You can park very near on the east side of Lincoln). Prices are very reasonable. We paid $42 for 2 including tax and tip. No alcohol or BYOB. If you want to try unique and tasty food, this is the place.

Amazing food...small intimate setting. One of our favorite places to go when we visit Chicago! If you can't make up your mind the traditional sampler is wonderful. All of the starters are good!

Having lived nearly a full year in Kazakhstan, I can attest that Jibek Jolu's cuisine is very authentic and true to the native cuisine. Every bite of what we ordered was pure perfection and completely brought me back to the 'Stans!! The staff were all highly attentive, friendly, and professional. Service was quick. The interior was cozy and warmly decorated. Central Asian is the last frontier of Asian cuisine----in the 80's and 90's it was all about Chinese and Japanese. Then came Thai and Vietnamese as the "cool" food to be eating. Central Asian has yet to be discovered by the mainstream "foodies". This is the last frontier of awesome food that your friends have never heard of!

We dined here with friends and didn't know what to expect. Our Russian friends did all the ordering (the staff speaks Russian and English), which was great, as we were unfamiliar with most of the menu items. Appetizers of Chebureki (Fried pie filled with lamb) and Stuffed Blini (Russian style small light stuffed pancakes, with ground beef, vegetables or tvorog) were hearty and tasty. We also enjoyed the carrot salad and a great aspic dish that I don't recall the name of. The entrees were various pastries stuffed with meats and/or vegetables, as well as stewed lamb. The restaurant is BYOB with no corkage fee. It is a small place, seating perhaps 30 or 40 tops. The service was excellent. .

It's Worth The Trip What a find! Food was very unique. I especially liked the dumplings, rice, and honey cake desert. Very comfortable atmosphere, but service spotty (waitress was in the kitchen on her mobile; I had to retrieve her to get the check) and equally comfortable service. Worth the trip to the Lincoln Square area for a special meal ..... and street parking was easily available

My rating is only average, but that may be unfair to this quaint little restaurant. It's just that I don't have a lot of experience with this type of ethnic food. My wife and I were on a Russian cruise in 2014 where we tried various local dishes. We were celebrating our daughter's birthday, and she selected this restaurant on a whim. We went there for an early dinner on a Sunday. One of the first things I noticed were a good number of people dining there who were speaking Russian, and more came in after us. That can be a good sign--they are coming in for the food that they like. We were pleasantly greeted by one of the waitresses. Service might be considered slow, but my wife and I noticed while in Russia that food servers don't hover over tables but come as soon as you motion for them. That seemed to be the case here. Our waitress didn't come to the table as often as is typical in the US, but came as soon as we called for her. We ordered an appetizer plate of pelmeni, something we enjoyed while in Russia. My wife and I both had a bowl of chicken soup with pelmeni (I said we enjoyed it). One daughter had a bowl of kesme. The soups were hot and hardy. Dinners were veraniki, the beef kabob, and two other dishes I unfortunately cannot recall the names. Sorry--just not used to this type of cuisine. But I can say that none of us had any complaints. We shared the dishes and were quite happy with this spur of the moment selection of a restaurant. The bill was more than reasonable for dinner for four people. We left there full and satisfied. Since it's only my daughter who lives in the area I cannot say that we will return here, but we certainly would not be opposed to coming back should the chance arise. Since the locals, who by appearances are immigrants to Chicago, seem to like this place, I suggest you give it a try as well.

The four of us had different dishes and each was very happy with their order. I had Borsch (hot) and Solomon fish. All was done to perfection.

This is eastern european/ western asian comfort good. I still can't tell you what we had but I can tell you it was served quickly and it was very tasty and worth a second visit to try a remember what we eat.

As a former Peace corps volunteer who spent over two years in this Central Asian country, I was excited about visiting this tiny restaurant. The restaurant resembles one of which would be in the country, authentic decor inside with servers (and time of my visit patrons too) from the country. The menu was an eclectic mix of not only Kyrgyzstan food, and they serve the same delicious bread with every meal. I ordered the lagman, pasta was tasty, but the meat was a little dry. Other than that I would say definitely worth a visit especially if you are interested in trying something different.

Small, cute restaurant with tasty dishes. We started with green tea served in a cute purple teapot. My husband had the Samsy app (baked pastry filled with beef and onions), which he liked a lot (1 serving = 1 Samsy). He then had the Pelmeni soup, with about 12 small beef filled dumplings. As his main dish, he had the Plov with beef (yes, he loves beef). Tons of rice, not that much meat, but he loved it. I had the Manty (steamed), which was good, but a hefty portion (5, so my husband ate 2 of them). I ate them with the sour cream that came with my husband's soup instead of the priprava sauce with which it was served. Service was fast and friendly. Definitely go there hungry to take advantage of the large portions.

Four of us, devotees of ethnic restaurants, tried the Jibek Jolu in order to try Kirghiz food (two of us are passionate about Persian and Afghan food). The restaurant is a very casual, informal storefront restaurant on Lincoln Avenue. Service was friendly and casual. The Samsy appetizer was great but the entrees were just OK - we tried Manti, Plov and stuffed cabbage. Three of our group said "never again" while the fourth wanted to return. If interested in Kirghiz or central Asian food give it a try but don't have excessive expectations. Parking is on street and was easy for both parties.

The food was all excellently prepared and was what I was hoping for. Something different from the usual but accessible for outsiders. Jibek Jolu delivered on both counts. The service wasn't what you'd get at a typical restaurant, but you're not here for the service. You're here for the food. And it's amazing. If you like things that are not ordinary as a treat, this place is not to be missed. The lagman and Jibek Jolu special salad are amazing. The salad will stretch what you think of as a salad in a very good way.