African and Middle Eastern Food and Cooking

Kaslik Restaurant Offers Real-Deal Shawarma and More in Florissant

Since 1998, Wasem Hamed has wanted to open a Middle Eastern restaurant in Florissant. He saw a lack of the food he enjoyed growing up and learned to cook at culinary school in Jerusalem, and also the demand, from a strong Middle Eastern population in north St. Louis County. It has taken fifteen yea ... More >>

12 Best Delmar Loop Restaurants To Visit During This Weekend's Loop Ice Carnival

Always a fan of DC Comics, Gut Check often imagines with glee what the aftermath of a visit from Mr. Freeze would look like. Fortunately for us this week's eighth annual Delmar Loop Ice Carnival on Saturday, January 19, should paint a pretty reliable picture. Yep, from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. this fa ... More >>

First Look: Sultan Palace Bakery and Cafe Serves Shawarma and More on South Grand

On a Sunday afternoon during its first week in business, Sultan Palace Bakery and Cafe (4144 South Grand Boulevard; 314-875-9653) has but two employees staffing the 60-seat restaurant -- which isn't a problem, of course, until a group of ten or so followed by a table of four arrive to sample the Mid ... More >>

Layla Lebanese Restaurant's makdous inspires an eggplant epiphany: The apotheosis of aubergine!

Layla Lebanese Restaurant: Review Slideshow

Layla Lebanese Restaurant (4317 Manchester Avenue; 314-535-5500) offersLayla Lebanese Restaurant offers fresh, flavorful takes on universally beloved Middle-Eastern dishes -- hummus thick with tahini, falafel, baba gannoujh, tabbouleh -- but also ventures into less-traveled culinary territory. My re ... More >>

Iron Man Doesn't Know What Shawarma Is? Bull. Crap.

Ever the pop-culture sheep, I plunked down my hardly earned 26 clams and took my wife to see The Avengers this past weekend. Now, growing up, I was always more of a DC than a Marvel kid, so I appreciated the movie as popcorn entertainment, not a geek apotheosis. At any rate, I'm not to here to provi ... More >>

The Veggielante Meets MoKaBe's Coffeehouse

The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize ab ... More >>

Guess Where I'm Eating This Hummus Plate and Win A Meal at Five Guys [Updated with winner]!

​Guess where we ate this hummus platter and paprika dusted pita bread and win a burger, French fries and a drink at Five Guys Burgers and Fries (1417 St. Louis Galleria, 314-721-1001). Hint: We washed down this hummus platter with fresh muddled cocktails at a bar/restaurant in south city. Rules: ... More >>

Layla Lebanese Restaurant Opens in the Grove

Layla Lebanese Restaurant is now open at 4317 Manchester Avenue in Forest Park Southeast's Grove district. (The space was previously home to Flavors BBQ Sports Bar & Grill; before that, it was the original location of Five Bistro.) I have yet to find a website, Facebook page or even, alas, a phone ... More >>

Fish Fry Frenzy: Week 1, First Unitarian Church of St. Louis

Vegan felafel, pita bread, veggie chili and dolmas aren't traditional fish fry fare, but then, little about the menu at the First Unitarian Church of St. Louis (5007 Waterman Boulevard, 314-361-0595) UnFish Fry could be described as traditional. This annual vegetarian dinner not only takes meat off ... More >>

The Veggielante Rises at the Vine

Endless apologies, O loyal readers, for the extended hiatus that this column took. But now we're back with a new Veggielante, a new format and a new list of restaurants to sate your vegetarian appetites. The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vege ... More >>

Ya-Hala Restaurant Now Open in Bridgeton

Ian FroebYa-Hala in Bridgeton​Ya-Hala Restaurant is now open at 12434 St. Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton. Ya-Hala serves Middle Eastern cuisine: appetizers such as hummus, tabouleh and kibbeh; beef and chicken shawarma; and beef and lamb kabobs.(For whatever it's worth, one of Gut Check's most tru ... More >>

