Phoenician Garden serves Lebanese and Mediterranean food, not a Greek menu. Moussaka, souvlaki, kleftiko, pastitsio and manakish aren’t on it. We do serve a Greek salad and gyros with tzatziki, and below you’ll find the closest dish we have to each one you searched for.
- Cuisine
- Lebanese and Mediterranean
- Not on our menu
- Moussaka, souvlaki, kleftiko, pastitsio, manakish
- Greek-leaning dishes
- Greek salad, gyros with tzatziki, feta and Kalamata olives on the side
- Where
- 1025 E Herndon Ave #106, Fresno
Mediterranean Is a Region, Not One Menu
Mediterranean food covers a lot of coastline. Greek, Lebanese, Turkish, Italian and Moroccan kitchens all cook with olive oil, lemon, herbs and grilled meat, and each one has its own dishes. A search for Mediterranean food shows all of them, so it’s easy to end up at a restaurant that doesn’t cook the dish you had in mind.
Ours is Lebanese. Mo Hmaidan opened Phoenician Garden in 2003, and his son Tarek runs the restaurant today. The menu runs on shawarma, kebobs, falafel, hummus and dips, cooked from family recipes. It also has a few Greek-leaning items, which come up below. Our current menu lists every dish and its price.
Greek Dishes We Don’t Serve
Here’s a straight answer for each dish people search for before they find us.
| Greek dish | What it is | On our menu |
|---|---|---|
| Moussaka | A baked casserole of eggplant and spiced meat under a creamy sauce. | Not served. The closest dish is the Lebanese Stuffed Eggplant: seasoned ground beef and caramelized onions, topped with marinara and melted mozzarella ($17.99 lunch, $20.99 dinner). It’s a different dish, not a stand-in. For a cold eggplant dish, try baba ghannouj, a smoked eggplant dip with garlic, lemon, tahini and yogurt ($9.99). |
| Souvlaki | Grilled meat on a skewer, often tucked into pita. | Not served. Our skewers are kebob plates: Chicken Kebobs are chicken breast marinated in our seasoning and grilled with onions and bell peppers ($19.99 at dinner), and Beef Kebobs are $21.99 at dinner. For meat in pita, a gyro wrap with a side is $13.99 with chicken or $14.99 with our beef-and-lamb blend. |
| Kleftiko | Lamb cooked low and slow until it falls off the bone. | Not served. The nearest dish is our Lamb Shank, slow-cooked in tomato sauce with red wine and orange peels, with your pick of rice or potatoes and sautéed vegetables ($29.99). It has its own sauce and is its own dish. |
| Pastitsio | Baked pasta with a meat sauce and a creamy topping. | Not served. We do serve fettuccine in garlic Alfredo or roasted garlic-pesto sauce, finished with Parmesan ($18.99 with chicken, $20.49 with shrimp), but that’s a separate dish, not pastitsio. |
| Manakish | A Lebanese flatbread baked with toppings such as za’atar or cheese. | Not served, even though people expect it from a Lebanese restaurant. The closest item is the Phoenician Pizza, built on pita with garlic sauce, mozzarella, tomatoes, onion and parsley ($7.99 veggie, $9.99 chicken). It’s its own dish, not manakish. |
The dips and appetizers page has the rest of the cold plates.
Prices on this page are dine-in prices, and menu prices are subject to change.
The Greek-Leaning Dishes We Do Serve
Our Greek salad is crisp lettuce, tangy feta, Kalamata olives, tomatoes, onions and cucumbers ($6.99 small, $11.99 large). Want more feta or olives? Greek feta (4 oz) and Greek Kalamata olives are $2.50 each on the side. The salads page covers the rest of the salads.
Our gyro is a blend of seasoned beef and lamb, char-grilled in small batches and sliced fresh, wrapped in Greek pita with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and tzatziki. A chicken gyro is on the menu too, and tzatziki is $1.50 on the side. If you want to know how a gyro differs from our shawarma, read how gyro differs from shawarma.
For garlic, try toum, the Lebanese garlic sauce. It comes with the Garlic Chicken wrap, the Chicken Kebobs and the Combo Kebobs, and it’s $1.50 on the side.
What We Cook Instead
Start with hummus ($8.99, served with pita), then add falafel (6 pieces, $11.99). For a main, the Chicken Shawarma Plate is 7-spice chicken with house-made hummus, rice pilaf and pita ($20.99), and our shawarma is char-grilled in small batches and sliced fresh. Not sure what to order first? The first-timer’s guide to Lebanese food walks through the menu.
Hummus and tahini sauce contain sesame. Our kitchen handles all the major allergens, sesame included, and we can’t guarantee any item is free from cross-contact. Read the allergen information before you order.
Not sure whether we have a dish? Call (559) 261-2747 and we’ll tell you. Ordering for a group? Our guide to office lunches for medical offices shows how an order like that works.
Questions About Greek Food at a Lebanese Restaurant
Is Phoenician Garden a Greek restaurant?
No. Phoenician Garden is a Lebanese-Mediterranean restaurant. We serve a Greek salad and gyros with tzatziki, but the menu is Lebanese: shawarma, kebobs, falafel, hummus and dips.
Do you serve moussaka, souvlaki, kleftiko or pastitsio?
No. None of the four is on our menu. For eggplant, try the Lebanese Stuffed Eggplant. For meat on a skewer, try our kebobs. For lamb, there's the Lamb Shank, and for pasta, the fettuccine. Each is a different dish, not a copy of the Greek one.
Do you serve manakish?
No. Manakish is a Lebanese flatbread, but it isn't on our menu. The Phoenician Pizza is built on pita and is its own dish.
Do you have a Greek salad?
Yes. It's crisp lettuce, feta, Kalamata olives, tomatoes, onions and cucumbers, $6.99 for a small and $11.99 for a large.
Do you serve gyros?
Yes. The gyro is a blend of seasoned beef and lamb in Greek pita with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and tzatziki. There's a chicken gyro too.
What's the difference between Mediterranean and Greek food?
Mediterranean names a region, and Greek is one of the cuisines in it. Lebanese, Turkish, Italian and Moroccan cooking are others. We cook Lebanese.
