Jenin Village Restaurant - Peoria, Illinois

toyotrustPR

The food was excellent. Fresh ingredients and home made feel. Best hummus and pita. The Baklava was great. Give them a chance and try them out.

Elahe J.

Fresh, delicious, high-quality, and good-looking dishes!
Generous portions too! We visited on our way back home (from Peoria), first time there. Service was great, staff very respectful! Nice area, prices reasonable, and nice music on! My daughter and I are both picky when it comes to meat dishes. I rarely like chicken dishes, but the chicken dish (in picture) tasted amazing, my daughter enjoyed her shish kabob. One suggestions: please use silverware, not plasticware. The plastic knife is hard to use with the meat dishes.

Joshua D.

Salaam, everyone!

Mention anything Middle Eastern and my friend gets excited. She loves her culture and where she comes from so she gets excited to have meals that are close to home for her. We’ve talked about trying Jenin Village for awhile but life finds a way to keep everyone busy. But we got lucky and our schedules lined up and we dropped in on a chilly Wednesday afternoon.

I told her that she may have to explain some of the menu to me. As culturally diverse as Peoria is, there doesn’t seem to be nearly as many Middle Eastern restaurants to try as there are Mexican, Italian, and Chinese… so my knowledge of them is iffy at best. We walked in to an empty restaurant (possible missing the lunch rush) and were quickly seated. I had the pleasure of having the sun in my eyes so I fidgeted with the blinds until I could see properly and stop fidgeting in my seat.

Ivonne took the time to explain a few of the menu offerings and what things would taste like. She said she would get super mad if I ordered a burger. Thankfully I was fully on-board for trying something new. That new thing was Beef Shawarma. Ivonne got a mixed platter of their meats that was basically a 3-meat kabob meal. She said the offerings were large and I said I was hungry but boy, did it look like a challenge once the food was placed in front of us. The wait was a bit longer than usual for the restaurant but I assume that is from them cooking everything to order.

My first few bites were confusing. It being middle eastern food, I was expecting it to have some spice… some kick… some pizzah (is that how you spell that?). This was 180 the other direction. This was sweet. Like, nutmeg sweet. Once my mind wrapped itself around the idea of sweet meat and rice, I was fully on board. The rice was long grain which was new for me to try. I asked Ivonne if I am supposed to mix the rice and beef together and she said it’s however you want. So, I alternated bites of them together and them separate. I didn’t have a preference on how I ate it cause it was delicious either way.

Ivonne let me try her pita bread and dip and that was also confusing at first. The hummus dip made me think of peanut butter due to the texture but after I was halfway through the pita bread, I was starting to appreciate the flavor and texture. We also ordered water with our meals and that came out in bottled water. Not sure if that’s normal here but something to note if you are thirsty. They may charge for additional bottles if you are feeling like a camel?

The interior was nice, clean yet somewhat sparse. I am used to ethnic restaurants taking pride in their culture and adorning the walls with things that evoke the feeling of their country. Jenin does the complete opposite and keeps it plain. While it would’ve been nice to see some Middle Eastern stuff hanging up, it doesn’t detract from how the food tastes at all.

This isn’t the first Middle Eastern place I’ve ate at and it won’t be the last. Ivonne told me about all the places in the Peoria area and we are going to try and visit them all starting in 2024, adulting be damned!

chandler M.

I am not the type to leave reviews, ever! But this place deserved some appreciation.

They have the best falafel wrap I’ve ever had! I was nervous to try a new place, but this place did not disappoint. The wrap was bigger than expected, which was packed full of fresh ingredients and slightly grilled. The rice is also fantastic and for the price of a side order, I feel like you get a huge portion. All together, I had a big wrap, multiple servings of rice and a side of French fries for $15 which can’t be beat!

10/10 would recommend and will try again!

Trent W.

Excellent food. The shish kabab steak was marinated and cooked to perfection! Chicken shawarma was amazing as well. Portions were large.

John W.

Real Real Good! Hummus Fresh! Baba Ganoush spot on not stringy. Grape Leaves, Falafel along with the Shawarma excellent! Topped off with some Turkish Coffee!

Tyler G.

Just had one of the best meals of my entire life. Honestly. I love trying new food places, especially ethnic, and Jenin Village just blew my taste buds away. The baba ghanouj and hummus were creamy and garlicky delicious paired with their fresh Arabic bread and veggies(asked for specially for my GF wife). The bread was so fresh we could see the still see the steam rising from it. For a nice palate cleanser, they have these house made pickled turnips, carrots, and olives which were nice and salty and a little tart. The mixed grill came with (from left to right) chicken shish tawook, shish kabab, and kufta kabab on a bed of seasoned rice. So much flavor packed into every bite. The owner came out and asked how webliked the food and said that everything is made in-house. EVERYTHING. That doesn't happen much anymore.
If you even remotely like Mediterranean/Middle Eastern/Lebanese food, or any food for that matter, you need to come here and try it out.

Matt G.

EVERYTIME I go to this establishment, I am greeted with a smiling face! The food is amazing and the service is great! MUCH better than the one place off Farmington road, especially the customer service. I didn't even bother to remember that places name. Highly recommend Jenin Village to anyone looking for an authentic middle eastern experience.