Greensboro boasts its share of Middle Eastern restaurants, but one of the city’s newest ones has been attracting plenty of Middle East natives looking for authentic dishes.
Aladdin’s Shawarma – in a strip center at 5103-A West Market St – will celebrate its first anniversary on Oct. 11.
Alaa Hamed opened Aladdin’s as a way to showcase the authentic foods he grew up with. Hamed was born into a Palestinian family in Kuwait, then was raised in Palestine and Jordan. After meeting and marrying his wife in Kuwait, he moved to her hometown of Greensboro in 2013 to start a family.
Hamed said he worked for years managing cell-phone stores, then opened his own construction business with some friends before deciding to open a restaurant.
“I’m into food, and I wanted to give Greensboro authentic Middle Eastern food the way it should be done,” said Alaa Hamed, owner of Aladdin’s Shawarma.
As its name implies, Aladdin’s sells a lot of shawarma, but its menu is quite broad, encompassing everything from Palestinian breakfast dishes to house-made desserts.
“We do breakfast all day. A lot of Arab people will eat breakfast food for breakfast or for dinner,” Hamed said.
Breakfast includes qalayet bandora – pan-fried tomatoes sautéed with olive oil, garlic, and jalapeños – available with or without meat. There also is shakshouka (eggs poached in spicy tomato sauce), foul mudammas (creamy fava beans) and mfaraka (Arab-style fried potatoes and eggs).
The shawarma – roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit – is available as beef (with some lamb mixed in) and chicken. It is served the traditional way, mixed with garlic sauce and pickles and rolled in a wrap that is toasted on the grill until crisp. Chicken – the best-seller – runs $10; beef runs $12.
The beef and chicken shawarma also are available in rice bowls ($11 to $13) or platters served with a choice of two sides ($15 to $17).
Aladdin’s also sells beef kabobs, chicken tawook kabobs and kofta (ground beef kabobs). The popular mixed grill platter ($25) includes one of each of those with rice and two sides.
Though Aladdin’s serves some crispy fries that go well with the shawarma, you might want to check out some of the many authentic sides. These include not only falafel and silky-smooth hummus, but taboula, stuffed grape leaves, fried nabusi cheese, babaganouj and creamy cucumbers.
The restaurant has Palestine cola and Barbican non-alcoholic beers, as well as other sodas. You also can get hot mint or sage tea, and Turkish coffee.
Last but not least, Aladdin’s has house-made baklava – Palestinian-style with pistachios – and warbaat – a phyllo pastry with a cheesy, custardy filling.
“We use all quality ingredients,” Hamed said. “The olive oil on the table we get fresh from Palestine in big containers. We want you to taste it the way it tastes back home.”
Do you have an interesting food story idea? A new restaurant in town? A hidden gem? Contact Michael Hastings: mhastings@wsjournal.com, 336-727-7394, @mhastingsWSJ
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