Banadir Restaurant: Detail

Located in the heart of the Chicago neighborhood known as Near Where Amy Lives, Banadir Restaurant serves delicious Somali food to cabdrivers 24 hours a day, except during Ramadan. Flavorful rice, vegetables and fruit drink for one low price. Friendly people and friendly service.

But writing about delicious food is like a novel about a happy family. It is boring. The story I must tell is about the washroom, and it must be told in pictures.


Fig, 1: East view. No more or less yellow than the other views. I do confess I looked in the cabinets. Upper: the usual collection of long-ignored construction and cleaning tools. Lower: more unidentifiable tools, and glops of blackened paper towel in the corners. Note the botanical feature: a woman was in here once.


Fig. 2: South-east view. The toilet worked, and that's all I care to say.


Fig. 3: West view. It says, in marker on the wall: "Please do not step on the sink. AND Don't put (used) toilet paper in the sink. Thank you." Initially, the mind boggles, but actually it's a religious thing, so judge not.


Fig. 4: North view: This door is what you touch after you have washed your hands. This is in the best case scenario.

All this being said, the food was very good. What? What's the matter? You don't go to a restaurant for its restroom, do you? Well I know I don't.