Their gyros are awesome. I used to enjoy their daily lunch buffet (only on Sundays now). Used to be one of my favorite spots in Lawrence.

I love this place! Friendly service, amazing food and quiet, comfortable space. Best lentil soup in town.

This place is a Lawrence institution for a reason. I will echo the other reviews which applaud the lentil soup, for it is indeed incredible. Other highlights include the Petra Platter, a fantastic array of vegetables and grilled chicken peacefully resting on a bed of their expertly crafted hummus, and served with a basket of their warm and toasty pita. Eating this food feels like home wherever you're from. If you don't believe me I dare you to try it. You will not be disappointed. read more

Good food at reasonable prices. The Cauliflower Zahra, Gyro & Hummus, Shawarma Platter with chicken were all really good. Entrees come with lentil soup (and love the pita bread). The cheesecake was worth every calorie. read more

Rock solid basic Mediterranean fare, with the usual suspects. It's done well though and the prices make for a good value. They have the best falafel in town, even if that's not saying much. What might get that 5th star though is that this is one of the best places to go for vegan food. In Lawrence, anybody can do vegetarian. Vegan is always harder. read more

I love this place. Worked there for years as a waitress. Delicious. A lot of care goes into the prep and cooking. Family owned and operated. Lots of love in this food for sure. read more

Best hummus and pita I've ever had, really. All of their ingredients are fresh, and I've never gotten anything off the menu I didn't like!

I have limited experience with the overall menu, but the falafel and hummus platter is very good. I also love the dressing they use on the Greek salad. The owner is kind of a douche so I don't frequent the place, but that has nothing to do with the quality/value of the food. read more

My boyfriend and I agree that Aladdin's has the best falafel we have every eaten. They're lentil soup is also delicious. I love the rose lemonade, and the Turkish coffee is very good. Today, I ordered a large Greek salad with grilled chicken and was very pleased. It came with big chunks of marinated chicken, not the dry, rubbery strips that most places offer in salads. A cup of soup and a basket of warm pita bread came with the salad. The dressing may be an acquired taste, but I love it. read more

Really enjoyed the lunch buffet on Sunday; good hummus, good salads, good falafel, good meats. Great service, and not terribly crowded. Very pleasant dining experience. read more

Best falafel and hummus sandwich I've ever had. Plus their tahini sauce goes great with it. Absolute 10/10 sandwich

One of the best deals in town, great staff, real food. My favorites shawarma, gyros, petra platter.

I've gone here about three times and everytime I am satisfied! I love the hummus and pita bread! I also love the Aladdin Gyro!

I come from one of the meccas of good ethnic food so i was pleasantly surprised when I came upon this cafe while looking for a place for lunch. I ordered the lunch special - a not too adventurous chicken gyro and a hummas appetizer but it was excellent. The chicken was seasoned and grilled perfectly and everything was fresh. The place was not very busy for a Friday and the service was attentive. Highly recommend. read more

The food is always spicy and delicious. My personal favorite is the Petra Platter--a spicy grilled chicken atop a bed of fabulous hummus and grilled veggies. The hummus here is amazing. read more

Excellent food, and the rose lemonade is amazing. I would give five stars, but the "Turkish coffee" was just normal filtered coffee with a Turkish coffee price. They were happy to take it off our bill when we mentioned it, though. read more

I was with a large group when we went to eat here. I regret even suggesting Aladdin Cafe. Our food was bland, lacking flavor, and our waitress must have been new because she made so many mistakes. I almost want to go again, because I just can't believe how bad it was. read more

I love coming here for lunch. Their portions are perfect and so delicious. I recommend their veggie pita! It has such a great sauce and the veggies are cooked perfectly. I also love getting a giant glass of their rosewater lemonade. It's the best place for getting a sandwich and side for a reasonable price. read more

Delicious. Fresh pita, felafel was crisp outside and soft inside, and the dressing on the salad was tangy and fresh! The service was also excellent. Highly recommend. read more

Staff is great, they help you pick what to eat if you are not familiar with this type of food. Very tasty!

