Milano Kabob — Restaurant in University City

Milano: A Bold Taste of Iraq on the Delmar Loop

In a neighborhood teeming with culinary options, Milano stands out as a rare gem offering authentic Iraqi cuisine. This newcomer to the Delmar Loop brings flavors that are as bold as they are comforting.

Fair warning: patience is a virtue here. Nearly everything is cooked to order, which might test your restraint during busy hours. But as any food lover knows, you can't rush perfection – and perfection is what Milano is aiming for.

My culinary journey began with a trio of cold appetizers. The Jajeek (cucumber yogurt) offered a refreshing palate cleanser, though it didn't exactly rock my world. The hummus stepped up the game with its creamy texture and solid flavor profile. But the undisputed champion of cold starters? The baba ghannosh – a smoky, sultry eggplant masterpiece elevated to new heights with pomegranate and molasses. Vegetarians, rejoice! These three options alone are worth the visit.

Moving to the hot side of things, I sampled the KUBBA – think of it as Iraq's answer to the Italian arancini. This rice-shelled pocket conceals perfectly seasoned meat inside, distinguishable from traditional kubba by its sunny yellow exterior rather than the typical brown.

Plant-based eaters aren't relegated to cold appetizers either. The falafel sandwich brings the expected chickpea goodness, but it's the mshakkal ("mixed") sandwich that deserves your attention. This handheld feast combines falafel, fried eggplant, and fries with fresh veggies – a study in textural contrasts that somehow works beautifully.

The fasoolia (white beans) transported me straight to someone's grandmother's kitchen – comfort food that feels deeply personal. Similarly, the white rice and kabob carry the unmistakable hallmarks of recipes passed down through generations, with an authenticity you can taste in every bite.

Yes, Milano's physical footprint may be modest, but what they accomplish within those walls is anything but small. If you find yourself wandering the Loop with hunger pangs and a sense of adventure, Milano isn't just a good option – it's a necessary detour into Iraq's rich...

My husband and I ordered from here tonight for the first time excited to try it after all the five star reviews. I'm not sure where we went wrong (especially because we ordered $80 worth of food to try). Pros: chicken kabob sandwich - although it had more bread than chicken, the sandwich had a sauce that made it more flavorful than anything else we ordered. Delicious samon bread. My husband thought his beef kabob plate was fine - dry and not a ton of flavor.

Cons: hummus had a nice texture but needed more salt/didn't taste like much, falafel was dry, pita was ice cold and dry. What was really disappointing was the tomato bean soup (came with the dinner) which needed several tablespoons of salt and the lentil soup (x2). We LOVE lentil soup, especially on a cold night -- this was truly awful. $10 wasted as we couldn't even take more than a few bites. It had absolutely NO flavor at all - tasted like watery onions and was cold. It needed salt and acid.

We really wanted to like this place but it just really fell short. I'm not sure if we ordered all the wrong things given the good reviews, but we felt it was really lacking in seasoning and flavor and were overall very disappointed in this meal. We did not dine in so I cannot comment on service or restaurant.

EDIT to response by owner: it's a shame you'd blame the customer. We were not late at all - in fact you told my husband tonight (1/4) not last night, that it would be ready in 10 minutes. He arrived promptly at 5 and had to wait for your food to be ready. So we were not late at all - we were early and it was still cold and flavorless. A real shame your food is bad, an even bigger shame you are willing to attack a customer with completely wrong...

I highly recommend visiting this local family-owned business located on a side street of the Loop (near Ranoush), offering Iraqi cuisine, cold-pressed juice, and smoothies. Also note that everything here is fresh and made-to-order, in which you can definitely tell.

For our drinks, we had the mint lemonade and green juice. Mint lemonade had a perfect balance of sweetness and freshness and green juice was very refreshing.

For our appetizer, we had the hummus and Baba Ganoush with pita breads. Both were great appetizers, but I was very impressed by the Baba Ganoush, which was a very smooth, creamy, and flavorful dip with the pieces of pita bread.

For the entree, we had the Mixed Kabob Platter, featuring 3 skewers of lamb, lamb kofta, and chicken served on top of rice with large variety of vegetables/salad. All of these kabobs were extremely flavorful and tender and were complimented very well by the rice, vegetables, and sauces. I was very impressed by the plating of the platter, despite being inside of a to-go container.

Will definitely be back here again to try out...