FOOD & DRINK
Shahrazad Tells a New Story at its New Location PERSIAN-MIDDLE EASTERN RESTAURANT ADDS A COUNTER SERVICE OPTION BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
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new yet familiar restaurant has opened on a busy stretch of Oakland Avenue near UWM. Wedged between a Domino’s and a Jimmy John’s, and on the same block as a Qdoba and a Noodles & Co., Shahrazad adds a different flavor to a strip known for fast food. Shahrazad serves a menu of Persian and Middle Eastern fare, prepared quickly for sit down meals or for carry-outs. From 1993 through 2021, Shahrazad operated from unpretentiously elegant quarters near the corner of Oakland and Locust. The primarily sit-down restaurant, decorated with Persian artifacts, invited dinners to linger. But last year, owner Mohammad Khatibi, an immigrant who came to Milwaukee to attend UWM in the ‘80s, closed the old location and headed north on Oakland to the former site of The Halal Guys. 22 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS
“COVID is the only reason,” Khatibi says when asked why he moved. “The dining experience was fading away. I had to come up with a new plan. I still had my regular customers, but they weren’t going out as often, which made it difficult to stay in business.” Open since Nov. 1 in the new spot, the new Shahrazad is more utilitarian looking with counter service and sit-down dining tables set on a tile floor. Vestiges of its former incarnation include photographs of the ruins of ancient Persia’s capital, Persepolis, and a scene illustrating the restaurant’s heroine-namesake, Shahrazad—the woman who fended off death for 1,001 nights by telling captivating stories to her homicidal husband.
Photos by Michael Burmesch.
