Old Jerusalem

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED!
And I miss it greatly. Their fattoush was by far the best I’ve ever had. Everything I ate here was outstanding.

I decided to check to see if San Antonio does Middle Eastern food and the finding was not really according to this place. It was interesting, this place is owned by people from Oman and Jordan and yet they serve both middle eastern cuisine as well as some «Chicago style» items.
I had a combo platter, which gives you a taste of all the meat they serve (lamb skewer, chicken skewer, and kefta). It is also served with grilled onion and tomato, rice, pita, hummus, and a small tomato/​cucumber salad.
I will give them credit the kefta was good, but there was nothing too everything else. The other meats needed more seasoning and although the rice was cooked with parsley and pine nuts, it tasted like Uncle Ben’s Instant rice or something cheap and without any seasoning. Overall, the meal was pretty bland, when in general it should have had a lot of flavor.
So if I decide to have middle eastern /​arabic food again in San Antonio I won’t be returning to this establishment.

My friend I discovered this by accident, but we are so glad we did. We were actually looking for another restaurant nearby which we found, but it was closed. She was hesitant to try it because she is vegan, but I said I’d go in and ask if they had any selections for her.
The waitress handed me the menu and showed me the menu, which had a nice list of vegetarian meals (they looked to be vegan as well) and I glanced at the appetizers which also had some vegetarian/​vegan choices.
I went back out to the car and told my friend and she seemed a little hesitant still, but decided we should eat here.
The restaurant seemed newly renovated and painted, and when I went to check out the bathroom later, that whole dining side and restroom area seemed almost like they had barely finished renovation, and/​or still working on it. The restroom was clean though, always a plus.
The colors and décor of the restaurant part were nice and seemed to fit well, ceilings were maroon, walls of the restaurant were yellow, but it was perfect. Since it was off in the corner of that shopping center, it made the inside look warm, welcoming and happy.
The waitress brought us our own pitcher of water and two glasses and left them on the table and asked if we wanted sodas or anything else, which we said no thanks. Although it didn’t seem like the norm thing to do around here, I preferred it, and it’s far better than an overbearing waitress that comes around way too often (AKA Formosa Gardens).
The menu had some interesting selections… middle eastern food, but hot dogs too? I found that a little strange, but who knows, they could be good.
Anyway, we ordered an appetizer called Baba Ghanooj which was a very tasty eggplant dip with spices (check out the menu on their website) and for a meal I ordered the number 8 — Mosabaha — cooked chick peas with tahina sauce and mixed with fresh garlic, lemon juice, and fresh peppers. Topped with olive oil.
My friend ordered number 9 — the falafel platter — half dozen, fresh and hot, made from chick peas mixed with herbs and their own spices, served with cauliflower, eggplant and Jerusalem salad.
There was so much food, that we shared it all. We couldn’t finish even half of it, so we had it the rest boxed for later… yum!
Another great thing, our waitnress came back to our table and said we get free drinks with our meals and again asked if we wanted soda. We said no soda, but lemonade sounded good. Their lemonade was awesome! We both loved it.
Then she brought us a plate full of fresh watermelon and said it was free. We were both thinking it doesn’t get any better than this.
These small, new restaurants really know how to get their customers to come back.
Sure enough, it is only one month old — their grand opening was on July 1 2010.
The last great thing I’d like to add — our food cost about $ 14 total (without tip included, but we both left good tips of course). Very, very good food for the money.
We left there ecstatic, full, and excited to come again. I highly recommend it.