The karak chai with saffron is amazing. Do yourself a favor and get the large. The food is also great but lunch (hot food) service does not start until 11am so please be aware of that. We got there a little early and had the chai and a date mamool while we were waiting. They ended up taking our food order a little early so it would be ready at 11am since they weren't very busy and I am pretty sure the front counter worker was enamored with our 2 year old daughter. This was our second time here (we went last year as well when my wife was at this same conference) so I was well overdue to review this place. The food here is fantastic which is why we repeated it - it has to be for us to do that at places we visit. Good or okay doesn't get a repeat from us. The dolmas are exactly what you want them to be and there is a perfect amount of salt on the arabic salad, the cabbage salad, and the pickled turnips. Speaking of which, the pickled turnips here are divine perfection. I would be hard-pressed to find better pickled turnips anywhere. The schwarma is quite solid - not as good as I recall from The Netherlands, but as good as any here in the U.S. The Middle Eastern vegan platter is quite a bargain and delicious to boot. The workers here are very kind and I have no knocks against this place at all. They even sell Dubai chocolate to go on a deal - Buy two original bars and get a Strawberry cream Matcha one for free. read more

Dubai Grill - beef schwarma with fries plate. We chose the arabic salad, pickled turnips, and cabbage salad for our toppings. - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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The food was very authentic and amazing. I tried the shishtawook and the Kofta along with fresh falafel and hummus. The Karak Tea was delicious. Staff very friendly will come back definitely read more

Dubai Grill - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Great food. I had been yearning for ME food for a while and Dubai Grill did not disappoint. I haven't had Basbousa (Egypt's cousin to Greece's Galaktoboureko) in ages, so I especially enjoyed that as well. Fast prep, friendly staff and a very clean environment. Definitely will be back to try the Dolmas and Kebabs! read more

The Best Mediterranean Cuisine in the region! Fresh, authentic, flavorful & healthy. Fresh tasty salad, Delicious Kabobs, excellent hummus dip, top it off with sweet flaky baklava & Karak Tea ! Must try & you be very glad you did. read more

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Cool small place in Urbana for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. It's super casual and fits in with the campus atmosphere around here. Dubai Grill is one of those build your own kind of operations while they fill the base of your choosing. Get a bowl or a pita. The prices aren't bad for this kind of thing. A pretty bare looking place but forget about that and just focus on the good ass food. It was lunch and we were looking for something easy and fast, and this was it. They have a choice of bowls or pitas. Choose a protein like a meat or falafel. Then get toppings. It's about $5 for a pita. We got these with falafel, and got a few toppings. Falafel was soft, and not as crunchy as it usually is. This still had pretty good flavor though. Portions were good. These were filled with a lot. Get the pita if you like falafel. It's good for holding it together because it's kind of messy. The bowls are good if you're hungry because they can put in a crap ton of good stuff. read more

Dubai Grill - Falafel Pita - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

I've been there twice and ordered falafel to go. The gentleman making it is very friendly and kind. While he prepared the food, we chatted about how it takes 3 days to prepare the skewered meat that was roasting, and it looked delicious. I don't eat out much, but if I did, I would go here a lot and try everything. read more

Customer service is really good and the food is really tasty. Owner works over there and he's also very polite.

Delicious food and okay prices! But a little not satisfactory service... I ordered the Middle East Vegan. Since it was my first time trying this restaurant, I wasn't sure about the options as well as the set of their catering. The lady who helped me order and check was really indifferent, which made me feel not being taken seriously and a little embarrassed... They do provide various healthy and delicious food, and the dining environment is good, but I may not go again if the server is still frosty...which might make me down for the rest of my day. read more

Dubai Grill - Middle East Vegan - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

The, I assume, owner, an older man, was so lovely and hospitable. The falafels were out of this world. Food was fresh and satisfying.

Dubai Grill . If you haven't tried this amazing restaurant in the CU you haven't lived. The customer service alone was 10/10 the food on the other hand is OUT OF THIS WORLD. There was nothing on our plate that wasn't amazing. Definitely going back. I've decided this is weekly worthy. My opinion, and if you don't agree I honestly don't care, because this meal was amazing even with eating it at home slightly re-heated. They're so accommodating. We asked for all salads/toppings on the side so we could eat at home and they had NO issues. We go back because their food is phenomenal. But on top of that their customer service is top knotch. read more

Great food. Friendly owner. I had the chicken shwarma sandwich and a cup of lentil soup. The only problem is, Google Maps has them at the wrong address. Luckily, they are right around the corner on the side of the block facing Krannert. We had to call them to figure out where they were! The owner said it is costing them big time. Anyway, definitely worth walking around the corner .​ read more

This place has good food. The inside is a little sparse, but nothing unexpected. I like to get the food to go and eat outside.