Cafe Natasha's Falafel-Eating Contest: Gut Check Investigates

Lee HarrisFriends enjoying the falafel contest at Cafe Natasha's Kabob International​ Cafe Natasha's Kabob International (3200 South Grand Boulevard; 314-771-3411) recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of its $10 all-you-can-eat hummus bar the only way it knew how: a falafel-eating con ... More >>

Elie Harir of The Mediterranean Grill: Recipe for Tabbouleh

This is part three of Emily Wasserman's Chef's Choice profile of chef Elie Harir of the Mediterranean Grill. Part one can be found here. Part two, a Q&A with Harir, is published here. Kelly HoganAn assortment of Mediterranean salads and dips, including Harir's tabbouleh​Elie Harir knows good ... More >>

Elie Harir of The Mediterranean Grill

This is part one of Emily Wasserman's Chef's Choice profile of chef Elie Harir of the Mediterranean Grill. Part two, a Q&A, will be posted tomorrow, and part three, a recipe from Harir, will be published on Thursday. Kelly HoganElie Harir with his staff​On a typical 118 degree St. Louis summe ... More >>

#71: The Vegetarian Platter at Ranoush

Emily Wasserman​Entering Ranoush (200 North Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood; 314-726-6874) is like stepping into a scene out of Arabian Nights. Sequined tapestries line the walls, brass lamps hang from the ceiling and intricately carved metal rings hold the napkins and silverware. Gut Check uncovered ... More >>

Lunching with Gut Check Jr. at Remy's Kitchen and Wine Bar

Robin WheelerMediterranean grazing at Remy's​ The Place: Remy's Kitchen and Wine Bar (222 South Bemiston Avenue, Clayton), Tim Mallett's venerable Clayton restaurant that reflects Executive Chef Lisa Slay's Mediterranean and Lebanese heritage. It's not a place where moms typically haul their 7 ... More >>

A Whole Lotta Falafel: Day 7

Kristen Klempert​No disrespect to falafel, but we were more than excited when we woke up this morning and realized today was the last day of our chick pea diet. We whipped up a quick breakfast scramble of peppers, onions, falafel, and tons of cheddar cheese, substituing Greek yogurt for milk t ... More >>

A Whole Lotta Falafel: Day 6

Kristen Klempert​This morning we woke up with an insane carb craving, which of course posed a slight problem in regards to our falafel mission. Falafel pancakes? Falafel breakfast sandwich? Peanut butter toast with falafel? We're not going to lie, none of that sounded appealing. But for some r ... More >>

A Whole Lotta Falafel: Day 5

Kristen Klempert​Since the falafel melded so well into one traditional American dish, this morning we got adventurous and added it to a tried-and-true breakfast classic: oatmeal. Just about anything can complement the beautiful, blank canvas that is plain oatmeal, and call us crazy, but we we ... More >>

A Whole Lotta Falafel: Day 2

Kristen KlempertBreakfast: Greek yogurt, grapes, dried figs, walnuts and falafel.​On day two of falafel-polooza, we tried for more authenticity, incorporating some more traditional Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ingredients. Breakfast was Greek yogurt mixed with grapes, dried figs, walnuts ... More >>

A Whole Lotta Falafel: Day 1

Kristen Klempert​Recently an e-mail popped up in the Gut Check inbox extolling the benefits of including falafel in your daily diet. Falafel, a ball or patty made from ground chick peas (or sometimes, fava beans) is often served on pita bread as a sandwich but can be used to add protein, flavo ... More >>

Have You Reached the Limit of Café Natasha's Unlimited Hummus?

Image via​Visiting Café Natasha's Kabob International (3200 South Grand Boulevard; 314-771-3411) for  my 100 Favorite Dishes, I learned that the restaurant now hosts an "unlimited hummus bar" from 4-7 p.m. on Tuesday. The deal is this: You pay $10, which scores you one PBR, Bud product or we ... More >>

Central Café offers a menu of Lebanese staples — but, oh, the chicken!

