Middle Eastern in South Florida

8271 Sunset Strip Plantation

954-742-8344

Burgers, Cafe, Greek, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Vegan, Vegetarian, Best Of, Sponsor

Any health-food store can sell stuff that claims to be good for you. But go to the counter at Simply Natural in Sunrise and you're liable to find Richard or Shahrooz, the husband-and-wife owners who are not just selling healthy stuff, but creating a community of wholesome living. Together, they have been known to offer free meditation classes, free guest lecturers, and even free samples of vegan foods. They can draw upon their vast expertise on all matters health to recommend an herbal remedy or nutrition supplement for whatever ails you. Or they can set you up with one of the many practitioners who rotate through the shop's back office: an acupuncturist, masseuse, reflexologist, iridologist, or CardioVision analyst. Plus, it's a short walk next door to the Simply Natural Café, which boasts the area's cheapest and most truly organic menu around. The meat is grass-fed and hormone-free, and even the beer and wine are organic.

1 article

Al Salam Restaurant

1816 N. University Dr. Plantation

954-916-5193

Middle Eastern, Recommended, Best Of, Menu, Takeout-Home, Takeout-Cuisine, Takeout-Neighborhood

Middle Eastern food served in authentic style and setting with great politeness and efficiency. Start with the kibi, crispy shells of cracked wheat stuffed with pine nuts, beef, onions, and spices including cumin, and then deep-fried. Go on to the shawerma, the Middle Eastern version of the Greek gyro.

6 articles

Caspian Persian Grill

7821 W. Sunrise Blvd. Plantation

954-236-9955

Middle Eastern, Menu

The menu here is chock-full of wondrous Persian cuisine, which is a politically innocuous way of saying Iranian food. This may seem quite exotic, but many of the offerings here are surprisingly familiar, like hummus, stuffed grape leaves, and kebabs of chicken, salmon, tenderloin, and lamb -- all tasty renditions but nothing to declare a fatwah over. It's the other items listed that catapult Caspian past the ubiquitous, formula-driven pita emporiums. The distinctive dishes include khoresht stews of beef, chicken, or lamb; fragrant ashe reshteh, which is a soup plumped with kidney beans, garbanzos, lentils, and noodles and greened with spinach, chives, cilantro, parsley, and mint; and khoresht fesenjoon, a chicken dish with an audacious pomegranate/walnut sauce -- jars of which are available for sale next door at Caspian's grocery, Nu Taste.

2 articles

Falafel Benny

658 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. Hallandale Beach

954-455-2118

Middle Eastern, Cafe, Moroccan, Sandwiches, Vegetarian, Best Of, Menu

"Howz dee faylafell?," Ben Regev yells from behind a glass and granite countertop. Most people can only awkwardly nod as they chew on soft pitas filled with well-seasoned green falafel topped with tahini and a rainbow of fresh and pickled vegetables. As a kid growing up in Israel, Regev used to skip school to work odd jobs to buy falafel. As an adult, they've become his life. He says even Muslims come into his small shop for falafel saying "kif imeh," which in English, he says, means "like home." Nothing bridges cultural gaps like a perfect falafel.

2 articles

Ferdos Grill

4300 N. Federal Highway Fort Lauderdale

954-492-5552

Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Recommended, Best Of, Menu

This pleasant place bills itself as "Home of the Kebab," and the chicken, beef, ground beef, shrimp, and vegetable kebabs attest to that claim. But the Middle Eastern restaurant, which has its roots in Syria and Lebanon, is also the domicile for terrific fatoush (bread) salad, kibbeh (raw ground lamb), lamb chops, mixed grill, and authentic gyros. Go Mediterranean with escargots and mahi-mahi, or stick with hummus, grape leaves, and falafel. Baklava - of course! - for dessert.

7 articles

News Cafe

800 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach South Beach

305-538-6397

American, Continental, Eclectic, Middle Eastern, Recommended

Munch cold cuts and any of a dozen cheeses and sip your choice of three fine wines by the glass, or while away an entire day with a bottle, listening to piped-in and piped-out (to porch) jazz. Tahini salad with pita is tops, and the gazpacho is great. Look cool with a Euro mag from the adjoining newsstand (hence the name). Open 24 hours.

