Naf Naf: A Build-Your-Own Middle Eastern Adventure

The new Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill in McKinney is the epitome of “choose-your-own-adventure,” with a completely customizable menu that offers diners the opportunity to build a meal from scratch. There’s something liberating about choosing your own base, proteins, toppings and sauces and then getting to taste your creation afterward. Good or bad, the culinary steering wheel here is all yours. There’s almost no limit to creativity.
Naf Naf got its start in Illinois and is now opening stores across the U.S. including several in North Texas — one each in Frisco and McKinney, plus another in the works in Las Colinas. The spot gets its name from a Middle Eastern phrase for “fan the flame,” which is used as a friendly call to the dinner table. It’s perhaps fitting that the restaurant interiors are decorated with cozy wooden flooring and tables for group dining. A bold orange sign that reads “Let’s share a meal” is plastered on the wall to reinforce the theme. Grab a couple of friends, order some food and gather around the dinner table. As one might say, “Naf Naf.”

Naf Naf’s menu follows a multi-step format, starting with choosing your entrée. The stuffed pita option ($10.09) comes with a warm, fluffy slice of pita bread filled with your choice of toppings. Here you just plow through with your hands. If you’re not a fan of messy eating, order your entrée in a bowl ($10.89), on a bed of lettuce, couscous or turmeric-stained basmati rice instead. Hummus enthusiasts might be pleasantly surprised to see a “hummus bowl” option ($12.89) which comes with your choice of toppings on a bed of garlic hummus. The hummus-to-topping ratio in this dish makes for a uniquely creamy and protein-packed dish.
Once you’ve chosen your entrée, you can load it with chicken, steak or falafel. Even the chicken here is customizable; order it roasted shawarma-style or breaded and deep-fried. Then top it off with options ranging from a basic cucumber-and-tomato salad to Mediterranean-style onions tossed in an intense sumac coating. There's also a Middle Eastern pickle topping.

What’s nice about Naf Naf’s pricing is that you can load up your entrée with as much (or as little) as you’d like for a set price. Don’t be afraid to ask for more of your favorite ingredient.

Complete the dish by drenching your food in traditional Middle Eastern sauces. A s’khug sauce comes with a spicy green chili base with garlic and other herbs. Mix it with Naf Naf’s signature tahini, a creamy sesame-based sauce, to cool the palate between punches of spice. Ask for your sauce on the side if you care to do the mixing yourself and get a little more adventurous. The only limits here are those self-imposed.

Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill, 1801 Hardin Blvd., McKinney. Monday – Friday, 10:45 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Saturday – Sunday, 10:45 a.m. – 8 p.m.