The Pita Stop

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Photo by Katie Turpen.

The Pita Stop

(above) The Pita Stop in Cahaba Heights features a variety of cuisines including the chicken lunch plate served with pita brad, hummus dip, fresh fruit and a house salad.

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Photo by Katie Turpen.

The Pita Stop

Owner Nadim Shunnarah (second from left) stands with his employees at the restaurant’s Cahaba Heights location.

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For some people, cooking memorable dishes comes natural. Local restaurant owner Nadim Shunnarah has been crafting the art of Mediterranean cuisine for 38 years and counting. 

He opened the original Pita Stop in 1977 in the Southside neighborhood of Birmingham. In 2010, he and his business partner, Jamal Abu-Sued, opened The Pita Stop in Cahaba Heights, giving Vestavia Hills a taste of the Mediterranean.

The restaurant has now become a neighborhood favorite.

 “We really were the first of our kind,” Shunnarah said. “We are the flagship of Mediterranean cuisine in the Birmingham area.” 

The Pita Stop prides itself as the “House of the Shish Kabob,” serving a variety of Lebanese-American specialties.

For appetizers, try Mediterranean classics such as the Hummus Dip, Rolled Grape Leaves, or the Combination Appetizer, which includes a sample platter of baba ghanouj (an eggplant dip), hummus dip, pita bread, falafel, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, pepperoncini and feta cheese.

The restaurant also offers a variety of omelets including a Beirut Omelette, which has kafta, feta cheese, sautéed onions and black olives or the Seafood Omelette with shrimp, grouper, scallops and feta cheese. All omelets are served with fresh fruit and a Pita Stop special, date nut bread with cream cheese.

For the special entrees, forget your average-sized plate. The Pita Stop serves several of their entrees in a large casserole dish. Signature dishes include the Kabab Plates such as the Lamb Kabob or the Kafta Kabob, which is Lebanese style meatballs topped with melted provolone cheese. All specialty entrees are served with fresh fruit, a garden-house salad, wild rice, pita bread and hummus dip.

 Shunnarah is proud to offer a special dining experience to repeat customers.

“We want people to know that we are a nice restaurant offering fine dining,” Shunnarah said.

The restaurant’s Happy Hour is offered from 3-6 p.m. daily. The Pita Stop offers both takeout and delivery and catering to special parties. Since the building is a converted fast food-restaurant, customers can pick up from the former drive-through window.

Shunnarah hopes to continue to serve the Cahaba Heights community for years to come in the best way he knows how.

 “We are all about middle eastern hospitality,” said Shunnarah. “We really enjoy catering to the community.”