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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.
Our 2010 winner for "Best Karaoke" at one of the most exclusive places on the beach
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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... More »
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 »
Ali Baba Cafe More »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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.
If you love garlic, this is the place for you. Delicious Eastern fare in the heart of Lakewood.
Golden chicken!
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