Pros: In Birminham, nice decor, nice ambience. Cons: The food and the price. Let me explain...I have high expectations for Middle Eastern food. My inlaws are Middle Eastern and I live in the Dearborn area. So why did I decide to eat at Elie's when I went to Birmingham? I don't know. I should have checked Yelp reviews before I went apparently. We got there and the patio was packed. A nice crowd, a cool vibe to the place. We were seated and I looked over the menu. Expect to pay around $20 at least for your meal. Husband ordered Moroccan chicken and I ate light that night and ordered a chopped salad with portabella mushrooms on top. I wanted another salad originally but when I placed my order the waitor said they no longer had that salad and I had an 'old menu'. Okay...update the ones that you're handing out? The 'new' menu had one change and all the prices were at least $2 more. Whatever. They give you free pita bread. It was horrible. Maybe it was a bad batch that night, I don't know, but it tasted like straight up yeast and hardened once it sat out for 2 minutes. I just want my food. We get it. I'm so underwhelmed. The chopped salad is way too bitter. Too much lemon. The roasted chickpeas in it are as hard as rocks, I swear I almost chipped my tooth eating them. My husbands Moroccan chicken looked and tasted like my white grandma's attempt at making Middle Eastern food. The sauce tasted mainly like Swanson chicken broth thickened with cornstarch and it had some random pine nuts thrown in there to give it an 'exotic' flair. There a tiny helping of couscous in the middle of the plate. It was all salt. I did not taste any Moroccan spices in that dish. I truly am not that picky, but for $40, I am extremely disappointed. Should have went to the fish market right next door. Save yourself....don't get Elie's if you want Middle Eastern food. read more

This is by far one of the best middle eastern restaurants in the area. I have been a patron of Elie's for many years and have always had excellent food. The owner, Elie, will always come over and say hello and find out if we have everything we need. This is truly a wonderful restaurant with a very enjoyable atmosphere. Most recently the restaurant has been remodled and now serves alcohol. Since the remodel and the addition of the bar, the restaurant is busier than ever. To me, it only gets better. They have the best hommus, taboulee, Kibbee Neyee I have ever had and I love the pickled turnips and the fresh mint. I now sometimes have to wait for a table because the restaurant is so busy, but believe me it's worth it. read more

Over priced and rude server. Have digital menu. Changed to dinner menu at 3pm. Sat us at 250, took forever to take our order and pricing changed literally right before our eyes on menu. Manager refused to honor lunch pricing. Will not return. There's other places to get the same food -- better prepared and lower prices. read more

Besides a phenomenal meal, and I'll briefly describe that in a moment, we had the most touching experience. Only able to eat "bland" food, there was some concern over what to order. Our waitress led with a great suggestion - Mediterranean Chicken and Rice without the sauce. It came and it was perfect. Just enough seasoning to be enjoyable and delicious. But, then, from the kitchen came a woman - I'm ashamed i do not know who she is - carrying a small dish of broth. She set it in front of me, gave me a silent and warm hug, motioned to use the broth on the chicken and left. I felt nothing but love from her and for that reason alone, i say 5 stars. But, the rest of the foods we ordered were just as good (except sauteed calamari - order the fried): Incredible Mujadra and bulgar; and the pot pie was just supreme. Great night and thanks to my little lady friend with the broth. read more

Amazing! Love love love this place and all of the employees. The service is great! Love seeing the owner there making sure that the work is presentable every time I come in. Even the chicken fingers and fries are to die for! Bruschetta was so great!! The moscato is one of the best I've had. read more

Terrible, terrible service. Went there for lunch. Told the waiter that we are vegan and ordered vegetarian sample plate (Maza). We even asked him not to bring the creamy garlic sauce. After a long wait he gave us a regular sample plate which looks very similar. we took a first bite and realized that there is meat in the food (my wife who did not touch meat in over 16 years was in a complete disbelief). The waiter did not apologize and insisted that we ordered a regular plate. The food may be decent (didn't have a chance to try it), but the service is beyond despicable. I thought that the reviews regarding their bad service were exaggerated. THEY ARE NOT. read more

Ordered bottle of wine and our dinners. Server never offered to tell us the specials. Brought two out of three of us the wrong dinner then proceeded to say "oh he is going to kill me, do you want to take them?" We presume he meant the chef. We said ok but we would like the side that came with our original order. He then said "uh I will see if I can get that ". The food was delicious but we were charged the price of the dinner we received not what we ordered. When we questioned it said "well I brought you the side". Had to get the manager to adjust our bill. Great atmosphere and food but terrible customer service. Don't think we will go back. read more

Upscale Mediterranean food. It tasted pretty decent but I've had Mediterranean that tasted better for half the price. But what really bothered me was how quickly the entrees came out. We had ordered our meals and I'd say in 6 minutes tops our meals were out. Now usually quick service is great but this quick lead me to assume that they didn't even make my meal for me and had it premade. It wasn't even hot and I ordered lamb. Cold lamb is a no go. Definitely paying for the location and not the mediocre food. read more

