Walked in on a Friday night and it was only about 15 minutes to be seated. We started with the Qahwa Arabia (coffee). The cardamom gave it such a beautiful depth of flavor. My friend who doesn't like coffee enjoyed it. The muhammarah - absolutely delicious. That pomegranate molasses is something special! The pita was served hot and fresh. Olive oil and zatar were the perfect pairing. If we weren't going out after, we would have purchased the large jug of oil to take home. For the main I had the Fattat Lahma. 100/10 - no notes. Highly recommend. My only note about this place is the downstairs seating was very cold. Usually that wouldn't be enough to take a star away but it was pretty impactful on my experience. Outside of that, food and service were incredible and I will absolutely be back. read more

Ayat - Fattat Lahma - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Dined in for a large group dinner and we each ordered the Ramadan special ($45 pre-set 4-course meal). Huge serving sizes! Not everything pictured but the dishes were so large that we thought it was for table sharing. But they're actually individual servings. The soup and appetizer plate is a great start. Nice little munchies. The main meat platter has a tasty array of meats but 3/4 were more dry than I hoped. Baklava is sweet and yummy finish. The staff were very accommodating for working with and fitting all the food on our table of 12. read more

Ayat - Baklava - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Frequent Ayat on multiple occasions. Came as a walk in with 4 people to last minute reservation of 8 to a large group resy with 15. They were always quick to accommodate. The food constantly is amazing. The olive oil is flavorful. The serving sizes are worthwhile. And the services and ambiance of the restaurant is great. I always bring my friends and family when they visit read more

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Holy Moly how did it take me so long to try this place. Food was spectacular and the atmosphere and decorations were absolutely beautiful. I want to try everything on the menu but we got the Chicken shawarma platter and it was so good and it could fed two people (plus some appetizers). 10000% recommend read more

Ayat - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

The food at Ayat is consistently amazing - I used to frequent their Bay Ridge location and decided to take my friends to Bushwick for a taste of Palestinian food. Large portions with bold flavors, you really can't go wrong with anything you order here. I did notice that the menu here is a bit different from the Bay Ridge location, so I'm unsure if menus vary between each restaurant. My one issue with this restaurant is the service. The staff is dismissive, and it took 30 minutes to attempt to flag someone down for the check - then another 15 to try to grab a to-go container before angrily walking up to the counter and locating it ourselves. They all seem young and like a close knit friend group, prioritizing conversations about their personal lives over serving customers. We noticed multiple tables around us experiencing the same, which was disheartening. read more

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Walked in ~8pm with a party of five and got seated within ~20-30 minutes! There's more seating (and quiet) downstairs. The Mezze Filistini was a crowd favorite - while I couldn't have the muhammarah (contains walnuts), I really enjoyed the freshness of the baba ganoush, creaminess of the hummus, tartness of the labneh. read more

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The ambiance was very nice and their menus are so cute ! I ordered the shrimp Kebab and it was a good portion size. I will say Ive had better rice and shrimp flavor wise but overall 3.5/5. They don't have liquor but it's BYOB so thats cool! Theres a liquor store near by if you are into that vibe. I had a lemon based drink that was super refreshing. If you're in the neighborhood i'd check it out. read more

Ayat - Shrimp Kebab - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Came here with my bf on a weekday right at opening time. We were the only customers there but service was slow and waited over 20 mins for appetizers. Ordered hummus and the hot app mix. Shortly after the apps came out, my bf's entree came out right behind it. He ordered the pizzawarma. Sadly the meat inside it was dry. I ordered the lamb ouzi for my main dish but that didn't make it to table until my bf was done with his entree. The lamb dish had nice presentation but lacked in flavor. Packed most of it to go because I got too full nibbling on apps waiting for it to come out. read more

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Ayat, can only be described as a euphoric dining experience. This restaurant has quickly become a favorite among friends in the city. The atmosphere is incomparable, cozy enough for conversation but busy enough to hear the laughter and joy around you. The food is indescribable, beautifully seasoned with unforgettable flavor. The staff is also incredibly kind, and very thoughtful in their service. Some menu highlights were the halloumi watermelon salad (truly life changing), the Pistachio Paradise Pizza, and the Chicken Shawarma. All dishes were amazing, but these were each unforgettable. Ayat is the spot to go if you want a unique and outstanding experience in a homey environment with beautiful ambiance. This is a must try restaurant, I'll be taking every visitor I have! read more

