Alqud's Middle East Grocery Restaurant

During the 70's and 80's, small convenience stores with gas stations like 7-11 and Circle-K gradually displaced full service gas stations like the Texaco station shown in one of the early scenes in the first Back To The Future movie. (I don't remember ever seeing that many people providing service at once at a real station.) The United States passed its peak oil production and the Yom Kippur war in 1973 and the accompanying oil embargo caused gas prices to skyrocket and people were less willing to pay extra for "full service".

In the last twenty years, though, most of these small locations with just a dual pump island have abandoned as gas stations in favor of newer, larger facilities that can handle eight or more cars at once. But the buildings survive in a new guise as stores for a variety of products such as fireplace inserts, pellet stoves and spas. Or, as in this case some of them have become small restaurants.

Alqud's has been operating for a couple years as a small grocery/convenience store specializing in Mediterranean food imports with a small dining area to enjoy the baked on location pita bread and Middle Eastern food specialties such as kabobs, shawarma and tawook. Shawarmas are roasted from a variety of meats and shaved into strips for serving. Tawook (according to Wikipedia) is the English pronunciation of taouk or tavuk, which means chicken in Turkish. These are cut into cubes and grilled on a spit, hence the "shish".

The formula has proven successful and since our last visit several months ago, they have expanded the dining area with a second small area of seats and these have been lined with hanging rugs that add to the Middle Eastern atmosphere as well providing extra insulation against the late autumn and winter chill.

Original Dining Area, now Redecorated

Expanded Dining Area

Lamb Shawarma with Hummus and Tahini Salad on the side

Beef Kabob Platter with Rice, Hummus and Tabbouli Salad

Fresh Baked Pita

Honey wanted something that wasn't easy to find and opted for the lamb shawarma platter with hummus with a tahini salad on the side. I chose the beef kabob platter with tabbouli salad served with rice on a large plate. Both meats were seasoned wonderfully and the hummus has a nice texture and flavor that makes it better than at another similar restaurant we have tried.

Of course, we took home a bag of pita from the bakery window to make our own sandwiches at home. We seasoned chicken with shawarma seasoning from a previous visit, but skipped the traditional roasting process and just broiled it in the oven. It still tasted good!

We poked through the aisles shopping, but will have to wait for a later visit to try the gyros!