So very glad that Ali Baba opened up in my neighborhood. The food and atmosphere is refreshingly awesome, and it's all for a good price. Definitely recommend getting the grilled mushrooms appetizer, chicken shawarma, and/or any of their fruit drinks, such as the mango (way good). **We're still a little bit confused about pricing on certain items, however. In terms of portions, there are a few dishes that have more than a similar counterpart for the same price. To elucidate: I ordered the combination Hummus Be-Shawarma (with both gyro meat and chicken shawarma), while my two friends ordered the gyro meat plate and the chicken shawarma meat plate. Interestingly enough, I got twice the meat instead of half the meat for the combination, so I basically got the combination of their plates, but with a whole lot more hummus. All three are the same price. Obviously this is not a complaint, but it lead into much more confusion on our next visit... After ordering two lunch specials for $9 yesterday, which come with very little hummus, we found out that if we added hummus to the special ($6), then it would actually cost more than the entree counterpart - which is seemingly a far larger portion of both hummus and meat. Still, don't let the confusion here deter you. Ali Baba is delectable, timely, and the service is awesome. The first day that we went, it was amidst the week of their opening, and it seemed as though they only had one server - who was very weeded and consequently rather slow. Of course, this isn't his fault - it just seems like they were understaffed. He worked hard to make up for it. Much respect. read more

I used to eat at the one in Golden when passing through and was happy to see that they were opening in Boulder. The first couple times I went there the service was absolutely atrocious but they seemed to have worked on that. The only problem is it seems like they've done that at the expense of the food. Why is the hummus white? Chickpeas aren't white. Tahini isn't white. I don't know if they add way too much water or even mayo (is that a thing?) but it's pretty gross. The basic ingredients to a hummus are cheap enough, I don't know why they feel the need to thin it out to something fairly inedible. Another gripe is the little side salad. I don't really understand why they serve it with an italian dressing. It's a Lebanese place. Just use the dressing that one would make for fattoush. Or maybe they also serve this Italian dressing for fattoush? I usually get the chicken kabob plate and even the chicken and rice have suffered a bit recently. But really, the whole point of this review is to get to the bottom of white, tasteless hummus. read more

I love this place. I usually come her a couple times a week for lunch and occasionally on the weekends. The cost to performance ratio is excellent for Boulder. The hummus knocked my socks off the first time I tried it. Best hummus and pita I've ever had. It was so good it made me reflect on all the other hummus I had previously eaten as missed opportunities. I like the whole menu but I typically gravitate toward the kafta or gyro. Also the alibaba sauce is dope so make sure you try it. read more

My response to the owner. thank you for responding to my review and understanding our concern. I enjoyed my meal and knowing now I can ask the salad without cabbage is great! I will be back in for the gyros and the salad. and yes I know you offered my wife something else.. but she got sick to her stomach when she saw that so there was no way she was going to eat anything else. which should be understandable. its not like it was cold or what not.. the inside was raw!! there is no excuse for that ever! but I do appreciated you taking it off the bill and offering something else but that was just too much. read more

All right, yes, grand opening service training mayhem. But oh, the food! Just head over with patience. The parking lot is not very big, but the 205 and the Bolt have stops nearby. It's seat yourself, but otherwise a sit down restaurant. We ordered hummus and quail for appetizers, and gyros. The hummus was exactly what you expect it to be, with fresh pita bread. The quail marinade was amazing, and came with a VERY garlicky spread. The quail did not need any kind of sauce with it because it was delicious. Just not enough meat on the bone! The gyros were amazingly flavorful, too. Everything in it was very fresh. We had to request feta be added, but they were happy to do so, and THAT was good and fresh, too! There was not enough tsaziki sauce, though, but I always think that . . . I'm looking forward to going back and trying other menu items. It's been a while since something tasted THAT good to me, so I'm excited to have them as neighbors. read more

Loved the food. Baklava was home made. Very good and fast service as well. Only minor complaint that the portion was so large I had to order extra tzatziki read more

I tried "the king" combo menu and liked it very much. It contains small portions of everything including meat, vegi, and sides. I personally loved grape leaves. It has strong flavor that is authentic and refreshing. I also am a big fan of baklava. read more

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Wonderful addition to Boulder! The food was absolutely fantastic, the service was friendly and attentive, and the portions were huge! Very affordable for the amount of food; I took home more than I ate there. No need to drive to Denver for amazing middle eastern food anymore. Extremely convenient for Boulder and the North Metro. We tried so much and were impressed with everything: hummus, pita, grape leaves, spinach pies, cheese pies, meat pies, marinated mushrooms, Hummus Be-Shawarma, Chicken Barg, basmati, and baklava. Wonderful experience from beginning to end! read more

