Downtown Roanoke to get Lebanese restaurant
A young man who comes from a long line of good Lebanese cooks is planning to open his own lunch spot on Campbell Avenue in downtown Roanoke.
Daniel Melki is aiming to open Hummus House on Feb. 27. The restaurant will be located in the same space that has housed several other eateries in the past, most recently Chance & Maddie’s. It is in the Crystal Tower building in the 100 block of Campbell.
Melki, 28, said he’ll be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday serving such Lebanese specialties as pita wraps (chicken, beef and vegetable), tabbouli salad, hummus, falafel, kibbi, stuffed grape leaves, spinach and feta cheese wraps and baklava. He said the recipes he’ll be using are family recipes. If you recognize the name Melki, it might be because his mom, Marcelle, was one of the featured home cooks in our “Look Who’s Cooking” series last year.
Daniel Melki said he is not too concerned that previous restaurants did not succeed in that spot because they had very simple burgers-and-fries menus. “There was no creativity,” he said. “There are a ton of burger-and-fry places around.” He knows the Lebanese Festival at St. Elias Church on Cove Road in Roanoke has become hugely popular and thinks Lebanese cuisine is something people get a craving for. He doesn’t want it to only be available once a year.
Melki said he will aim to offer quick, in-and-out service and reasonable prices. For example, he wants patrons to be able to leave with a platter (wrap, hummus and fries, for example) with a drink for under $8.
If the opening date changes, I’ll let you know.
February 15, 2012 - 4:28 PM
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30 years ago there was a Lebanese place on Campbell Ave. My friends and I would frequent it late weekend nights for the food and music.
I’ve always liked Mediterranean food since then.
In general, it’s quite healthy, and being specific, it’s a good idea to give a few visits to any new place started by an aspiring young person.
foohie! I don’t get off work in time to get there before 6:00, and it isn’t open on the weekends.
@ Win, he said he didn’t *think* he would open on Saturdays because this end of downtown is mostly businesses and state/city offices that are open on weekdays. But maybe he will do so well that he’ll decide to open on Saturdays. We shall see!
This is awesome! I can’t wait to try it!
It is obviously properly geared towards a business lunch crowd. Anyone in the area who tires of fast food drive thru should open themselves to a new experience.
Just take the time to go in, tell the wait staff you don’t know anything about their menu, and ask for suggestions.
In return, you’ll receive a healthy meal, a different experience from sitting in your vehicle listening to the radio while chowing down, and you’ll have a new reference point. There’s virtually no way to lose in the equation.
With his location, a smart businessperson would not open on weekends until they establish a very solid weekday trade.
Folks, places like this are the alternative to franchise heaven/hades. It boils down to that. You want something different? Something other than ‘another way to cook a burger’? Then try an independent place. You really will not be disappointed.
Best of wishes to Daniel Melki. I’m going to try his place out. Multiple times. I have faith I’ll enjoy it.
I have heard WONDERFUL things about his mother’s food so I can only imagine his dishes will be just as good!
I’ve had their food. It’s ridiculously good. Good luck Daniel!!!
Bummer about the hours.
Can’t wait to try it! I love Lebanese food.
If Daniel knows how to cook AND run a kitchen as well as his Mother, he will do very well! Can’t wait to stop in.
I can’t wait to try it either! I am so looking forward to it.
Give this resturant a try and I will be willing to bet you will never be satisfied with a burger and frys for lunch again.
If we support Daniel I feel certain he will be willing to extend his hours.
This restaurant will be one of the best things that has ever hit Downtown Roanoke! His food IS delicious because he was taught by the best: both his mom and dad are incredible cooks as people may know from the Lebanese Festival. Daniel is an talented, hard working young man–we all need to support a local business like his. You WILL love it!
AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!
I spent ten minutes writing a comment here. Submitted it, after entering the STUPID “captcha” code and double checking that I had it right. It came back and said I entered the code wrong, pls try again…but my comment was gone! Luckily, after having trouble submitting comments before, I had copied my comment. So, I pasted my comment, entered the CAPTCHA code and re-submitted. Took so long to go through that it “timed out.” Comment gone, so I tried again. Somehow I couldn’t paste it again, which leads me to sitting here venting! Please excuse me!
Dennis, for what it is worth, I apologize. I know others have had problems with the captcha code in the past. The reason we have it on many of our blogs is that it weeds out 99 percent of the spam comments we get. I have considered asking our online team to remove the captcha code from my blog, but I know if they do I will have hundreds of spam comments to wade through each day. It’s insane how many spam comments come through without it. So many that in trying to delete them all, ones eyes start to glaze over and I’m afraid I’ll accidentally delete a real comment. So that’s the conundrum. I may have them remove it again just to see what happens. It would help to know exactly how many people have problems with the captcha code and how often it either kicks their comment out or prevents them from wanting to comment at all.
Well, can you believe it!? How ironic! I typed a long comment to yours, and it kicked it out! And I forgot to copy it! So, once again, you aren’t getting my comment. Maybe your IT folks could fix it so that if someone does make a mistake w/ the captcha code, and it kicks back to them, their comment will still be there! Instead of erasing someone’s work and effort. That way a blog reader could repost their comment more easily! I’ve also lost several comments when your server “times out.” Same thing happens, when it comes back to tell you that, the comment is gone. You’d think that they could fix it so that at least the comment is still there!
Oh, how aggravating for you. Dennis, I am passing this along to someone who knows way more about computers than I do. Thanks for the feedback.
Please open on the weekends because people that don’t work downtown might not be able to make it for lunch. So Saturdays would be great and plus your business would get bigger. I’m Lebanese and I love the food.
Thanks,
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