Abrakababra — Restaurant in Salem

What a treasure Abrakababra is! Everything is fresh and made with care. The menu is very small, but my favorite restaurants always focus on what they do best. The lamb is SO tender and subtly seasoned and the tzatsiki had a delicious zing of something (coriander? cinnamon?) that I didn’t want to put anything extra on my gyros to mask that flavor. Delicious! The hummous was thick and the garlic in it came out to play (seriously, if you make hummous, let the garlic sing!). Even my husband's fries were super tasty with the seasoned salt added by Fatima. The portion sizes were just right and the flavors were divine. After we ate, we had the pleasure of chatting with Fatima for a while (and meeting two of her sons). It felt like sitting in someone’s kitchen while they made us lunch. I’m so glad we didn’t get our food to go. We came for the food and stayed for the amazing and kind people. We can’t wait to come back and try the falafel...

Won’t be back. WAY too much garlic in everything and no other flavor. The “ meat” is so over processed that the texture isn’t meat anymore just brown stuff that is piled on a bunch of lettuce tomato cucumbers and a spicy pepper and 2 tiny pieces of feta. Yes they have a toppings bar but most of it is duplications except the garbanzos which were good and the eggplant which was dark and the skin is tough . $9.25 for this is way too much. We were going to sit outside but there isn’t any shade and it’s a busy street corner. We opted for the two least rickety stools. There were no other customers even though it was noon. The older gentlemen was polite but the two younger men were just plain creepy. Staring staring staring unfriendly eyes and talking in Arabic to each other and more staring. We left and...

After many months of driving by this tiny shop I finally decided to stop and try it out.

SOOOOO happy that I did! I’ve been back numerous times and everything is so good. Prices are incredibly reasonable and the flavors and seasonings are authentic and delicious.

There isn’t really seating inside, there are a few picnic tables outside but I typically just call or stop in and get food to go.

The owners/employees are always kind and you can tell they love sharing their recipes and food with their customers.

Both the gyro (beef & lamb) and the chicken are excellent. The falafel are a yummy side too. And their dressing for the salad… I wish I could buy...