Mediterranean restaurant now open in Wichita also offers New York City street eats
The first of four New York-style eateries that a trio of business partners have planned for Wichita opened on Tuesday — and the others won’t be far behind.
Nas Kitchen has taken over the space at 1920 W. 21st St., near Amidon, that once held Uno Mas and more recently was home to Tamales & Monchis GTO then Super Doggos. Its hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
The restaurant, which serves New York-style Mediterranean food, is led by chef Naseem Allahabi, who moved to Kansas to partner with local smoke shop owners Faisal Assaedi and Muqnea Elaya in a series of restaurants. This one is named for him and offers a menu of Mediterranean platters, gyros, quesadillas, salads and “Yum Platters,” which feature fries topped with various meats and sauces.
Several of the dishes are halal, meaning that the meat was prepared according to Islamic law. Allahabi said he has to travel to Oklahoma City to procure his halal meats.
Last week, I stopped by for a sneak preview of Nas Kitchen and found that the interior had been decorated with vivid scenes from New York City, where Allahabi led kitchens for years and where he worked for Elaya. The two made plans to expand their restaurant reach into other states and moved their families to Wichita earlier this year.
The small restaurant has a limited number of seats inside but is designed for to-go orders. Eventually, Allahabi hopes to keep the restaurant open until midnight or 2 a.m. to feed late-night diners dishes like his Halal Chicken Platter, which features a serving of juicy seasoned chicken over yellow rice with a choice of sauce and a Mediterranean salad.
The menu, which can be found below, also features things like grilled Cajun shrimp, falafel, beef kofta, jerk chicken and halal lamb, all of which are used to make the platters, gyros, quesadillas and YUM platters.
Another new-to-Wichita dish that Nas Kitchen will occasionally feature but is not on the menu is a chopped cheese sandwich — a popular street food that is New York City’s answer to the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and features ground beef chopped up with onions and served on a bun and topped with melted American cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. I tried my first ever chopped cheese on Friday and am already looking forward to the next time I can get one.
The partners also are busy working on three New York-style bodega eateries, which will operate as to-go only businesses and will be called 360 NY Deli & Grill. The first one will open at 11309 E. Kellogg, Allahabi said, likely in the next month or two, followed by one in an old gas station building at Harry and West Street and then one at 701 W. 21st St., which is at the corner of 21st and Arkansas.
Chopped cheese will be a star menu item at the delis, which also will offer sandwiches like chicken salad, tuna salad, chicken Parmesan, pastrami, roast beef and more plus New York-style bagels and smoothies. They’ll also have juice bars.
Nas Kitchen menu
This story was originally published October 9, 2023 at 11:08 AM.
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