Birmingham’s Best Eats: Nabeel’s Cafe in Homewood offers fine authentic Greek fare
By ContributorThe moussaka at Nabeel’s Café in Homewood
is comforting and authentic. Photos by Celeste Ward.
By Celeste Ward
Nabeel’s Café constantly bustles with happy patrons for a reason: The food is authentic, fresh and lip-smackingly delicious.
Upon stepping through the doors of the Homewood restaurant, you’re transported to a cozy cafe reminiscent of those in Europe. The atmosphere is casual, intimate and charming; the staff, equally wonderful. Even the private booths make the experience more enjoyable.
You’re sure to find something to suit your fancy on the extensive menu of Greek and Mediterranean fare. We were certainly smitten from the start.
The bruschetta was one of the highlights of our evening.
The Greek salad with grilled chicken tastes fresh and scrumptious.
For dinner, we started with the bruschetta ($7.95), without a doubt, the best we’ve ever had. Fried eggplant is the star of the dish, paired beautifully with the fresh basil, tomatoes, feta and roasted peppers from northern Greece. We also sipped on a refreshing glass of iced mint tea ($1.89).
The moussaka ($9.95) was fabulous! This eggplant-ground beef casserole tasted like a closely guarded family recipe. It comes with a small Greek salad on the side.
We also had an entree-size Greek salad topped with grilled chicken ($7.95), piled high with classic ingredients, including fresh pita wedges and the most amazing kalamata olives you’ll ever eat.
We ended with a little piece of heaven, the finest tiramisu ($4.95) around, pictured at left.
While there, don’t miss a visit to the adjoining market which has a plethora of the best international ingredients available.
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Nabeel’s Café and Market
- 1706 Oxmoor Road, Homewood [map]
- (205) 879-9292
- Nabeels.com
- Hours: 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday (market open 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday).
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Also:
- Southern Palate review of Nabeel’s Café.
- VisitSouth.com profile of Nabeel’s Café.
- Bhamdining.com mini-review of Nabeel’s Café.
- Birmingham Magazine profile of Nabeel’s Café.
- Birmingham News Q&A with Nabeel’s manager of special events, Maria Gambino.
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Celeste Ward is a Birmingham blogger passionate about food and photography. Her food blog Sugar and Spice by Celeste, founded in 2007, has been featured on the Cooking Channel website and AL.com.
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Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!
Monday, August 23, 2010, 10:07 pm
Thanks for sharing! Nabeel’s is one of my favorite places in Birmingham, not only because of my love of Greek Food, but because I remember going in there from the time I was a little girl and before it was a restaurant (when it was just the market) to buy Kalamata Olives and Greek Feta Cheese for my family’s very Greek celebrations of holidays. The atmosphere and the food are priceless to me!
Monday, August 23, 2010, 11:23 pm
You’re welcome. Kudos to Celeste for a great review and photos to match.