Food was very average. Ambiance and location nothing to speak about. Surprised that this restaurant…read morereceived the kind of ratings that it did. Disappointed.

A friend and I sat at the bar and had one of the most surprising and delightful meals I've had in a…read morelong time. After the fine cocktails, my favorite was the North Carolina heirloom tomatoes with salt cured blueberries and Labneh crème. I can't stop thinking about it and wishing tomato season would go on forever. Everything was amazing -- start to finish-- and Robin made it fun to sit at the bar. Can't wait to go back.

Everything here! From the food, to the service, to the atmosphere is outstanding. It has a warm,…read moreinviting feel that makes you want to stay awhile. Highly recommend giving it a try!

This was a major disappointment. We'd been here once before for some friends' wedding celebration…read moreand thought the banquet/catering food was pretty good so decided to add it to the list to come back and check out their regular menu. Place was EMPTY on a Thurs at 6pm. Service was truly bad....like we had to get up after being seated for 15 minutes and ask the hostess if we could get a server to help us....in an empty restaurant. 40 minutes after being seated, we got our food. The food was just bad with the exception of the flatbread I ordered that was pretty tasty. My husband had the falafel and veggies and was given horrendously over seasoned and tough falafel with super under seasoned and undercooked veggies (like chunks of raw carrot). The other sides we ordered were a flavorless Fatoush salad and very mid rice. We never got the pita that was offered to us and after the second reminder, we just gave up on that. We tried it. Won't be back. There are WAY better options in the area for dinner.

"Consistency Matters"…read more The food is delish, let's start there. This hasn't been on my bingo card for a while and boo hoo! The garden pizzette and chicken shawarma are fan favorites for a reason. Chicken Shawarma is a (IMO) well seasoned cinnamon forward profile that delivers a tender chew. Don't let the cinnamon description deter you. The flavor is complex, savory, and very good! The garden pizzette is delicious. The perfect mixup of feta, mint, tomato, and cucumber...Chef's Kiss (dip in hummus and/or tzatziki for that extra, extra added flavor). We also loved the tzatziki/lebnah sauce. Perfect balance for our Americanized palate. My biggest complaint, would be consistency. I ordered twice in one week. Each meal was delicious, but noticeable different. Not a huge factor, but one I thought worth mentioning. Bread was whole wheat ... cool/ not a problem .. but also not my preference. All in all, a darn good meal! Sold side options. Fast casual Mediterranean/Lebanese : 4.5

I usually go to the Cary location for multiple catering orders that I place per month. The people…read moreat the Cary location have been very polite, friendly and helpful. I was going to be closer to the Raleigh location this past month so I decided to go to the Raleigh location and see if they could do the same as cary. I went in and asked a young man he said that should not be a problem for me to put in my catering orders and then have my payment done a certain way at the register, as they usually do, in cary. I placed my order and got to the register and then the very nice girl that was there was going to ring me up. She wasn't sure how to manually enter my credit card information that I needed to give, so she asked what I'm going to assume was her manager or whoever was in charge that day? The woman turned around and looked at me as if I walked in and started in her face. Her face was so disgusted, twisted up, and snarled with disapproval. She asked me, with a huge attitude, "what was going on here?". I politely explained the situation, which is that, at the Cary location our company pays over the phone when I arrive. I handed her the phone to give her the credit card information and she was speaking to my boss (who is a very world-renowned doctor) about the payment info. She was so rude to him and said "well usually we don't do this but we'll do it this time". I informed her that from now on, since it was such a problem we will gladly go to the other location or just another restaurant in general. The younger people at the register were extremely friendly and polite and really made this experience the most positive thing from this whole trip to this location. As I was leaving the female who had the attitude earlier did say that she " was sorry, and that she just didn't know what she was walking into". At this point, I really did not care about an I'm sorry, because I will never go back to this location. I don't care who or what she is, but if she doesn't know what she's walking into, then the best idea for her(if she had any business or common sense)would be to approach it in a professional manner and not with a stank attitude. I have worked in doing catering sales,amahing businesses, throwing events, and ordering multiple catering orders for other businesses that I run. I have never and would never, approach anyone like this if I was uncertain of any situation. It puts a really bad look on their whole concept. I have already talked to multiple people about this and told all the physicians that I work with. I have also discussed this encounter with other people who do multiple orders for catering and other event networking groups. I will never be ordering from this location again. I hope whatever they do, they get it right, and start hiring people who appreciate having a job, to make sure that no one else feels so turned off by someone like this. I'm only giving a two stars for the Friends League kids that were at the counter and at the cash register

