Best Middle Eastern

Nestled in the Geronimo Plaza on University, Sinbad's serves up an authentic variety of Middle Eastern cuisine--it's no wonder it's frequented by a large population of Arabs living in Tucson. The vegan lentil soup is legendary; the baba ghanouj the best you'll ever taste, and the fattoush salad (with toasted pita bread mixed in) is the Garden of Eden on a plate. One bite of a Sinbad's falafel sandwich (with fried eggplant and potatoes), and you'll swoon. Hang out for the patio nights, where you can smoke a hookah and drink Turkish coffee in the plaza, and you'd swear you're in a Middle Eastern oasis--without as much political chaos.

Runners up:

2. Ali Baba, 2545 E. Speedway Blvd., 319-2559
3. Aladdin, 3699 N. Campbell Ave., 320-0468