Went into this restaurant and expected the prices to be correct from the menu up until when I pay the wraps said that they were 9.99 each but on the receipt it was 10.99 each also, the sales tax is incorrect. It's not 11.5%. It's 9%. The food was not up to par as it was when they first opened. I am an expert in Arabic food and this food is kind of bland the hummus,baba ghanoush, Arabic salad and cabbage salad tasted bland and I couldn't really taste the flavor of the garbanzo beans or the eggplant and, the Taziki sauce was very watery. If this establishment can fix their foods, they would do a lot better I was not impressed with the food. read more

Dubai Grill - I looked up the address for the correct sales tax - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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Great, healthy, low cost middle eastern food. Vegan plate has everything, best smoothest hummus n baba ghanoush, tasty grape leaves, grilled eggplant, multiple pickled vegetables, parsley salad, falafel, and more. Pita bread average. Lunch and dinner. $10 I have had it 3X slight differences in composition everytime Tried chicken shawarma sandwich roasted parts of chicken awesome, unchared parts boring. Positive service read more

Dubai Grill - Vegan plate - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Dubai Grill has the best Middle Eastern food I've ever eaten in C-U. The prices are reasonable and the portions are generous. If you enjoy Middle Eastern food, I urge you to try this restaurant the next time you eat out... I doubt you'll be disappointed! My wife and I ordered the kufta kabob and chicken shish taouk, with spicy rice, pitas, and a sample of everything from the wide variety of salads and sauces. The shish taouk was extremely tasty, and the kufta kebab highly delectable. The salads and sauces were super fresh, and added so much complexity and richness to the meal. Some standouts were the babaganog, the hummus, the cucumber sauce, the dolmas, and the Jerusalem salad, but honestly it was all very delicious. After lunch, we had a light dessert of chai karak (warm coffee-drink with notes of honey) and baklava, both of which we thoroughly enjoyed. Dubai Grill has exceptional food, especially the grilled meats. It's got me and the wife wanting to come back and try the shawarmas! We certainly will return the next time we're in town! Highly recommend this place. read more

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Amazing. Just amazing. Beautiful. Tasty. Amazing. Gorgeous. Wonderful. Amazing. I like it a lil bit‍ read more

Dubai Grill - AhhhhhhMaayyyyyyZiiiiinnnngggg - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Awesome food. Staff is super nice. Highly recommend to everyone traveling to Urbana Champaign area. All the kebobs was super tasty. read more

I absolutely love this place, not only is the food made fresh Everytime but the people (and what I assume is the owner) are so welcoming and friendly! It's super large portions, I also have left overs! We eat here as often as we can with it being on campus. I promise it's worth the hassle of parking! read more

A locally owned place that puts in the effort. Their falafel is fried fresh to order, making it probably the best I've had in town. All of the workers I've interacted with have been incredibly pleasant and helpful. (They love to make sure you don't forget Tahini or salad on your sandwich.) If you're a broke undergrad or grad student, come for the very reasonable prices and satisfying portions. If you're a townie, come for some of the best falafel in town. Regardless of who you are, try to support the buisness in cash, so that they aren't eating those 3% credit card fees. If you like Shwarma Joint, but hate fighting crowds on Green, I encourage you to try Dubai Grill. The strip they are in has some great competition, and I would still choose Dubai over the other options more often than not. read more

I've been here three times and the food was amazing every time. Staff is also very helpful and patient, and location is clean and well-maintained. I recently went and placed a group order for 8 Dubai grill large mixed plates, and we got everything exactly as ordered. They were really accommodating and the food was fresh and delicious. Servings are generous and satisfying. Healthy food. I highly recommend the shawerma, kufta kebab, shish tawook, vegan plate, lentil soup, falafel. I think all of the salads and hummus/baba ghanoush are really good. They also have hot sauce and a variety of sauces, as well as hot tea. read more

Dubai Grill - Middle East Vegan Plate - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Yo ngl this spot bussin fr no cap Good vibes from my habibi behind the counter Ong gyros hit the spot frfr read more

This is a simple Mediterranean fast food place where you can select shawarma rice bowls, sandwiches and other options. The staff are very friendly and very accommodating. I got a chicken shawarma which came with 3 toppings. It's a nice quick grab and go kind of place when you're in a hurry. read more

