Finding Minnesota

• Oct 22, 2007 10:33 am US/Central
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  Finding Minnesota: Emily's Lebanese Deli

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Finding Minnesota: Emily's Lebanese Deli

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ― We all know one or two of those nondescript, out of the way places that serve up some of the best food around and one of them can be found on the northeast side of Minneapolis.

At Emily's Lebanese Deli, you'll find an ethnic melting pot of sorts and right in the middle of it, you'll find some of the best flavors to be found in the Twin Cities.

"The food is so good," one man said. "They start with good produce. That's the main thing."

Emily's has been around for 35 years, drawing a steady crowd.  The biggest change: it's the grandchildren working now.

"We have lunch here every Saturday at Emily's," another man said.

Most regulars said it's worth the effort to make a stop in at least once a week.

"They asked about my mom when she died you know, and about how my kids are doing in school," another man said.

Emily died four years ago, but her children and husband still work at the deli.

"My dad's here at 3 o'clock in the morning," Emily's daughter, Amy Awaijane, said. "My sister leaves here at 3 o'clock in the morning."

Awaijane remembers how little locals knew about Lebanese food when her mother first started serving it up.

"It was always, 'what is this?'" Awaijane remembered. "'What's in this?'  I think I repeated myself 100 times a day."

Today, most customers are well acquainted with the fare, which includes cabbage rolls, stuffed zucchini, stuffed grape leaves, meat pie and spinach pie.

You can find a little of everything at Emily's, from shish kabobs to baklava, business suits to baseball caps.  Even if you come in on a semi-regular basis, you're bound to run into the people you know and run into some new friends along the way.

If you're big on ambiance that reeks of elegance, it's probably not the place for you.  They don't take reservations, but they do take great pride in serving up something special to each and every person that walks through the door.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)