During the 30 days of Ramadan, while the sun is out, a handful of grocery shoppers browse the aisles of Rumi’s Market and Grill. They scan the shelves for a variety of international foods and, in the back, visit the in-house butcher and bakery for fresh cuts of meat or stone-oven baked pita.
But once the sun sets, it’s a different scene inside the Carnegie Avenue storefront. At that point, the beloved grill in the back welcomes in communities of diners, filling the tables with hungry customers ready to order from its special iftar menu served during the annual Islamic holy month.
The restaurant and market caters to Cleveland’s Muslim communities, offering an all-halal menu of platters, kabobs, baklava and unique pizzas for order. During Ramadan, Muslims don't eat or drink while the sun is out, fasting for 30 days in honor of Muhammad’s first revelation of the Qur’an; they have a meal before the sun rises, and again once the sun sets. The month of fasting ends with Eid al-Fitr, this year on April 21.
In 2017, Pew Research Center estimated that about 3.45 million Americans — about 1% — are Muslim. Globally, with more than a billion practicing Muslims, Islam is the second-biggest religion behind Christianity.
Rumi’s Market and Grill continues to welcome in Muslim Clevelanders, even though the business has undergone some big changes in the past few years. In 2022, the market building and parking lot were sold to new ownership and management for $700,000, according to Cuyahoga County Property Records.
Then, about six months ago, Rumi’s Grill’s menu also shifted when general manager Tahir Aslan became a partner at the restaurant. Formerly the owner of Minute Man Press in Lyndhurst, Aslan has led the grill’s menu shift toward Turkish dishes, reflecting his own upbringing in the country.
“We have kabobs, chicken, lamb, beef. We’re the first ones to make lahmacun here in Cleveland; a lot of Turkish restaurants are not even doing that, and our lahmacun is perfect,” Aslan says about the spiced Turkish pizza dish. “We make everything here, fresh and scratch made in the kitchen.”
And from March 23 until April 20 this year, those dishes are in high demand once the sun goes down, and once practicing Muslims break their daily Ramadan fasts.
“When people come, they are hungry,” Aslan says. “They cannot wait.”
The iftar special ($22.99) includes a few kebabs, lahmacun and two pieces of baklava, along with lentil soup, dates, salad, bread and tea. Kebabs ($17-$20) use fresh cuts of meat from Rumi’s grocery arm, and the baklava ($3.50) — juicy and crunchy — is made fresh daily.
Beyond the traditional dishes, Rumi’s also offers other types of Turkish versions of pizza, with cheese and pepperoni ($15), and kiymali pide ($16), a flatbread topped with ground beef and vegetables.
As Rumi’s settles into its new menu, it plans to introduce a new, expansive Turkish breakfast, including traditional spreads of olives, meats, dips and vegetables, post-Ramadan. The restaurant will also continue to offer its long-running Sunday Indian and Pakistan buffets, Aslan says.
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