What a sweet ambiance! GREAT food and lovely, caring personnel. This is one of those 'best kept secrets' places! I will be going back often! I love the fact that this is a small, family-owned business, which it is my pleasure to support. When people make such a wonderful effort to make your visit enjoyable, that's the place to return to often. Five stars!! read more

Great food. Sweet ambiance. Friendly owner. Middle eastern food. Tasty drinks. Yummy desserts!

Great food with original flavors and character. Fantastic service. Hummus, baba ghanoush and yummy bread.

I went in today and was charged $19 on a $13.10 bill, which they claimed included a 20% gratuity. That math doesn't add up it's definitely not 20%. I spoke up about it, but there was no clear explanation just a blank stare and nothing on the menu or receipt mentioned that gratuity or extra fees would be added at the end. It was especially frustrating since we only ordered a drink and a dessert. The restaurant really needs to be more transparent about their pricing and added charges. read more

What a wonderful way to end a weeklong vacation with friends. Stumbled across this middle eastern cuisine... not only was all the ingredients, clean and fresh, the chai tea was homemade like no other that I've ever tried. The Turkish coffee was perfect with the tiramisu and baklava desserts. Next time I fly into Denver, I will go out of my way to visit this lovely couples, amazing restaurant! This restaurant was filled with charm and the food with the secret ingredient, TLC! read more

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Truly lovely food, space and real human experiences. Negative experiences in life, but especially in this restaurant, are a direct consequence of negative actions. If possible, such a wonderful place to teach a family how to be decent human beings. Perfect non-corporate service. The excessive comments about ice suggest that if you are not super comfortable in Europe, this is not a restaurant for you. read more

The food is very good and fresh, the setting is charming, but after eating there for several years, today I decided never again. The owner refused to give me ice with my water. Refused because "the water is very cold already." After spotting a customer at the next table with ice in her drink, I asked the waitress what drink I could order that would come with ice. "Iced tea", she responded. So I ordered an iced tea in order to get ice. When our check arrived, a 20% tip had already been added. Keep in mind this is for a party of two, not five or more. We did not see any signage or a notice informing us a 20% tip was an automatic add on. The waitress was doing her best and we would have tipped 20% anyway, but to not be told about the automatic tip was the not-so-tasty frosting on the cake. read more

The food was decent (4/5 stars) but the service was quite awful. I was yelled at for asking whether I can pay at the counter ("No, I come to you!") and generally not paid attention to... It's difficult to write this review as I always have the utmost respect for local restaurants and this is my first negative review in years - but this one was pretty awful. Would not return. read more

I arrived here right when they opened and immediately received the best service! The chef who also seems to be the owner is on top of everything, it is a one women show! She gave us some recommendations such as the middle eastern platter(delicious) and a chai tea with Arab coffee (so good). At the end she served us some homemade Baklava that was probably the best baklava I've had in a long time. Wonderful ambience, will come again. read more

what a great hidden gem in boulder!! the owner (?) was so kind and attentive, she sat us, served and cooked. the food was amazing and the tiramisu was some of the best we've had!!! i will be back again soon!! read more

Arabesque is truly a hidden gem of Boulder. The food is absolutely delicious and I adore the owner. I've noticed some people have left poor reviews about her and this breaks my heart. She has a strong personality and reminds me of my Russian ballet teacher because of her passion and intensity. Anyone who can't handle it may not have an understanding of cultural differences... or are too sensitive (sorry, not sorry). I've had nothing but positive experiences with her and her food is what I miss most about Boulder since I've moved away. Be sure to get the chicken special if it's on the menu when you go! I'm also in love with her chai, the spices she uses are divine. 10/10 I recommend this restaurant to everyone I know read more

Avoid at all costs. The owner is horrible and screams at customers. I initially asked for a chai and forgot to say iced so later asked for a glass of ice and she freaked out and said I should have just ordered it iced. Heard her yelling a neighboring table because she found out they are Jewish. Strange and uncomfortable. Read the reviews and you will see. read more

