From The New Orleans Menu Daily By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published November 1, 2006 Byblos Market 1$ Metairie: 2020 Veterans Blvd. 837-9777 Lunch and dinner continuously seven days. This is the grocery-and-deli adjunct to the Byblos restaurants on Metairie Road and Magazine Street, but it has its own menu and special attractions that keep it on my mental map of restaurants. Particularly for days when time is short. In fact, I'd say this is my favorite fast-food restaurant. You can come in, eat, and be gone in fifteen minutes if you needed to. And yet eat very well. Byblos Market is the size of a convenience store, but instead of bread and motor oil and candy, the shelves are full of Middle Eastern foodstuffs for those looking to make their own. The deli department has the cheeses and meats to finish off those recipes. But its glass-fronted cases also show pan after pan of hummus, baba ghanoosh, tabbouleh, spinach pie and a dozen or so other items. But the main attraction is behind the counter. A pair of vertical rotisseries slowly turns, offering gyros and chicken shawarma respectively. The latter is made in the most traditional way, making it something of a rarity around town, even with all the Lebanese restaurants we have in these parts. The chicken breast meat is roasted first, then sliced and stacked on the rotisserie. This exposes the edges of the slices to the flame, which puts a little crust on them. The chef cuts down across the slices, resulting in thin slivers of deliciousness, each with a little brown edge. They serve this with a white, fluffy garlic sauce, basmati rice pilaf, a geneous dollop of hummus, a salad with feta cheese, and a few black olives for the absurd price of $6.95. It's almost too much to finish. You can get a sandwich of the chicken in a pita bread for even less. They also run daily specials of things like kafta kebabs and roast chicken, still at the under-$10 price. They have a row of tables next to the deli for comfortable eating. The serviceware is disposable, but that's the kind of place this is, and the prices certainly reflect that minimalism. Click here to return to today's edition. Click here for an index of all restaurant reviews. © 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com.