Mideast Grocery & Deli

Best Lebanese catering. Order 2 days in advance is best! Sweetest lady who puts a lot of love into her cooking. Just delicious food made right.

The lebanese community in the fremont area is somewhat lacking. Once we find each other we stick together.
My parents have been buying lebanese groceries here for years. I remember going in to the shop after karate class, down the street to pick up some groceries with my parents. I would walk out with a lebne sandwich with cucumbers in it. So simple, yet so satisfying. The pita was always warm and chewy with the smooth olive oil, creamy lebne, and salty cucumbers… I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside everytime I think about it.
Yes its really a small little shop, but they have what you need to cook middle eastern food. And it is so much cheaper than Safeway is for things like garbanzo beans and pita bread. If you are looking to try some new things look for the braided string cheese with the carroway seeds in it, akawai cheese, za’tar, and her fabulous feta cheese pies. Mmmm.
If you want something special to bring to your next office potluck/​whatever food event you need, I highly recommend a munchie platter from her with falafel, meat pies, cheese pies, and spinach pies. Just be sure to order in advance :)

Maya and I went here today on our lunch break. All I can say is WOW. This is yet another one of those places that is totally uncomplicated, unpretentious and unassuming (see my other middle eastern food adventure with Maya at my review of Twilight Café in SFO). This was just great food and great people.
Located in an out of the way street in the Irvington neighborhood of Fremont, of all places, you could walk right by this place and not notice it. Mideast Grocery and Deli isn’t much to write home about… the grocery part is stocked with fairly common and useful middle eastern food imports and staple items.
Although, if you are looking for fenugreek, they carry it (Michael has been on a fenugreek hunt for two years… we are now stocked). There is no seating really to speak of, definitely nothing inside.
The shawerma I had was phenomenal. Definitely better than any other I have had for lunch in Fremont. It was not the traditional lamb, but I haven’t had much luck finding Lebanese-​style shawerma anywhere. I got extra shatti on mine.
More interesting was the rice and meat stuffed squash that was boiling on the stove when we walked in. Apparently Layla makes something special everyday and it was our luck to walk in this day. The homemade and «off the menu» food was totally amazing. We bought a dozen.
Layla and Mike chatted with us for a while, taught me a few new words in Arabic and made me feel like part of the family, although today is the first time they have ever met me.
I highly recommend Middle Eastern Grocery and Deli, the food is wonderful and the people preparing it are simply delightful!

Leila makes amazing and authentic Lebanese food. This is the best that you can get. In response to the review that she doesn’t have much grocery, you are correct. She mainly focuses on catering and special orders. All of her caterings and food is home made by her directly. I hope you get a chance to order some of these special treats. On a daily basis you can enjoy Falafel, Gyros, homous, and tabouli. My favorite is the Labne sandwich. So simple, but delicious.

«Deli» is a misnomer. Not much of a grocery either, just a few shelves with dry goods and a little refrigerator. Catering menu looked great, but it could have been primarily built around stock photos.

Layla makes some good falfel sandwiches and the hummus is really good. If you try it you will not be disappointed. Verry good Lebanese food!

Leila makes amazing shawerma sandwiches. I haven’t been to her place in a while — I really need to go back. Her falafel is amazing, her Kibbeh Neyah is also amazing too. (I almost never eat beef — especially raw beef, but man, that Kibbeh is amazing) Leila and her husband are very very nice people, and they really do get to know you when you start going to their place :)