The semilegendary Assyrian queen Semiramis supposedly ordered her posse of fanatical drug-addled priests to tear her King Nimrod limb from limb, eat him raw, and put her illegitimate son on the throne in his place, but don't read too much into the name of Joseph Abraham's new spot, in the space left vacant by the semilegendary Shawerma King -- where he's from streets and hotels are named for her. About nine months ago Abraham (late of ZouZou) and partner George Elbekai took over yet another semilegend, Leo's Lunchroom, but Abraham says he didn't feel challenged cooking there, so in January he decamped to Albany Park to open SEMIRAMIS, focusing on the food he grew up with in Lebanon. He and Elbekai, also his partner in the new venture, opened last week with a wide assortment of dishes, beginning with nine vegetarian mezes, most notably tabbouleh done Lebanese style: heavy on the parsley, light on the bulgur. Elaborate kebab, falafel, and roast chicken sandwiches reach a pinnacle in the lamb and beef shawirma combo -- a textural marvel of juicy, caramelized meat wrapped in thin lavosh with roasted eggplant, red cabbage, tomatoes, pickles, hummus, and harissa-spiked tahini. The shawirma and skewered meat entrees include a marinated roasted chicken resting on a huge blanket of lavosh beside a cup of cool glutinous garlic mousse called toum. At $5.50 per bird it could be the take-out deal of the neighborhood. Elbekai's mom is contributing daily specials -- on opening day she made fasoulya bayda, tomatoey white beans with lamb, and dahoud basha, densely textured little meatballs in a thin spicy tomato sauce (both served with a pile of vermicelli rice), plus sambusik, or "meat kisses," flaky fried pastries filled with ground lamb, onions, and pine nuts that come with a house salad or a pool of extremely fresh homemade yogurt. Abraham says he'll soon reintroduce the sumac-sprinkled french fries that were so popular at ZouZou. The owners have expanded the dining room and spiffed the place up considerably; the broad front window is a perfect spot to take a pot of strong, sweet cardamom-laced coffee and watch the street. Semiramis, 4639 N. Kedzie, 773-279-8900.