Baba Saj- Contemporary Middle Eastern w/ a Drive-Thru-2!

In the area near Harlem Avenue near Burbank, Palos Hills- from "the '80's to the 100's" South are a plethora of amazing Middle-Eastern Food establishments.
From Iraqi to Jordanian to Yemenite-branded places, it would take a dedicated -team-of Foodies many-months to try them all!

On a tip from a Middle-Eastern (Jordanian origin) Messenger
that came to my Workshop (Shukran- my friend!) I would like to share Baba Saj.
Apparently- based on research from their menu- "Saj" is a flat bread
with stuff atop it.
Cooked atop a custom-made convex-shaped floor-standing griddle- a device
I'd never seen before! (https://www.davidlebovitz.com/lebanese- ... aj-baking/)
It appears that "Saj"- not only describes the device/convex Griddle heated from below- but also describes the product made with aforementioned Griddle.

From standard-issue toppings like Zatar (really, really good!) - or Melted Yellow or White Arabic Cheese are highlighted with a choice of toppings from black-olive slices (meh- not "tribal" enough for me) to Bologna or Hot Dog slices
to Beef/Sfeha to Zatar with Cheese to Labneh with Green Olives (now that's what I shoulda ordered!) to Labneh w/ Bologna (nah- I'll pass) to Muhammara- the tasty Red Pepper/Eggplant dip I've made before often flavored with Pomegranate Syrup!)

Baba Saj- worth a trip to eat contemporary-Middle Eastern Fast Food-thats really amazingly tasty! by R. Kramer, on Flickr
Here's their "work-station".....
The Schwarma is quite good- I had the Chicken Schwarma in a Griddled Wrap- filled with Pickles and Toum .

Like Schwarma? Go here! Baba Saw- Palos Hills, Illinois.....More Jordanians and Palestinians populate this section of Chicagoland than in The Kingdom!
Look at the size of these Schwarma's!

Baba Saj-worth a trip to eat contemporary Middle Eastern Fast Food-thats really amazingly tasty!

Baba Saj
10442 S, Harlem Ave.
Palos Hills, IL. 60465
708.741.7183
http://www.babasaj.com

I would have walked out after seeing all of those maskless workers. Glad it was good, hope no one gets COVID.

chgoeditor wrote:I would have walked out after seeing all of those maskless workers. Glad it was good, hope no one gets COVID.

Yikes! Lots of chin diapers.

=R=

Yikes! Lots of chin diapers.

&

chgoeditor wrote:I would have walked out after seeing all of those maskless workers. Glad it was good, hope no one gets COVID.

It's always a "risk"- eating Food (or drinking a Craft Cocktail) that another human prepared.
If these two &others-
knew -
what happened before their food was plated (or Packed for take-away)
many would not eat out.

As to COVID19 transmission- Airborne Virus may indeed be indoors- anywhere.
And- it's odds of transmissibility from exposure like this,
hasn't been cited in enough Scientific Literature to verify transmission
of enough Viral Load.

Isn't this site about FOOD!?
I see no reason to harp on someones Face-Mask Positioning- when most of America still refuses to even wear a Face Mask, (correctly).
* if you are in Logan Square, Andersonville or Lincoln Park,
where people on their DIVVY Bikes do-
indeed wear a Mask-24/7-
that's not "The America" to which I am referring.

I believe that of you ate from their Drive-Thru-Window-
as many of their Customers do-
you would never know of "how" their Food Safety Protocol looked.
Had I only shared pictures of the Food-
which I didn't - you would never had made those insidious snarky remarks.
I find it offensive to a Audience of alleged Food-centric-readers-
to have snarky remarks about Face Masks promoted and endorsed by
a Moderator of this Message Board-
before ever eating their amazing product.

Look- 2020's been a rough year, for all of us, from Politics to Race to Economic Collapse, to The Loss of an Industry(s).
Please let's allow ourselves to be comforted by FOOD- and
not find ways to attack the messenger. If,
you are so worried- don't leave your house. Don't allow anyone to share Thanksgiving in your home. And be sure to wear an N-95 Mask, and not some Chin Gaiter or Bandanna.

Hombre de Acero wrote:Please let's allow ourselves to be comforted by FOOD- and
not find ways to attack the messenger.

Hombre De Copo de Nieve
Take a breath, and that's not meant not in a snarky way, either. Nobody attacked the messenger that I can read into. Also, please don't infer anything other than humor in how I wrote your handle / screen name in this response. Admit it, it's funny. I don't know anything about you, other than I like your posts, but going from Hombre De Acero to that, c'mon, that's funny. I pride myself on being able to take as much shit as I dish out, so you can make fun of me, too.

I will say, that I was very happy to read about a place down that way. That whole area is just a gem. I was at several of the markets just last night. I'll also say that in the places I was, there was about 50-50 masking, which kind of alarmed me into a get in/get out mentality. If this is airborne and highly transmittable, it just seems so simple of a thing to do to help protect other people and yourself.

And we are deciding soon if we are cancelling our big bird day gathering. We are happy, healthy, relatively young, no need to take any chances with ourselves or other family members that might not be so lucky. I'll just echo another poster who said, "Hope nobody got Covid" and that's not in a snarky way, either. I'll spare you the stories from the handful of nurses in my extended family. I know a few people that have tested positive, but are since fine, and only one got really bad, but didn't get to the point of needing a ventilator in their hospital stay. My favorite quote is:

"If you don't like a simple mask, you're gonna really hate a ventilator."

Keep posting, I like your posts. I'm assuming you are decent human being, and not a copo de nieve - that was just humor.

Haha, that seems like an overreaction. But it's fair to say

chgoeditor wrote:I would have walked out after seeing all of those maskless workers.

was too.

It's just the one girl working the drive-thru in photos that look moments apart. It hardly looks endemic within the staff. It's kind of condescending in a way that suggests Hombre is beneath you for not being similarly vigilant. Everybody who is that on guard is all but guaranteed to take note themselves.

Hombre de Acero wrote:I find it offensive to a Audience of alleged Food-centric-readers- to have snarky remarks about Face Masks promoted and endorsed by
a Moderator of this Message Board-

So, because I'm a moderator I'm not allowed to state my opinion? Or is it just that it doesn't line up with yours? You posted a picture of people working in a commercial foop prep situation who were not wearing masks (correctly). For me, I don't care how good the food might be, that's 100% a deal-breaker.

No one's telling you or anyone else to not patronize this business but please, don't shoot the messenger. If you wanted to tout this business, perhaps you should have chosen the pictures you posted more carefully.

=R=

It's up to the owners to establish protocol and if they're not it's legit to point that out. For many it's a dealbreaker (kinda like a dirty bathroom). If a place in a restaurant that's in plain view is dirty or non compliant imagine what it's like behind the scenes. For me, if all staff are not masked I'm gone. Fwiw, I have not nor would I consider eating indoors.

bweiny wrote:Haha, that seems like an overreaction. But it's fair to say

chgoeditor wrote:I would have walked out after seeing all of those maskless workers.

was too.

It's just the one girl working the drive-thru in photos that look moments apart. It hardly looks endemic within the staff. It's kind of condescending in a way that suggests Hombre is beneath you for not being similarly vigilant. Everybody who is that on guard is all but guaranteed to take note themselves.

I count 4 noses.

Woman working the register
Guy with the red and white head wrap
Guy with the black and white checked head band
Guy by the shawarmas

At least three of the kitchen staff were not wearing masks at all last night (to say nothing of partial masking). Good stuff here, but enter at your own risk. (Same story at Shibam up the street.)