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Shish Wraps

Food Adventures gets Shish-Faced + ** $20 GIFT CERTIFICATE GIVEAWAY**

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Click to Enlarge: The Mother of all Shish Wraps

You ain’t gonna believe this shish.  WANT A $20 GIFT CARD TO SHISH WRAPS??  THEN COMMENT BELOW ON THIS STORY.  A WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM !

When you think of Brown Street, you often think of people who are sh%# faced.   But alas, we aren’t talking about those people.  We are talking about people who are literally Shish Faced.  These people are stuffing wraps in their mouths and can’t get enough of the great flavor.  Want to get Shish Faced too?  Then head to 1200 Brown Street, the home of a locally owned eatery called Shish Wraps.   This family owned business has capitalized on the assembly line technique.  Think of it as a Mediterranean version of Chipotle, and better too !   What you can expect is affordable, savory food, with a Lebanese influence.

HERE’S THE SKINNY:

— Opened 8 months ago by first generation Lebanese-American brothers Simon and Tony Abboud who are both University of Dayton Graduates and Centerville grads.

— The focus is a healthy, fresh, tasty twist on Lebanese and Mediterranean food.  Their motto is: “Live Long. Eat Healthy. Eat Shish.”

All meat is cooked over a rotisserie flame: You think you’re Hot Shish ?

— Menu items come from family recipes, a love of cooking, and results of experiments over the years.

— The main attraction are burrito like wraps featuring one of 3 meats: Chicken, Beef or Kafta (beef links blended with onions and spices)

— The meat is cooked over fire, on rotating kabob skewers for a char-grilled taste.  No buttery, oily soaked meat on a flat grilling surface means HEALTHIER for you !

— Vegetarian? No problem.  The falafel (fried chickpea fritters) and vegetable wraps are great meatless alternatives.

 

Big Ragu loves Shish Wraps, so this isn’t his first rodeo.   He told Chef House and Huongry Jax about it and now they are Shish heads too !   Now we’re gonna tell you some shish …

 

MUST EATS:

— CHIPS & HUMMUS :  The creamy, garlic goodness of this hummus is amazing.  This is seriously one of the most flavorful hummus plates in town, and it is homemade on site!

— SHISH FRIES:  The Big Ragu will go on record as saying these are the best fries he has ever eaten.  The fries are dusted with garlic, olive oil and a generous heap of feta cheese.

Kafta Bowl

Kafta Bowl – spicy beef links over hummus, lettuce, pickles and tomatoes. MUST EAT !

— SHISH BOWL: You can choose chicken, or falafel but Jax says GET THE KAFTA BOWL !  Kafta is ground beef mixed with parsley and spices and it is some good shish.  Served with hummus, Mediterranean pickles, tomatoes and lettuce, this is a healthy dish that tastes damn good.  Be warned, you will be craving future visits for this stuff.

— SHISH WRAP:    We love these.  The menu says build your own, but may Big Ragu suggest the Chicken Shish Wrap?  It comes with an incredible cabbage mix and load it up with your favorite veggies! Get Shish sauce or Tzatziki sauce on it which are must eats in themselves.  An added bonus is that the pitas are lower calorie than other wrap places.  You can choose your own meat, sauces and veggies so style it your way.

Honorable Mention: The Tabouli – a healthy choice that is freshly chopped in-house.  It is seasoned with the perfect amount of lemon juice and served with pita slices.

Make sure you check out our gallery below with some incredible photos from our many visits to SHISH WRAPS… Our fans know we never post a story on a one time visit, this is not a “drive by.”  You deserve better.

Now is a perfect time to get some of this good food as the UD Basketball season gets into swing.  If you are downtown or near the U.D. campus, visit SHISH WRAPS, for a quick bite. This place is definitely “the shish.”

We realize everyone needs to get a little Shish faced now and then.  For more info on menu and hours, visit the Shish website HERE.   Visit 3 Shish Heads, Food Adventures, on Facebook and like them HERE !

HOLY SHISH !  We got a $20 GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY TO SHISH WRAPS !   Comment below on this article, tell us why you deserve the Shish, and fill out the entry form and  we will choose someone at random ![form 55 “DMM Contest Entry – Generic”]

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BEST OF VEGAN IN DAYTON

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2012 was such a busy year for *Vegans in Dayton*! I couldn’t have anticipated the amount of good things that came to us this year. We have a lot to celebrate! We saw the opening of Fusian, the rise of Ghostlight Coffee and Thistle Confections (including the opening of the Second Street Market location), and businesses like Three Leee Cupcakery and Sweets by Ashley. Our favorite restaurants continued to excite us, such as the addition af vegan pancakes at Butter Cafe, and menu revisions from Lucky’s, Olive, an Urban Dive, and Sunrise Cafe.