Ali Baba Grill - Chicken Barg platter with a whole roasted tomato, basmati, and a chicken kobideh - Lebanese Near Me - Boulder, Colorado

The lettuce was BROWN! Chicken was BURNT FAT! I'll be lucky if I don't get sick! Should have thought it was a clue with no one in the restaurant at lunch hour. Don't be fooled with one car parked by the entrance! read more

Great service, not so great food. Chicken Shawarma was dry and tasteless. Bab Ghanouj was good. Pita was cold. Apparently the stove broke down, so the pita was "re-heated" in a microwave. Not ideal. Lamb kabob was fair. Tomatoes in salad were mushy alot of bottled Italian dressing. read more

Really good. I do not normally eat Mediterranean food . This was a good surprise. Fresh food with great flavors.

Soo me and my friend Pat decided to eat somewhere and I really like fresh and good food, and I always wanted my friend to try something that truly represent Arabic food and I saw that they opened an Ali Baba restaurant in Boulder I was sooo shocked :| it's my favorite restaurant in Denver to Eat Arabic food like it was made at my Moms kitchen and I did not believe that they opened one here in Boulder, Now I have to mention that my friend Pat is really picky and he doesn't really like food that's not cooked in a certain way, and not to hate on the Indian food but for him it's a little too spiced up too much that it causes digestive problems that we weren't in need for, and I explained to him that this food is Lebanese Syrian and Khaleeji it spiced in a way that's lite and nice! And he saw the menu which has a great variety of food choices from grilled to fried to baked to everything that you would want in an Arabic restaurant, we were a little confused to what to order and we asked for help and Mouayad one of the staff members came and he asked us a couple of questions and he suggested that we should get the Lebanese meat combo for two and man it was so much good food we had to take some home! and it was just soooo satisfying grilled and seasoned the right way it wad soo good and . Today it's another day in Ali Baba restaurant and me and my friend Nicky are both from the M.E I'm from Kuwait and he's from Lebanon and we both approve that this is the best Arabic restaurant there is in Boulder Colorado Amazing service fantastic staff great food read more

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I'm so disappointed in this place. I had such high hopes considering all the great reviews on here. I was hosting a meeting for 8 people and used delivery service through grubhub. Delivery was set for 12pm, received a text at 11am stating that our food was being prepared. At 1230, Grubhub called and said that they had been waiting at the restaurant for 30 minutes. We received the food cold and dry. There were no names on the large order as I had indicated so of course, just made matters worse. The food was dry and cold. I ordered the chicken sharwma platter and super disappointed. The hummus was not tasty at all and the chicken was tasteless and super dry. I hate wasting food, so I try my best to eat what I have, but I couldn't even finish half and threw the rest in the trash. The rest of the team was quite irritated as well and did not enjoy their lunch. I wont be ordering from here again. read more

Just opened today so I could see some operation issues they were working on. They didn't know which table to serve and that type of stuff.The food was very good as I tried the meat combo which had 3 kabobs which all were tasty and well done. I was only able to finish one of the kabobs and the rice. The food was very good and will be back very soon! read more

My husband came her with a coworker and has been raving about this place for months. Finally got to come here with the family. He was right, this place was absolutely amazing. The service was also great. The waiter was so nice and friendly he made some fantastic suggestions. My kids really enjoyed this meal specially the desserts! read more

I went with a group of 8 for Tuesday lunch and we all had a very nice experience. Service was friendly and prompt, and we didn't have the delays mentioned in other posts. We were done in 45 minutes with all getting lunch specials. The food to value was great with a $9 lunch. I got the lamb kabobs which were very tasty, though I could see how the sauce on the kabob might surprise folks. For some of the plates, like the shawarma, it seemed like it'd be better with some veggies besides just meat and rice. Overall I'd come again. Food was very good and the service was right. read more

Ali Baba is one of my go to restaurants in Golden, and I was so excited to learn that they'd opened up a location in Boulder. Once they figure things out, the food will be worth it. 3 stars for now. I'll be back, takeout only for now, though. Sorry, guys. My favs are the hummus (really good), the gyro sandwich, lentil soup, greek salad with gyro meat, and banana milk. Don't forget to grab a baklava. Where the Boulder location falls short, currently: - Watch out for the umbrellas on the patio. - Some of our order never arrived, the rest took an hour. - Waiter was never around, forgot items - Go up to the counter to pay - Refunds are a hassle (we were overcharged) Pulling for this place to make improvements fast. The food is so good. read more

The three stars are only for the food, it was awesome ..... everything else falls way short. Cleanliness!: the floors were filthy, the tables were being sprayed with a chemical cleaner and the place was generally dark and dank. Service: it appears that the staff were friends and family rather than professionals. They were nice, but forgetful and incompetent. Kudos for effort. Our food took forever to arrive, the appetizers showed up after the main course, my husbands gyro sandwich arrived after we had eaten everything else... oh and they forgot my side of hummus. We did score a free piece of yumm baklava. I think the owners are aware of their shortcomings and i hope they'll fix them soon. We'll be back in a couple months, fingers crossed! read more

Wonderful place, very nice host and delicious food the best Mediterranean dishes. Always have a great time here highly recommend.

