Ali Baba is on a busy stretch of Craig Street near CMU and the museums, etc. When I grabbed a late lunch today at around 2:00pm today they were still pretty crowded but the atmosphere and crowd were "cool" and the service was good.
For some reason, I have turned into a baba ganoush fanatic lately. The baba at Ali Baba (say that 3 times in a row and a genie will appear) was very fresh tasting but was a little bit on the bland side in my opinion. There was a little too much oil (actually a puddle of oil) on top of the baba but there was some nice citrus taste to it. The large portion of baba was definitely enough for 2 - I brought half of it home.
I also tried a spinach pie. Good - not great. Nice and toasted on the outside but just a tad undercooked and doughy on the inside. Also a little on the bland side. I wish they had a spinach-feta cheese pie option on the menu - maybe I should have asked.
My last trip to Ali Baba was over 10 years ago. That visit included an incredibly hilarious and embarassing moment that I cannot post on the internet. Well maybe one of these days after a few beers I will reveal - ha ha.
Ali Baba is a good choice on Craig Street but there are better middle eastern choices in my opinion at Kassab's (Southside) and Taza 21 (Squirrel Hill). With that said, I will try Ali Baba again one of these days. I am intrigued that Ali Baba has it's roots in Syria so maybe I just need to appreciate the differences and give it another chance.