2025-05-03. Middle Eats Macomb.
Today was their official Grand Opening celebration and Middle Eats Macomb is offering $5 Chicken Shawarma Bowls all day long.
This is Middle Eats 6th location in the SE MI area with the others located in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing, Southfield, and Warren. I'd classify Middle Eats as a fast-casual restaurant. You place your order at the counter or on the self serve kiosks and seat yourself. They'll call your order number when it's ready. Drinks are self served if you purchase a cup, and the soda dispensers are located at the back of the dining room area.
Channel 955 was hired for the Grand Opening promotion and they had their own live DJ was pumping out the tunes to the crowd that was wrapped around the to the backside of the restaurant. This was at 3:30 in the afternoon! With all the restaurants opening up on the M-59 corridor in recent years (Chick-Fil-A, Portillo's, Jollybee's, Crumble, Houston TX Hot Chicken, Panda Express, Shake Shack, Mission BBQ, Kimchi Box, Smokey Bones, K-Pot, Poke Fish, Hook & Reel Cajun, etc.) joining the ranks of long time establishments (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Ichiban Steakhouse, Carrabba's, Osaka Japanese Steakhouse, Panera Bread, Sahara Mediterranean Grill, Five Guys, Red Robin, Lebanese Grill, Boston's, Bubba's, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, etc.) Hall Rd. is quickly becoming "Restaurant Alley" (hmmm, wonder if that'll catch on and stick...)
One of the good things I noticed about Middle Eats is their hours. The Macomb location is open late! 23:00 M-R, Midnight F-S, and 20:00 on Sundays.
The Macomb location was formerly occupied by Potbelly's and then replaced by a Super Chix. There is plenty of free parking in this small plaza located across the street from Partridge Creek.
Like everyone else, I came to help celebrate their grand opening and try their Chicken Shawarma Bowl for $5 (reg $12.99). The bowls come standard with a rice base, then topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped onions, and sliced pickles. It also comes with your choice of either hummus or Toum (the yummy whipped garlic.) In addition, you also get sauce which they call "Dillo" and it comes in both spicy and non. Lastly, the bowls come with your choice of protein; chicken, steak, shrimp, or falafel (chick peas). Of course, the bowls are customizable, so you can remove any of those things you don't like.
The Chicken Shawarma bowl is a good sized portion and enough to share, or for a growing teen. I ordered mine without lettuce because I never like it mixed in with hot foods. I love lettuce wraps, but I'm not a fan of lettuce with a hot dish. The pictures of the dishes shows the bowls in sort of a deconstructed way with each topping in it's own little space. The food comes out very similar with the exception of the chicken shawarma blanketing everything vs just sitting in the center.
The rice was a disappointing, but then again, I'm a hard sell as I make my own. Nothing fancy, just long grain Basmati cooked with chicken broth, onions, salt, turmeric, EVOO, and butter. Garnishes can include almonds, pine nuts, fried raisins, and parsley or cilantro. The rice was short grain but it did have turmeric to give it that nice golden hue.
Even if you're from the Middle East, flavor profiles differ depending on where you're from. But one things for sure, and that is the chicken shawarma is all about the spice rub used. What I've noticed to be common is the use of Cumin, turmeric, coriander, cayenne, and garlic. Personally I prefer the flavors of the North over the South, so I tend to use things like Sumac over cloves, and allspice over cardamom. The Chicken Shawarma was moist and tender, and it also had that char from finishing it in the grill (FDA requires that even if cooked on a spit, the shaved shawarma requires to be finished off on the grill to ensure the meat is fully cooked to at least 165°F internally.) They don't serve Tahini which traditionally goes with Shawarma, but just as good as I'm not a big fan of Tahini (I find the sesame based condiment too dry.)
I also ordered the Dubai Cheesecake for dessert. This is just Dubai Chocolate over plain Cheesecake. The Dubai Chocolate (which I also make myself) was just ok; not as creamy as I hoped, but passible. The cheesecake on the other hand shocked me. It looked like cheesecake, but certainly didn't have the texture of cheesecake. It was much softer and carried a strong egg flavor which overpowered the cream cheese. Now that I think about it, it's as if it were more of a "custard cheesecake". Either case, I'm not a fan...
Overall, I'm glad Middle Eats is part of Restaurant Alley. There was an open spot for a fast-casual Middle Eastern restaurant, and Middle Eats fills it nicely. The prices are competitive and the portions match the price. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
If You would like to experience more, come dine-with-me.yelp.com I'd love to have your company... Bon Appétit!