Today, Aladdin's should have flipped their sign to "closed". It was disaster after disaster, and I'm worried what that means for the future of this Lawrence staple I've loved in the past. (Service issues have been a constant for years, but today it was off the charts.) It is Sunday, so on arrival we were asked if we wanted to do the buffet or menu (buffet was $11.99). After looking over the buffet, our party of three decided we'd rather go off the menu, as I wanted falafel salad and my husband and our friend wanted more meat-centered dishes (gyro plate and chicken pita). After ordering, our food took over 50 minutes to get to our table. This is NOT and exaggeration. Our server apologized once, saying that there was only one cook that day. (Perhaps, then, don't offer a menu or buffet option and just have the buffet that day.) my husband inquired about our food after 30 or so minutes, and if we would be getting a discount or a comp for this experience. Our server came back saying that we could have 10% off our meal. While waiting another 30 minutes for our food, we witnessed at least one party get up and leave, and tables around us lay un-bussed. (While the two servers repeatedly walked back and forth empty handed.) I got my salad a good 20 minutes before others in our party were served, and they did not have complicated meals. While finishing, our server came by and told us that their credit card machine was down, so they could only accept cash. Luckily, one in our party had cash on hand. Hearing other tables respond, it seems all were not as fortunate. By the time we left, 11 tables were un-bussed in the restaurant and we (along with others who were leaving) cautioned potential patrons entering to "just don't do it". This experience tarnished what was one of my favorite places to eat, and I'm hesitant to go back again if this is a sign of things to come. Please, Aladdin's, get your business together. read more

The setting is a little old and when we went there, we were the only customers (about 6 in the evening) but the food was good and the portion large. The couscous was done to perfection. Try to get dishes with some sauce as the meat can be on the dry side but tasty. They have a little mini-market/store of middle eastern delights. Worth a visit. read more

One of my favorite places in Lawrence. It's good, inexpensive food that you get to eat while watching what appears to be an Arabic language music channel. Aladdin's also has a store where you can buy hookahs, tobacco for said hookahs, and all sorts of yummys for your tummys. I often get the Agrabah appetizer (a sampler platter with dolmas, hummus, baba ghanous, olives, feta, pita, tzatziki, and probably about 5 other things I'm forgetting), which is about $8 and makes me so happy and so full. Aladdin's is also the first place I ever had sumac (the spice, not the poisonous leaf). They have a delicious sumac chicken dish and several filling sandwiches that get served with rice for about $7. Dinners are served with your choice of lentil soup or Greek salad. You can sub in Fattoush salad (lettuce with tomatoes, mint, toasted pita, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper) for a small upcharge, and I recommend you do if you're a fan of vinegar-y vinaigrettes. There is no alcohol served, BUT! You can bring in your own wine with no corking fee. This place is a gem and a must eat spot. (Ha! I originally typed gym...I wonder if my subconscious is telling me to cut back on the pita!!!) read more

Everything here is awesome. The falafel and hummus appetizer is fantastic. Every meal comes with soup or salad and I personally love the soup. The gyro meat is the best I have ever had! Also this place is BYOB with no corkage fee. You really can't beat a good meal and some cheap wine or beer. read more

The atmosphere is nice and casual, the waitress was friendly and helpful without being overbearing, and they accommodated our large group easily. Also, the food was fantastic, especially the hummus. Highly recommend! read more

The listing says you are open until 9...I called for a to go order and was told you close at 8pm, so you are clearly only open for lunch. Please update your listing and I will update my review. Extremely disappointed read more

Excellent food, quality service, unique atmosphere. The buffet is awesome and the restaurant overall has never disappointed me. I love the dolmas and lentil soup. read more

Sat for 10 minutes before anyone asked about drinks. We were one of 3 tables in the building. We could see 3 cooks and 3 service staff. When we were finally helped we were told of the "special" which was a combination of two menu items that we had never heard of and they weren't explained we had to read the menu to figure it out. We also over heard another server trying to explain what it was and had to pick up a menu to explain said items. We didn't have the special... We finally got our drink order in. The tea had some sort of weird fruit taste mixed in which wasn't asked for. We waited another few minutes for our drinks. When our server came back she asked about appetizers. We asked what our servers favorites were and she had to read the menu to tell us HER favorites. We went with the falafel and some dip that had fried pita bread the fryer oil needs changed because it tasted burnt. I will say that the falafel was the ONLY thing edible in our entire meal. I ordered the steak kabob which was supposed to be tenderloin beef . It certainly was not. It was tough and extremely salty with no additional flavor over a bed of ice cold rice and ice cold vegetables. My dinner companion got a chicken dish that had what looked like 2 cups worth of hummus with over done chicken thrown on top if it. Our meals both came with salads. They were thrown together with a green sauce. When we asked about said salads we were told they're Greek salads and were gestured towards the menu for an explanation which that menu didnt explain and I'd also like to point out that their menu is not spelled correctly and is not clear on anything. Now we get to the bill. The bill comes out to $45.00 even. Now I realize that sometimes this happens. However, if you do the math and add in taxes we were still nearly 10 bucks over and I wasn't presented with an itemized bill or a place to sign for my check. By this point I'm not arguing or asking questions. We were treated as burdens the entire time we were there. Servers need training the kitchen is terrible. When I called to ask for a reciept I told her why I wanted a reciept and she wanted me to talk to the server we had. And I asked for a manager and I was told that there wasn't an owner or manager I could speak with. She apologized half heartedly and hung up the phone. I will NEVER BE BACK. This place is a total ripoff on EVERY level. Please dont eat here. read more

