About 5 — Abadir's

ABOUT ABADIR’S

Located in historic Greensboro, Alabama, a quaint town in West Central Alabama, resides Abadir’s, an Egyptian Comfort kitchen serving up seasonal dishes and wholesome baked goods. Menus change with the season and are created with both taste, the body and culture in mind. Our kitchen sources locally when possible, working in partnership with our regional farmers and producers, and organically most of the time. We also grow an abundance of fresh items in our very own kitchen garden.

Dishes are an intuitive creation of what we have available. Each table features an assortment of our kitchen’s take on more traditional Egyptian and Middle Eastern fare with a few Southern components tossed in — Stuffed Collards in the style of Egyptian grape leaves, Koshari (the street food of Egypt), sourdough pita pockets stuffed with seasonal vegetables and herbs, Maamoul (Egyptian shortbread cookies), North African Red Lentil Soup, a coconut turmeric cake. The dishes are a nod to the heritage of owner and head chef Sarah Cole, whose palette and concepts are influenced by her half-Egyptian, half-Southern household growing up.

This isn’t a “healthy” eatery and we aren’t that fancy. We’re just serving people good eats. Everything is natural and whole, all filled with simple ingredients. No refined sugars, better grains because it’s good for the body and the environment, more plants, sourdough breads—we believe it’s important to feed people the way we want to be fed all while promoting more sustainable food practices. That’s why we feed people real, good food.

Owner & chef Sarah Cole during a summer harvest in the Abadir’s Garden at Yarrow Stalk Farm in Greensboro.

THE ABADIR’S COTTAGE

In April 2023, we purchased a 1901 Victorian cottage on the most perfect little corner of downtown Greensboro. Sitting under a big old oak tree is the Abadir’s Cottage, a multi-purpose kitchen concept centered around providing good food and food opportunities for everyone.

The cottage isn’t a restaurant. It’s a space where Abadir’s can continue to grow and evolve all while offering a space for retail, communal dining experiences, and engaging educational programs. It’s also a space for other chef, entrepreneurs and food educators to create and share their experience.

To learn more about the cottage and all it’s offerings, check out our VISIT THE KITCHEN page.

A SIMPLE FOOD PHILOSOPHY

We’re working to reconstruct the way people view food. For us, food is both a necessity and an experience.

We use nutritionally-rich, whole ingredients because they encourage a better relationship to food and our environment. We don’t believe in restrictive diets or any eating habits that limit the intake of certain foods (excluding foods that pose a severe health risk for specific individuals). We believe in treating our bodies and our planet right, and that all begins with a more wholesome approach to food consumption. We want to reduce the amount of overly processed, convenience foods, and intend to encourage a movement away from the fast food mentality.

For us, it’s not about eating right. What’s right for one person may not work for the next. It’s about eating good. And we believe building this venture in a region where access to good food is limited is important and necessary. We also acknowledge that access to good food is a privilege, and we are working to help break down those barriers in hopes of being a small part of big change that needs to happen within our local and regional foodways. It is important for us, Abadir’s, to find ways to ensure that our food is accessible to everyone, and that is a challenge we are constantly navigating.

To put it simply, we believe in building a better understanding of food through a slower, more mindful process of creating and sharing food with others all while honoring the traditions and cultures that exist within our region.

THE NAME + OUR STORY

The name is our way of honoring family history. Cole’s mother and relatives changed the Abadir family name after moving to the United States. It was one of many steps of cultural assimilation. When naming the business, Abadir was the only option. It was Cole’s way of reclaiming space for herself and her family.