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An excellent Palestinian restaurant right across from the park. Lots of seating with street views. Service is friendly but slow, which means that they take their time making the food. Free corkage and bread. We tried the hummus, which was very good, and Fried Haloumi, which was excellent. For entree, we had the Lamb Ouzi, which was excellent, others had BBQ Chicken and Kebabs and they said that it was good. The lamb was perfectly cooked and spiced and fell off the bone. The accompanying rice with ground meat, spices and almonds was excellent. read more

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I've been wanting to try Palestinian food for some time now. Ayat has been all over my feed lately. The interior was beautiful. We ordered the hot appetizer mix to start and the zataar margherita. Both were fire. I had the chicken shawarma platter which was so big and super flavorful. There was enough to bring home. Servers were attentive and polite. I would love to come back soon to try other foods! read more

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Went here on a Sunday before the afternoon rush and got seated immediately. This space is beautiful and you don't feel too close to the neighbor next to you. Our server here was very nice and engaging as-well. I got the chicken plate and it was very good and flavorful. My only problem was that the rice seemed on the drier side read more

Ayat - chicken Sahlab - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

We came here for a friend's birthday dinner a few weeks ago and got the downstairs seating section. The place was jam packed and very busy. It's BYOB so we brought our own wine, tequila, etc. The vibe was cute and homey. We had the appetizers to start with of za'atar, labneh, hummus, etc. The bread was not great quality and the dips were OK. We tried the vegetable platter, a lamb kebab and a chicken kebab. Everything came with pilaf and salad. Overall the food was very OK. It was decent, lacked seasoning and some of it was not cooked well. The service was very good and they accommodated our large party but the food was underwhelming. read more

Ayat - falafel pizza - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

10/10 no notes! Amazing food. Great service, even though there was one waiter for Sunday brunch service he held it down with the busier! Beautiful restaurant and a breath of fresh air on Knickerbocker Ave. This place is also BYOB!!! We will definitely be back. Go here!!! read more

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I love Ayat! I've been two of their locations now, but i definitely frequent the Bushwick one. It's such a large space with two floors of seating. It definitely gets busy so try to make a reservation or get on the wait list sooner rather than later. Service is good, never had any complaints. I love the food! Great portion sizes, pretty reasonably priced. I always recommend it to anyone in the area. read more

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Came with a party of five and really loved the place. We ordered so much and everything was delicious tho can't remember the names of the dishes! See the pics! We started with an appetizer of dips like babagonoush, hummus, etc and enjoyed it with pita bread. Table service was spotty as we asked for some olive oil that never came but a big shout out to Tiffany who did a great job with our same day reservations even proactively calling us. Love that personal service you don't often find in the restaurant business. read more

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Was excited to try this place and the food was delicious! The mezze filistini is perfect for trying all the dips, my favorite was the muhammarah. The araby mixed sharwarma was one of the best sharwarma I had. The mansaf, lamb chunks and rice, the lamb was really soft, tender and sauce paired well together. The maklouba and falafel were the 2 dishes that wasnt my favorite. All dishes were big in portion, food came out quick, but it was hard to find a waiter to order. Overall, definitely coming back to try other dishes! read more

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Came for dinner for three. The food is great and the spot beautiful. We shared the hummus, pomegrante walnut salad, mansaf and the whole red snapper. I really liked the lamb but both my mom and aunt thought it was too gamy/rich and couldn't really eat it. They loved the red snapper. The portions are decent sized and definitely shareable. The staff was a bit slow and it took awhile to get service. We ordered extra pita for the hummus but it didn't arrive by the time we left. Great spot in the neighborhood and will definitely be returning. read more

Ayat - Red Mansaf - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Appetizers were great, love they are byob, family platter was HUGE so you'll have a bunch to take home but the chicken was dry and the place is really hot so bring a fan with you if it's humid out! read more

Such a cute vibe! Lots of seating. Shawarma and Vegan friendly options. Staff is attentive and friendly. Great location by Maria Hernandez park. read more

Ayat - Open Kitchen - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Very bright, open atmosphere here! Lots of options to choose from on the menu. Our favorites were the labneh, kefta, and the amaaaazing fresh pitas -- be sure to ask to keep them coming! This meal has inspired me to have zaatar on hand at home at all times. read more

