Abrakebabra now open in Salem
iStock image.
Correction (4:54 p.m. Nov. 14): Abrakebabra is not Salem’s only Mediterranean restaurant. Zorba’s Small World Cafe on Lynchburg Turnpike serves Mediterranean fare. An earlier version of this blog entry was incorrect on this point. | Our corrections policy.
Salem now has a new Mediterranean eatery, Abrakebabra. The restaurant opened Friday at 1501 S. Colorado Street, across the intersection from Chianti International restaurant and Shanghai Chinese restaurant.
Abrakebabra owner Youssef Salh, 62, said he is also co-owner of Italiano’s Pizza on Wildwood Road in Salem. He wanted to do a Mediterranean restaurant because he is originally from Egypt.
Salh moved to New York in 1985 and was introduced to this area when one of his five children started to attend Radford University. The family moved here six years ago, he said.
Abrakebabra has a simple menu, Salh said, because it is a small restaurant with a small kitchen. It offers chicken or lamb gyros, Greek salads, falafel, hummus, chicken wings, french fries and baklava. Prices range from $5.99 for a gyro to $8.25 for a Greek salad. Salh said he has a small salad bar where diners can customize their sandwiches with whatever vegetable toppings they desire.
Abrakebabra will be open Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 7 p.m.
If you go, we’d love to read your review.
November 14, 2012 - 1:38 PM
RSS feed 
Ate there on Sunday and it was great! I had a Gyro, authentic, carved off the spit. The portion was large with a great quantity of meat, more than what you get at Zorbas.
The toppings bar was also a hit; being able to put whatever you want on your sandwich was awesome.
I think they will do well here! Great food for the value and taste.
Considering the history of that location this is more like the “restaurant of the week” Hopefully Mr Salh will do better then any of the dozens of previous tenants, sounds as if he has some good selections.
I wandered in around 6 on Friday evening, caught by the falafel sign. I asked about their lunch rush, and was told that they’d just opened the store a few hours earlier.
I ordered a falafel (of course), and it was Good (I have to go back and let Mr. Salh know, I told him would). The toppings bar was awesome, I like the idea. I ended up putting onions, tzatziki and an eggplant salad/relish on my falafel, and splitting it with my fiance made a very good pre-dinner snack.
I’m thinking the next time I go, I’m going to have a chicken gyro, both spits of meat looked delicious.
I was hoping to go back this week for lunch, but I’ve got to make a trip to Veggies 2 Go since I’ve never been.
Went there for lunch today with my son and daughter in law. We were the only ones there. We were eating in, but there were only two stools, so I stood.
I had a gyro, my daughter in law had the chicken gyro, and my son had the gyro platter which came with gyro meat, rice, and a little salad.
The food was really good, the gyros are the REAL DEAL, and the owner and another employee were friendly.
There are, however, a couple of things you should know……..
Besides the cramped space with only two stools, it is very simple. Simple is okay, but this is simple to a fault. The gyros were served in a cut off white paper bag, with nothing else…no plate, no wrap, no cutlery, NOTHING.
The topping bar was very nice, however you were only able to put it on the first few bites of your gyro due to the way it is packaged. After those first few bites with the toppings on it, they’re all gone. Then it is necessary to go back up to the bar and add more toppings to the next layer of the gyro. I even ended up putting some of the toppings in the bottom of the bag so that I didn’t have to go back up a third time.
In closing, I would say that I recommend the place and the food, but I see room for a few improvements.
excellent falafel and fresh, lovely, generous greek salad; delightful to be able to add toppings(more greek olives, greek eggplant, pepper rings, garbonza beans & more!)- it’s worth navigating the traffic there, figuring out how/where to park, & being in cramped quarters. I felt the owner & employee were open to feedback. nice quality lamb & chicken too! will return many times (& in better weather, picnic on the greenway just across the street)
wonderful toppings bar, lamb, chicken, falafel, and generous fresh lovely greek salad.
parking and the heavy traffic is a challenge to this first time customer.
owner & employee were welcoming and open to questions (& I’d guess ideas too). highly recommend.
I love the Salem greenway and plan on take out from here and a nice picnic on the river.
a hint to dennis above, place your toppings and eat from the side over, rather from the top down .. that way every bite will have the same amount and type of toppings.
Reply to gee, above; I would have done that but there is nowhere to put the gyro while doing so. W/ the topping bar being away from the “table” I didn’t feel like I could lay my gyro down on half a paper bag and open it up to add toppings.
But no matter, a small issue, the food was AWESOME and I’ll def be going back for the Greek salad and falafel!
I went there for the first time on Tuesday evening – had a wonderful salad and one of the best Gyros I’ve had in ages. I went back today at lunch just to try the Falafel, and it was fantastic! I give this little place 2 thumbs up. Worth waiting for 5 or so minutes to have your food whipped up fresh, and the prices are reasonable too.
Ate here for lunch today. It was VERY good. Not really a sit down place but a grab and go. We did get a bar spot though and had nice conversations with the owner.
As for the comment above about utensils…if you just have a gyro there is no use for these things. I got fries and did get a plate.
I would highly suggest checking this place out! I will definitely be back.
Went there Sunday for lunch. Had the lamb Gyro, very very good. Very close to the ones I had in Athens Greece.
Great food, had the Falafel and Baklava.
My boyfriend and I both tried the lamb gyros and they were wonderful. We especially loved the toppings bar. The eggplant was delicious and we both wished we had got more. The owner was super nice and friendly. Our only complaint was we wished he stayed open a little later than 7. With our work schedules we haven’t been able to make it back in time.