Leila Cafe

Updated 7:15 AM EST, Fri, Jul 3, 2009

Print Email Share TWITTER FACEBOOK

Eventually, even the most restless people settle down -- the 12 Tribes of Israel wandered 40 years before pitching camp in Canaan, while Kwai Chang Caine wandered 40 years before pitching camp in Closet. Now another wanderer's dropped anchor in Philly, to create Leila Cafe.

Leila's a bright, 24-seat, Middle Eastern corner cafe decked out with a mirrored fresco and wall-hung musical instruments, and operated by a Lebanese native who spent 33 years consulting across the US on 35 different restaurant openings, along the way somehow earning the nickname "Smiley" from a young River Phoenix (seriously, he never stops smiling). All grub's handmade from scratch, from meat and spinach pies, baba ghanoush, and the Maza combo (tabouleh, fattoush, grape leaves, kibbie...), to gyros, chicken kabobs, and shawarma, described as a "special touch of lean meat", which you've been missing since you left the experimental sanctuary of college. Platters are served on a bed of basmati (w/ side of hummus and pita) and run from standards like falafel & grape leaves to meatier offerings like beef kibbe (w/ burghul wheat & sautéed vegetables), chicken, and the parsley-tinged, ground-chuck kaffta -- leave the leftovers in your fridge too long and witness a putrid Metamorphosis. Leila also offers a range of milk- and juice-based smoothies, plus tabletop hookahs packed with a choice of ten flavors from "original" to cappuccino; custom mixtures are also a possibility, but wander among the flavors too long, and you'll eventually be killed by the Bill.