Photo by David Carson (Post-Dispatch)
Medina Mediterranean Grill
The heart of Medina Mediterranean Grill is its shawarma, beef or chicken, both tender and tart with sumac. The shawarma works well in its traditional form, of course, wrapped up in a pita dressed with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and a potent garlic-tahini sauce. It is the defining element of Medina’s signature mashup dishes, like the Summer in Dubai (chicken shawarma with chipotle-tahini sauce and pepper Jack cheese). And it turns a green salad into a filling meal. Medina’s menu is more than shawarma — the falafel is pretty good, too — but the restaurant’s facility with this one dish is the main reason it’s among the standouts of the recent class of locally owned fast-casual operations.
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily (closes at 5 p.m. Sunday)
Opened: 2015
Must order: Original Palestine beef shawarma sandwich ($6.95)