B3 is coming at you with local business bites! We want you to find out about cool spots near your home that you can try out, but let us give you the deets before you go. Our first spot is located in Wicker Park on 1558 Milwaukee Ave. It's in a prime location near cool clothing stores, bars, and parks!
Taxim
Taxim is a Greek restaurant with fresh and locally picked produce as well as butchered meats and fish straight from Greece.
The restaurant itself was very humble and cozy. The rooftop was super cute and featured flowers and plants, perfect for pictures. We would love to come back at night time when the twinkle lights are lit up!
We were not too sure how the food would be because we did not check the reviews and there was only one reservation in the area available. So, this was a gamble considering none of us had really had true Greek food before. Naturally we used our handy yelp accounts to find pictures of the dishes they had. Everything looked good, some better than others. We were just curious on what everything would taste like.
I could tell the group was skeptical of the place we chose, but once the first few plates came out it was a pleasant surprise. When I tell you EVERYTHING we ordered was fantastic.
We shared the KAISÁREIAS PEYNIRLÍ, (pictured above) which is a flat bread with beef pastourmas, kasseri cheese, egg, and coriander. It was the first dish we tried and we absolutely smashed it! The dough was buttery and flaky. The cheese had a mild flavor that paired extremely well with the beef pastourmas. Honestly this was the best flatbread I have eaten from a restaurant. I would definitely try this again!
5/5 STARS - KAISÁREIAS PEYNIRLÍ
Our main dish was the DUCK GÝRO. This dish was very tasty as well. The flavor of the duck was good. I've eaten duck and it's usually chewy and tough but this was far from that and easy to eat. The main character in this dish for me was the Kappadokia Fries! These were by far some of the best fries I have ever tried and that's hard to top the other contenders I have had! The fries were seasoned and fried to a crisp. There was an unmistakable crunch with every bite and inside were glorious soft potatoes. It tasted even better with the yogurt sauce which mellowed out the spices.
4.5/5 STARS- Duck Gyro
We did try their drink menu and got a drink that featured lemon but the name leaves my memory. It was an honorable mention but not a fan favorite. ⅖ Stars
Our Friend ordered the ARNÍ YUVETSÁKI ME KRITHARÁKI. This dish is a FALL OF THE BONE braised lamb shank paired with orzo, myzíthra, and yogurt. Our friend Lee thoroughly enjoyed his plate, he stated that it was really yummy. I tried a small bite and definitely agreed that they did their thing in the kitchen with this one. The bone literally fell off and the meat was juicy and flavorful.
Lee rated his dish...
5/5 stars - ARNÍ YUVETSÁKI ME KRITHARÁKI
Would definitely recommend anyone to try this dish!
Nick ordered the KOTÓPOULO STO FOÚRNO which was an oven roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes with lemon and Greek oregano. He said the chicken was juicy and had great flavor.
Nick gave it...
5/5 stars - KOTÓPOULO STO FOÚRNO
All in all, we definitely will come back and try more dishes from Taxim. We give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars, the wait time could have been better and the drink would have pushed it to 5 stars if it was not tart. However, we will say this is a great place to try out Greek food if you have never had it before! It is a must try in the Wicker Park area!
