Tastee Bites, a charming little spot at 5416 Mayfield Road (440-605-9946, no website), has really hit its stride since I last wrote about it. Chef-owner Charlotte Bechara has streamlined her menu and made it economically competitive with even fast food lunches. She now offers, among other delights, a selection of grilled Lebanese and American sandwich wraps for $4.99 for vegetarian and $5.99 for meat varieties. Most important, though, is that all of Charlotte's food is real food that is cooked from scratch. It is truly "slow food."
These are some of the goodies we've recently enjoyed at lunch:
Original Steak Wrap (cheese omitted at diner's request)
Kosher Hot Dog
Split open and grilled.
Grilled Chicken Wrap (pickled turnips omitted at diner's request)
He left out the best part! The pickled turnips are amazing.
Kafta Wrap
Seasoned beef and lamb patty is grilled and wrapped with goodies in this blurry shot.
Kafta from an earlier visit, with all the trimmings: hummus, veggies, parsley, pickled turnips
This was before they were grilling the wraps, so it is more oval than square. Even though I'm not usually a toast kinda gal, I think the grilling gives it great texture. But this shot showed off the fillings better!
This is gooood stuff!
Moujadara Wrap
This was simply fabulous. The filling consists of lentils, rice, and caramelized onion, which are mixed with cooked vegetables. The sandwich was tasty, filling, vegetarian and healthy.
While we were enjoying our sandwiches, Charlotte emerged from the back kitchen with several containers of freshly made items. She then deposited the following on our table:
Freshly made, from scratch, Tabouli Salad with Pita
This salad explodes with flavor. Fresh, fresh, fresh.
Now, our table received another comp as a result of a miscommunication - Charlotte thought someone in our group was having a birthday and delivered this plate:
The sad news is that Charlotte is no longer making desserts for the restaurant herself (I did not ask about her catering, so that may still be available). The good news is that she is sourcing her desserts from locally owned small bakeries. The baklava was very enjoyable - not too sweet or sticky - just right! The cake had thick buttercream and was crusted with crushed pistachios.
Other budget conscious, yet freshly prepared items available are the Angus Burger ($4.79), Chicken Burger ($5.29), which I blogged about in my earlier post, Salmon Burger ($4.99) and Veggie Burger ($4.99), which I sampled recently but didn't photograph. Light in taste and texture, the veggie burger is made in house and has no mushrooms (I don't care for mushrooms). A small selection of salads (which can be topped with any meat or veggie option) and sides are also available, as well as Soup of the Day.
We are enjoying playing with the food at Tastee Bites and recommend it for simple, healthy, fresh lunch or dinner eats.
These are some of the goodies we've recently enjoyed at lunch:
Original Steak Wrap (cheese omitted at diner's request)
Kosher Hot Dog
Split open and grilled.
Grilled Chicken Wrap (pickled turnips omitted at diner's request)
He left out the best part! The pickled turnips are amazing.
Kafta Wrap
Seasoned beef and lamb patty is grilled and wrapped with goodies in this blurry shot.
Kafta from an earlier visit, with all the trimmings: hummus, veggies, parsley, pickled turnips
This was before they were grilling the wraps, so it is more oval than square. Even though I'm not usually a toast kinda gal, I think the grilling gives it great texture. But this shot showed off the fillings better!
This is gooood stuff!
Moujadara Wrap
This was simply fabulous. The filling consists of lentils, rice, and caramelized onion, which are mixed with cooked vegetables. The sandwich was tasty, filling, vegetarian and healthy.
While we were enjoying our sandwiches, Charlotte emerged from the back kitchen with several containers of freshly made items. She then deposited the following on our table:
Freshly made, from scratch, Tabouli Salad with Pita
This salad explodes with flavor. Fresh, fresh, fresh.
Now, our table received another comp as a result of a miscommunication - Charlotte thought someone in our group was having a birthday and delivered this plate:
The sad news is that Charlotte is no longer making desserts for the restaurant herself (I did not ask about her catering, so that may still be available). The good news is that she is sourcing her desserts from locally owned small bakeries. The baklava was very enjoyable - not too sweet or sticky - just right! The cake had thick buttercream and was crusted with crushed pistachios.
Other budget conscious, yet freshly prepared items available are the Angus Burger ($4.79), Chicken Burger ($5.29), which I blogged about in my earlier post, Salmon Burger ($4.99) and Veggie Burger ($4.99), which I sampled recently but didn't photograph. Light in taste and texture, the veggie burger is made in house and has no mushrooms (I don't care for mushrooms). A small selection of salads (which can be topped with any meat or veggie option) and sides are also available, as well as Soup of the Day.
We are enjoying playing with the food at Tastee Bites and recommend it for simple, healthy, fresh lunch or dinner eats.
Re: your F&WF post:
ReplyDeletehttp://thecagefreetomato.blogspot.com/2009/02/going-whole-lamb.html
Just my 2 cents, and sorry for self linkage. Also very good in a tomatoey mussel broth and/or stewed with chickpeas. Or shaped like little sausages and dipped in harissa. I heart merguez.
Don't sweat the linkage, LOL!
ReplyDeleteHarissa sounds like a great idea; chickpeas too.
Cool. But who the hell's putting ketchup on the hotdog! They'll shoot folks for that back east.
ReplyDeleteLOL CFT! Ketchup on a hotdog was a source of tension in the Long Island house I grew up in (to this day, my dad makes a snotty comment whenever my brother puts ketchup on his - and this has been going on for over 40 years). I personally find it revolting. And - I actually made a comment about it when 4 year old Lex picked the red squeeze bottle up. Explanation: his mother likes it that way!
ReplyDeleteAs we say in Ohio: oh, well.