Shokran Moroccan Restaurant (4027 W. Irving Park Rd., 773-427-9130). Moroccan.
½ (good to very good)
$ ($20–$29 per person for a meal, without tax, tip, or alcohol)
You probably won’t see Rick and Ilsa around Sam’s piano, but otherwise this friendly, kitschy, cozy spot hits all the right notes. Tagines in traditional covered earthenware hold ingredients such as honeyed cubes of lamb partnered with prunes and almonds, tender tilapia, or juicy chicken breast showered with olives, lemon peel, and crisp potato slices. Start with a veggie sampler, paired with fresh pita, and bastila, a flaky phyllo packet filled with shredded chicken and crushed almonds; finish with fresh mint tea.
Dishes We Liked: veggie sampler ($8), hummus ($4), chicken bastila ($8), merguez ($5), sweet chicken couscous ($15), Lamb Fez tagine ($17), Moroccan chicken ($16), tilapia tagine ($16)
New restaurant reviews, updated to reflect critics’ recent visits, appear each month in Chicago magazine, in Dine, as well as on our website. Listed restaurants are rated from one to four stars, where one is good, two is very good, three is excellent, and four is superlative. Shokran Moroccan previously was not listed. The new review appears in the March issue, on newsstands now.
Photograph: Courtesy of Shokran Moroccan Restaurant