From a New Haven Food Truck to Washington Avenue: The Khalid Family, Sobia’s Recipes and the Kati Roll That Took Six Months

If you have driven down Washington Avenue lately, you may have noticed Ali Baba’s Kitchen at No. 344. The North Haven restaurant has only been open since just before Christmas 2024, but the family behind it has been feeding Greater New Haven for years, starting from a food truck.

Here is how a couple who brought their own pans and tandoor from Pakistan built Ali Baba’s Kitchen, who runs it now, and what to order.

A dream, a tandoor and a food truck

Owner Jamshed Khalid was so set on opening a restaurant after immigrating to the United States that he brought pans and a tandoor with him from Pakistan, the New Haven Independent reported in April 2025.

His wife, Sobia, was hesitant at first, he told the Independent, but came around when she saw how much he wanted it. Her recipes are still the basis for almost the entire menu. Jamshed called her “a very excellent chef” and said that “without her help, [he] could not have started the business.”

The business says it started “as one of the first food trucks in New Haven.” Today Ali Baba’s has a restaurant on Dixwell Avenue in Hamden, the North Haven location, and a lunchtime food cart on Cedar Street in New Haven’s medical district, according to the Independent. The menu blends Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern cooking, and the restaurant says it uses only 100% certified halal meat.

The kati roll that took six months

The kati roll is the dish the family is proudest of. Jamshed told the Independent that it took more than six months to perfect the recipe, which he developed with Sobia in 2008. Kati rolls wrap flaky paratha around a filling. At Ali Baba’s, you can get beef, lamb or chicken, or a vegetarian roll with cauliflower, paneer or spicy potato, topped with cabbage and sauce.

Along with the kati rolls, lemon chicken and chicken kebabs are among the most popular dishes, according to the Independent, and the business said it was serving more than 500 people a day.

The next generation

The Khalids’ eldest daughter, Huda, started helping out at 11. “When I learned how to use Microsoft Word,” she told the Independent, “my dad asked me to make a sign for the food truck.”

She graduated from Southern Connecticut State University and spent more than 10 years at advertising agencies before coming back to the family business. “I saw the potential of our small brand here,” she said. “People had love for Ali Baba’s.”

Since then, Ali Baba’s has added kombucha on tap from 860Kombucha, hosted events from speed dating to wellness panels, and sponsored the Hamden High baseball team, the Independent reported. Its menu now has a row of specialty bowls created with Connecticut food bloggers and local groups, including the Eat Sleep Food CT bowl, the Bites Chick bowl and the Running Foodie bowl. The Hamden location also has a party hall for events.

Working with her parents is “stressful but rewarding,” Huda said. “There are tough days, but the sweet days are that much sweeter.” Jamshed said they “had to learn how to meet in the middle.”

Chef Ismail Azizi was on the line in North Haven when the Independent visited, toasting paratha and sautéing spiced cauliflower and paneer for kati rolls.

What North Haven says

Customer reviews featured on the restaurant’s website include several from people who were thrilled to see a location open closer to home.

“I have been going to the Ali Baba’s Hamden location for years and the Lemon Chicken bowls are amazing,” Frank wrote in a review featured on the restaurant’s website. “The White sauce is out of this world and I always get extra put on!!! It’s even more convenient for me now that there’s a location in North Haven where I live.”

Leah wrote that the Eat Sleep Food CT bowl “was literally one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.” Stella called it a “total hidden gem” with “huge portions and incredibly delicious meat.” Gia wrote that the beef kati roll was “perfectly seasoned,” the Eat Sleep Food bowl “will feed me for 3 days,” and “the service was wonderful!” Denise put it simply: “Every dish I’ve tried is fabulous.”

A Wallingford couple, Dave and Ivette, told the Independent the falafel was “delicious.” Since they rarely have the same days off, Dave said, eating lunch together there was a “treat.”

What to order

Lemon chicken. The menu describes it as grilled marinated chicken strips with sautéed onions, drizzled with the house ABK sauce, for $13.99. Get it as a bowl and ask for extra white sauce, if you take Frank’s advice.

A kati roll. A chicken kati roll is $6.25 on the North Haven menu. Try a vegetarian one with cauliflower or paneer, the version the Independent watched being made.

Chicken kebab. Grilled chicken kebab served with ginger chicken and ABK sauce, $13.99.

Falafel. Crispy chickpea fritters with ABK sauce, or tahini if you ask, for $12.99.

The Eat Sleep Food CT bowl. Lemon chicken and ginger chicken over basmati rice and sautéed vegetables, topped with hummus, lettuce, chickpeas, tomatoes, pickled onions and feta, $17.99. Save room for baklava ($6.70) or the coconut cake made with yogurt and semolina ($4.95).

Feeding a crowd? Family meals of lemon chicken or beef gyro with rice, pita, salad and sauces serve five, and catering trays are ordered through the Hamden location.

If you go

Ali Baba’s Kitchen is at 344 Washington Ave., Unit 11, in North Haven; the phone number is 203-604-2705. Menus and online ordering are at alibabaskitchen.com. Catering orders go through the Hamden location at 203-535-1164.

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