Word count: 244 | Reading time: 1 min read
Hit and Run
Amin Bitar, co-owner of Bitar Specialty Foods at 10th and Federal, had a grand vision.
Why not turn unused space in the back of the business, which specializes in Middle Eastern foods, into a restaurant?
A place reminiscent of Arab coffee houses, where people gather to meet, eat and especially talk.
Well, that’s exactly what happened, and Bitar Pita Hut was the result.
“People would come in, buy some hummus and some pita bread and ask if they could sit down and eat it,” says Bitar. “So we decided to set up a grill, three tables and now we have a full menu.”
Ah, but it’s more than “just another falafel shop,” Bitar says. The Pita Hut offers something no one in the city does: grilled falafel.
“We spent a long time coming up with a recipe that would allow us to grill the falafel, which makes it much healthier, while maintaining that moisture and flavor of fried falafel.”
Bitar’s Pita Hut also has an assortment of meat and vegetable pies and pitas, soups, hummus and a soon-to-be offered, as-yet-unnamed kibbe sandwich. Prices are more than reasonable, with the most expensive item, the gyro platter, ringing in at $5.95.
Next step, says Bitar, will be delivery, and the marketing of the Bitar’s special marinade.
In between playful bickering between Amin and younger brother Jude, endless backgammon games and a bottomless finjan of Turkish coffee, that is.
— Howard Altman
