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Loop lunchers’ favorite falafel joint went missing from the Wabash Jewelers Mall about a month ago. It’s back—if you know where to look.

Frustrated by prolonged renovations, Oasis Café owner Suleiman Ahmed (pictured) moved his show a block south to the Iwan Ries food court. But the eatery reopened to little fanfare. “Many customers don’t know we’re here,” the Nazareth, Israel–born Ahmed says, “because the [Wabash Jewelers] Mall won’t take down our sign.”

The stakes are high for Ahmed, who walked away from an engineering career to buy and convert the 17-year-old eatery into Oasis in 2002. Why do it? “To make my family’s food, which I know best.”

A larger kitchen now lets him plan better for the lunch rush he hopes will materialize. The neon signs are new, but the old standbys remain: the falafel sandwich of fried ground chickpeas, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and tahini; the succulent chicken shawarma plated with lemon-garlic hummus; and the fragrant lentil soup, somehow even richer after the move. More extraordinary are the prices—six bucks gets you most anything on the menu.

Not to be outdone, this month the Jewelers Mall will open a new falafel shop in the old Oasis space (a sign out front touts that a new “Oasis” is coming soon), but once the public finds the original, Ahmed should retain his status as the Loop’s Middle Eastern cuisine king.—Mike Doyle

17 S Wabash Ave between Madison and Monroe Sts (312-443-9534). El: Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple (rush hrs) to Madison. Lunch (closed Sun). Average main course: $6.