Ali Baba Cafe

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1901 Abrams Road Dallas, TX 75214

214-823-8235

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Dallas Observer
Recommended
Best Mediterranean Restaurant
Award Winner 2011

Cuisine(s): Greek, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern

Hours: Tue-Sat 11:30am-2pm, Tue-Sat 5:30pm-9pm

Price: $$
Payment Types: MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, cash

Attire: Casual

Features: Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout, Catering
Serving: Dinner, Lunch

Reservations: Accepted, Recommended for Large Parties

Parking: Valet

Description

Ali Baba is one of Dallas' best bargains for excellent Middle Eastern food, despite a cramped location with odd hours. We especially like the golden chicken, a half-chicken baked on a rotisserie and crisped under a broiler. Boston Market take note: Whatever they do at Ali Baba, this is how you're supposed to make rotisserie chicken. The flesh is fork-tender and moist, not mushy, and the skin is as crisp and savory as Peking duck, with no gobs of yellow fat marring the underside. That's a lot of chicken, and it also comes with very fresh pita bread and "garlic sauce," which is a dollop of extremely pungent garlic mashed potatoes. Also good is the shish tawook, marinated chicken cubes with rice pilaf, and the mazza plate, which includes hummus, egg plant dip, tabouli, dolmas, pickles and olives. The mashwi shish, marinated cubes of beef or lamb with rice pilaf, wasn't quite up to the standard of the chicken entrées and had an overpowering grill flavor. Ali Baba also lists several vegetarian appetizers that could easily serve as entrées. Service is a bit spotty, and you might have trouble getting a table at lunch.

2011 | Best Mediterranean Restaurant

For the amount you spend on two Starbucks Frappuccinos -- about 10 bucks -- you can gorge yourself on a buffet lunch of truly delicious Mediterranean food: a crispy falafel here, a charred lamb kabob there, a perfectly juicy cube of chicken breast, pita liberally coated in zaatar spices -- anything you can think to drag through mountainous globs of hummus, babaganoush and tzatziki sauce. Half of your plate will inevitably hold a divine mush of condiments for the protein of... More »
2010 | READERS' PICK BEST MIDDLE EASTERN RESTAURANT

Ali Baba Cafe More »
2008 | Best Mediterranean

Gone are the days of huddling inside the tight quarters of Ali Baba's teensy Lower Greenville location waiting for a table to open up so you can chow down on falafel, kebabs and hummus. But we can't forget those days. No, those old cramped memories make us truly appreciate the spacious new Abrams digs that allow Ali Baba to provide the residents of Dallas with comfy booths and a grand lunch buffet. The sneeze-guarded beacon offers up affordable, eat-to-excess combinations to suit your... More »
2007 | Best Rotisserie Chicken

Ali Baba serves a succulent, melt-from-the-bone golden chicken with a spicy garlic sauce and pita bread, or you can ask for hummus instead of the garlic. If you're like us, you eat too much rotisserie chicken anyway, because you tell yourself it's not as bad as fried chicken, and that's true. And fried chicken is not as bad as fried beef. But no matter what Ali Baba's golden chicken really does for your cholesterol, it's a refreshing break for the palate--a hint of the Middle East, a... More »
2004 | Best Chicken

The browning of a chicken is an essential skill; just ask Julia Child. (Well, you could have asked her until a few months ago, anyway.) Mom told us the keys to a well-browned bird: Use quality olive oil, enhanced with butter; let the pieces warm to room temperature so they brown evenly; and dry the skin first with paper towels. Got that Now we don't know exactly what Ali Baba Cafe does to concoct its "Golden Chicken"; we just know it's the most excellent chicken, a minor poultry miracle.... More »
2002 | Best Lesson on the Middle East

Opened in 1990 by two brothers from Syria, Ali Baba has been gathering continuous good reviews for its rice, tabbouleh, hummus, falafel, dolmas and gyros. Meat lovers with $10 to spare can't go wrong with the Mashwi shish, a plate of marinated beef or lamb grilled with onions, mushrooms and tomatoes, all seasoned with saffron and thyme. It comes with a hefty portion of Ali Baba's inimitable rice. It's worth the visit just because of the hummus, which, unlike the grayish mystery goop sold... More »

Restore Your Meat-Pummeled Body with Ali Baba's Tabouleh

By Scott Reitz | Tue, May 1, 2012

It's a bit tiresome to hear a critic gripe about all the food they're forced to eat. (There are worse ways to make a living.) After reviewing near back-to-back Southern comfort restaurants, though, I ... More »
Theatre Three Serves Sally Soldo a Good Role in Catered Affair

By Elaine Liner | Mon, October 31, 2011

Theater Caps are bite-sized punch-packing capsule reviews by resident theater critic Elaine Liner. Use them as a reminder -- or a teaser, if you procrastinate -- of her full-length reviews in The Mixm... More »
100 Favorite Dishes: Kibbi at Ali Baba Cafe

By Merritt Martin | Tue, September 21, 2010

As a countdown to the Dallas Observer's "Best of Dallas" 2010, City of Ate is serving up 100 of the favorite dishes we crave, savor and hope to scarf down again soon. These dishes are in no particular... More »
Involuntary takeout

