Saturday April 21st. It was a great day at Cleopatra's Restaurant. The picture on the side is of Dan Whitfield who had a custom built Eco friendly vehicle built. His company Ecomobile (at Ecomobile.com) is working towards building and commercially selling a vehicle that goes 200+ MPG! Bad news for gas companies I guess but maybe good news for most other people.

Thanks Dan for allowing us to publish your picture on our Facebook and Blog. 

Dan also was picking up his daughter from her Prom Dinner with 3 other wonderful people. Thanks to all of you for choosing Cleopatra's for your Prom Dinner.

Saturday also I had a wonderful lady who said her name is Mona, walking to me and saying to me "Shukran!" (Thank you in Arabic) She said she is second generation Egyptian and it was the best Middle Eastern or Egyptian food she had since she moved from New York in 1985! I was hopping she would say ever, but I guess that's not too bad for a new Restaurant like ours to be competing with New York City Restaurants! Thank you Mona for your nice comment on the blog and on our Facebook.

Talking to our guests every day, and hearing how happy they are with the food taste, its presentation, the freshness and quality, as well as the place itself, the decor, the music, the servers high quality service, the smile, the hospitality and warmth you can feel in our restaurant. Making people happy is a great pleasure that makes all of our staff very happy and make me personally, feel like I'm on top of the world.

We improved our menu a little 2 weeks ago. We reduced lunch prices to be more affordable to the working folks around Green Valley Battleground area. We literally have items now McDonald's and Wendy's price  but Fine Dinning quality! For example, we have a Lamb/Beef Shawerma Sandwich special for $3.95 when you buy a side salad or a specialty drink at regular price.
Lots of Lunch folks don't want to eat rice or fries at lunch. It's too much calories. So, this becoming a popular lunch option since you eat lean meat in thin bread (when comparing our almost fat free pita bread to Hamburger buns or even regular bread slices) and having a fresh salad or fresh Juice or an Espresso beverage with it. But of course if you want fries or rice or pasta or any thing else, we can still make it for you.

The Shawerma sandwich is not the only economic lunch item we have now, Falafel (Ta'ameya) sandwich and Fewl Sandwich are only 5.95 each and they come with a side of fries. We also added fried Eggplant sandwich which also come with fries. We kept our popular Kofta, Shish Kabab, Chicken Kabab sandwiches and chicken Shawerma sandwiches all come with fries. All our sandwiches you can substitute the fries with a small side for only $1.00 more) and you can add any appetizer for only $1.5 more and to make things even more exciting, you get any specialty drink at half price!

The great thing is now with our streamlined service, lunch is always served in less than 15 minutes. So, no more complaints about long wait. Thanks for your patience and support Greensboro!

I hope to see you soon at Cleopatra's!

So, Cleopatra's Restaurant has been open for 4 months now. Wow! It seems like a lot has been going on since then. I can't remember when did this crazy idea come to my mind. It must have been flirting with me for some time. I lived by myself for few years during which I found myself going to the kitchen and trying to remember what my Mom was doing 20 or 30 years ago. I was the oldest son, so I helped her a lot with many things including in the kitchen. Most of the time she would ask me to chop an onion or peel off some vegetables, fry something. Sometimes when she was late out she would call me and tell me to put a cup of this on 2 spoons of that, and then do this and do that, so that dinner is ready on time.

I was not allowed to go in the kitchen for 12 years in a previous stage of my life. So, I must have totally forgot about that. But it all came back to me. Plus, living abroad in different countries and different states and experiencing different cuisines added to the whole seasoning of me as a cook, just in my own kitchen, my own home. 

It seems that several friends have been pointing out that my food tasted very good. I was known among some circles to make the best steak and the best smoothie. I remember the day I made Musakaa the first time, I must have felt the same way Christopher Columbus when he he saw the coast of America for the first time. I was amazed. I took pictures of it, posted it on Facebook, sent it to my Mom. Then, I made some stuffed vegetables. That was a day equivalent to when the Wright Brothers first flew their Airplane!

I really felt so much happiness cooking after coming home from work, and when people commented positively about it, I also felt so great.

I lived 5 years in Canada, then 2 years in Seattle, then 4 years in Cleveland, then Medford, OR, then Albuquerque, NM, Dallas, Seattle again before coming to Greensboro, NC. I also visited Washington, DC, NYC, Detroit, Chicago, LA, and many other places. I rarely found a place that can make Authentic Middle-Eastern food let alone Egyptian food. There were a few that made good Falafel, but take away style, or only Kabab and Kofta but the place did not look the greatest, no place I found that made the Musakaa I like, the Macaroni Bashamel I love, and no any place at all made Bamya or Mulukheya. Most places did not make any good desserts. I really felt depressed. Why is there abundance of Mexican, Italian, Greek, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Brazilian and American of course, but there is very very little good if any Middle Eastern restaurants. 

But being busy with my job and other things going on in my life, made an idea like opening a restaurant more unrealistic than going to the moon.

Until it was January 25th, 2011. That was the day millions of Egyptians took the street to say NO to a tyrannic ruling President and all his regime. They called for FREEDOM, LIBERTY, PROSPERITY, JUSTICE and EQUALITY. During the 18 days of the revolution before Mubarak stepped down, or was forced to step down, I followed what was happening in Tahrir Square, day by day, hour by hour even minute by minute. All that made me feel like such a coward. Why am I not in Tahrir Square. Why can't I face the bullets like millions of those Egyptians calling for the most precious human value, FREEDOM. 

Right after then, the idea of the Restaurant, an Egyptian Restaurant, started to become more and more clear in my mind. It started to become like a reality in my mind. Everyone I know advised me against getting into the mess of Restaurant business. Especially that I never been in it before, I know nothing about it, and secondly because I won't leave my job to become a full time Restaurateur. In other words, it is a crazy idea.

And after 4 months of opening Cleopatra's, I think it was indeed a crazy idea!

However, I believe it is a wonderful idea. So it's a wonderful crazy idea.

When I get off my work at 6:30 pm and head to Cleopatra's then I get to walk in the kitchen make sure the kitchen is clean, coolers temperatures are right, employees are wearing their hats and gloves and washing their hands, making sure plates going out on time, no delay, plates look good, the way it supposed to be, talk to Jonnie or Mohamed about any issues or problem need solving. Then, I go out talk to my guests. This is really the most admirable part of the whole thing: People say Thank you for opening this restaurant and they tell me how much they love the food, how much they admire the decor, the music, the service, every thing. People in Greensboro have been so kind, even when there is a small problem they always try to communicate it to me nicely and I promise them to put every effort to take care of it.