Photo credit: Jean-Gabriel Fernandez
Pita is the French fry of the Near East—it goes with everything. At Pita Palace (789 W. Layton Ave.), it comes warm and lightly toasted, perfect for scooping up some creamy hummus or baba ghanoush. The big room has tables and comfortable booths, framed Koranic quotations on the walls and rhythmic Arabic pop music in the air. The counter-service menu offers hot and cold appetizers and entrées. Present is the expected array of tender grilled chicken and beef kebabs and bowls of mellow, yellow lentil soup garnished with lemon—along with items rarely seen in Milwaukee restaurants. The yogurt-derived labeneh is topped with olive oil and mint; muttabel is a red and green pepper preparation and foul mudamas features fava beans mashed with garlic and lemon juice. The vegetarian combo is an ample sampler of hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, muttabel and falafel balls. If you have room for an appetizer, there’s arayes, basically grilled cheese on a thinly shaved pita.
