Mahari proudly embraces its roots in Hyde Park
A short walk from the soon-to-open Obama Presidential Center, Mahari sits nestled in the tree-lined courtyard of Hyde Park Shopping Center. The Afro-diaspora fusion restaurant celebrated its first anniversary on Jan. 17. Just days later, the newcomer was named Best Neighborhood Restaurant at the 2026 Banchet Awards, beating out more established operators.
With the likes of Grant Achatz, “Chopped” winner Javauneeka Jacobs and Sahil Sethi, Indienne’s culinary director, among the night’s honorees, Mahari executive chef and owner Rahim Muhammad accepted the award by voicing his gratitude for the awards committee for “Recognizing people working hard,” while also shouting out Hyde Park, his birthplace, and adding, “We’re not from a large family or money … we’re just from the Chicago streets and we bring elegance from where we’re from.”
Magic Johnson, Muhammad’s business partner and director of community and culture, echoes this sentiment.
“I've been in Hyde Park since 2011 and the bond that I have with this community of Hyde Park is something special,” said Johnson. “It's hard for me to even just walk down the street and my arm not [to] hurt from having to wave at so many people. I know most of the business owners in Hyde Park. In fact, the chef that used to own [Mahari’s location], I lived right behind her. I used to help her find employees. I would help her wash dishes if she needed it.”
As Muhammad hinted at, there is no fancy restaurant group, big-time investor or culinary darlings behind Mahari (which means gift in Swahili and is the middle name of Muhammad’s daughter). But as the restaurant’s win demonstrates, a strong vision combined with execution is more than enough.
Mahari’s triumph reinforces the South Side’s position as a food destination (a press release issued by the Banchet Awards states “Winners often go on to national acclaim, winning Michelin stars and James Beard Awards.”). Its neighbors include James Beard Award-winning chef Erick Williams’ Virtue and Cantina Rosa, and the Obama center, where chef Cliff Rome will lead food services.
The dinner menu at Mahari — one of the nearly 40 restaurants participating in Chicago Black Restaurant Week — is an ambitious medley of flavors, dishes and ingredients that crosses (and criss-crosses) borders, oceans and cultures in celebration of African, Caribbean, Creole and Afro-Latino ancestry. Stuffed plantains with spiced ground beef or suya mushrooms in a Creole tomato sauce served with rice, peas and burnt feta; a Caribbean spiced lamb burger on a brioche bun with grilled pineapple and pikliz (a spicy, tangy Haitian condiment made of pickled veggies); and scallops with grilled elotes, avocado crema, blistered jalapenos and epis (an herbaceous paste used in Haitian cooking) are some of the menu items that provide a familiar entry point for unexpected flavors.
The drinks offer a pastiche of world travel. Mango, tamarind and peach live alongside sorrel, brown raw sugar from the Demerara colony in Guyana, South America, and jasmine flavors.
“Being a Creole represents multiple different cuisines and influences,” said Muhammad. “I stuck to some of those traditional flavors, but wanted to find a way to blend them together and marry different cuisines from different cultures in one place. Creole-influenced food means there’s African, Caribbean, French, Native American influence in these items.”
The restaurant is a collaboration between Muhammad, Johnson and Beverage Director Lisa Brown (who regulars of the now-closed The Promontory might recognize), and they worked to create a place where all aspects of their identities could come together and be celebrated. The trio shares ownership along with Shawn Muhammad, who shaped the menu and is also mother to Rahim, and Hanae Mauldin, director of operations.
“We are all from different parts of the [African] diaspora,” said Johnson. “My mom is Somali and Creole. My dad's Dominican, Haitian and Creole. Rahim’s family is Creole with some Dominican in there, and all different types of cultures. Lisa is Nigerian, Puerto Rican and Ghanaian. We went deep into all parts of our different cultures with the mindset to open a space where people from the global diaspora could come in and feel at home.”
Everything in Mahari is intentional and designed to honor the history and lineage of the food being served on the tables. It features a Zulu shield on the ceiling (with a halo around it that Johnson says “pays homage to our ancestors”), hand-stitched booths, a hard-to-find-elsewhere clay wall and handmade tables. On Saturdays, the restaurant hosts a passport series featuring food and music from different parts of the world. Barbados, Mauritius and Venezuela are among the places that have been featured.
“All the love that we've been getting has been amazing,” said Johnson. “Rahim has been cooking for so long. Lisa has been in the bar industry for so long. Shawn has been serving people for a very long time. Our sister Hanae has been doing operations for many big companies, and I have been [in] customer service most of my life. When you put all those pieces together, and we came up with a plan, it feels like we're unstoppable, but it still takes the support of the people to understand what we're doing. Putting this out into the world and having people receive it the way that it is is when the true blessing. We reach your stomach, but we also want to reach your spirit.”
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Mahari is that their recent success is no surprise at all.
For a complete list of restaurants participating in Chicago Black Restaurant Week, go to chicago.suntimes.com/cbrw2026list.