Tuesday, September 16, 2008
News Jerusalem Restaurant Coming to Church Street
Posted by Carrington Fox on Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 5:08 AM
The mercurial location at 1805 Church Street will soon reopen as Jerusalem restaurant, a Middle Eastern eatery serving falafel, gyros, hummus, kabobs, stuffed grape leaves and traditional pastries.
Jeff Abuhmoud from Jerusalem (the one in Israel) and business partner Zahran Mawali from Dubai (the one in the United Arab Emirates) are putting the finishing touches on the space that most recently housed Fire & Ice Lounge. The team is redesigning the interior, bringing in a traditional tent and creating floor seating. If all goes according to plan, Jerusalem could open in the next three weeks. A patio is in the works, but will not likely be ready when the restaurant opens.
Abuhmoud and Mawali purchased the restaurant operations of the short-lived Fire & Ice from owner Naresh Kumar, who also owns Sitar Indian restaurant on 21st Ave. Mawali owns Tarboosh, the 3-year-old hookah-and-tea lounge next door to Sitar.
Jerusalem will serve lunch and dinner seven days a week and will offer hookahs after 10 p.m.
Comments (12)
Showing 1-12 of 12
Man, Tarboosh was packed last weekend around midnight when I was coming back from Next Big Nashville. There wasn't an empty table out front, and the patio looked like the front deck at Bongo Java when school's in session.
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Great! Really looking forward to the opening...hope they make the food from scratch, and maintain the quality.
Is this where the Indian restaurant formerly was? And does this city need another middle eastern place? Discuss.
Gyro is evidently the fallback dish of the Nashville ethnic eatery. I was surprised today to visit an Indian restaurant with a Pakistani chef that had them on the menu.
I do think this is a jinxed location until someone comes in with a LOT of money to clean it up and finish it out - it's always felt a little half-assed. I've patronized it since it was Garden Allegro, the vegetarian joint. Then what - two different Indian places and the crazy Fire and Ice? The opportunity for a tremendous amount of lunch and dinner walk-ins from the nearby Baptist hospital complex exists but until something really stellar goes in there, it's a problem. I'm skeptical (though not pessimistic!) about a middle eastern place working in that spot.
please be good
please be good
please be good...
because i have BEEN to the promised land AND i went to hunter college and on 68th st between park and lex is one of the best falafels in the city, from a cart. i lived on them for years...
fluff - as much as i love kalamata's vibe, and the owner - the food is just ok. so yes, we need a good middle eastern place. please.
anyone ever eaten at fattoush (sp?)on charlotte and 16th? i haven't been but drove by...
If all the middle eastern spots were as good as the badly-named House of Kabob, I'd have one on every corner. I'm wishing these guys luck breaking the hex, though the tent-in-the-house idea sounds ominous.
Claudia, Fattoush is okay. No more than that.
i keep forgetting to go to 'house of kabob'. ok - it's my next lunch out. for sure.
is this going to be israeli food ? when are thay opening? and is there a num. for the place?
I've eaten at the Mediterranean Cuisine on 21st ave. and I love thier falafel(and everything else for that matter.) I just love that kind of cuisine. I hope these guys are also good so we can have more variety. House of Kabob is great and go thier for lunch a lot too.
this place is the best. lets support our local businesses and try the food here you won't be disappointed. the manager is great and the hummous and falafel are great if you really want to treat yourself try the grilled lamb chops!!
Hi
This is Jules, and i was the creative force and chef for Garden Allegro. This was my most favorite restaurant I ever had. I loved all my customers, I felt really good about my product, alas it was a very bad partnership. I hated the way it ended. I am looking to open another vegetarian restaurant-any backers out there? email me juleslieb@hotmail.com
