La Shish chain shuts down for good
It’s a shame the people who ran the joint were run out of the country for tax evasion and fraud, because they had some of the finest Middle-Eastern cuisine in the area. Think of what Chi Chi’s did for Mexican food in the early ’90s before they went completely off-the-charts-awful and you have a pretty good approximation of what La Shish was for Lebanese food. Very consistent, very good, and a complete treat. JoDee and I used to love going to La Shish, and it was a regular haunt when I worked in Dearborn. After the news of the owners skipping out to Lebanon to avoid tax-evasion charges, allegations of funneling money to suspected terrorist groups, and improper immigration practices, JoDee and I stopped going there. Nobody in the area would be caught there. I drove home by one, and wished circumstances would have been different so I could pop in for some tabbouleh or hummus. At least there’s some closure in the saga, but the culinary landscape of the Detroit area will be missing another fine restaurant.
A bit of a time-line can be found here: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15466556/detail.html
And the restaurant’s web-site is still here: http://lashish.com. View and drool.