Service: 0 star. This review is not about the food, only about the owner's behavior. A few years ago, I had noticed that she was on edge, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, after all, it's a local business, things can be tough. After this last experience, it doesn't matter how good the food is, this kind of behavior is simply not acceptable. I went for lunch recently with three other friends and immediately something was off. No greeting, she was running around, seemed overly stressed even though the restaurant was half empty. She came to take our drinks, offering chai and whatever is on the menu but we asked for just water, except of one of us who wanted to know if she could have an Arnold Palmer; no such luck, she was told it's only made for two people. We were already very uncomfortable when she took our food orders cutting off one of us abruptly and moving to the next one; it was all very strange, like we had done something wrong, but not knowing what. The owner came back with water and literally threw the glasses on the table. At that point, I asked her if something was wrong and if somehow we had offended her. She started saying that's the way she works, getting more and more heated, we didn't know what to do, looking at each other and wondering what the next step would be. She started rambling about working hard, and being a Palestinian and that's the way they do things over there, adding while we were mostly silent, that there are plenty of pizza places around, we should go in one of those. Shocked, we asked if she didn't want to serve us and she replied she was not giving us food. I tried again to ask if we'd done anything wrong, but it was useless, she was not listening, lost in her own angry world. Looking at other reviews, it seems to happen regularly, like us, clients leave puzzled, wondering what they've done to be bullied by the owner. Since we had already paid for parking, we walked a short distance to Avanti on Pearl Street where they also serve middle Eastern food that's delicious and we enjoyed it in a relaxed atmosphere with beautiful views of the mountains on the top floor. I am all for supporting local businesses, but not at all cost, and I feel I should warn others of what to expect when visiting Arabesque, depending on the mood of the owner, it might be a very stressful experience. read more

Had a lovely lunch here and greatly enjoyed the outdoor seating (there's indoor seating available too). The food was fresh, beautifully presented and I was surprised at how quickly it was brought to the table. I ordered the chicken plate and my lunch companion ordered the hummus plate. My meal included a healthy dollop of hummus, fresh greens, onion, cabbage, beautifully cooked and seasoned chicken, a side of tzatziki sauce. And to top it off there was yummy homemade bread. I couldn't resist gobbling it all right down. It was so fresh and so delicious though not particularly flavorful. I definitely left wondering if I would have enjoyed my meal more had I sprinkled a little salt and pepper on it. The bathroom was clean and well decorated. I nearly took a wrong turn (which would have led me down a set of stairs rather than into the bathroom). If you happen to race around at top speed like I do please do watch your step. read more

Aye, this place... i am Laughing a tad at the reviews because she is literally the soup nazi from Seinfeld:)! Haha. I wanted to support this restaurant , so much that I offered my services as an employee several years ago, but after a few days trying to work for her, i quickly realized she would be challenging to work for and moved on. But it's a shame, because I wanted to be that friendly person to greet and wait on guests. Since then i have been back a few times in hopes Of a pleasant experience but alas experienced her rudeness in full force. From over sharing at our table, to being offended when we wanted to sit outside, to not dropping off the check at the table and demanding I tip her 20-25 percent on the spot in front of her made for a very uncomfortable dining experience, and unfortunately she may have lost my patronage for good this time:/ Then she had the audacity to say we stayed and hour and half over the closing time when she told her the entire dining that we could take our time... we were literally her only table! I understand why now, no one wants to drop 100$ at a place and leave feeling like they were abused...:/ lame. Not going back. read more

Two of us went in for lunch on Friday We remarked how the menu was so appealing and looked delicious. The owner immediately told us she was Palestinian. We said we were Jewish. First calm then escalated speech from the owner. After her diatribe of Israeli hatred we got up to leave. We hadn't even ordered. She was screaming at us to get out slammed and locked the door behind us. Distressed that this hatred exists in Boulder! No stars!! read more

