[Amanda]

I haven't been for a very long time, but I used to LOVE Nicholas Restaurant on SE Grand near Oak. I would drool dreamily over thoughts of their delicious hummus, tablecloth-sized pitas, lentil soup, and sumac pizza. An order of the meat mezza and the vegetarian mezza was once my idea of a perfect meal. When I lived closer in I would eat there pretty frequently. Now that I'm out to hell and gone I usually opt for Lebanese in Montavilla.

ANYHOW, if I have this correctly they are expanding and there will be three of them: They have their original, successful location on Grand. The spot currently called Arabian Breeze will cease to exist soon and will then will go forward as another location of Nicholas. There will also be a new Nicholas location opening in Gresham, as well! Isn't that swell?!!!

Best regards,

Amanda

[ExtraMSG]

I believe Arabian Breeze was always owned by the Nicholas people (directly, not just a family member like with Ya Hala, Hoda's, etc). I think it's more of a re-branding than anything.

[Amanda]

You are right, Nick. Yeah, the guy on the phone said they wanted to try something new with Arabian Breeze but it's not working out so they are making it another Nicholas instead.

Best regards,

Amanda

[egor]

ExtraMSG, on Mar 9 2010, 04:14 PM, said:

I believe Arabian Breeze was always owned by the Nicholas people (directly, not just a family member like with Ya Hala, Hoda's, etc). I think it's more of a re-branding than anything.

Nicholas' three daughters.

[jennifer]

Where is Arabian Breeze? I LOVE Nicholas but never get over there anymore. It's my all time favorite hummus ever.

[old55]

Conveniently located on Northeast Broadway.

http://www.arabianbreezeportland.com/

[BaconLuv]

I haven't been to Nicholas in a long time, but I think that Arabian Breeze has some unique menu items that Nicholas didn't have. (I'm thinking of the vegetarian stuffed cabbage rolls and rice, lamb & spinach dishes in particular. Does Nicholas have these now?)

Anyway, I'm sure hoping they keep some of the menu from Arabian Breeze as it "rebrands" itself into another Nicholas. And I hope this doesn't mean long waits like the Grand location of Nicholas either, as I've never had a wait at Arabian Breeze.

[ExtraMSG]

Yeah, Arabian Breeze definitely had more items. The best thing about it was the sajh bread, basically a giant flour tortilla (though I believe it's leavened) or thin pita. All made to order. The flavors on most of their stuff just wasn't that good. I actually think Nicholas isn't among the better places either, except with their meats. They started a wonderful trend and set a great bar for others to live up to, but they've long since been surpassed.

[BaconLuv]

Yes, Arabian Breeze's bread is incredible with that oil/sumac/etc. dipping sauce. I liked how they would bring it out immediately too.