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I love the food is decent. The hosts and hostesses are completely inept. Had to wait in restaurant 45 minutes after confirmed luckily time to get my takeaway order. I bought a $32 mezze dip plate and I received one side of pita, same as you would get with any dinner entree. There was not enough pita at all for the 5 dips. Host would go from answering phone to flatting dough by the oven, he did not wash hands before going back to the dough station. As I sat there for 45 minutes I watched servers ignore tables, the hosts not greet people and not seat them properly despite the restaurant only having two tables of patrons. The owner needs to keep an eye on this business before the untrained staff who are always on their phones hiding in corners drive it right into the ground. read more

I must confess, I intended to take more pictures, but when the food arrived I went into a ravenous, beast mode and at everything like Garfield does. I was familiar with Ayat from other locations, it was exciting to see this spot was opening up. I was able to resist eating long enough to snap a picture of the chicken shawarma and the pistachio baklava. The location itself is very cute. It's definitely right on the cusp of being a good first date spot, but also a romantic dinner with a familiar spot as well. The other dish that didn't make it into my photographic evidence was muhammarah - which is my favorite thing (possibly, ever). read more

Ayat - Pistachio Baklava - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Been wanting to go visit this new Bushwick location as a sit down dinner instead of the takeouts I usually do so I finally went here for my birthday family dinner and everything was delicious! The Ramadan special was a set menu with choice of drink and was great value with lots of variety. The decor and aesthetic are very creative and cute as all ayat/al badawi locations are. The location is very convenient and service is great with plenty of (albeit tight) seating. I'm restraining myself from getting the limonata everyday but I'm definitely looking forward to that summer indulgence lol. read more

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Incredible service, food and general vibe. The hummus and labneh were amazing! We had the Kafka and it was perfect

This is a take out experience only: Food: 5 out of 5. The yogurt cucumber dip was extremely refreshing and appetite inducing. For main, we ordered the traditional meat platter. The meat was seasoned just right. The tahini dip and the red dip added the perfect kick to the meat and rice. Superb. Now, what takes one star off is we found a thin metal curl in the food. Almost bit into and would potentially rip my rectum. Putting out here for PSA. I hope the kitchen eradicate this potentially fatal risk for any of your patrons going forward. read more

Ayat - Metal hair found in food - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Love Ayat, I used to go to the Bay Ridge location all the time so I was excited to try the Bushwick one. The food was okay, but it definitely lacked flavor compared to Bay Ridge. Service also wasn't as attentive as what I'm used to at the other location. Overall, it's still worth trying if you're new to Palestinian cuisine, but if you've been to the original location, this one might be a bit underwhelming. Hopefully it improves! read more

Ayat is always a hit. Spectacular food, friendly service, and a green and spacious ambiance. I crave their chicken shawarma at least once a week. read more

Ayat - CHICKEN Shawarma - PLATTER - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

I recently ate at the Astoria location and it was delicious. Portions were plentiful. We had hummus, pizzashwarma, farmers salad, and spicy potatoes. Plenty of leftovers too! read more

This place was very... ok... the service wasn't great. They were nice... but it felt like there was no urgency to seat anyone. As a person who has worked at many restaurants in NYC it felt like there was no manager running anything. We got the Mezze platter but they didn't have any pita for about 25 + min so we just looked at our platter hungry and waiting for a way to eat it. Then our entres came out before the pita. The entres were ok. A bit dry. I had heard wonderful things about this place but I was not impressed and not eager to come back and spend money here again. read more

Man, I really wanted this to be good. I found myself walking past this place one night and decided that I would make the effort to come back when I had the time. Lo and behold, a rainy day in Bushwick led me to seek shelter at lunchtime. I was so excited. I ordered the chicken shawarma salad, in hopes that I could finally taste the beautiful Palestinian cuisine and explore their spices. Man, I was so incredibly disappointed in the dish. It was covered--i mean COVERED in this really bland, near tasteless yogurt dressing. Like, extremely over done. The entire salad consisted of a very small portion of the end bits of Chicken Shawarma, and like 100 pieces of green peppers, and like-- a full pint of dressing. I couldn't get through it. It had zero taste and the consistency was just dressing. Peppers and dressing. Just a total miss. Super bummed. I'd love to give ther place another try, maybe something else, but man, really missed the mark. Very underwhelming. Free Palestine! read more