This little restaurant was a wonderful experience for my family and I. The owners went above and beyond to make us comfortable and make sure we had everything we needed. It was a very comfortable experience. We have 2 small children, which are usually pretty shy towards strangers, but they are warmed right up to the owners...which says a lot about their character in my opinion. The food was beautifully presented and unbelievably fresh. The hummus is to die for. We also got hot chais and the spice was perfect and so creamy. We live in Iowa, but will definitely be coming back. To the owners, thank you for sharing your culture with us and being so welcoming! read more

Arabesque - Chicken shawarma wrap & hot chai - Mediterranean Near Me - Boulder, Colorado

Great food family owned Do your self a favor and visit here we did with friends and we all loved it read more

Cute place, however the lady who owns the place who was also the server started to get an attitude with us very quickly during our time there. She had no social awareness at all. For example, she commented how my cousins baby didn't look like either of the parents. Which was an extremely odd comment to make we all thought among ourselves. Apart from her attitude and awkwardness, towards the end she brought our bill and then demanded what % tip we wanted to give. Our options were 20 or 25%. I said we will custom our tip, she said she can't accept anything lower than 20%. When I asked why that's the case and how that's not displayed on her menu anywhere she said "I'm telling you, you have to tip this much." She continued to be disrespectful, she began yelling aggressively and told me to go to chipotle instead of her place because I asked for tip options. I blatantly said she can't charge 20% on my card to which she said she will do it because I said not to specifically. She indeed did charge 20% tip against our will. During the interaction, she repeatedly said "shame on you, shame on your culture, what are you going to teach your kids." Allll because we said we wanted tip options and didn't want to just do her demanded 20%. We walked away completely shocked. We read several reviews and there were plenty of posts regarding similar situations. I'm trying to comprehend how she's still running her business with this personality. STAY AWAY. You'll find better food throughout Boulder. Go to this restaurant if you want to get disrespected and yelled at by a random lady! read more

I have never written a Yelp review before but Manal, the cook, is a piece of work. I entered the restaurant and it was empty save for one group of 6. Since I saw no one at the front, I walked upto the counter. She then rudely and sharply said "This isn't like a fast food place, sit down at one of the tables, my husband will be late". I was taken aback by the curtness of the response but I thought it might have been a momentary lapse. Another group of three came into the restaurant and she then immediately said the same thing and also shouted,"If you want fast food go to a pizza place or something". I'm not sure what she has against fast food because I hadn't heard anyone talk or ask about fast food or try to hasten her. She then shouted ,"You four are together yes". I think she assumed I was with the other group because we were all brown. I stayed for one more minute but decided to get up and leave because it seemed she treated everyone with this disrespect. Halfway down the street I hear her shouting and she follows me onto the street screaming "CLOSE THE DOOR, I DON'T LIKE WHEN PEOPLE DON'T CLOSE THE DOOR" because apparently it didn't close behind me. Never going back there again. read more

Arabesque is the best homemade food I've ever had, delicious, healthy and fresh. The chef pours her heart into every dish she makes. The Ice tea has fresh fruit and the Baklava is to die for. My go to everyday meal is the Mediterranean sampler. Buen provecho! read more

After reading through these reviews, we were anticipating good food but were nervous about how the owner would behave. And she was just delightful. Funny, kind, helpful, whimsical. She was literally the opposite of the reviews we read. It was a truly special experience and the food was so good that we got some babaganoush to go. REALLY good hummus and baba! The patio felt like a beautiful french courtyard. All in all, a great experience. read more

We were walking toward Pearl Street and happened to stroll by Arabesque. I was in the mood for some coffee, so we ordered the French Press and a side of Hummus. The coffee was nice and strong, and served with cream and brown sugar cubes. It definitely hit the spot! The hummus was amazing! it came with homemade pita bread, and was just the right amount to share. My husband struck up a conversation with the owner, and we discovered that she's an avid hiker, so we spent a while chitchatting with her. We had a really pleasant experience at Arabesque and can't wait to return to Boulder so we can stop by again! read more