Off the Hookah

111 SW 2nd Ave., 103 Fort Lauderdale

954-761-8686

Bar Food, Middle Eastern, Pasta, Salads, Seafood, Soups, Steakhouse, Sushi, Bars and Clubs, Music Venues, Slideshow

Off the Hookah is downtown Fort Lauderdale's dance club, hookah lounge, and waterfront dining wrapped up in one sexy, Mediterranean-themed venue. Vegas-style flair bartenders serve the drinks, belly dancers arouse the onlookers, and the Mediterranean and sushi menu tantalizes the taste buds. There are cabana beds throughout the venue; thus, you can ask someone to go to bed without having to go home. Or ask a cutie to munch on the Mediterranean platter and share a banana/honey-flavored hookah (not hooker, wiseguy!). Also, there are drink specials during happy hour, ladies’ night, and college night to keep the party going.

15 articles

Sunrise Pita

2680 N. University Dr. Sunrise

954-748-0090

Middle Eastern, Recommended, Best Of, Menu

Like the authentic Israeli street food of Tel Aviv, Sunrise Pita is cheap, fast, fresh, and kosher. Start with protein (crispy, hand made falafels, fresh grilled chicken breast, shaved turkey shawarma, or thick slices of beef shish kebab), choose a bread type (pillowy lafa or warm, fresh pita), and fill it with any of a half-dozen salads and sauces -- tomato and cucumber, roasted eggplant, pickled cabbage, and spiced onions -- plus hummus, tahini sauce, and spicy chili paste. It's messy fare, but you can also enjoy it as a more organized platter ($8.99 to $13.99). Tack on creamy, dill-infused grape leaves (55 cents each) and a dessert of honey- and clove-scented baklava ($1.50) if you've got the room.

5 articles

Tel Aviv Restaurant

4305 NW 88th Ave., Sunrise Plantation

954-746-3996

Middle Eastern, Best Of

Yes, it's your neighborhood strip-mall falafel shop, a humble abode with posters of Tel Aviv on the walls and fresh Middle Eastern fare on the menu. Full dinners are available, including lamb chops, whole fish, and T-bone steak, but Tel Aviv is most satisfying as a soup, sandwich, and salad-bar experience. A mild-mannered homemade split-pea soup, full-bodied but not too thick, is a good place to start. Sandwiches encompass the usual suspects such as hummus, falafel, and a shawarma, featuring moist shreds of spit-roasted chicken or lamb, all of which can be topped off with a small but colorful selection of vegetables at the salad bar - pickles, olives, beets, pickled turnips, marinated cabbage, eggplant, and a small dice of tomato and cucumber. There's nothing at Tel Aviv you haven't seen before at other pita parlors, but the food is freshly prepared and eminently affordable.

1 article

Vix at Hotel Victor

1144 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach South Beach

305-779-8888

Asian, Contemporary, Indian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Recommended

Chef James Wierzelewski has cooked in exotic locations for 20-some years, gathering gastronomic ideas from places the way tourists collect T-shirts. The menu at Vix, however, is no hodgepodge homage to his travels but rather a short, sensible compilation of mostly Mediterranean and Asian dishes, with a few tips of the toque toward Central and South America. The arrival of a basket brimming with fresh-from-the-tandoor-oven naan bread is the first sign Vix is paying attention to details. A ceviche of tequila-and-lime-soaked saltwater prawns exudes pristine quality, while grape-leaf-encased sausages of minced Moroccan-spiced Merguez lamb let you know this chef isn't afraid to heat things up. Full flavors and sharp contrasts are displayed in entrées such as Basque-style loup de mer, a firm-fleshed white fish fillet seared and dressed with chorizo-fortified tomato bouillon; fresh, meaty artichoke hearts; and a sweet red pimiento polenta. Risotto was also exemplary. No such luster brightened a dull "chow mein" of Hong Kong barbecued duck and lobster, but we didn't say Vix was perfect.

Middle Eastern in South Florida

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