Kabab shop brings Middle Eastern cuisine to Columbia Center

Halima Mabrouki and her husband, Ridha, got an intriguing offer not long after they opened a Middle Eastern restaurant on a busy Kennewick corner.

Relocate across town to the food court at Columbia Center.

Mall manager Barbara Johnson said the local business would bring a unique menu to the mall.

The Mabroukis welcomed the invitation. Their corner on Clearwater Avenue wasn’t generating the traffic they had hoped for.

Kabab & Grill House moved to the mall in June with a Middle Eastern menu that includes gyros, hummus, kababs, falafal, shawarma and more.

Halima Mabrouki is the owner. Ridha is a Hanford scientist.

Originally from Tunisia, the couple moved to the Tri-Cities by way of Virginia more than a decade ago.

He was completing a doctorate in physical chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University when Pacific Northwest National Laboratory recruited the family to the Tri-Cities.

He is now with Washington River Protection Solutions.

As he built a career, the couple had four children. Their eldest was born in Virginia and the younger three were born in Richland.

With the youngest now in preschool, Halima Mabrouki was looking to work outside the home.

With her husband’s encouragement, she built a business around her love of cooking Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food.

The first-time entrepreneurs invested about $75,000 in personal funds to launch Kabab & Grill House at Clearwater and Morain and then the mall.

The Clearwater spot is now a kabab shop, Gyro and Kabab Grill, with a different owner.

Ridha Mabrouki welcomes Gyro and Kabab Grill and other kabab-focused newcomers opening across the Tri-Cities.

Together, they’re introducing Tri-City diners to the Middle Eastern dishes.

“This kind of food is a little bit new to the community,” he said. His vision includes adding restaurants in Richland and Pasco.

Featured menu items include shish taouk (Cubed lamb and chicken with rice and hummus and a side dish), shawarma (lamb or chicken cooked on a spit, shaved and served with hummus) and shish kabab (lamb, beef or chicken, served with rice and hummus).

Prices range from $8.99 to $12.99 for plates and $5.99 to $7.99 for sandwiches.

Sides and salads include dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), a hummus plate, french fries topped by lamb and baba ghanoush (roasted eggplant). For dessert, there’s baklava.

Kabab & Grill House follows Columbia Center hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 7 pm. Sundays, with extended holiday hours in December.

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This story was originally published November 27, 2018 at 12:49 PM.