Real Shawarma (not Gyro) in Minnesota – Mim’s Cafe,

Sameer — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:02:22 +0000

Personally I never heard of ‘Gyros’ when I was growing up in the Middle East, so I found it interesting and enjoyed it. Until one day I started missing ‘shawarma’ the real thang! And to my surprise, a friend of mine (Taha) told me about Mim’s Cafe… and the rest is … you know… oh man, I can still taste the juicy pieces of shawarma! YUM!

shawarma vs gyro

First of all, I think it is necessary to clear out the difference between gyro and shawarma. Here is my quick rundown of the difference in the two: (from: Chow.com and Wikipedia and personal experience)

gyro

: Gyro Meat

Greek origin
Ground and processed meat usually a combination of lamb and beef mounted and roasted on a spit
Uses Greek herbs and spices and oregano and garlic etc
Served with thick tzatziki sauce and on a thicker pita bread
The pieces are smooth and long
Wiki
Best Gyro (so far): Holy Land, Minneapolis

shawarma

: Shawarma

Middle Eastern Origin
Chunks of different cuts of meat pressed together and roasted on a spit
Uses allspice and other Middle Eastern spices for the marinade
Served with Tahini and humus(optional) either rolled in a khubuz or pocket pita
Pieces are small chunks of meat
Wiki
Best Shawarma (so far): Ibby’s Falafel, New Jersey; Mim’s Cafe, Minnesota

Both are delicious but in Minnesota you hardly find shawarma’s and I recently found a place – Yes, thats why Im blogging about it.

mim’s cafe

Mim’s cafe is located near the University of Minnesota Campus (more on how to get there under location). So I had this craving for shawarma one day and I asked around if anyone knew where I can find a good shawarma – a friend of mine told me about Mim’s Cafe and saved my life. First of all if you search for Mim’s Cafe you will get Mimi’s cafe (which is obviously not the same) so anyway we get to this place and its late and I don’t see the meat on the spit – at that moment I thought all hope is lost. But then the guy running the place (Majid) asked me if I wanted shawarma. They usually take it down to store it for the next day. It turns out that they prepare their own meat for the shawarma. The guy was nice and instantly recognized my friend who referred me to his place. I suggested the place to a couple of friends and they love it. If you get a chance try this place, its good.

food 9/10

The best shawarma (so far) and the best falafel ever! Falafels are fresh and crunchy. Also the hummus was awesome, but I think the one at Holy Land is just a little better. The shawarma is like $5 something.. so its not that expensive either. Haven’t tried anything else there. So awesome falafel and shawarma, great hummus, moderate to cheap prices. Anyone ever tried anything else there? (write in comments section)

service 7/10

Service was fast and good. People are nice and friendly. You have to get drinks and napkins by yourself but that is expected at a fast food place. I really liked how the host didn’t bother us and let us be until we were almost done. I hate when people keep asking you, ‘How is the food?’ while you are in the middle of chewing your first bite. But if you raise your head and look towards him he would come running. It might be different during different times of the day as well. We went at night around 8 or 9, maybe its different when the place is crowded.

location

Street parking only as it is right on campus. Easy to find but don’t follow the directions from Google. Google will send you to this address: 1435 Cleveland Ave S, St Paul, MN. Thats the wrong address! This is the correct address: 1435 Cleveland Ave N, St Paul, MN 55108

Go there, try it out, tell your friends and leave comments.

Oh yes, and when you go there tell them you heard about this place from ‘Sameer’!

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