Location:
3905 Piedmont Avenue

Hours: Fri – Sat – 11a.m.–9:00p.m.

Sun – Tue, Thu – 11a.m.–8:30p.m.

Wed – closed

People say they crave sushi, Chinese food, pizza, a burger, but when was the last time you heard someone crave Middle Eastern cuisine?  When you enter Ba-Bite, with its orange, red and yellow walls, hand-painted wall designs and even more colorful food, you can forget that you are on Piedmont Ave. Instead, you are transported into a comfortable home, which is fitting since the name of the restaurant is derived from the Hebrew word meaning “at home.” The small nook serves up big helpings of quinoa salads, hummus, kabobs, falafels and other Middle Eastern dishes.

Food service may sell hummus, but it does not even compare to Ba-Bite’s homemade hummus platters. Ba-Bite offers a variety of hummus platters, ranging from a classic style to platters that involve chicken or lamb. Want to take your passion for hummus to the next level? Try the baba ganoush, a hummus like dish that is instead made out of eggplant. The dip is smoky with lots of garlic and although it is not purple like eggplant, it still retains a subtle hint of the fruit. Both the hummus and baba ganoush come with a good amount of warm, fluffy pita. These platters are a great upgrade from the traditional bread and olive oil starter.

Ba-bite’s salads are filling, nutritious and affordable. In particular, the butternut squash, quinoa and cranberry salad artfully combines nutty and fruity flavors. Just getting a mezza style (the smallest size) of this refreshing salad will be enough for most people, as the portion is generous and the flavors are filling. For those who like spice, the salad might seem a little bland, but you can add more texture and variety with add-ons like falafel, shishlik, pickled vegetables or kabob. The falafels, fried garbanzo and split fava cakes, are a great pairing with the salads because their warmth and crunch balance out the smooth coolness of the salad.

Want something warm? The chicken tagine (slow-cooked) will warm you up and leave you satisfied. The huge helping of chicken on a bed of bright yellow couscous with a big drizzle of chermoulla, a typical Moroccan herb sauce, has a unique spicy flavor that you won’t find elsewhere. The couscous by itself is a little dry and flavorless, so make sure to balance your spoonfuls with chicken and chermoulla. This dish is big, so you might want to split with a friend or hot date. Besides chicken, there is also a vegetable tagine. In addition, Ba-Bite has other warm dishes like Majadera, a Mediterranean comfort food that involves rice, lentils and onions, and homemade soup.

So next time you happen to find yourself on Piedmont Ave., take a stop by Ba-Bite. It will satiate a crave you didn’t even know you had.