Al-Amira

This place is long closed. It's so closed that the place that replaced it (Baghdad Kabab) is also closed. Chances are it'll re-open as another Middle Eastern restaurant soon.

Food quality has gone down quite a bit, featuring bland, boring presentations. Chicken kabob had ZERO Flavor, devoid of seasoning. Food is oily.

Get better cooks.

I went here for lunch today, to break up my "axis of hummus:" Salaam, Semiramis, and Noon-o-Kabob - all nearby.

For $6.95, I got chicken shwarma, kefta kabob, rice, hummus, baba ghanouj (spell 'em how you will) and more pitas than I could eat. Quite a lot of food, delicious and well presented. And it's a nice place - big and open, and the waitress was very nice.

But here's why you should go: aside from the relative large size, it's a very authentic *feeling* Middle Eastern place. A quiet older guy behind the counter cooked the food, and once I was happily eating came out and sat at a different table to watch al Arabiyya on the big TV on one wall. If he had cursed a few times, it would've been more authentic, but maybe he was being nice.

It's hard to say that this the tippy-top of the local Mideastern scene, but it's inexpensive,  very clean, and open 24 hours. Oh, and delicious.