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Restaurant Ratings

The ratings are based mostly on the degree to which the food excites us, and a little on environment, service, and other considerations. I rate restaurants relative to all other restaurants in the New Orleans area. Here's what the stars mean to me:

starstarstarstarstar
Among the best locally.

starstarstarstar
Excellent and ambitious.

starstarstar
Worth crossing town for.

starstar
Recommended.

*
Acceptable.

No star
Unacceptable.

Cost Ratings
Each dollar sign indicates a ten-dollar range, including a normal meal for the restaurant (dinner, if they serve other meals), not including drinks, or tips. So, for example. . .

1$--$5-15
2$--$15-25
3$--$25-35

. . . and so on, with no upper limit. While this scheme may suggest mathematical precision, know that perception of price varies from diner to diner as much as the star ratings do. So consider this an estimate.

All reviews are based entirely on meals I have personally taken at the restaurant and paid for from my own pocket. I don't take free review meals, nor am I reimbursed by anybody for my restaurant expenditures.

TwoStars
Average check per person $5-$15
 BreakfastNo Breakfast SundayNo Breakfast MondayNo Breakfast TuesdayNo Breakfast WednesdayNo Breakfast ThursdayNo Breakfast FridayNo Breakfast Saturday
LunchLunch SundayLunch MondayLunch TuesdayLunch WednesdayLunch ThursdayLunch FridayLunch Saturday
DinnerDinner SundayDinner MondayDinner TuesdayDinner WednesdayDinner ThursdayDinner FridayDinner Saturday
Pyramids Cafe

Middle Eastern.
Broadmoor: 3149 Calhoun. 504-861-9602 . Map.
Casual
AE DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
A sleeper among the many Middle Eastern restaurants in the area, Pyramids is best known to the university crowd and other nearby neighbors. The menu offers all the standards, somewhat in the cooking style of its predecessor Mona's. The prices are a shade lower than typical, which in the high-value Lebanese category is saying something.

WHY IT'S GOOD
The value issue trumps the intrinsic excellence of the food here, which is pretty good, but not so good you'd drive miles to get it. The entree list is essentially the same as the appetizer list, plus sides. My best luck has been with the lula and kafta kebabs (one day I'll understand the difference between the two; it varies from place to place). Seafood constitutes the weak side of the offerings.

BACKSTORY
Hilmi Abdejali opened Pyramids in 2008, taking over the spot next to Bud's Broiler formerly occupied by a branch of the local chain Mona's. He performed some cosmetic renovations to the restaurant, resulting in a more comfortable restaurant than you might expect from the exterior.

DINING ROOM
Cosmetic renovations to the restaurant when it changed hands lifted the spirits of the middling-spacious dining room, more comfortable than you might expect from the exterior. The service staff could give more attention than they do.

ESSENTIAL MENU [*=Recommended]
Starters:
*Red lentil soup
Green salad
Fatouche
Tabboule
Yogurt salad with cucumber
Green salad with beef or chicken shawarma, grilled chicken, marinated shrimp, or gyro meat
*Hummus
*Baba ghannouj
Musabaha (whole chickpeas and hummus with hot pepper and garlic)
Foul (like musabaha, but with fava beans)
*Qudsia (both of above mixed)
Lebna
*Fried kibbe
*Stuffed grape leaves (meat or veggie)
Spinach pie
Fried cheese
Falafel
Entrees:
Falafel plate
Vegetarian plate
*Chicken lula (ground, grilled on a shish)
Chicken tecka (grilled half)
Chicken kebab
*Lamb or beef kafta kebab (ground, grilled on a shish)
Gyro plate
Lamb chops
*Fried kibby plate
*Hummus with lamb
Shrimp plate
Tilapia (fish) plate
Meat-stuffed grape leaves plate
Sandwiches:
Falafel sandwich
*Lula kebab sandwich
Chicken or lamb sandwich
Shish kebab sandwich
Beef or chicken shawarma sandwich
Eggplant sandwich
Desserts:
Fresh baklava
Burma

FOR BEST RESULTS
Bring your own wine or beer. There's no corkage charge. The menu features many vegetarian dishes.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
They need to upgrade the quality of the fish and shrimp they serve here. Right now, it's an afterthought. The web site doesn't work as of this writing.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

This review was updated with new information on 9/7/2010.

A list of over 400 full, current reviews is here.