Eats Beat
$7 lunches, large $10-$12 dinners make Amira’s Mediterranean a bargain choice
For sure, Amira’s Mediterranean is not the prettiest restaurant.
Nor is West Division Street an Arlington garden spot.
But among the used car lots and taverns on a street 50 years past its heyday, Amira’s is a very, very important restaurant.
It serves lots of food, and for a low price.
Frankly, the food is far better than the setting, a 1970s 24-hour breakfast diner that was home to Skillet N Grill before it moved.
The shawarma or kebab dinners cost about $10-$12.
That’s for a dinner with two sides, big enough to split.
The most expensive plate is the $14.99 mixed grill, with beef, chicken, lamb and kofta (ground beef and lamb).
.When you drive up to Amira’s, you smell the grill. It’s as enticing as any barbecue restaurant.
The sandwiches are a bargain, too: about $5 or $6 for meat or falafel with hummus and tahini. (French fries cost an extra $1.50.)
The vegetarian menu offers falafel, dolmas or veggies on an plate for about $9 or $10. The mixed appetizer platter is about $10.
The lunch specials cost about $7 for a sandwich with fries and a drink, or about $9 for a shawarma platter.
For about $20, a family of four could easily share two chicken kebab platters with salad, hummus, tabbouleh and baba ghanoush.
Amira’s is BYOB. So the wine is up to you.
Owner Ahmad Abu-Shawish worked at the beloved Prince Lebanese, an excellent restaurant known as one of several Guy Fieri Arlington favorites on “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.”
For pretty Mediterranean dining, try Istanbul Grill in Arlington or Fort Worth, Terra Mediterranean Grill in Fort Worth or Andalous in Arlington.
For a smaller restaurant with good food and a good value, also try Tiba Grill in Arlington, King Tut in Fort Worth or the Nish! Mediterranean buffet in River Oaks.
But for an inexpensive lunch or family dinner, also try Amira’s.
It’s open for lunch and dinner weekdays and Saturdays, lunch Sundays; 2424 W. Division St. at South Bowen Road, 817-422-9053, facebook.com/amirasarlington.
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This story was originally published October 16, 2019 5:45 AM.