Very good middle-eastern food. The vegan platter, falafel sandwich and shawarma sandwich were very good. The restaurant room was bright, quiet and clean. The service was quite friendly. We will come back during one of our future visits. read more

I actually live in Dubai for six months if the year. The food here is pretty good... healthy portions, fresh and the shawarma is very tasty. People are nice and the place is calm. I've been several times and will keep going back. read more

wanted to try both chicken and beef shawarma, so he let me split it half and half at no extra charge. It was absolutely delicious, got the baba ganoush and jerusalem salad for the sides- both were phenomenal. service was great along, price was extremely reasonable, and food was great 10/10 would recommend and will be coming back. oh and there was a bunch of rice under the meat! very filling meal read more

Dubai Grill - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Once you've had really good Halal Mediterranean food, the bar has been set and it's hard to pay for food that was mediocre. But I'm guessing students are the ones who have 5 stars? Okay if you're starving and service is good. Food meh. read more

When therefore lunch one day and then ended up buying tea. It was the best tea in the town. And it also did not cost as much.

I had a gyro, which was very good. I'd definitely recommend it. My only complaint is that the Baklava is a lot smaller than expected. The picture shows 4 triangles of baklava for $4.99 (which makes sense), but I got 1 triangle :( read more

Dubai Grill - Baklava - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Made a pickup order online 6:20 PM on a Sunday. Ordered an entree, soup, fries, hummus, salad, and pita. Friend got there to pick up at 6:36 PM and was told they didn't have our entree or the soup. Guy said they couldn't make it because they close in 20 minutes... but we ordered 40 minutes before close. I've worked in a restaurant, so I get that, but no one gave us a call or let us know beforehand so we could have planned our meal. Hummus and pita were really good. Fries were soggy and undercooked. I'm sure the food is good but I didn't get to eat it read more

Not from the area, but stopped by for a quick lunch. Such a good experience: delicious authentic food, barely any wait time, and the staff were all so helpful and friendly :) read more

Dubai Grill - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Made a second visit about 6 weeks later. The falafel and baklava were still excellent but the shish taouk wasn't as good as the first time round. read more

Great food and awesome service. Lots of options as far as sides with the bowls. Love this place

Food was delicious! Staff was kind, informative, and accommodating. The restaurant was clean . I would definitely recommend it. read more

Dubai Grill - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Experienced Dubai Grill with my college student daughter this weekend after her high recommendation...It did not disappoint!!! The BEST hummus I've had, hands down. Vegetables were fresh. The food was wonderful- The service was just as impressive. Everyone was so personable and welcoming! We were given a sample of the lentil soup in addition to the food we ordered, and I will order that next time as well- curry perfection. This is a delightful gem on the edge of the U of I campus!! read more

Really really good! Had their chicken shawarma, which can be hit or miss for me depending on the restaurant, but this was definitely a hit. Try their chai, it's delicious! read more

Yummm gotta love shawarmas, falafels, and hummus on a hot summer day. Dubai Grill replaced where it used to be Merry Ann's deli and had been under construction for a while. I'm glad they opened and in a prime location as well. I think I read a review somewhere saying that Dubai Grill is better than Shawarma Joint on Green Street, but it's hard to weight out which is better because they have equal pros and cons. I was pleased to see that their prices weren't too high, but they're not cheap either. For a chicken shawarma bowl, you can expect to pay around $15 total, but you do get a few different toppings and pita on the side. I had to try the falafels because I love me so falafels and they were perfectly fried. A 10/10 for the falafels. I had a chicken shawarma bowl and first impression was that their portion sizes are small. I barely had an rice underneath the bed of chicken. Portion sizes at Shawarma Joint are insanely large, so by comparison, I'd say that you get less than what you'd pay for at Dubai Bowl. I was pleasantly surprised by how nothing was too salty. Definitely do give this place a shot if you're a fan of Mediterranean-style food. read more

Great food, fresh and very friendly staff. Only drawback is location and parking (not free). But i will definitely visit the place again, great flavors out of the chicken shawarma and you get to pick the garnishing! read more

Very good food. Lovely service. Wrapped well for takeout. Would go back again. Close to campus. read more

Dubai Grill - Chicken schwarma bowl with hummus and Jerusalem salad. - Middle Eastern Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Ordered just falafel with tahini sauce (want to know if the flavors are good order a basic item). Having been in the Middle East many times I am pretty picky about falafel, and the Dubai Grill delivered. Excellent! The only down side is that they were out of chai, but I'll be back. read more

Loved everything on the vegan platter, and it includes the creamiest hummus I've ever dipped into. The chicken shish taouk and chicken shawarma sandwich were also huge hits! read more