The Pita Stop
The Original Pita Stop (formerly The Pita Stop or Pita Stop Café), is a Lebanese-American restaurant located in the Venetian Village building at 1106 12th Street South in Southside. It was opened in 1977 by Lebanese-born Moneer Accawi.
The Pita Stop is known for traditional dishes typical of the Middle-East. In addition to providing a comforting taste of "home cooking" and a welcoming workplace for immigrants and students attending UAB, it has always been popular with the general public. Long-time servers Mahmud “Mo” Salam and Mohammad “Matt” Islam have their own followings.
Nadim Shunnarah, the brother of Nabeel's Market founder Nabeel Shunnarah, purchased the restaurant in 1982. Kal Alawi served as general manager
Shunnarah and Jamal Abu Sued opened a second Pita Stop Express location at 3908 Crosshaven Drive in Cahaba Heights during the first weekend of November 2010. The conversion from a former Hardee's restaurant was planned by Black Design Architecture to seat 120 with a bar and patio. Maxus Construction was general contractor.
Shunnarah sold his interest in the Cahaba Heights restaurant, and in four delis that he operated in office buildings. He added the world "Original" to the older restaurant's name to emphasize the distinction. He sold the restaurant to long-time employee Mohammad "Matt" Islam in 2021.
On December 16 2023 a lunchtime diner got into a physical altercation with Islam in a dispute over whether he had paid his bill. He struck Islam and knocked him to the floor and later engaged with another patron, appearing drunk. Islam shot the man, who died from his injuries at UAB Hospital. The shooting is presumed to have been justified.
References
- Cooper, Lauren B. (February 5, 2010) "Long-time city eatery Pita Stop plans second location in Cahaba Heights." Birmingham Business Journal
- Carlton, Bob (November 5, 2010) "Pita Stop, a fixture on Birmingham's Southside for three decades, opens location in Cahaba Heights." The Birmingham News
- Turpen, Katie (September 23, 2014) "The Pita Stop." Vestavia Voice
- Harvey, Fletcher (July 22, 2015) "8 things to know about the original Pita Stop." The Birmingham News
- Carlton, Bob (September 1, 2021) "The Alabama restaurant that’s a window to another world." The Birmingham News
- Robinson, Carol & Jeremy Gray (December 17, 2023) "Pita Stop owner: Fatally shooting attacker in Birmingham restaurant will ‘haunt me forever’." AL.com
External links
- Pita Stop website