About us
Window to the World
Attendance policies:
a) Three (3) no-shows without updating your RSVP (for standard meetups) and you will be banned from this meetup.
b) For any meetups in which food has been pre-ordered family-style, any no-shows may result in an immediate ban.
c) If you've RSVP'ed "YES" and changed your RSVP to "NO" within 3 hours before the event starts (Unless you have a REAL emergency), I will consider you as a "no-show".
Chicago is a wonderfully diverse city; each culture has its personality, language, customs, traditions, and cuisine. Each month we will explore various geographical regions by visiting restaurants deemed representative of the cuisines of those regions.
Each restaurant has been selected based on critical reviews, uniqueness, or Zagat or Michelin recommendations. Selections run the gamut from simple street food to 12-course meals fit for royalty. This means sometimes there will be dishes and dining practices that are very unfamiliar, but that's the fun of culinary exploration.
All meetups have been planned with the goal of enjoying a wonderful meal with wonderful company in mind. However, while meeting new people and reacquainting with old friends make the meal more enjoyable, the meal is, and always will be, the chief focus of each meetup. Please do not take up precious spots if you are not interested in the main attraction (like going to Garlic Fest if you don't like garlic in your food or a "meat-heavy" dinner and you're vegetarian).
If the presence of another member makes you uncomfortable, please let us know immediately so the offending member is removed and banned.
Banned members will not be reinstated. There is no period after which a banned member can re-apply to join.
Anyone who has been banned or has had their membership revoked and attempts to attend an event either by attending as another member's guest or without a proper RSVP may be asked to sit elsewhere if the event is held at a public venue or asked to leave if the meetup is a private event.
For more meetups, be sure to check out our sister groups: Chicagoland Culinary Explorers and Adventurous Eating. Chicagoland Culinary Explorers focuses on casual and fine dining restaurants in and around Chicago, while Adventurous Eating focuses on unusual culinary experiences.
Click here to learn more about ISCChicago.
Let's explore authentic cuisines together!
Upcoming events
1
- $2.00
Turkish cuisine @ Avaspi
Avaspi, 1258 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60657, USA, Chicago, IL, US*NOTE: The $2 meetup fee is charged to pay for fees charged by Meetup.com. The payment can be made via Cashapp/PayPal/Zelle - I will PM you payment details upon RSVP.*
Menu: https://avaspirestaurant.com/food-menu
Table for 10 at Avaspi, a Turkish tapas restaurant in Lakeview. The restaurant opened in 2024 and is owned by Mehmet Duzgun, who grew up in southeast Turkey. The restaurant was profiled by Block Club Chicago.
From Block Club Chicago:
"At Avaspi, diners can try Anatolian classics like dolma, which are vegetables and grape leaves stuffed with meat or rice, tomatoes and herbs; and ezme, a salad made with finely chopped walnuts, tomatoes, onions, peppers and parsley.
There are also dishes like muhammara, a spicy dip made of walnuts, red peppers, pomegranate molasses and breadcrumbs; and haidari, a yogurt dip with fresh herbs."
"Many of the dishes Duzgun makes are from his family and hometown, like a Kurdish meat-filled dumpling called kutilk which follows his mother’s recipe. These traditional menu items are then served in a “modern, chic” and open space, complete with dim lighting, black marble tables and velvet seating."
"People in many parts of central and east Anatolia, including Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians, sit on the floor to eat meals, placing dishes in the center and sharing them with one another. Translating that concept into a restaurant “has always been something that I wanted to do,” Duzgun said.
“There are different ethnic groups of people who have lived in Anatolia in general for centuries,” Duzgun said. “All these different ethnic groups have their food cultures, and they do certain things a little bit differently, and I was always interested and inspired by how they make food according to their culture.”
The menu also features a variety of beef, chicken and seafood dishes."10 attendees
Past events
261
