Windsor·Pinto on Food

Eat shawarma fries from this Thunder Bay restaurant that moved to Windsor

Kabab Village closed in Thunder Bay last April — and re-opened in Windsor last month.

Kabab Village closed in Thunder Bay last April — and re-opened in Windsor last month

Jonathan learns the story behind Kabab Village

6 years ago
Duration 2:20
CBC Windsor's food dude, Jonathan Pinto, learns the story behind a Kabab Village, a beloved Thunder Bay restaurant that has re-opened in Windsor.

Windsor is a great place to eat Middle Eastern — especially Lebanese — food. From downtown, to Wyandotte Street, and even small towns in the county, there is no shortage of places to get great shawarma, falafel and hummus around here.

Last month, I noticed a new sign go up on what used to be a Mexican restaurant at the corner of Tecumseh Road East and Jefferson Boulevard. 

The restaurant is located at the northeast corner of Tecumseh Road East and Jefferson Boulevard. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)

At the time, it wasn't open yet — so I Googled it, and found a website that had the right address and city, but a picture of the restaurant that looked totally different.

With a little more digging, I found a story by our friends at CBC Thunder Bay, mourning the loss of a beloved Lebanese restaurant of the same name.

The old Thunder Bay location of Kabab Village. (Amy Hadley/CBC)

To learn more about why this family decided to make the move to a city with a lot more restaurant competition, I dropped by Kabab Village.

Tap on the audio player to hear me tell the story to Afternoon Drive's Chris dela Torre.

Kabab Village is located at 6124 Tecumseh Rd E. in Windsor.

Mahmoud and Haidar Hatoum run Kabab Village with their family. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)
When Haidar's parents moved to Windsor two years ago, leaving him to run the restaurant in Thunder Bay by himself, he started adding new items to the menu. One of the most popular additions were the chicken shawarma fries, which feature garlic sauce and harissa-spiked mayonnaise. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)
One menu item that wasn't offered in Thunder Bay is the chicken doner kabab, a Turkish dish inspired by Haidar's travels to Germany, where it is popular. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)

Jonathan Pinto is CBC Windsor's "food dude." Know of a place you think he'd enjoy? Have a craving for a food you haven't been able to track down? Send him an email: jonathan.pinto@cbc.ca — and be sure to follow his adventures on Instagram.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Pinto is the host of Up North, CBC Radio One's regional afternoon show for Northern Ontario and is based in Sudbury. He was formerly a reporter/editor and an associate producer at CBC Windsor. Email jonathan.pinto@cbc.ca.