If you cook well, you’ve been asked the question, “Why don’t you start your own restaurant?”
If you know anything about the restaurant business, the natural response is, “What does one have to do with the other?”
But Shaeen Mehmood finally heard the question enough that she and her husband K.J. went for it, recently opening KJ’s Grill & Kabab House on Apperson Drive (near AMC movie theaters in Salem). The restaurant not only scratched her need to cook, but it also fills a niche that was void: Pakistani food.
“After growing tired of driving to Northern Virginia for this kind of food, the concept of KJ’s Grill & Kabab House was founded,” she says.
Shaeen and K.J. (both U.S. citizens) are natives of Pakistan (though she left for England as a child and grew up there) and they love to cook, though they are successful real estate agents. The Kabob House is a sideline that, Shaeen hopes, will eventually run itself and need less time from her and her husband, still filling the demand—which has surprised her—for Pakistani food.
She describes the fare thusly: “Pakistani foods tend to be very meat-oriented. Meat is often the main dish, with vegetarian dishes as sides. Some of the Pakistani meats tend to be grilled. The spice blends that are used in our cooking are different.
“Naans are universal between Indian and Pakistani cuisine. We imported a Tandoor, which is a clay oven for the Naan. As a kabab house, our primary focus is grilled meats with vegetable sides, of which we have at least three daily. We have at least two main meat dishes available. As people enter our restaurant, we allow small tastings of our prepared food items.
“All of our grill meats and Naan are made to order. We tend to focus on healthy, authentic, organic halal, foods. Each grilled meal comes with a small salad, side of rice, side of choice, fresh Naan, and a small mint chutney.”
A typical meal for two, she says, runs $20-$30. Most days, the restaurant is open 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.-8 or 9 p.m. It is closed Tuesday.
She says she and K.J. are “focused on providing healthy and authentic dishes made from family recipes, served in an efficient take-out setting. The concept of ‘great food, no frills’ is what we are founded upon.”
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).
