Dining: Mustaches of the world, unite!

Tom Selleck. Hulk Hogan. Salvador Dali. Frida Kahlo. My dad. And now, Tel Aviv's Menachem Begin St.

By ARIE HASIT
tortilla food mexican 88 (photo credit: )
tortilla food mexican 88
(photo credit: )
Tom Selleck. Hulk Hogan. Salvador Dali. Frida Kahlo. My dad. And now, Tel Aviv's Menachem Begin St. What do these all have in common? All are home to a noteworthy Mustache. Indeed, Begin has been home to noteworthy facial hair for decades, (such a big street in the Middle East, how could it not?), but now, the street includes a new shwarma restaurant with a revolutionary concept: that a shwarma restaurant can be professional, clean, and maybe even healthy. Workers can frequently be seen wiping down counters, washing their hands, and taking their cigarette breaks outside, instead of smoking over the food they are preparing. The restaurant simply gives off an aura of cleanliness, a place where you can actually enjoy your meal, and not worry that you'll sit in the tehina that dripped out of the previous customer's tortilla. The tortilla, of course, raises an eyebrow to most typical shwarma eaters, as well as Mexican food devotees, but Mustache manages to pull it off. Behind the tortilla is the simple desire to give customers the same amount of meat, chips, and salad as they are accustomed to in their lafot, with only a fraction of the bread. The tortillas are made fresh at the restaurant, and are the same size as a typical lafa, but of course much thinner. The result is a shwarma that allows you to focus on what's inside, be it turkey, chicken, or lamb and beef combo, without getting filled by an overabundance of bread. If still unconvinced by shwarma in a tortilla, there is still the classic pita option, or the plate, served with such healthful side options as a quinoa salad. Mustache's gimmick is a simple one. When you leave, whether after a quick nosh or a leisurely lunch, you should feel sated, not sick. And to this sensitive-stomached shwarma lover, that makes all the difference in the world. Pita: 24 NIS; Tortilla: 26 NIS; Plate with Two Sides: 35 NIS Mustache, 27 Menachem Begin St., Tel Aviv, (03) 566-2000, is open Sunday to Thursday from noon to 11 p.m.; kosher. Mr. Hasit was a guest of the restaurant.