Al Habashi Halal Meats

While the throngs were heading to Trader Joe’s on their first day of business, I discovered this new Middle Eastern meat market and grocery having its own grand opening!
Located close to Oak Park Mall, this market is on the south side of the building that houses the Great Panda buffet restaurant. If you’re driving south on Quivira you can’t see it, but it’s there!
The store is bright, sunny and good-​sized. As you can tell from the name, the products it carries are halal. Today the selection was a bit sparse, but they’ve got more stuff coming in next week so they should be fully stocked up! There’s already a good selection of Middle Eastern groceries and spices, and a small meat counter where they do their own butchering — there were whole carcasses of lamb hanging in the cooler, so I imagine lamb lovers will be able to get just about any cut they want at this market! They also carry goat and beef. The refrigerators had a nice selection of Middle Eastern dairy products and cheeses, plus frozen convenience foods, like kibbe. Also lots of frozen vegetables, like melokhia and artichoke bottoms, as well as filo and kataif doughs for Middle Eastern pastry-​making! And fresh pita bread, in a variety of sizes!
The grocery selection may be a little bit wider at the new (and also very nice) Shahrazad Market on Metcalf near 125^th, but it’ll be neck and neck once Al Habashi is fully stocked! This is a very welcome addition to the area — Middle Eastern food sounds especially good right about now, in this summer heat wave! JoCo — it’s definitely not all «white bread» any more!