Now that I’m no longer traveling two weeks out of every month, I’ve been enjoying the home time and the Houston time.
Our family lives just to the southwest of Houston’s “Loop” where most of the high-profile and fine dining takes place. While we have ready access to the central dining scene, we are also just a stone’s throw from an archipelago of small municipalities in the western section of our megalopolis.
With more time on the ground and yawny with the however wonderfully vibrant culinary world inside the Loop, I’ve been treating myself to lunch out with one overarching criterion: the restaurant where I dine has to be to the west of me (not to the east inside the Loop).
One of my earliest finds has been the extraordinary Middle Eastern restaurant Kabab Shack and Grill.
From the outside, this joint looks like just another anonymous strip mall restaurant. But once you walk inside and notice that the cooks are impeccably outfitted in black chef coats and toques, it becomes clear that the venue’s focus is gastronomic excellence. The older gentleman at the counter, whom I imagine is the owner, reminded me of the old school kebab places I’ve frequented in France, Italy, and Israel.
I ate every last bit of my gyro-stuffed pita. The meat was wonderfully savory without being excessively salty. The lettuce, onion, and tomato were fresh, crisp, and flavorful. And the fries, perfectly dressed with spice and tahini, were among the best I’ve ever eaten.
The thing that blew me away about this place was the professionalism of the cooks and the manager/owner. The kitchen was so clean and orderly I thought I was eating at Boulud in New York. It took a minute for my order to come out (I was one of the first customers that day) and one of the cooks made a point to thank me for my patience. The older gentleman who took my order was cordial and warm.
I loved this place and can’t wait to explore more of the menu. My new series on west Houston dining: “Worth the Drive West.” Stay tuned for more.
Do Bianchi 
Coming from Chicago, we got hooked on Afghan food, and lived in Evanston, where the city’s best Afghan restaurant resides. A Classic immigrant story: Abdul, an engineer, fled Kabul, settled in the midwest and opened a small pizzeria with his wife. Perfect and down the street from us, at a time when we had a toddler.
But they also, on request, made afghan dishes. Utterly to die for. Soon, the requests for the Afghan food overwhelmed the local need for pizza, so they opened a full scale restaurant. Abdul passed some years ago, But the restaurant remains, and is always packed. It fills my heart to see the multiethnic makeup of the customers.
Fast forward to now. We live in between two of California’s most multiethnic metropoli. But…try to find Afghan restaurants. Mot very thick on the ground. Annoyed, I finally did a deeper dive, and discovered a storefront kebab place in a nondescript strip mall in…Reseda. On the way home from LA, and conveniently right about where traffic starts getting gummed up.
Go in, theyve got a kebab menu. But…ask the man behind the counter if they can make you some Mantoo, Aushak or (heaven)! Kabuli Palau, the afghan national dish. He looks at you appraisingly, them gesture to a table in the corner. And out comes the best afghan food in LA.
The other diners also view you in a new light. You’re among friends now. “Ah” one says, “you’ve discovered our secret paradise.”
I read this with interest and a bit of hunger! I have just retired (a bit early) from a corporate job in the energy sector and like you, will have much more time at home in Houston. Food is my passion and hobby, and Kabab Shack and Grill sounds like a place I need to try, so I looked it up. Is it the one in Sugar Land, on Dairy Ashford?