City Eats: Joe's Shish Kabob still going strong, 12 years later

For any customer who’s dined at Joe’s Shish Kabob more than once, it’s not hard to figure out their recipe for success: consistently high-quality food made fresh every day — and the friendliness of owners, Joe Assaker and his wife, Hana’a.

On Sept. 1, they celebrated 12 years since opening Joe’s Shish Kabob at 275 Martine St., Fall River. “Since we opened in 2006, we’ve had the same customers. I like my customers and I miss them when they don’t come in for a week or two weeks, I try to see what’s going on,” he said. “They’re a part of your family.”

Back in Lebanon, he also owned a restaurant, similar to the one on Martine Street. It all started, he said, with his love of grilling food.

When they moved to Fall River in 2001, he said there were no Lebanese restaurants in the city — so they decided to open one. The restaurant offers sit-down dining with the option of BYOB, as well as a robust take-out business. “When you stay in business for 12 years, that means people like you,” he said. “Probably because everybody knows Joe never uses bad food, or cheap food or frozen food – never!”

Offering mostly Lebanese/Mediterranean fare, the menu features the ever-popular beef, lamb and chicken kabobs, falafel, tabouli and (steak or chicken) shawarma. The most popular items, he said, are the chicken shawarma (served as a wrap or with rice and salad) and the chicken and falafel wrap. At first, he said he sold the falafel separately, but customers started asking if they could have the chicken shawarma and falafel together in a wrap, and it caught on. “And I don’t like it – I like everything separate,” he said. But he gives the customers what they want. “Sometimes, I sell more than 25 to 30 sandwiches (the chicken and falafel) in a day," he said.

And of course, there’s the tabouli, the parsley and tomato salad with a hint of bulgur wheat that’s always brimming from a bowl inside the deli case. “Tabouli in Lebanon, in any restaurant, is called ‘The King of the Table.’ Always when you walk in — whether you order it or not — you’re going to have tabouli. Everybody likes it.”

Made fresh several times a day by Hana’a, the tabouli is traditional to the Lebanese style with lots of parsley, a hint of tomatoes and onions and accented with bulgur.

These days, Assaker said he has a lot of customers coming in for healthy vegetarian and vegan food, with no meat and no dairy such as the falafel and tabouli. Throughout the day, Hana’a makes several vegetable dishes (served in the deli case) such as homemade stuffed grape leaves, potato salad with garlic and lemon juice, chef salad, macaroni salad, cucumber sauce, green beans and tomatoes and mujadara (lentils and rice).

Nazem Adballa, a longtime customer at Joe’s, said he comes all the way from Fairhaven for the meat shish kabob plates, adding no one makes the rice served alongside it like they do at Joe’s.

As for his favorite dish, Assaker said, “Lamb kabob with the cousins – tabouli and hummus.”

They also sell kids' meals such as hot dogs and chicken tenders to “make everybody happy,” he added.

For something sweet after the meal, they get weekly deliveries of Lebanese pastries and pita breads imported from a Lebanese bakery in Montreal.

During the week, lunch is the busiest time, but on the weekends, Fridays and Saturdays, dinner is busiest. They also offer catering.

Joe’s Shish Kabob is located at at 275 Martine St., Fall River. For details, visit www.joesshishkabob.com.

Email Linda Murphy at lmurphy@heraldnews.com.