Mahari (@mahari_restaurant) brings not just the vibrant cuisines of the African diaspora to Chicago, but chefs tracing their cultures and blazing their own paths, writes Tribune restaurant critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu. Executive chef Rahim Muhammad owns the restaurant in Hyde Park, the neighborhood where he was born, with his mother, Shawn Muhammad. Mama Shawn, as everyone calls her, is a chef as well who does all their desserts, he said. The restaurant’s name held meaning in their family long before they opened in January. It can be translated as “gift” in the Swahili language, Rahim Muhammad said, and it’s also his oldest daughter’s middle name. “We wanted to find one word that encompasses the beauty behind it,” he said. “And it was Mahari.” The restaurant has become an escape from the everyday, where “people feel like they’re on a retreat somewhere,” Muhammad said. A woven grass ceiling over the main dining room with warm-hued tiled tables enhances that feeling. “It’s a very homey place,” said the chef, who was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Because a lot of us have a strong representation in Southern hospitality.” It feels very exotic, he added, and communal too. I felt the power of community during my two visits, writes Louisa Kung Liu Chu. I can’t tell you how many times I witnessed friends surprised to find one another, from younger groups standing at the back bar at brunch to older diners seated for dinner. Tap on our bio link to read more. ----- Photo 1: The sambusa trio, filled with spicy beef, pulled chicken or fine lentils, at Mahari. Photo 2: Salmon cala fritters. Photo 3: Executive chef/owner Rahim Muhammad and his mother/co-owner, Shawn Muhammad, at Mahari in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago on July 9, 2025. Photo 4: The prawn and polenta dish. Photo 5: Mahari's French toast flambé. Photo 6: Beverage director Lisa Brown at Mahari. Photo 7: The dining room at Mahari Photo 8: Executive chef/owner Rahim Muhammad in the kitchen of Mahari, in Hyde Park, on July 9, 2025. ? Louisa Kung Liu Chu / Chicago Tribune / @louisachu1 ?️ E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune
July 16, 2025
Mahari (@mahari_restaurant) brings not just the vibrant cuisines of the African diaspora to Chicago, but chefs tracing their cultures and blazing their own paths, writes Tribune restaurant critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu.
Executive chef Rahim Muhammad owns the restaurant in Hyde Park, the neighborhood where he was born, with his mother, Shawn Muhammad. Mama Shawn, as everyone calls her, is a chef as well who does all their desserts, he said.
The restaurant’s name held meaning in their family long before they opened in January. It can be translated as “gift” in the Swahili language, Rahim Muhammad said, and it’s also his oldest daughter’s middle name.
“We wanted to find one word that encompasses the beauty behind it,” he said. “And it was Mahari.”
The restaurant has become an escape from the everyday, where “people feel like they’re on a retreat somewhere,” Muhammad said.
A woven grass ceiling over the main dining room with warm-hued tiled tables enhances that feeling.
“It’s a very homey place,” said the chef, who was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Because a lot of us have a strong representation in Southern hospitality.”
It feels very exotic, he added, and communal too.
I felt the power of community during my two visits, writes Louisa Kung Liu Chu. I can’t tell you how many times I witnessed friends surprised to find one another, from younger groups standing at the back bar at brunch to older diners seated for dinner.
Tap on our bio link to read more.
-----
Photo 1: The sambusa trio, filled with spicy beef, pulled chicken or fine lentils, at Mahari.
Photo 2: Salmon cala fritters.
Photo 3: Executive chef/owner Rahim Muhammad and his mother/co-owner, Shawn Muhammad, at Mahari in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago on July 9, 2025.
Photo 4: The prawn and polenta dish.
Photo 5: Mahari's French toast flambé.
Photo 6: Beverage director Lisa Brown at Mahari.
Photo 7: The dining room at Mahari
Photo 8: Executive chef/owner Rahim Muhammad in the kitchen of Mahari, in Hyde Park, on July 9, 2025.
? Louisa Kung Liu Chu / Chicago Tribune / @louisachu1
?️ E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune
Executive chef Rahim Muhammad owns the restaurant in Hyde Park, the neighborhood where he was born, with his mother, Shawn Muhammad. Mama Shawn, as everyone calls her, is a chef as well who does all their desserts, he said.
The restaurant’s name held meaning in their family long before they opened in January. It can be translated as “gift” in the Swahili language, Rahim Muhammad said, and it’s also his oldest daughter’s middle name.
“We wanted to find one word that encompasses the beauty behind it,” he said. “And it was Mahari.”
The restaurant has become an escape from the everyday, where “people feel like they’re on a retreat somewhere,” Muhammad said.
A woven grass ceiling over the main dining room with warm-hued tiled tables enhances that feeling.
“It’s a very homey place,” said the chef, who was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Because a lot of us have a strong representation in Southern hospitality.”
It feels very exotic, he added, and communal too.
I felt the power of community during my two visits, writes Louisa Kung Liu Chu. I can’t tell you how many times I witnessed friends surprised to find one another, from younger groups standing at the back bar at brunch to older diners seated for dinner.
Tap on our bio link to read more.
-----
Photo 1: The sambusa trio, filled with spicy beef, pulled chicken or fine lentils, at Mahari.
Photo 2: Salmon cala fritters.
Photo 3: Executive chef/owner Rahim Muhammad and his mother/co-owner, Shawn Muhammad, at Mahari in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago on July 9, 2025.
Photo 4: The prawn and polenta dish.
Photo 5: Mahari's French toast flambé.
Photo 6: Beverage director Lisa Brown at Mahari.
Photo 7: The dining room at Mahari
Photo 8: Executive chef/owner Rahim Muhammad in the kitchen of Mahari, in Hyde Park, on July 9, 2025.
? Louisa Kung Liu Chu / Chicago Tribune / @louisachu1
?️ E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune
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