Andrea H.
Yelp
Albaghdady has a great new location on Greenville just across from Richardson's Chinatown. It's a stand alone business with several parking spots. The entire outside of the restaurant is lined with tables so you can dine there if you like.
The sign on the door indicates they take Covid seriously. Masks are required, and only 5 people are allowed inside at a time. I could only see two customers at the counter as I peered through the front door, so I waited outside until I would have a chance to order.
Above the pastry display case was an electronic menu in Arabic and English that flashed through several screens too quickly for me to read. On the side of the drink refrigerator was a menu board in large print. The guy behind the counter was also nice enough to hand me a trifold menu I could take with me. There were lots of choices, but honestly I already knew what I wanted.
I had actually been on my way to a different Arabic bakery to get some fresh khubz (Arabic flatbread), when I saw this place. I had been to Albaghdady's old location and figured I would give it a try again. The khubz is baked fresh daily. It is massive in size. I'm talking larger in circumference than an XL American pizza. I ordered a small bag of five not realizing that they would be this huge. As soon as I got in the car, I was tearing into the soft, fluffy saucer of gluten and shoving it in my mouth as I drove home. I just couldn't resist!
I also ordered what they call an "Arabic shawarma" and some baklava and another pastry for my husband. The sandwich was far from what I would classify as an Arabic shawarma. It didn't resemble or taste anything like I had eaten growing up in the Gulf Arab states. This was more like an Iraqi sandwich. The flatbread is thicker and fluffier with pinched ends. The meat inside was thick slabs of beef. There were also these vinegary pickles. The sandwich was still quite tasty and I would definitely recommend trying it especially if you are looking to sink your teeth into something other than the standard American burger or tired club sandwich.
I'm not a fan of filo, so I didn't eat the baklava. My husband devoured both pieces (one walnut and the other pistachio) and said they were delicious. I did order two pistachio and hazelnut dessert rolls. They looked delicious with the dark brown hazelnut wrapped around the bright green pistachio filling, but the hard rubbery texture was an absolute turn off. I think they used dates to sweeten it and hold it together. I couldn't get over that hard rubbery texture though. It didn't seem right even though I had never tried this sweet before. I couldn't do a second bite and spared my husband the misery by throwing his piece away too.
This is a decent place that has some interesting and tasty items on the menu. I might be back because of its very convenient location, but I would probably get something different on the menu next time.