I had a pick three platter. The chicken salad was decent but not as good as Sassool. I also tried…read moretheir potatoes, which were on the vinegary side. The beets were on par with Sassool and the pomegranate salad had mostly strawberries. Vibes were nice, service was fine. Pretty easy to find parking on a Friday night.

We stopped in to visit and enjoy some Lebanese foods. We have been here a few times and enjoyed our…read morevisit but this past weekend our visit was very disappointing. We ordered the grape leaves, baklava, namoora and tabbouli. I am Lebanese and these are staples in our home. The grape leaves were extremely dry and tough. The rice was very undercooked and the leaves themselves were so dry and tough we could barely chew through them. We ordered 12 and thought maybe it was a fluke but all 12 were completely inedible and we threw them out immediately. The baklava was okay, nothing to write home about. Very simple syrup forward and you couldn't taste much else (we ordered the walnut). The namoora was stale. Very dry. Namoora should melt in your mouth with with a slight chew. This was again, tough and stale. We threw those out as well. Lastly, our favorite salad, tabbouli. The lemon taste was nonexistent. The parsley wasn't chopped fine as Tabbouli should be. It was a watery mess. Overall, we won't be back. We spent over $75 on 4 items and left feeling hungry and bamboozled. There are other Lebanese food spots to visit in the Raleigh area, I will stick to those. Please do better when representing Lebanese cuisine. 15 workers behind the counter can seem like you're doing something right but in the end, it all comes down to the freshness and authenticity of what you are claiming to serve.

This place has a small, but private, parking lot. I ordered takeout at the counter during lunch…read moretime on a weekday. At the very back page of the menu was the daily special, which includes some sort of protein in a bed of rice (no sides) for about $9.00. I think the food was worth the value. It took about 10 to 15 minutes to prepare, so order ahead if you want to get in and out. The ambience is very casual and the place looks like it has aged, but in a good way. Feels like it's been around forever whether that's the case or not. I would return to try some other items as the food was fresh and delicious even as a takeout.

My husband and I decided to give this place a try and we really liked it. I don't think we will be…read moreback bc the portion size of meat vs the portion of rice was astronomical. They gave us probably 4 cups of Mandy rice and barely any meat. I was very disappointed. It was too expensive to justify getting that much rice and that little meat to go with the rice. The Mandy rice was also an upgrade charge of $1, the meal comes with white rice. We also got an upgraded side of sambosas -- they were tiny!!! Very disappointed about the portion sizes here. I got a side of the tzatziki salad and that was delicious and a great size, no upgrade charge. I also didn't like my order, the chicken had a funny texture and the beef was tough. I think I got the chicken kabab & the beef tikka kabab. But I loved my husbands order of shish tawook 2 skewers. Overall it felt like everything was an up charge and the portion sizes were too small to justify the up charge. I don't mind paying extra if it worth the price, but I didn't feel like it was.

Al Basha was a great experience! All of us ordered the chicken shawarma wrap combo, which came with…read morea wrap, fries, and coleslaw for around $13. It was a pretty generous amount of food for the price, and everything was solid. The shawarma was solid, the fries were good, and overall it was a satisfying lunch. Honestly, the food by itself was probably more of a 4-star experience for me, but the hospitality is what bumped this up to five stars. Every employee greeted us right when we walked in, and they even gave each of us a cup of their lentil soup to try, "on the house." Multiple employees also checked in during our meal to ask how everything was and whether we were enjoying the food. You could genuinely tell they cared about our experience, and that kind of hospitality goes a long way. Solid food, great value, and even better service. Definitely worth checking out!

