Check, Please.

Confession: I don't know much about Mediterranean food. I didn't grow up with a lot of it around. Don't cringe, but the closest thing I came to Mediterranean food was Showmars. Ha! I know...

Then one of my friends and favorite swag-tastic colleagues, Kamran Popkin (@swagclub) suggested that we go to Pita House. I've had several folks recommend the Pita House, but I didn't want to go without a seasoned veteran, since clearly my experience with chickpea-related foods is/was limited.

Reaction: Last Friday, Kam and I head off to Pita House, so he could show me the ropes. P.S. It didn't hurt that he came to my office with a flipping BMW M5 for me to test drive. Off we go. When we arrive, I am surprised to see a small counter full of baked goods straight ahead and a picture menu. Thank God for picture menus, since I have no idea what to order. Thankfully, Kam ordered for me and we got a gyro meat combination meal and a chicken combination meal--we shared so I could try it all. We also got homemade lemonade. It's not often that a restaurant still serves homemade lemonade and man, was it tasty.

Side note: Kam gave me a lesson as to how gyro meat is traditionally made. It is slices of beef (or pork) and slices of lamb stacked on top of the other on a rotisserie rod. The slices soon become an oblong shape on the rod. Then it is slow roasted and shaved length-wise. For more information see this video, but the meat is pronounced YHEAR-oo, not jyi-row... what an idiot.

We get our combo plates and I am pleasantly surprised by what I see. Styrofoam compartment plates full of stuff! There is a meat compartment with our requested meats, a cucumber salad compartment and a hummus compartment. Then stacked high on the compartment ridges are huge falafel balls with olives, pickles, lettuce and tomato for dressings. Then comes a side basket of fresh, homemade pita bread. Holy cow, what a plate.

I tenderly try the cucumber salad first. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge fan of cucumbers, but the salad isn't too bad--edible for me, which is saying a lot. It is tomatoes, cucumbers and possibly some other veggies dressed in very, very garlicy tzatzki-type sauce. Next I dive in for the hummus. I love hummus... I am also incredibly picky when it comes to hummus. Hummus wasn't bad. It was incredibly fresh with a super fruity olive oil drizzle, but all in all not super flavorful.

So, I slather the inside of a pita piece with the hummus, smash a falafel ball in it and add the best pickles, hands down, that I have ever put in my mouth. They were homemade and phenomenal. My little sandwich was perfect. I would have sat there and eaten falafel and pickle sandwiches all day long. Poor Kam... I don't think he got a pickle that day. Hahahaha...

Lastly, I was treated to a cashew roll--one of those amazing baked goods in the case at the counter up front. It is very similar to baklava, but made with cashews instead of walnuts and rolled into a little cigar. MMMmmm... very rich and satisfying, although not terribly sweet.

The place was packed while we were there. We were lucky and snagged a booth in the back. It is incredibly popular for lunch. There is also another side to the restaurant--a neat marketplace. Fresh olives bins, bags of chickpeas, oils and spices, even (what looked to be used) cookbooks. All shipped from Europe.

So not only was the food amazing, we got to visit an authentic market and were in and out in a flash, zooming back toward Woodruff Road in less than an hour. A solid 4 out of 5.