Café Izmir
3711 Greenville
214.826.7788
$$
HOURS:
Sun-Mon, 5:30-9:30 p.m.
Tues, 5:30-11:30 p.m.
Wed-Thurs, 5:30-10 p.m.
Fri-Sat, 5:30-11:30 p.m.
Unfamiliar words such as “piroshki” and “babaganoush” can be a bit daunting, but actually, ordering from Café Izmir’s menu is quite easy — just choose meat or veggies. One will get you a plate full of meat kabobs and lamb rolls; the other will get you falafels, dolmas and seasonal veggies, sautéed and grilled. Both come with tapas-style sides, such as silky smooth hummus without the overwhelming flavor that ruins most attempts at the Mediterranean staple. And the trick is to mix it up, says Beau Nazary of his family’s restaurant. “There’s not one way of eating this food. You mix everything together and your taste buds go wild,” Nazary says. “You don’t eat the beef alone; you eat the beef with the ziziki, the sweet potato with the lamb chop, you dip the chicken in the hummus, and it goes well.” The other daunting aspect of Café Izmir is Tuesday nights, when the $2 and $3 tapas and $15 pitchers of Sangria are so popular that seating spills into the parking lot. One word will get you through the madness and to the goods: reservations.
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