This restaurant has limited seating but a very large market…read more Ordering was just ok, but it's hard to get someone's attention at the register. This happened two times. I went back for a dessert and it took forever to order it . I had a lamb combo with falafel and hummus. We also had a kibbie platter with salad and taziki. Everything was good but our other places are better. There was a big container of hot tea but we had to ask, we were not told it was available. Stars off for poor customer service and smaller portions than some places.

Come within 2 hours of opening on a Sat/Sun for doner. Get the doner wrap or iskender (if you eat…read morea lot). It is the best doner around, just as good as what you get in Istanbul. They do run out of doner before dinner. The place is full at lunch, so come early. Delicious bread with a nice olive oil-based sauce is complimentary. They refill it, which is a very nice touch. Plenty of staff to take orders and clean. You will be in and out in an hour or less unless you need to wait for a table. Very impressive restaurant near downtown in Cary.

I came to Bosphorus on a Sunday evening for dinner with friends, and the restaurant was packed…read more Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long for a table. The service was friendly, though it seemed like a team effort, so different staff members would take our order or bring out food instead of one dedicated server. That occasionally led to delays when we asked for refills or extra plates, and we usually had to repeat the request to our waitress later. For dinner, I shared the Kofta Kebab and Lahmacun with a friend, and the portion size was just enough for both of us to leave full. Unfortunately, parts of the kebab were burnt, so maybe we just caught them on an off night. Surprisingly, my favorite part of the meal was the warm pita bread they brought to the table. If you're looking to try Turkish food, Bosphorus is worth checking out, but I'd probably order different dishes next time or visit when it's a little less busy.

Randomly found this place one day, and my life definitely changed. Hands down, they have the best…read moreBeef Shawarma sandwich. At first, I went with Chicken Shawarma because I'm a chicken girlie. But I ended to eating half of my husband's Beef Shawarma sandwich. So I recommend you getting that to begin with if you are into beef. By the register, they also have a lot of premade/assembled dishes to purchase. The grocery section is small, but has a lot of fun things to look and buy. I love getting their tin fish and chocolate as a treat during my visit!

I'd heard amazing things about their shawarmas, so I decided to check it out and it did not…read moredisappoint! The restaurant is attached to a grocery market. They have a dining area, but it seems like a lot of people do take their food to go. The staff gave great recommendations, making the whole ordering process feel effortless.

I got a rolled chicken pita and the cauliflower appetizer to go. Both were pretty good and had a…read morelot of flavor. It also came with a side of pita which was nice. The rolled pita was absolutely huge and definitely big enough to be a meal! I expected it to be smaller given the price.

Really good dinner here tonight!…read more The falafel was delicious, the lamb was cooked perfectly, and the cranberry walnut salad with chicken was so good. Very friendly uncomfortable atmosphere, the service was just fine and the food is so healthy, you feel really good eating it! Will definitely be back!

Came here for a work dinner, and it was the PERFECT spot. Great ambiance. Not too crowded…read more Excellent service. Upscale spot without being too pricey. It was fun doing shared plates across everyone. I don't think I could recommend a more solid spot for a corporate group dinner in downtown Raleigh. Everyone greatly enjoyed and the food was tasty all around.

Incredible dining experience in every way. Entrance is extravagant, it's like walking in to a…read moredifferent world. Staff were very welcoming right away. We had a private party in a room right off the main entrance. There's a beautiful wine gallery right outside the room. Your eyes are drawn in every direction, there are so many colors and textures in all the decor! The private room was gorgeous! We were all able to sit around a large table, see each other and talk freely amongst each other. Our server was incredible. She stayed on top of everything, we were never without. Food menu is amazing, drink options seemed endless. Cannot say enough good things about this experience.