So. So. GOOD!! Omg - so we got there late - like 1:30/1:45 for lunch. The owner seated us promptly and gave us recommendations for lunch. Asked what we liked and then with no menu just made recos. I was unsure but it was perfect! We had the special - chicken and potatoes with the most perfect sauce with such depth of flavor. We had the mezze platter which we ALL shared and loved. My son is gluten free so he had the schwarma plate, minus the pita. Excellent. Each bite was better than the next. Such a fun local gem. read more

I love this Palestinian food. A place called arabesque for those who are unaware.. is arabesque... maybe do a google search on the owner and learn something about Palestinian culture. There is love and kindness to be shared here and bless everyone's hands who partakes in sharing of this cultural piece of Boulder. I think the negative reviews recently are not a reflection of the restaurant, but rather the insensitivity of customers expecting a "Mediterranean" meal without the culture or specifics of which Levantine country it origins from. The ambiance and the quality of food with the spices... remind me of my families cooking and I feel safe at this restaurant, taken care of even. There is history to be shared and lately Mediterranean food is too vague to encapsulate the many cultures of the Levant region. Incredibly refreshing to have access to beautiful Palestinian food that is truly "Arabesque" Thank you. Peace and love to you all. read more

An absolutely horrendous restaurant with an owner who has completely lost her mind. I highly recommend to stay as far away as possible from that establishment also got a stomachache as a result of the food and had to spend the night at the emergency room for me that was not well tended. read more

I really enjoy Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food and Arabesque does a wonderful job. So I really enjoy the food, it's all so fresh and delicious. I could eat here every day of the week! read more

Love this place! Great food and drinks and very friendly staff. Cute patio too if you want to sit outside. read more

Arabesque - Iced tea made up so cute - Mediterranean Near Me - Boulder, Colorado

Just got home from Boulder, and I'm eating my second lunch. We visited Arabesque around 1:00pm and since it's a Saturday, we expected a wait, but luckily there were 4 open tables when we got there. We didn't know if we were supposed to wait to be seated or if it was open seating. The owner pointed us towards a two-top by the window, nice. Then we didn't know if we were going to get menus or not so we looked over the chalk board. No menus, that's cool. Then we didn't know if we were supposed to order at the counter, so my boyfriend asked and the owner said someone would be right with us. Our server-- and I use the term loosely-- sauntered over and asked what we needed. He was one of the weirdest servers ever. He asked how full my BF would like his cup of coffee... considering there are NO refills, you would think he would assume that everyone wants their coffee cup full. He also brought our baklava out before our meal and said "At least you can have this." We had been waiting 25 minutes at this point for our lunch. Who wants their dessert as their appetizer? Mid-East Sampler ($14)- really delicious, but not as big as we were hoping (see picture). So maybe 1/3 of a chicken breast, 1 pita, 2 stuffed grape leaves, 1/4 C hummus, 1/2 C baba ghannush, 1/2 C tabouli, 1/4 C of olive oil does not = $14 in my opinion. Coffee ($2.25)- Yes, they pour it from a french press, and no, this was not their special "strong" coffee, and NO refills? Come on now. 6oz of coffee does not = $2.25 Baklava ($4)- Really good, 3 pieces come in a small order, the best value we got this afternoon. This place is super S-L-O-W. It took 30 minutes for a small plate of food to come out. I don't even think they needed to heat anything besides the chicken. There were 5 staff members: 1. The owner occasionally running food to people outside 2. Our "server" 3. Lady Owner/Cook 4. A girl who filled water glasses and did dishes 5. A girl who apparently had no job but to roam around After we all but licked the plate clean, we left, still hungry. I would have ordered more food but I did not have the patience to wait another 30 minutes plus for some chicken to be cooked. My boyfriend ended up eating a chili cheese dog from Pearl Street less than 20 minutes after lunch. I got Pita Pit to take back with me to Denver to eat in the car. read more

Arabesque - Mid-East sampler plate- $14 - Mediterranean Near Me - Boulder, Colorado

They're closed right now and you cannot order from them despite appearing open. Don't come here.