Solid food, and super nice staff. The chopped green chili (it might be serrano?? ) served w their hummus is my favorite.

I have been to Aladdin Cafe probably 15 to 20 times. I enjoy the Cauliflower Zahra with the eggplant, on a flat pita. The pita is fantastic. Here's the problem: the bill is presented with no detailed line items, only the price. I've noticed the last couple of times (after I left) that I was overcharged. Not a lot, but a buck or two over what the price should be--just enough not to notice and not to ask (especially when ONLY the PRICE is given, no line item detail). ASK about your bill if no line item is given. That's a dishonest business practice and one that will finally keep me out of Aladdin. SHADY. read more

My fav local restaurant. Is it perfect? No. But it's the best around. Consistently nice staff, consistently delicious food. They accomodate our large groups every time (with advanced notice of course). The lentil soup is so tasty! I love the vegetarian options. I've never had a bad experience here, which is saying a lot for how often I go. read more

Travelled from KC area to Lawrence to try out this place. Ok food but the whole experience was ruined by the waiter/owner? He gave us a lot of attitude. He was annoyed when we requested things like extra napkins or an empty plate or bowl to share food and made gestures/sounds to show his annoyance!! I will never go again and would not recommend it. I would rather spend my time and money where people are appreciated for their patronage. read more

Good food friendly staff first time being there The owner was very nice he came out greet us that was so nice I well be back

I love Aladdin Cafe! The food is consistently good and the staff is always fantastic! Every time I go there the wait staff are genuinely nice and polite and they're always on top of their job. My favorite dishes are the beef/lamb gyro sandwich, the hummus is the best in town, and I crave the lentil soup year round! read more

We stopped there for lunch, we were recommended to get lunch buffet since it's much cheaper than ordering regular meals......maybe that was the mistake. Buffet was not good at all. I could not eat anything except very very dry and crunchy rice and potato and carrots that were in the chicken curry. Chicken in the curry was so hard to chew, but the veggies had good flavor. (Maybe that was the only good part) everything else, I tried, but I could not eat more than a bite. I'm usually not a picky eater, so I was kinda shocked that I could not really eat anything at their buffet. My husband just kept eating hummus because that was the pretty much the only thing he could eat. (But not the best) I heard this place was supposed to be good, so I guess only their buffet is not so good???? we should have just ordered from the menu I guess. Server was very nice and friendly, but she forgot to bring our to go drink. read more

one of the best meals i had in Lawrence. props for authenticity and quality of ingredients. staff was a plus. if i lived there, i'd go weekly. i second the falafel & cauliflower pita and the baba ganoush recommendations. also, perhaps the best lentil soup i've ever had. read more

We are regulars but I am hesitant to go back. Last time we were there, they had a new waitress who was unbelievably mean. She came to take our order within a minute of us sitting down and then was clearly annoyed we were not ready (even though one of us had never been there before and they were not busy at all). When she gave us the bill, we were charged for something we did not order or receive, but she was obviously very annoyed we made her fix it. The entire time we were there she was incredibly hostile--or at least she certainly gave that impression. Awful experience. read more

Awesome food. The lentil soup was very authentic. I ordered the kabob combo and it was probably the best Middle-Eastern style meat I have had in quite a while. I also loved the warm baklavah. read more

Great Mediterranean food! My husband had a gyro sandwich with rice and lentil soup. I had a gyro sandwich with rice and a greek salad. The price was amazing (7.95) and the food was great! read more

only ok........ food was not tasty..... Felt like wasted my money .. Tried the buffet, did not like a single dish.... Only can give it 3 stars... read more