There's a relatively new (opened in December 97) Middle Eastern restaurant in Cheswick (northeast of the city, towards New Kensington). It's called Arabian Nights. I didn't even know it was there until about a month after it opened. I've been there twice now & my sister has been there about 5 times. I really like it & so does my sister. Another friend said it's the best Middle Eastern place he's eaten in. My sister is a Cassab's (or is that Kassab's?) regular, but she's been hitting Arabian Nights more often now. (I like Kassab's, but they're way too stingy with the amount of pita bread they give you with their dip dishes.) Arabian Nights is located at 919 Freeport Road in Cheswick, at the Harmarville end. The number is 274-7848. I know it opens at 3pm on Sundays, but not sure about the other days. I would call ahead. I'm not connected with the restaurant. I'd just like to see it do enough business so it stays. It's nice to have a place to get vegetarian food near where I live in New Ken. They have dinners & ala carte items. I've only gotten ala carte vegetarian items so I can't comment on the meat dishes. The sleek is the best I've ever had. The kale is still bright green & not dull green & overcooked. The hummus is excellent, but not very garlicky, not that it has to be. I don't like baba ganouge, but my friend liked it. The taboulee is good, but could be a little more lemony. There's a cold dish, m'taume, which is greens (it was collards when I had it, may change, I don't know) & black eye peas. Nice & garlicky. I've also had the mujaddara. Kind of oily, but so good I wish I had a huge plate of it right here in front of me now. The prices are decent. Large ala carte items are $3 to $3.50. Dinners, which include rice with pignolia nut, Middle Eastern Salad & pita bread, range from $8.95 for several lamb dishes to $12.95 for some dish with skewered lamb & beef & marinated vegetables. There are some vegetarian dinners as well (spanakopeta, falafel). There are also a few appetizers (falafel kabobs, spanakopeta, olive/cheese plate). They haven't had vegetarian grape leaves yet, but they have the ones with meat. If you come from Pgh, take Rte 28 N & get off at the Harmarville exit. Stay in the left lane on the exit ramp. You'll get to a stop sign at a Y. Just go straight through & stay in the lane to go straight at the light ahead. At the next light, turn left onto Freeport Rd. Stay in left lane (Right lane will end.) Arabian Nights is located just after the next light on the left. It's easy to miss if you're not used to the area, but you can turn around. The name is on one of those high signs with letters than can be rearranged (I don't know what else to call it.) Like I said, I'm not connected to this place, but the owners are pretty nice & I love having this kind of food close to where I live. Ruth Ann
Pittsburgh, PA
Middle Eastern Restaurant (Cheswick)
Last week, Ruth Ann Schmidt posted here: > There's a relatively new (opened in December 97) Middle Eastern > restaurant in Cheswick ... called Arabian Nights. We tried it Friday night. A winner! It's certainly not fancy, but I prefer that they work on food and not atmosphere, which we can't eat anyway. The selection was good and the food tasty. Like Ruth Ann Schmidt we are vegetarians and did not sample meat dishes, so I can't comment on them. We had something called "Syrian greens" which was first rate. The sleek too was excellent, and the mujaddara OK (we prefer more carmelized onions). We also had a fine taboulee, and other dishes which I don't now remember. We will surely return. We like mid-Eastern food, and till now there's been none in this area. > Arabian Nights is located at 919 Freeport Road in Cheswick, at the > Harmarville end. The number is 274-7848. Going north on Freeport Road past the end of PA 910, pass the Turnpike entrance. It's about 1/4 mile further along, on the left, one block past the traffic signal. > The prices are decent. Surely! We ate well, I had a beer and my wife tea, and the bill was only $18.05. Art Evans