I drive down Carnegie Avenue all the time, so I was curious about the metal and glass building that went up just down from the Cleveland Clinic at the E. 82nd Street intersection. One of my friends raved about her visit to the place on Facebook, so I knew I had to check it out. I’m glad I did. I’ve been a regular shopper ever 
since.
Rumi’s has a cafeteria-style deli that offers hot entrees, beef and chicken kebabs, sandwiches, a fresh salad bar and most intriguingly an olive bar. The choices the most recent time I was there included spaghetti with cheese and meat, fried chicken and a spicy Chinese stir fry. They also had several soups. The kebabs are on spits just like I am familiar with from Germany. The meat is roasted on the spit and shaved off when you order. They then heat it on the flat top grill, which I find a 
bit odd since it should be hot from the spit. But it isn’t dried out, so I am not going to question it.
Being a fan of kebabs, I have yet to venture far from that choice. They offer the kebab as a sandwich with pita or as an entree with 2 sides for $10.95. There are four different sides to choose from. My first time was extremely orange. I chose the mac n 
cheese and the saffron rice to go with the chicken kebab. The meat was tender and not dried out at all. The mac n cheese was a little bland, but it was certainly palatable. The rice was moist and delicious. They also offer Afghani Pulao (pilau), Indian Biryani, korma, rotisserie chicken with a pomegranate glaze, and lots of other choices. The restaurant is open from 10 to 2 on Sunday and Monday and 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday. The store is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
We wandered around the market, which had just opened, and were very pleased to see the variety of Turkish, Middle Eastern and Indian foods available. The shelves were much more stocked on my second visit, and I picked up a lot of fun things like pickled mango (chutney?), Mango Tang, mint tea, orange and cinnamon herbal tea, stuffed eggplant and stuffed pepper in a plastic, ready-to-eat tub, and some juices. Most intriguing was a Basil Seed Drink with White Grape flavor. It was really, really good. The 
texture of the basil seed reminded me of a really tiny bubble tea, and the white grape flavor was heavenly. I can see myself going back and buying lots of these next time. Now that the place has been open a while I keep an eye on the expiration dates, which sometimes have expired. I buy boxes of baklava, produce, frozen entrees and appetizers, and various teas here as well. I do chuckle when I notice the Aldi brand small appliances for sale.
On my second visit I tried the chicken kebab with the saffron rice and sauteed vegetables. The chicken kebab was even better than the beef kebab. The chicken kebab was moist and paired really well with bites of rice and veggies. I was most surprised by how much I loved the sauteed vegetables. I have never been a huge fan of celery, but the sauteed celery really dominated the mix and was quite flavorful. The other vegetables included broccoli, onion and yellow and red peppers. I really enjoyed it a lot, and felt like my meal was quite healthy (if you don’t count 
the Mountain Dew from the soda fountain).
My friends and I also met here for their Ramadan buffet last year. I have several friends who are Muslim, so I wanted to share their holiday with them. The buffet was very plentiful, and the food is weighed. It is open before sunset as well, so we got there a little earlier than sunset to avoid the crowd. We piled our plates with lots of good food, and much of it was quite spicy.
They serve American deli sandwiches, chicken, turkey, and burgers to 
cater to the Clinic crowd who don’t necessarily want Persian food, but want a quick and affordable lunch option. Their fried chicken also appears to be quite popular.
A word of warning: don’t think the red sauce on the salad bar is French dressing. It’s hot sauce. I smothered my beautiful salad with it, only to find it was too hot to eat. I ate around the sauce, but at around $5.40 a pound I was upset that I wasted a lot of it.
Contact info:
Rumi’s Market and Deli
8225 Carnegie Avenue
Cleveland OH 44103
bottles. They have hot water, regular coffee and decaf coffee equipped with those bad boys. I think that is pretty ingenious.
butter, all the fixings for homemade pizza including dough, sauce, crumbled sausage, pepperoni slices and shredded and shredded cheese. The freezers hold all kinds of frozen Gallucci pastas and seafood that you won’t find anywhere else as well as frozen soup, frozen meatballs (for wedding soup and for pasta dinners), and homemade gelato. The grocery aisles are 
authentic recipe. One recent Yelper warns about their practice of switching out cheaper brands for their brand though, so keep an eye out.
well as a cooler full of prepared submarine sandwiches (you need to get here early because they run out). I have been known to stock up on prepared subs if a snow storm is predicted.
