Don’t let the cafeteria-style serving trays at Fadi's Mediterranean Grill fool you—the food on top of them “tastes gourmet,” assures the Houston Press. Fadi’s sweeping serving line of tabbouleh, hummus, and broiled lamb shank that’s “fall-off-the-bone tender” earned the paper’s award for Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in 2009 in addition to a slew of other accolades from across the state of Texas. Though guests may fill their trays with tender beef shawarma and chicken kebabs, vegetarian pitas stuffed with hot falafel and couscous salad are stars in their own right, according to Whitney Filloon of the Dallas Observer, who describes her herbivorous and omnivorous meals there as “pure gastronomical joy.” Aside from the gourmet cuisine, the eatery avoids traditional cafeteria stereotypes of sterile color schemes and abstract spork sculptures with vivid displays of Mediterranean artwork illuminated by ornate purple and red chandeliers.