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You can’t find the healthy and unique dishes at Jerusalem Garden Café anywhere else in Asheville. Owner Farouk Badr brought the recipes used at the restaurant with him from his homeland to help transport patrons to faraway lands when enjoying his food.
“We really wanted to bring the customers a truly authentic cuisine from the Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern regions our family is from,” Badr said.
Jerusalem Garden actually started way back in 1992 as a small deli restaurant serving up gyros, falafel and other tasty sandwiches to the people of Asheville. It become a well-known restaurant for good, wholesome meals, but Badr desired more.
He wanted the restaurant to grow with the thriving community of Asheville and become a fine dining establishment with a full menu of Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern dishes.
“It was a huge change for us,” Badr said, “and we had to take it in little steps.”
Slowly but surely Jerusalem Garden kept moving and improving — they built a tent room with floor seating, remodeled several times and crafted a menu of the best dishes they had to offer. After 15 years of hard work, Badr now had a full-blown restaurant on his hands.
But the moving and improving didn’t stop there.
“We continue to come up with new desserts, small plates and entrées year after year to keep things new and fresh for ourselves and for our customers,” Badr said.
Besides their fantastic lunch and dinner menu, Jerusalem Garden offers an unbelievable brunch menu every Saturday and Sunday serving all your Southern breakfast favorites with a Mediterranean twist. And just recently the restaurant started serving a new menu of Mediterranean-influenced cocktails.
Don't miss belly dancing every Friday and Saturday.
But the food isn’t the only thing that will take you to a faraway land. Every Friday and Saturday, Jerusalem Garden hosts live music and belly dancing that completely immerses you in the culture.
Making the switch from small deli to huge, successful restaurant definitely wasn’t easy, and Badr is grateful to his family and community for supporting him and his local business.
“We love being a local business because local small businesses are the core of the economy in this area,” he said. “It is a pleasure to be part of that circle and we are proud to bring a different menu and cuisine to the table!”
Keep up to date with new food specials, menu additions, events and more from Jerusalem Garden Café on their Dig Local profile.
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