A place that’s been highly recommended over the years, we recently ventured into Open Sesame and had a fabulous lunch date trying a range of Lebanese dishes.

Updated March 2022

OPEN SESAME

Open Sesame opened in 2017, replacing Samson’s Hotdogs in a tiny strip mall on Oak Lawn near Maple Ave. It was the owner, Mo Kamal’s, first restaurant after a decade plus in the restaurant industry, and he aimed to bring authentic Lebanese fare to Dallas. His brother-in-law cooks the cuisine, using his expertise from his family’s meat business in Lebanon.

ATMOSPHERE

Walk in to find a well decorated, one room space with Moroccan pillows lining the booth seating and an Instagrammable green wall on one end of the room. On the other end sits a bar where Turkish coffee, mint tea and wines are prepared for guests.

MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD

Hummus, tabouleh, baba ghanoush, fatoush, and lentil soup are just a few of the ways to kick off your meal. We went for the sampler platter for our first time and for only $15, you can try four different starters including the incredible hummus! For your main, there’s a list of meat platters like shawarma, lamb shish, beef shish, and shish tawook, but their signature is the kafta kabob, which is ground beef mixed with onions.

Every dish is served on a bed of rice with your choice of two sides. And if you feel like going all out, with a partner, order the Ultimate Mixed Grill instead for a sample of four meats and five sides for $40!
 

DESSERT

Finish your meal with one of two Lebanese desserts: shabiyat (baked filo dough stuffed with custard) or knafeh (baked cheese topped with filo dough.) 

Open Sesame is open daily for lunch and dinner, and it pulls quite the crowd! We can see why though after enjoying the food, and it was really nice to mix it up and enjoy traditional Middle Eastern fare -- a rarity among Dallas restaurant options!

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