You can also get Gallucci’s amazing Italian wedding soup by the bowl or the quart. It contains lots of meatballs and escarole – as well as lots of flavor. Gallucci’s also offers a daily lunch special (“Coke Special”) during the week. You can get a sub sandwich, a 12 ounce pop and a bag of chips for $6.99. Make sure the sandwich looks fresh though. The last one I got was pretty dried out.
lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in honor of the Indians Home Opener on April 1st (and it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke).
of chowder and stack of crackers for me. I grabbed some condiments and my slice of bread and a pat of butter and waited. When the fish came out they started serving the people who had just walked in until one of the older men supervising noticed and had them serve me. Some of the fish had broken apart and the young man tried to give me a couple pieces parts until I pointed out to the supervisor that there were supposed to be two pieces. Awkward.
overwhelmed by the food service of it all. I thought I’d have a couple pierogi and chowder with a few bites of fish and pack up the rest. The chowder was the blandest, worst chowder I’ve ever had, so I popped the lid back on and will be doctoring it up tomorrow for lunch. Nothing a little dill and seasoned salt can’t fix. The pierogi did not look appetizing at all, but they weren’t as dry as they look. That was the best part of the meal. The fish was okay. It could have been moister, but it was at least edible. The cole slaw was okay. I chose the baked potato since it is easier to warm up as leftovers, although this isn’t a meal I am looking forward to eating again.
my other friends opted to go to the Fire Station for their all you can eat breakfast featuring regular, blueberry and buckwheat pancakes. I’ll try it next year.
while I parked down and across the street from the high school lot, which was jam-packed with cars. I drove through the entire lot and not a single spot was free. I had an inkling this would not be a quick breakfast like the last two pancake breakfasts were. We queued up once we walked in and wound our way up the stairs and through the hallways of the school. They had pins for the visitors to mark where they came from. There was a board for Geauga County residents as well as one of Ohio. One pin was from Toledo, while several others were from Pennsylvania.
cardboard piece with a number (#1 for Western, #2 for ham and cheese, and #3 for veggie – peppers, onion, mushrooms and cheese) and handed the print-out to the person at the door to the cafeteria serving area. We wound our way through that area, grabbing a tray and silverware and collecting our pancakes and sausage patties, choice of milk (regular or chocolate) and orange juice. They then assigned us a table and whisked away our trays before we even had a chance to sit down. The omelets were quickly brought to our tables, and we handed them the colored cardboard.
kept serving more pancakes and sausage until we couldn’t eat any more. The woman overseeing our table whisked my plate full of leftovers away (I had stacked my plates together) and brought it back in a to-go box. I had half an omelet and four sausage patties left. I hadn’t asked for any more pancakes or sausage, but did ask for more coffee and butter as we sat down since our table was running low. Once we were finished they cleaned our plates and detritus away. Once someone left the table they were immediately there wiping the spots down and putting a placemat down for the next group of diners. When we left at noon the line had died down considerably. However, as we learned from one of our fellow 
diners if you go a little later you may find they have run out of something – in their case a few years ago pancakes. They serve from 8:00 am – 1:30 pm.
there). You pay when you walk in and walk past a table full of Goodell Family Farm products. The gentleman at the end then finds a seat for you and your party. We were seated with another older married couple, which was a little awkward. I had already blown past them getting off the turnpike, so I wasn’t too thrilled to be seated with them. Then to add to the awkward they sat next to each other, so we then also had to sit next to each other. As their penance they had to hear my girlfriend and I talk about our lives and high five each other several times.
choice of ketchup, tartar sauce and cocktail sauce. I wish they wouldn’t use so much styrofoam, but understand their business model hasn’t changed since the 1970s so why wouldn’t they.
you properly, because it forms a wind tunnel.
Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats 