The Mediterranean Chickpea — Restaurant in Tampa

If you are looking for authentic Lebanese or Middle Eastern food and don't mind going to purely vegetarian route, this is your place.

A little background on why I think this plqce is so great. After 20+ years in Northern Virginia I got used to having access to excellent ethnic foods... And Spinach Pies at the Mediterranean Bakery (Alexandria, VA) were my go to for special occasions where I would buy them by the dozen, freeze some and reheat in the oven.

When we moved to Tampa Bay I was looking for something similar... But these spinach pies are, dare I say it, even better. They are certainly bigger at about 12". We cut them into 4 pieces so my twin girls can have at them when they come out of the oven. We have been buying these 8 to 12 at a time depending on who we have over and for what occasion... They've substituted for pierogi's (wife is Polish) throughout the holidays pairing perfectly with red beet barscht.

The last 2 trips had us crazy for their falafel, crispy on the outside, gently moist with wonderful green specs of parsley inside. The hummus is also to die for... So creamy and good.

Everything looks and tastes homemade, you can tell the owners care about food... And iirc they have family in NoVa/MD area too where the middle eastern food is off...

I'm not sure what I love more about the Mediterranean Chickpea: Mouna or the food.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Mouna for over 7 years. I first met her when she operated a food stand called "Mouna's Delicacies" at a food truck event in Seminole Heights. I was thrilled to hear that she had opened a location in South Tampa. She is just as lovely now as when I met her years ago. She is the kind of person you always remember. She is pure goodness.

My opinion of her cuisine still is the same after all these years: DELICIOUS. You really can't go wrong with anything you order. We have tried it all. Our favorites are the Falafel Bowl and the Babaganoush. I stop by here every couple weeks to pick up food to go before I head down to DTSP.

The portions of food included with your order are so generous and such a great value. Mouna is consistently working to serve the freshest food to her customers daily. Plus, her food is made with love as you can read and feel from my fellow reviewers.

Just a friendly reminder that Mouna normally runs the restaurant by herself so it can get backed up from time to time. Please know that her food is definitely worth the wait.

I love you Mouna! Thanks for always being such a bright spot in...

A friend recommended I try the food here and if I could give 6 stars, I would. The owner is such a delightful woman. She insisted that I taste everything she made so I would know what to order. She and her husband make everything from scratch DAILY. She had about 6 or 7 different kinds of hummus, several types of salads and 3 soups. I tried almost everything and took home so many items because of it. I'm very particular with what hummus I eat because most of it has too much tahini or too much lemon in it for me. Her husband makes all the hummus and every, single one was delicious!! The cilantro hummus, jalepeno hummus and beat hummus were my favorites. Her spinach pies are huge and we took home 4 of those. All the soups were so fresh and delicious so I bought one of those as well. Then the salads... amazing. Again, no preservatives, all fresh ingredients. I would take out from here every week if I lived closer. Please check them out. Not only is the food amazing but the prices are so reasonable that I told her she could easily raise her prices. Seriously, if you love mediterranean food and want to know who's cooking it, know you're getting fresh ingredients and not break the bank, you must try The...