How Albasha Restaurant has become a Mediterranean Food Center in Baton Rouge – 225 Baton Rug

• From Maggie Hayne Richardson
• Colin Ritchie Photo
• February 3, 2025

Taste of history: Every month in our 20th year, 225 will review restaurants from our past coverage. From the classic of Capital Region and the winners of awards to modern and hidden gems, these businesses have helped to shape our dining crop.

In 1992Two friends and recent LSU graduates rolled the dice at the Mediterranean restaurant of the then quiet and quiet of Bluebonnet Boulevard.

The Middle East cuisine was already popular in Baton Rouge at the time – it was first introduced in 1979 with the original Serop’s at Mid City. But the ambitious duo believed that there was room for a new player in the growing number of the city of the so-called Greek-Lelni restaurants.

They were right. Thirty-three years later, the Albasha Restaurant has spread to 13 places for full service in Baton Rouge and Southeast Louisiana. Bluebonnet’s lead restaurant still goes strong, just as the neighborhood around it exploded with residential and retail. Regardless of the location, however, patrons in Albasha cannot get enough from their volume menu from Shawarma, Kebabs, Gyros and others.

The key to success, says co -founder Nasser Abudia, is a consistency.

“We use the same recipes everywhere,” he says. “And we give a big loan to our partners managers at every restaurant to make things work.”

Abudyak and his business partner Nabeel Badawi won the LSU engineering degrees in the late 1980s before deciding to displace the gears and try the restaurant business. Abudyak, who had a pizzeria a few years after college, remembers spending a lot of time in Albasha’s first kitchen.

“It was a very hard work,” he says. “Very long hours.”

Labor has paid off. Five years later, the partners opened second place in Albasha on Sherwood Forest Boulevard.

“And from there we went everywhere,” says Abudiak.

Albasha’s legendary chicken shaurma is inspired by dishes and aromas by the local Jordan of the restaurant owners.

The fried cheese has hard -pans boards in olive oil and garnished with fresh parsley. His simplicity denies his deep taste and the charming chewing. And the gentle, galous chicken shaurma, which went with invitations of charred edges, is probably one of the most spent dishes in the city, especially at lunch.

The scratch recipes reflect food from the partner’s native Jordan. The aromas are in line with those of the home, but like other local Mediterranean restaurants in the United States, the presentation meets US expectations. The chicken shaurma in the garnish of the vessels, for example, is expected to be accompanied by rice, humus, asks and salad. Returning home, it is more commonly served as a lonely, simple sandwich, says Abudia.

Taking additional steps is part of the partner’s secret sauce. Their popular falafel is made from scratch, starting with dried chickpeas soaked overnight, then grinded with fresh herbs and spices before forming in jars and frying.

For three decades, business has not blunt the ambitions of partners. Future extensions are always an opportunity, says Abudiak.

“A new location must be close to business areas so that we can have lunch and also close to residential,” he says. “We are always looking for.” Find it on Facebook

This article was originally published in the issue of February 2025 of 225 MagazineS