Dinar serves Mediterranean and Iraqi cuisine in Ballwin

The owner of Caesar Supermarket at 4704 Gravois Ave. in South City have opened up a new restaurant in Ballwin. 

Owner Ahmed Almedee and his wife Dalia used to serve Iraqi food in a section of their store, Caesar’s Supermarket. But the pair was forced to close down for a couple of months when the pandemic hit. However, renewed interest from customers inspired them to open up Dinar, a brick-and-mortar location at 15581 Manchester Road in Ballwin, which opened to the public earlier this summer.

“So when we closed [the restaurant] and we reopened it, the sales went down and never was like the first time. [However], we decided to get encouraged and try [a new location] between west and south [St. Louis],” Almedee said. “So we wanted to come between different cultures, like India, Pakistani, Arabs, because we're Arabs. And I'm telling you, 75% of our customers are Pakistani, Indian, Arabs and American.”

Dinar serves classic Iraqi and Middle Eastern dishes like shawarma and falafel sandwiches, kebabs, tika (skewers), burgers, loaded Shawarma cheesy fries, and vegetarian options like falafel, dolma, hummus, tabouli and baba ganouj. For sandwiches, choose between three types of bread – Iraqi bread, pita bread and saj.

 

 

“Since we're Iraqi restaurants, we wanted to keep our tradition going. However, we also wanted to offer other options to other people from different countries,” Almedee said.

Due to a high influx of South Asians at their new location, Almedee decided to add a chicken option for the kebab and the burger, something that’s not common in their hometown, Almedee explained.

“We offer big plates for big families, because Indian people and Pakistan people have big families like us Arabs, mashallah. So [we serve] trays [family platters] to also help them. Like, we have the 555, which is five skewers of beef kebab, lamb and chicken tika and half pound of chicken shawarma and half-pound of beef shawarma, very affordable prices. And we also have the smaller portion, which we call the Dinar special.”

Dinar also serve before the entree comes out, slurp down a complimentary bowl of Dinar’s finest shorbeh, a lentil soup traditionally eaten during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. And don’t forget to wash down the falafel with some traditional Iraqi chai, served in a traditional chai glass. 

Dalia Ahmed, manager of Dinar describes the decor in the 1,400-square-foot space as “modern organic.”

 “I chose to theme Dinar restaurant to be modern organic in order to reflect my hometown in Iraq. From the plates, the bowls, to the clay jars, all the way to the chai cups, I wanted everything to remind me of my hometown,” Almedee said. 

Check out Dinar, open from Tuesdays to Fridays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekend. Use SAUCE to get 10% off your next order from Dinar. Follow Dinar on Facebook and Instagram for more updates.