By Stevi Costa

Samir Alawar has been a fixture on the U-District’s 43rd Street for 31 years. At 18, he emigrated from Lebanon to go into business with his older brother. The two owned and operated Cedars Restaurant for 29 years and then Samir decided to start something new . . . right across the street.

Samir’s Mediterranean Grill has not, however, forgotten about family. Many of the recipes Alawar uses were inherited from is mother. Others were perfected in his own family and brought to the table to share with his customers. “I don’t feed my customers better than I feed my kids,” Alawar said, “which is to say that I feed my customers as well as I feed my kids.”

Speaking of children, the inventive way in which Alawar wraps his signature falafel sandwiches keeps customers from looking like they should have used a bib when they leave the restaurant. Most falafel sandwiches are served semi-open, leaving escape hatches for rogue lettuce, hummus and falafel bits to fall away. Alawar’s falafels are wrapped fully, reducing the possibility for messes.

The fully-wrapped falafel also gives the option for portability, which comes in handy on sunny Seattle days when citizens would rather enjoy their food in the open air. To that end, Alawar has added a to-go window on the street-facing side of his shop so that patrons can enjoy fair weather while waiting for their wares.

Samir’s Mediterranean Grill offers cuisine that is commonly found throughout the Mediterranean, but with an emphasis on Lebanese flavors. “Lebanese is my specialty,” Alawar said. “I don’t try to make Indian food because I don’t know how.”

Along with standard Mediterranean fare such has hummus, babaganoush, dolma, falafel, schwarma and kebabs, Samir’s also serves ful medames (a dish of stewed, spiced fava beans served with tomatoes, parsley and pita that originated in Egypt as a breakfast meal), gyros and a kibbey plate, which Alawar says is his most popular meat entrée. The kibbey plate is ground beef spiced with Samir’s special seasonings and bulgar wheat, served over salatah, rice, garlic sauce and a side of pita bread.

For the amount of food Alawar puts forth in a plate such as the kibbey plate, the price is more than reasonable. The most expensive entrée on the menu is the lamb kebab plate ($9.75), while the average vegetarian plate, such as the vegetarian combination plate (with falafels, dolmas, hummus, sautéed vegetables, salatah and pita bread), runs $7.75.

The real deal at Samir’s Mediterranean Grill, however, are the sandwiches and wraps, all of which are less than $4.50, which fits comfortably into the average University of Washington student’s budget.

Alawar is big on making his cuisine friendly and affordable, which he believes are the cornerstones of his business practice. The restaurant’s giant catering platters are very popular for conferences at UW’s Medical Center. (Pictured is Samir’s Mediterranean Delight which contains rice, Mediterranean salad, hummus, babaganoush, meats, sautéed vegetables and dessert.) Samir’s usually produces one large catering order a week, netting the restaurant about $2,500, according to Alawar’s estimate. That figure only applies to non-University catering orders, however, as Samir’s Mediterranean Grill often provides catering for UW functions are reduced cost, which earned him a Booster Award that he proudly hangs in his restaurant. “I’m not here only to make money,” Alawar said. “I’m here to make money and friends.”

Alawar is indeed a fixture on 43rd St. He is at his restaurant for about 15 hours a day, arriving with his wife in the mornings after dropping their children off at a school. Locals who pass by greet him and converse as he unloads supplies from his van and starts preparing business for the day. His hospitality begins before he’s even open for business. “Our hospitality and our friendship goes with the service and the food,” Alawar said.