By Mary Brown Malouf | Thu, March 06, 1997

The service ranges from preoccupied to surly, the ambiance depends entirely on the light (it's acceptable on a sunny day and drearily depressing at night, although that could change if they ever get around to replacing some light bulbs) and really... More »

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dallasobserverbestof | Dallas, TX | 193 Reviews

| Wed, May 6, 2009

Gone are the days of huddling inside the tight quarters of Ali Baba's teensy Lower Greenville location waiting for a table to open up so you can chow down on falafel, kebabs and hummus. But we can't forget those days. No, those old cramped memories make us truly appreciate the spacious new Abrams digs that allow Ali Baba to provide the residents of Dallas with comfy booths and a grand lunch buffet. The sneeze-guarded beacon offers up affordable, eat-to-excess combinations to suit your Mediterranean fancy. For the most part, any regular menu option is steaming and waiting for a tong-grab, giving the opportunity for a little experimentation, which pays off when you return for dinner already educated on the entrees. The newer, bigger kitchen has also proffered better tasting food on the whole�the fried kibbi is crisp on the outside and nutty and nourishing on the inside, the tabouli is bright and clean, the gyro is savory and heavenly with fresh pita. And oh, the kafta kebab. Now, buffets and comfortable seating may not seem like the wave of the future, but for a Dallas staple, it can mean a more satisfying lease on life.
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sfranch | Dallas, TX | 244 Reviews

| Tue, April 20, 2010

If you love garlic, this is the place for you. Delicious Eastern fare in the heart of Lakewood.
Like (0) Dislike (0)

paprice45 | Dallas, TX | 3 Reviews

| Mon, July 26, 2010

Golden chicken!
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Main Menu

Salads
Add Chicken $6, Shrimp $8, Gyro $6, Salmon $8

$6.00

Mediterranean Salad
tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions in a lemon juice olive oil dressing

Sm $5.00
Lg $8.00

Greek Salad
mixed lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, french feta & kalamata olives

$5.00
$8.00

Tabouli
parsley, wheat, tomatoes, onions, lemon juice & extra virgin olive oils

$8.00

Caesar Salad

Soups

Cup $4.00
Bowl $6.00

Lentil Soup

Kabobs
Kabobs Served with Saffron Rice & Roasted Vegetables

$14.00

Chicken

$14.00

Kafta

$16.00

Black Angus Beef Ribeye

$16.00

New Zealand Lamb

$18.00

Wild Gulf Shrimp

$18.00

Scottish Salmon

Main Course

$12.00

Gyros
gyros meat, ziziki sauce, pita & saffron rice

$13.00

Roasted Chicken
half chicken served with saffron rice & garlic sauce

$14.00

Saffron Chicken
sauteed chicken & mushrooms in a creamy curry white wine sauce served with saffron rice

$15.00

Kibbie
ribeye beef, wheat, pine nuts, onions, baked or fried served with saffron rice, yogurt, tabouli salad

$20.00

Lamb Chops
grilled new zealand lamb served with saffron rice, roasted vegetables

$16.00

Oven Roasted Trout
oven roasted with garlic, herbs, olive oil & served with rice & vegetables

Mezza

$6.00

French Feta Cheese Bread

$6.00

Zattar Bread

$6.00

French Feta Cheese & Olives

$6.00

Hummus
chickpea, tahini, garlic & extra virgin olive oil

$6.00

Baba Ghanouj
smoked eggplant, tahini, garlic, lemon juice & extra virgin olive oil

$6.00

Grape Leaves
(vegetarian or lamb)

$9.00

Vegetarian Moussaka
eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, onions & chickpea

$10.00

Crispy Calamari
served with spicy tahini sauce

$10.00

Haloumi Cheese
pan seared with extra virgin olive oil

$12.00

Lamb Moussaka
baked layers of eggplant, lamb, tomatoes & pine nuts

$14.00

Kibbie Naya
steak tartar, wheat, onion & mint

Sides

$3.00

Fries

$3.00

Saffron Rice

$4.00

Roasted Cauliflower

$4.00

Sauteed Spinach

$4.00

Roasted Vegetables

$4.00

Fried Kibbie

$4.00

Falafel
(4 pcs), chickpea, spices, parsley & tahini

Looking for another city?

Ali Baba Cafe

1901 Abrams Road Dallas, TX 75214

214-823-8235

Description

2011 | Best Mediterranean Restaurant

2010 | READERS' PICK BEST MIDDLE EASTERN RESTAURANT

2008 | Best Mediterranean

2007 | Best Rotisserie Chicken

2004 | Best Chicken

2002 | Best Lesson on the Middle East

Restore Your Meat-Pummeled Body with Ali Baba's Tabouleh

By Scott Reitz | Tue, May 1, 2012

Theatre Three Serves Sally Soldo a Good Role in Catered Affair

By Elaine Liner | Mon, October 31, 2011

100 Favorite Dishes: Kibbi at Ali Baba Cafe

By Merritt Martin | Tue, September 21, 2010

Involuntary takeout

By Mary Brown Malouf | Thu, March 06, 1997

dallasobserverbestof | Dallas, TX | 193 Reviews

sfranch | Dallas, TX | 244 Reviews

paprice45 | Dallas, TX | 3 Reviews

People Who Like Ali Baba Cafe