Food is amazing! Group of 4 ordered the Family Mashawy platter. All the cold salads and the main platter were amazing. We will be back again very soon! read more

This was my first time at Ayat and wont be my last! Our server Rahim was very attentive and made us feel welcome. I went on a rainy day, perfect for their lentil soup which was so filling! I saved most of the eggplant and halloumi for dinner. Our food and drinks came out with a swiftness. I'd love to go back and try more of their dishes! read more

Ayat - Lentil Soup - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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I would say this place is wonderful. It is right in the heart of bushwick and is a great location for the community. I always see this place packed. The location itself is perfect but the way it looks inside is just beautiful absolutely stunning. They have a great amount of seating but even then it's not enough for how busy it gets here. Everyone was kind we got greeted and had to wait about 10 mins on a weekend at night for some seating and even then only got lucky with the bar for 3 people. Not to mad about it though because it's beautiful to see the chefs cooking. The menu is large you have a great selection to choose from. I went with the lamb kebabs small order and wood fire wings. Both were delicious. The wood fire wings were particularly my favorite. The lamb was a bit tough and chewy but not bad on flavoring. Giving it 4/5 stars because although the food was great and the service was nice the wait was very very long. We waited 10 - 15 mins to get seated. Then we waited another 20 mins to get our drinks and an hour just to get our food after the drinks. I also did ask for the wood fire wings to come first before the food entrees so that we can have stuff to eat in the meantime until the main dishes come but we got them served at the same time as the mains. It does get busy so you will be waiting long for food. They were nice though and gave us lots of pita bread to snack on while the food came but we were very hungry .. so that's the only downfall other than that great spot great food great people read more

Ayat - Inside - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Worst beef shawarma I have ever had. I will always support a Palestinian business but this is crazy -- the quality of food decreased so much. Went for lunch and ordered the beef shawarma platter. Received a plate filled with crusty and dry beef that was barely edible. I probably got the last part of the batch but as a restaurant you should know when it's time to stop serving your customer something that's clearly not edible anymore. Need to do better. read more

This was easily one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had. My partner and I were seated right next to the restroom, with a direct view of the trash bins behind a glass wall. Not the most appetizing environment, to say the least. It took an hour for just two chicken kebabs to arrive, and the restaurant wasn't even busy. No one checked in with us during that 45-minute wait, so when we asked about our food, we were told it was still being prepared. Then they threw some pity bread on our table. After another 15 minutes, we decided to leave and asked for the check without the food. That's when the rude waitress with the terrible makeup, came over with an attitude. She told us the food was on its way, explaining that the chef doesn't like to pre-cook anything, so he prepares each dish fresh. Really? It felt like they were waiting for the eggs to hatch then raise the chickens. What kind of restaurant doesn't prep its food in advance? Might you, the chicken was lukewarm. Cooking right there my behind. And everything was BLAND, BLAND, BLAND. Never come back. read more

Ayat - Some bland food - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

I freaking LOVE Ayat! I have been three times now (soon to be four) and each time has been absolutely delicious and with great service. The mixed mezze is a must for a group to share. Also highly recommend the Fattat Jaj. BYOB too! read more

I have not had a meal as delicious as this at a restaurant in a LONG time. You could almost taste the love with which it was made. Incredible taste, beautiful presentation, warm ambiance, and amazing service all throughout. 11/10 recommend! read more

Ayat - Top: red snapper Bottom: mixed shawarma Side: pita and labneh - Comfort Food Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Tasty food and great service will definitely go back i love their watermelon halloumi salad . It's a must try ! Great presentation read more

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I will say this restaurant has a nice environment and the food was pretty good. Back story, we left a restaurant downtown because it was too chaotic so we saw some good reviews for Ayat. We were sat fast and told the kitchen closed in 15 mins which we were okay with, we were just hungry (at 9:15pm). The server brought us some pita and took our order and she did not make contact with us until we received our food at 9:55pm. I let her know that communication is key as a server. I can be very understanding but when you are walking past our table in the middle of the restaurant multiple times, it is a little off putting. I didn't get any names but another girl came to apologize and was told she was training. Again, I get it. We all make mistakes but there was no remorse other than blaming the kitchen. read more