The Hamoudeh brothers have reopened their popular Lebanese restaurant, Ali Baba, at Greenville and Alta.

They opened the restaurant in 1985 and closed it in 2008 to focus on other “more profitable” business interests, including their commercial real estate holdings. The Hamoudehs, who own the building that Ali Baba occupies, also owned and operated an imported food store, World Wide Foods, which was adjacent to Ali Baba, from 1981 to 2007.

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The brothers decided to reopen Ali Baba because “everybody wants Ali Baba,” says chef/owner Nabil Hamoudeh. “Everybody kept asking when we were going to come back.”

Hamoudeh and his brothers, Josef and Hicham, emigrated from Syria to Dallas in 1980 and started a wholesale grocery business.

The reincarnation of Ali Baba opened about two weeks ago, and among other Lebanese fare, Nabil Hamoudeh says customers are excited about the made-from-scratch kenafeh. That’s a Lebanese pastry made with pastry dough, honey, pistachios and marscapone.