In 2012, we said a sad farewell to Amici’s and their glorious pizza, and wished that Bombshell Bakeshop’s indefinite hiatus would end already! We suffered through intense sugar cravings at coffeehouses, and now have expanded options at Ghostlight Coffeehouse!(Press is slated to have Harvest Moon Creations treats sometime soon, but the date has not been set yet.)

2013 is promising to be a great year, with Linh’s Bistro (opened up Jan 1 and moved from the old location), Shish Wraps (opening sometime soon?), and Harvest Moon Creations working on opening a vegan bakery store-front in Xenia in Spring or Summer 2013! I may also get to weigh in on a new restaurant that may be opening in the Oregon District later this year!

Without any further ado, let’s review the best vegan experiences we had in Dayton in 2012!

olivediveBEST OVERALL RESTAURANT FOR VEGAN FOOD

Olive, an Urban Dive claimed the prize this year! People love their business ethics, their flair, and their dedication to delicious food. Of particular fanfare is the falafel burger, their weekend scrambled tofu brunch, and their socca-bread pizzas. They also do salads and soups quite well. They balance the art of local, fresh fare with dazzling flavors and exciting vegan protein. I give them major props for all the efforts they go through to serve the vegans in this town, especially as some of the menu items change from season to season. Our hats go off to the chefs and owners who dream up the great dishes that both vegans and non-vegans enjoy! (They also won second place in the Best Vegan Burger / Sandwich!)

BEST LOCAL VEGAN BAKERY

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Cookies & Cream cupcakes from Harvest Moon Creations

This was the closest battle of them all, and I must declare a tie between Thistle Confections and Harvest Moon Creations! Both have a loyal following and have worked hard to ensure excellent ingredients and fresh, lovely baked goods that we feel great eating.

BEST PLACE TO GET LOCAL VEGAN BAKED GOODS

Butter Cafe easily landed this prize, with their always-stocked cases of Harvest Moon Creations cupcakes, twinkies, and cookies. Their hours are convenient, parking is easy, the hosts are super-friendly, and the cupcakes come in the cutest pink boxes!

BEST COFFEEHOUSE FOR DRINKS

I was extremely surprised to see yet another tie! This time, between Press Coffeebar and Ghostlight Coffee. Both have excellent ambiance, fantastic drinks, and are striving to meet vegan needs in 2013. As I love both and visit both regularly, I was actually very happy about this tie. Congrats!

storeBEST VEGAN BRUNCH

Butter Cafe blew everyone else away! Perhaps it’s the vegan breakfast burrito, or maybe it’s the vegan blueberry pancakes. Maybe it’s because vegan dessert (usually elusive) is just around the corner in a chilled case. I love Butter Cafe, and am very happy to see that they won!

 

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BEST VEGAN BURGER / SANDWICH

Lucky’s landed this prize, probably for their house-made seitan sandwich. Pair that with their sweet potato or shoestring fries,made in their dedicated vegan fryer, or a house salad with vegan ranch, or any number of great sides and apps, as well as the best beer on tap selection in town (my opinion there).  Congrats to Lucky’s for their continual improvement as well as being second place in the Best Overall Restaurant for Vegan Food!

BEST VEGAN FOOD IN AN ASIAN RESTAURANT

thai9-1Thai 9 won this award hands down! Perhaps it’s because of all their vegan curries, or their choice of tofu, mock duck, or mock pork. Their sushi is excellent, and the decor is lovely. Service there is always charming as well. Linh’s came in second place, and I believe they hold a distinction of being the best non-Thai restaurant in town. In years past, I separated these two categories, and will do so in the future.

BEST VEGAN MEXICAN

Taqueria Mixteca won by a longshot yet again! Congrats to a great restaurant! I absolutely love their taco salad and their fajitas
(ask for no cheese or sour cream) and their guacamole.

Thanks to the hundreds of people who took the survey! I got a ton of great comments and suggestions. I’ll do my absolute best to get your comments to restaurants in the next month. Thanks for the kind words, and for making Dayton and the world a better place. You’re doing it right!

(This post originally appeared on the DaytonVegan blog run by  )