The Gundis Kurdish Kitchen calls itself Chicago's first restaurant dedicated to Kurdish cuisine, a collaboration between Mehmet Duzgun, Veysel Yildirim, Mehmet Yavuz, and Denisse and her father, working out of a storefront on North Clark Street in Lakeview.
Executive chef Juan González leads the kitchen, drawing on more than 45 years of cooking experience that includes stints as head cook and executive chef at The Vintage Club and The Racquet Club in the Palm Springs area and Hotel Coronado in La Jolla. He is also a co-owner of Los Olivos Restaurant in Aguascalientes, Mexico. At The Gundis, his team of cooks from Syria and Turkey builds the menu around indigenous Kurdish cooking methods and Anatolian ingredients, with a stated emphasis on working with local farms.
Regulars point to the food's authenticity, and the restaurant has developed a reputation as a neighborhood find. Michelin selected The Gundis Kurdish Kitchen for its Chicago guide in 2025.
Executive chef Juan González leads the kitchen, drawing on more than 45 years of cooking experience that includes stints as head cook and executive chef at The Vintage Club and The Racquet Club in the Palm Springs area and Hotel Coronado in La Jolla. He is also a co-owner of Los Olivos Restaurant in Aguascalientes, Mexico. At The Gundis, his team of cooks from Syria and Turkey builds the menu around indigenous Kurdish cooking methods and Anatolian ingredients, with a stated emphasis on working with local farms.
Regulars point to the food's authenticity, and the restaurant has developed a reputation as a neighborhood find. Michelin selected The Gundis Kurdish Kitchen for its Chicago guide in 2025.