More Fun Playing with La Pita fka Tastee Bites

It has been a few weeks since I've been to the restaurant on Mayfield Road in Lyndhurst Ohio that used to be called Tastee Bites. I've written about it here and here. Charlotte and Tony Bechara serve up honest, freshly prepared food with a Middle Eastern flair and very wallet-friendly prices. The restaurant is located at 5416 Mayfield Road, Lyndhurst Ohio (across from BW3's), 216-605-9946 (no website).

But business was never strong - mostly for the reasons I mentioned in my prior posts. So, it was with great concern that I learned in August that Tastee Bites would close Sunday-Weds. This did not bode well.

The good news is that this lovely lunch spot has changed its name and signage, tweaked its menu a little, and is now back to being open five days per week! I present to you - La Pita Lebanese Cuisine.



What follows are photos and descriptions from a number of recent visits - starting before the name change and continuing through October 16, 2009.



This is a "bread bowl" that Charlotte makes to hold the large size Fatoush salad - commercial pita sprinkled with herbs and spices, then baked. It is quite lovely.



This Fattoush salad is topped with freshly grilled ground chicken, and pickled turnips. Yum!





Charlotte made this low-carb version for Jamie, sans pita, with beef.



I know I've shown you Charlotte's tabouli before - but I can't resist showing it again - this sample for our lunch table had been made literally moments before it was served to us.


Spinach Wrap

Seasoned spinach is wrapped with perfectly caramelized onions and cheese, then grilled. This is tasty and nutritious.





Another basket of samples, on another lunch visit with the office gang. The dip on the left is hummus (I think), the one on the right is white bean dip. The latter is no longer a menu item, but may be available on request.






Kibbe

This lunch special was from July. A delicious lamb patty was topped with a meaty (beef) sauce, then rolled and grilled. It was served with Seasoned Potato Wedges (roasted, not fried), a cup of Charlotte's special sauce, and a can of pop.








This was outstanding - I hope it makes the menu some time!


Falafel Sandwich


Sauce to Accompany Falafel

All of the sauces are house-made from very fresh ingredients. The falafel sandwich is very good - the only thing it is missing is the unique texture and bright flavor it would have if the falafel were fried from raw to order - since the food service line has no deep fryer, the falafel balls are pre-fried, and reheated to order. It is still an excellent falafel sandwich.


Small Size Fatoush Salad







This was the daily special on September 11. Meat, lentils and caramelized onions, sauteed and served over rice, with a slice of roasted summer tomato and side of fattoush. And a couple of sweet macaroons for dessert!




Amuse

These next photos are from our most recent visit, which was yesterday. Every diner was offered a small container of raw vegetables and another delicious yogurt-based dip to nibble while the food was prepared.

It was a raw, wet day - soup weather. And, as it happened, I learned that La Pita now features two freshly made soups each day. Sign me up! One serving of each, please!


Lentil Soup (Vegetarian)





I loved this soup - I would have though it had meat stock, it was so rich in taste and mouthfeel.


Chicken Soup with Noodles



This delightful elixer mated a very flavorful chicken broth with chunks of vegetables and grilled chicken, and noodles.







The soup had very gentle lemon notes, which Charlotte said would have come from the chicken meat, which had lemon sprinkled on it prior to cooking. Simply lovely, and satisfying given the kind of weather day it was.


Fatoush with Grilled Chicken


Dessert!

Tony treated us to some sweets after we finished our meals.



This one is highly recommended, especially if you like pistachios!

And so, it gives me great pleasure to tell you that Tastee Bites has changed only its name - the people are the same warm and friendly folks, and the food remains a generous variety of sandwiches and plates all made from scratch with love. La Pita continues to serve burgers (Beef, Chicken, Salmon and Veggie), Lebanese specialties, wraps, dips, salads, and sides at very gentle prices - I could play with this food all day! Hope you give it a try.

More Fun Playing with Tastee Bites

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.

Fun Playing with Food at Tastee Bites

Tastee Bites is a relatively new player on the Mayfield Road lunch scene near my Lyndhurst office. Owners Charlotte Bechara and her husband Tony are working hard to bring fresh, affordable food to a neighborhood awash in fast food chains. Also, this neighborhood offers some competition for "fresh" - Appetite, Antalya, Eat at Joe's and Kalie's Diner also offer modestly priced food, cooked fresh to order, and Antalya is also Mediterranean.

I first lunched at Tastee Bites right after they opened, and it didn't seem fair to write about them until they had a chance to work out the opening kinks. I'm pleased to report that the food I've tasted since then has been very good to outstanding, and Tastee Bites is recommended for lunch, and even for dinner take-out if the family is in a Mediterranean mood. Charlotte makes outstanding hummus and babaganoush. Other Mediterranean items include tabouli, yogurt dip, white bean dip, Kafta, and Fatoush. And don't forget the desserts (which I usually do)!



How can you not love a place that has chairbacks like these? These are obviously people who enjoy playing with food. The restaurant has about 5 tables, so one can lunch there, or take out.


Falafel Sandwich

This was my partner Anna's lunch the last time we "ate in". She liked it.


Falafel Salad

This was a serious salad that included big hunks of fresh vegetables together with the more traditional salad items. The falafel were good, and the dressing simply fabulous. It was all served over a cleverly toasted pita "shell."





We also enjoyed some Baklava. Charlotte makes all of this from scratch and it is lovely.

The next couple of visits were for take out, and just for me. First - a "chicken burger" - sounds weird, but tastes mighty good! Rather than the ubiquitous food service frozen-reheated rubber chicken breast, Charlotte uses ground chicken for this delicacy.







This sandwich was cooked to order and most delicious. And - a lighter alternative to the hamburger that is also on the menu. They also offer a garden burger and a salmon burger, which I have not yet tried.


Babaganoush (Eggplant Dip) with Pita

I loved the baba! The only thing missing was a dash of hot sauce. Huge smoky eggplant flavor and fresh tahini.



For lunch today, I ordered the Daily Special. The Daily Special is disclosed on a white board in the window - today, it was Steak Wrap, side of grilled veggies, fruit salad and can of pop.


Grilled Vegetables

These babies had actual flavor and didn't taste of a food service bag.


Steak Wrap

They asked if I wanted regular (onions, peppers and swiss cheese) or Mediterranean. I opted for the latter.


Steak with Grilled Onions, Peppers, Tomatoes, Pickled Turnips and Hummus

One bite of this sandwich, and my mouth was singing! It was that good - in addition to the listed goodies, I saw Charlotte squirting the meat with her "secret sauce" as it cooked - it had a veritable explosion of flavor to offer! And those pickled turnips - YUM!





Did I mention this special (which cost just $6.49) also came with a cup of fresh fruit?



Delicious! I didn't think you needed to see the can of pop (I'm trying to cut out pop anyway), but that was also included.

If you are traveling Mayfield Road and looking for freshly prepared, inexpensive, tasty eats - I can recommend giving Tastee Bites a try for fun food! But don't be in too much of a hurry - everything cooked is cooked from raw - and this takes a little more time than your average microblasted fast food. But it is well worth the slight wait to play with Tastee Bites!