Sahara Palace Mediterranean Restaurant

I'm so happy to stumble upon this place after a random Google search for local restaurants. I came in not knowing exactly what I wanted but I love food adventures and trying new things. My server was more than willing to surprise me with the crowd favorites and everything was fresh and full of flavor! I will definitely be back to explore more on the menu!

I came here before order the falafel sandwich with my Dad and it was great. The owner suggest to come back and try one of the platters. Which we did. We ordered the Kebab combo platter and it was amazing! My Dad loved it too and he's a very picky on food. The place is nice and the food is awesome. The owner is funny and his grandson who was our waiter was very nice. Highly recommend to check it out!😋👍🏽

Delicious food and coffee, very friendly and caring staff! Everything that we ordered was good, but special shoutout to falafel and beef shawarma! Will be coming back.

Dinner at Sahara Tandoori chicken, kibbeh, hummus and pita, and Arabic salad The owner is a lovely older gentleman from Palestine. I can highly recommend the place to anyone in the area. Everything is home made, including a wonderful garlic sauce!

So my girlfriend and I were returning to Freeport from visiting the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago on Friday, August 11th 2023. We have been eating very heavily and were looking for something GREEN- and that's when my lady found a review for Sahara Palace. I can't say enough good things about the owner, Rick, and the Palace. Truly fit for a king. I have eaten Mediterranean in Chicago, San Francisco, Reno, Las Vegas, and Sacramento- as well as towns I can't recall in Oregon and Washington, and this was by far the best. Everything is served at the perfect temperature- hot food hot, and cool foods cool, but nothing frozen or microwaved. Rick is a great host, with friendly banter and humor, and willing to gently push back on a bad choice (he explained the bad idea of combining an appetite suppressant like coffee with my rather substantial dinner). We ordered the Super Vegetarian Sample Platter to start. The parsley salad was delightfully herbal and tangy. The traditional Mediterranean salad was fresh and tasty, and all was perfectly seasoned and spiced. The tahini was clearly homemade, well spiced, and so creamy and fresh. Falafel was perfectly cooked, pulled from the fryer right as it turned a deep russet brown, without being overcooked but giving that delightful crunch. There was also a Mediterranean mashed bean dish I can't recall the name of, that had a touch of vinegar in it, that was delightful. All served with fresh pita bread. Following the appetizer platter were the entrees. My girlfriend had the beef kabob pita sandwich, and I had tandoori chicken. I only got one good bite of the beef kabob sandwich, as my girlfriend devoured it and I was too busy digging into the tandoori chicken. The kabob sandwich was, like everything else, fresh, perfect temperature, and perfectly seasoned and spiced. My tandoori chicken came with golden rice. The golden rice was cooked perfectly tender without being mushy. Spicing was, as always, spot on. The tandoori chicken had that perfect tandoori texture and flavor- cooked low, slow, and tender, while still having variations in texture to tease the palate. Throughout, Rick checked on us to ensure everything tasted good, and offered friendly conversation and company, something that was sorely needed after a day around the brusque population in Chicago. We ended the day by taking several boxes of baklava and pistachio-sesame cookies, for ourselves and friends and family. All of which proved to be delicious. Rick- I apologize for the lack of pictures, my girlfriend only got the one cause we were so hungry and everything so delicious that we forgot. I promise to come back then next time I am in the area and take more pictures and try more of the menu!