Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published 11/10/05 Click here for the current edition Ten Best Re-Opened Ethnic Restaurants (Other than Asian and Italian, which have been previously listed.) 1. RioMar. 800 S. Peters. 525-3474. Chef Adolfo got his Warehouse District restaurant running very soon after the storm, and went right back to serving almost his entire menu of tapas, Spanish, and Central American dishes. Which reach out and grab you. 2. Byblos. 3218 Magazine. 894-1233. After opening temporarily at what is now Table One, Byblos's Magazine Street location (the Metairie Road original has damage delaying its renaissance) came back with a big Lebanese menu, great lamb chops, and belly dancing on Thursday. 3. Madrid. 2723 Roosevelt Blvd. 469-5599. This exciting restaurant puts out superb and ample platters of paella, arroz con calamares, fish and meat dishes. The soups are fantastic. 4. Nirvana. 4308 Magazine. 894-9797. The best Indian restaurant in the city is back with its lunchtime buffet and a dinner menu, including a large array of vegetarian dishes. 5. Lebanon’s Cafe. 1500 S. Carrollton Ave. 862-6200. The underprices, absurdly lengthy menu of Lebanese specialties is back, as is the charcoal grill for the kabobs. 6. Liborio. 321 Magazine. 581-9680. The city's longest-running Cuban restaurant has a bit of Mexican food on the menu, too, for those who don't know ropa vieja yet. Mona’s Cafe. Middle Eastern. 7. Casablanca. 3030 Severn Ave. 888-2209. The city's first kosher restaurant to re-open has its full menu of Moroccan dishes: couscous, chicken meshwi, spinach pie, and extraordinarily good soups. 8. Casa Garcia. 800 N. Causeway Blvd. 985-951-8226. The Metairie location isn't back yet, but the Mandeville restaurant is, with its mix of family recipes and slick Americanized fare--all of which winds up being pretty good. Especially the seafood. 9. Mona's Cafe. 1120 S. Carrollton Ave. 861-8174. Also 504 Frenchmen. 949-4115. And 2820 East Causeway Approach, Mandeville. 624-8500. The Banks Street flagship of Mona's growing chain of Lebanese restaurants took deep water, but three of the locations are open again, with their good eats. 10. Mr. Gyros. 3620 N Causeway Blvd. 833-9228. The sole Greek outlet in town at the moment, with a good basic assortment of the classics. Salads and moussaka are especially good. © 2005 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com