Arabesque is a Boulder treasure! The most amazing food, prepared fresh each day by the owner/chef. Manal is an artist, and was so welcoming to my group of friends on a busy day. I can't wait to go back and eat there again! read more

Thanks to Yelp, we found this place off of the beaten Pearl Street path, and enjoyed every minute of it. The recommendation I read said to try the Sampler Platter, which was an excellent suggestion. A delicious combo of hummus, baba ganoush, tabouli, curry chicken, grape leaves, and pita. The pita was especially outstanding - nice and fluffy, just like the ones we had in Jerusalem. Service was spotty, but the food is totally worth the trip. read more

Arabesque - Sampler platter. The chicken was incredible, and the pita was comparable to those I had in Jerusalem. - Mediterranean Near Me - Boulder, Colorado

Cozy atmosphere in and out with plenty of seating - don't be discouraged by the owners initial greeting, it's cultural - Annal warms up quickly - the baklava is delicious and the creamed coffee French press is PERFECT! I tried the spinach pie and it was delightful with a perfect blend of tomatoes spinach and a tomato-paste pastry fold... all hand made !!! I live nearby and Mediterranean food is sparse beyond Pearl street's iconic Falafel King that's been around since 1970s. Anyways, my conversation with Annal, the female owner, was revealing and it explains the comments of service concerns - just be kind and don't set expectation or judgement on someone just because you are the customer- be respectful and it comes back in yummy treats and big smiles. read more

Arabesque - VERY reasonable prices and the food is ALL hand made and delicious by Awnal the owner - homemade - Mediterranean Near Me - Boulder, Colorado

The food is so delicious and the service is very fast! I had some arabian coffee and the chicken shawarma--both were flavorful and fresh! The outdoor patio seating is lovely and comfortable and the owner is engaging and fun. Highly recommend for a delicious lunch. read more

Arabesque - Chicken shawarma - Mediterranean Near Me - Boulder, Colorado

Mighty fine Arab food - probably the best in Colorado. However, the owner/head chef can be incredibly abrupt and temperamental. There's a certain Seinfeld episode that several people have referenced/compared her to...consider yourself warned! Despite that, you should definitely check this place out because the food is crazy delicious. I recommend the combo plates so you can try a bit of everything. Don't miss their chicken, though. Its flavored beautifully. Enjoy! read more

Arabesque - This chicken is DELIGHTFUL - Mediterranean Near Me - Boulder, Colorado

Owner and cook is busy and brusque. The food comes quickly and is excellent. Outdoor seating is fine. Will go back ASAP.

The food is absolutely delicious and the owner is a sweetheart. I was shocked to hear some of the other reviews, that was not my experience at all, fun eccentric, and a passionate owner. I hope you all give it a shot. read more

Delicious lovely food. The Schwarma is out of this world. Oh and the chai is spicy and authentic! Love this place. A Boulder gem.

This place is amazing. If you enjoy Middle Eastern food I welcome you to try and find a more delicious offering than this anywhere in Colorado, or in the western US for that matter! read more

My friends and I visited this recently for lunch on a cold blustery day. We ordered the only available vegetarian option which was a hummus sandwich. The owner was downright rude from the get go. She swatted at my friends hands when she reached for a napkin and also at me when I reached out for my plate as she was delivering our food. While eating our food we were talking amongst ourselves that we thought the flatbread would be warm which it wasn't. She overheard us and went off on a rant about how hummus is supposed to be traditionally eaten with only fresh bread and not as a sandwich. This was strange considering we had just ordered this off her own menu. She dropped off our check at the table and pointedly ignored our attempts to pay quickly and leave. She made us wait 5-10 mins while she cooked and served others. Our friends were supposed to meet us there but we warned them off the place so they got food elsewhere in the area. Oh and to add insult to injury she asked me whether the tip to be added automatically was 20% or 25% so we were forced to pay for her abysmal service as well. I hope the owner realizes how rude and unwelcoming she is to her customers especially in a city which offers many options for dining. read more