Long-Gone Watertown Restaurant Kareem May Reopen

Kareem, a Watertown Middle Eastern restaurant that was open from 1984 to 2000 on Mt. Auburn St., might soon reopen in a space on Common St. where Kareem's owner, Ahmad Yasin, has been catering and teaching cooking classes since 2005. A Chowhound user asked about the restaurant, which is apparently close to opening, in a thread on September openings and closings, and another user pointed to a May article from Wicked Local Watertown profiling Yasin and shedding light on his plan to re-open the restaurant in the Common St. space "in the fall," but only for Saturday and Sunday lunch and dinner. Why the limited hours? "I've done the 16-hour days and working six, seven days a week," he told Wicked Local. "I'm tired of that now."

If his current catering menu is any indication of what could be on the restaurant's menu, diners can expect Syrian and other Middle Eastern dishes such as baked kibbeh, hummus, grape leaves, and baklawa.

Yasin also revealed to Wicked Local that he'd ultimately like to use the restaurant as a testing ground for a cookbook.

Update: Kareem is now open for lunch and dinner on weekends only.

· September 2012 openings and closings [CH]
· Watertown foodie staple Kareem's to reopen [WL]
· Catering services [Yasin Culinary]
· Kareem's Restaurant to reopen in Watertown [BRT]