The only good thing was the hummus. Everything was dry, reheated and definitely not fresh. The stuffed cabbage were just old and soggy. Fattush salad was soggy and tasted like pure oil. The fried kibbe was tasteless. And the worst it was $65 for two people.....: read more

I have eaten here several times before knowing that the flavors are not authentic Lebanese.. today had the okra dish, it was good. Fattouch salad was not even close to authentic, lots of lemon with no herbs or flavors. Baklava was real soggy and not crunchy at all. read more

Wonderful Middle eastern food and inexpensive to boot. Wife and I had lamb entrees that came with humus Greek salad and entree. All excellent. Hummus unlike anything in grocery and terrific. Can't wait to go back. Underrated. Took home half the food. Cannot believe the value. Also locations in Denver and Golden. read more

This is one of the best places to eat in Boulder. The Muhamara is amazing. So is the hummus, baba gonoush, and everything else. The service is always great, and the quality and flavors are as great as they are consistent. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! read more

stuffed cabbage has too much garlic in it and lemon is overused. Chicken was extremely chewy, it was not marinated properly or not cooked well. Apart from that stuffed grape leaves are reasonable, hummus was great and falafel was one of the good one you can have. Kababs are reasonable. read more

Try the meat lovers dush its fantastic it has three types of grill ..the entree comes with hummus and salad..Humms was the BEST i ever tried.. My dad tried a kind of Mediterranean pickles calld makdos ..he loved it and took another order togo..mom took the chicken kabsa which she enjoyed.. a belly dancer on the TV screens with arabic music was cool i guess.. the restaurant is clean abd beautiful inside..i recommend it for all Boulder visitors..wish we have them in my hometown in Texas..and yes we got free Baklava just right after telling them its our first visit.. read more

The best middle eastern restaurant in Boulder area. Food was served fresh, on time, and above all DELICIOUS. Staff are very friendly and welcoming. The lady manager is very nice and welcoming. A must-go place for anyone in Boulder. read more

Everything I have tried at Ali Baba has tasted amazing! I've been countless times and always get great service and food. Best Mediterranean in Boulder! read more

tldr; Their baklava is made of PEANUTS and NOT WALNUTS. I want to make clear that this review is NOT for the quality of the food (which I heard was pretty good from my friends). However, I was unfortunately not able to try any of the food because I was going into anaphylactic shock. Yes I have a nut allergy. However, I am only allergic to two types of nuts: peanuts and pine nuts, I have no allergic response to and regularly eat all other types of nuts. So when I meet up with some friends at a legitimate Mediterranean restaurant and see baklava on the menu, I'm pretty excited. I was looking for something to satisfy my sweet tooth and as my friend said, "Baklava is always good!" So imagine my surprise when the baklava--which by the way, is advertised on the menu as containing walnuts--shows up with a layer of not walnuts (or pistachios, which is also common and I am able to eat), but peanuts inside. I've been on this earth for over 30 years and I've never seen peanut baklava. Until now. While I was at the Walgreens across the street loading up on benadryl and famotidine, the server told the rest of my group that "They change their recipe all the time and that's why they can't keep their menu up to date." First of all, baklava is a classic. If it's one of only two dessert items on your menu, you should've gotten that recipe locked down long ago. Secondly, this is a matter of LIFE and DEATH. You can't advertise your dish as having one thing and then put in another hoping people won't notice. Especially when you substitute with an item that is one of the most common food allergens in the US. I tried to convey the severity of the situation to our server but I did not get the impression that she understood or would tell anyone about it. This makes me sad, and I hope that no one else will have the experience that I had. read more

Tonight I'm getting dinner To Go in order to enjoy at home, but I've been using Ali Baba Grill for my catering needs for two years now and they never fail to provide hot, fresh and delicious food! I have tried 30+ caterers and restaurants in Boulder and Ali Baba is definitely one of my TOP 3 favorites. read more

