On Packard just east of Carpenter, Le Shish opened recently in the former Taqueria La Fiesta. Ahmad Mourad is the manager and part-owner; his underwriter and silent partner is a brother back in Lebanon. Mourad says he chose the name “Shish” because it tells you what kind of food you’re getting–critical for building a clientele. Give a restaurant a neutral name and “it can take three to five years for people to even realize what kind of restaurant it is,” he says. Middle Eastern restaurants are often named after food, he points out–shish, kabob, falafel, shawarma, tabbouleh. He went with “shish” because “it’s a word everyone knows is Middle Eastern.”
Le Shish is unrelated to the defunct La Shish chain, known for terrific Lebanese food and a side of tax evasion. That chain’s original owner, Talal Chahine, is a fugitive in Lebanon facing various federal charges. Ahmad shrugs it off. He worked at one of the La Shish restaurants (Canton) “back in the Clinton years.” La Shish’s food was so famously good that when Chahine’s restaurants were auctioned off, one of the buyers chose to keep the name La Shish, which is why Mourad isn’t using it. So far, the cheery three-table restaurant, which customers mostly use for takeout, offers the usual Middle Eastern choices, though the menu promises more. Once Mourad gets the Middle Eastern menu launched, he’ll start looking for people who can cook some of the American food his menu prematurely mixed in with the Middle Eastern, like omelets, fried chicken, and grilled fish.
Le Shish, 4060 Packard, 882-2830. Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. No website.