Central Café and Bakery: Review Slideshow

Jennifer SilverbergFalafel being prepared at Central Cafe and Bakery​Chicken, shawarma and freshly baked pita bread. My review of Central Café and Bakery (331 North Euclid Avenue; 314-875-0657) is now available online. You should also check out Jennifer Silverberg's slideshow of Central Café and ... More >>

A humble Olive strip mall gets yet another culinary treasure

Falafel Festival at the Vine Mediterranean Café & Market

Jennifer SilverbergThe Vine Mediterranean Cafe & Market​Yeah, yeah, we know that this weekend is all about Oktoberfest and celebrating garbanzos of a different sort altogether, but true chickpea aficionados should head to The Vine Mediterranean Café & Market (3171 South Grand Boulevard; 3 ... More >>

Just Desert: South Grand is home to all manner of cuisines, but not Bedouin food, till now

Ian Froeb's 100 Favorite St. Louis Dishes, #75: Meat shawarma at the Vine Mediterranean Café & Market

Jennifer SilverbergShawarma on the spit at the Vine​I'm counting down -- in no particular order -- 100 of my favorite dishes in St. Louis. Some are well-known, others obscure. Some are expensive, others dirt cheap. All of them, I guarantee, are delicious.Please do not hesitate to share your own f ... More >>

May Sees World's Biggest Bowl of Hummus, Fattest Falafel and Longest Sausage

Image viaLadies and gentlemen, we have a wiener!​When historians write the final chapter on May 2010, what will be the top story? The horrendous oil spill still spreading in the Gulf of Mexico? The looming threat of war on the Korean peninsula?How about a sausage longer than 24 football fields?Tha ... More >>

The Morning Brew: 5.10

Food poisoning claims three lives at Louisiana mental hospital and sickens 40 others. The Associated Press reports that patients at Central State Hospital in Pineville, Louisiana, were served chicken salad for dinner on Thursday. Patients started falling ill the next morning, with the three deaths ... More >>

Gyro Grill Now Open on South Kingshighway

Ian FroebGyro Grill at 3801 South Kingshighway​Gyro Grill is now open at 3801 South Kingshighway, which is just north of the Kingshighway-Chippewa Street intersection. (The actual cross street is Mardel Avenue.) Inside, the restaurant looks more like a fast-casual restaurant than a humble gyro joi ... More >>

The Vine on South Grand climbs to the top of the Mediterranean food pyramid

Gyro Scoop: Meaty Middle Eastern pleasures abound on South Grand

Belly Full: Ranoush brings Syrian cuisine (and belly dancers) to the Loop

Take It From the Tip Top: Grooving to Night Ranger at a Serbian bar and grill in Soulard — priceless

Schnitzel and Other Random Musings

Grand Adventures

Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant and Grand Mediterranean Kabob Café show what eatin' good in the neighborhood really means.

Wat's New

St. Louis might not have a booming Ethiopian restaurant scene, but we've got wat.

The Loving Tongue

Café Natasha's Kabob International is all about simple pleasures

Bean There

Hummus? Mediterranean omelets? Eye-opening jolts of java? At the Oasis, you can have it all.

Out of the Loop

Addis is a pretty good Ethiopian restaurant with all the charm of a strip-mall liquor store

Into Africa

New restaurant's offerings are impossible to categorize, impossible to resist

Best Falafel

Kabob International

Eastern Exposure

Kabob International ups the tally of Middle Eastern restaurants in St. Louis

Babylon Rising

The South Grand strip takes on yet another cuisine

Best Downtown West Fast Food

Pita King

Side Dish

Mohanned Alsaliti takes his delicious Middle Eastern fare to Union Station

Best Hummus

Aesop's Cafe

Around the World

A minitour of area ethnic eateries and groceries