I'm glad I finally tried this place and I hate to give a bad review, but the food just wasn't good! I'm not being a snob seeing as I'm a Flight Attendant and have traveled to the Middle East many times and have eaten the real thing, but this food just wasn't good and the place was gross inside! We got the mixed grill for 2. The salad was just iceberg, tomato, cucumber with some Italian store bought dressing on it. The hummus was ok. It was basic white rice with no seasoning. The meat also was just lacking so much seasoning, esp the kofte. It tasted just an American hamburger with no resemblance of being Middle Eastern. I was really disappointed. It really lacked any Middle Eastern flavor. Also the place is very run down. Pulling up I thought it was an abandoned building. Once again I'm not being a snob. I grew up in a 3rd world country and am used to eating in less than beautiful places, but this place was a dump! read more

We used to go to an amazing Lebanese market in the Silicon Valley and get delicious fresh kabob meals to go. I've been waiting for a place like that to open in Boulder until I finally saw Ali Baba Grill! I ordered over the phone since it was a school night, so pick up and convenience was key since my kids were with me. It was very easy and the food was ready pretty quickly. I ordered chicken, lamb and beef kobideh kabob meals. Each protein came with jasmine rice, hummus, salad, grilled tomato, and pita bread. The portions were great and fresh, however all the protein was overcooked. I will go back even though I wish the meats were moist and perfectly grilled. The staff was friendly and quick, and everything was yummy. read more

This location at 28th and Valmont has had issues for many years in Boulder. Ethnic restaurants not being able to maintain a loyal customer base. The parking lot is strewn with plastic cups, forks, and other garbage-not a good first impression. Just like the previous Thai establishment, the windows and doors made me wonder if the place is even open. But I am willing to give a small ethnic eatery the benefit of the doubt. Unlike the Golden location, the atmosphere is wide open and cold like a cafeteria from nowhere. The servers were very nice and sat us immediately. The menu doesn't really lead to vegetarian options even though there are some. Lentil soup good. Falafel very unusual spice and texture unlike any other. Baba Ganoush excellent but pita bread not warm or flaky with big chunks of lettuce and tomato. Wanted to love it but didn't. Always open to improvements. read more

Had lunch there for the first time and I can certainly say that I will be a regular. I shared a falafel plate with my husband and he had the gyro sandwich. Everything we had was fresh, absolutely delicious and clean tasting, with unique and well balanced spices. The falafel was crispy and so good, with a wonderful lemony tahini for dipping, the hummus was creamy and wonderful, the salad fresh and bright and the rice was moist and flavorful. We enjoyed baklava for dessert which was a great satisfying way to end a really delicious meal. The service was also warm, friendly and super quick and efficeint. read more

I used to always go to this place in Golden when I was little. My family and I decided to try this location in Boulder. My mom and I bought the chicken shawarma. Do NOT get it! The chicken was cooked to death and was bone dry! It was horrible. The hummus and falafels, however, were delicious. I would just rate this one start but the hummus and falafel are the redeeming qualities of this place. read more

Do Not Recommend. Poor customer Service. Quality has gone way down. Do not go here if you're looking for good shawarma. We ordered chicken kobideh and chicken shawarma platter. The kobideh were decent but the shawarma was the worst I've ever had in my life. The meat was dry, charred and the spices were just off. Not sure if it was old or just cooked in the same pan as something else. When asked to replace/give a refund they were not cooperative at all. read more

there's nothing like Ali Baba. if you want authentic middle eastern food i'd definitely recommend coming here. so good

Being of Lebanese descent and raised on Mediterranean food, I have to say this is the best Lebanese food you'll get (aside from my sittee's!). The recipes were very much like all my ancestors. Very flavorful and healthy and true to the Lebanese culture. If you like garlic, you must try the makdoos appetizer (small Chinese eggplants stuffed with garlic and walnuts and packed in oil). Ask for pita bread to scoop it up with. The hot grape leaves were amazing and were served correctly with lamb bones. The hummus was the smoothest I've ever had. Just be careful of the pepper that is served with the meat combo platter - it's a jalapeño, not a shashito! Thank you for sharing your Middle Eastern culinary talents! We will definitely be coming back when we are in town! read more

Ali Baba's has great food at really reasonable prices. I get the restaurant itself looks like an old taco shop and the ambience is a little weird, but man the food is good and the serving sizes are huge. Boulder is lucky to have such a great Mediterranean restaurant. read more

One of my favorite places! I come here almost every time I'm in Boulder. I love the chicken shawarma and their lentil soup. The portions are always pretty generous and the staff is nice! read more

The service at the front desk was lovely, the prices were beyond reasonable, and the food that we asked "to go" was delicious, as well as very authentic. Many options for vegetarians if needed. We will return! read more