Came here for lunch with a friend and there was only one other table there, besides us. Right when we sat down, our waiter (older gentlemen with a heavy accent) stared us down and asked if we were ready. 2 minutes later, he came back and asked if we were ready, again. He literally stood in the corner and stared us down, making us uncomfortable, until we were ready to order. Finally, after his third time coming back, we said we were ready. We proceeded to order various menu items to share. I asked if they were able to do shrimp lettuce wraps, rather than chicken because we were fasting from meat. Right away, he gave me the dirtiest look and said, in a super defensive tone, um what? we don't do that. Although, if you do check out the photos on Yelp, someone on here was able to do the shrimp lettuce wraps, at one point. Also, my friend was able to order them from here, before. I told him this and he said what friend? when? she's lying, she must have had the wrong place and literally got so defensive and rude. My friend nicely asked if he could at least please ask the chef if he would be willing to accommodate, since they sell shrimp anyways and he said no, i'm not gonna ask because I know we don't do that and started laughing in our faces. Usually, restaurants/chefs are accommodating of these types of things and our rude, inconsiderate, and disrespectful waiter could not even have the decency to ask. If it was a no from the chef, we understand, but he could have at least asked, instead of acting like he ran the place and knows about any adjustments possible. He really put a damper on our lunch and we could not believe how unprofessional and disrespectful he was. Anyways, we ended up ordering the cauliflower dish, hummus, and salad with salmon. The hummus was dry, small portioned, and flavorless. The salad was super drenched in lemon and salt that we barely touched it. We asked for the salmon well done and it was cold and not even slightly good. The cauliflower dish, we agreed was the only good dish from there, which we both enjoyed, hence the 2 stars. The service was just so terrible here and the food was not up to par, that I do not see myself coming back. read more

Great staff but the food was a tad on the bland side. However, the fries were quite tasty. I had the shwarma sandwich and my wife had the burger. Both were good and cook perfectly but just lacked flavor. Nice atmosphere and again solid staff, even from the waiter that was new. read more

The chicken shawarma, hummus with tenderloin and fattoush are my favorite things to get here. The drinks are also very good. The owner is always there and so many people know him. There's a lot of regulars that come here. The menu is also great. It is on an iPad and you click on the item and a picture of the item pops up on the screen. When you click the entrees, wine pairings show up also. Great food, friendly staff and great ambiance. Definitly will be back. read more

Honestly, not impressed. Maybe it's because I have had some amazing real Mediterranean food in the past. We had the baba ghanoush, calamari, and chicken shawarma. All very bland and lacking flavor. My white sangria was watery too! So sad. We were craving some good Mediterranean food...nice atmosphere, nice location and decent service otherwise. read more

The staff there was very RUDE.. i was their couple minutes ago they look at me & my husband with strange look.. there's someone work there tell us to set anywhere out and when we choose a table the woman come and tell us to choose another table because there's reservation and i know there's no reservation.. also the sun was hitting my head so I changed my chair position the servant came and asked me to change my seat position in a rude tone. So me and my husband just left the place and they say nothing. read more

they make their own PITA BREAD! (that's probably enough info you need to come check out Elie's). it pops out of their stone oven and gets placed on your table ::hot:: so you can get some hummus on that thing before it gets cold. the middle eastern food here is amazzzzzze. i love the hummus, tabbouleh, baked kafta, shish kafta, lamb with hummus, grape leaves, house salad, even the pickled radish that they throw on the table for free (or maybe decoration, haha!)...i could go on and on. they have some great outdoor seating/birmingham people watching (we know how exciting that is) in the summertime. theire fresh juices are great...but they don't have alcohol...but who cares, you go there for the pita and hummus anyways. read more

One of if not the best tasting middle eastern food in the entire Detroit metro area. Love this place. Owner Elie is good peeps as well

Nice upscale (though not formal) Middle Eastern restaurant that has a number of other traditional entrees as well, some with a slight Middle Eastern twist to them. This would have been a 4 were it not for the prices. A bottle of wine that's less than $20, for example, was $52. I understand there's a typical and sizable upcharge in a restaurant, but more than double is a bit much. read more

Very fresh and good food near the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. Enjoyed the apps very much. Would have liked a bit more flavor in chicken shawarma but def delicious! I'm read more

If you have not tried this place yet, you definitely should. I love the Loubyee, it is so flavorful! I have pretty much tried many items and it is all very good. I am a bit bummed about the price increases over the past 3 years as I used to get a chicken fatoosh salad at least 3 times each week for lunch for $10 and now it is $16.50. Although, most people in this area can likely afford to pay whatever. I just stopped buying their salads as I am more frugal. read more

Food is amazinggggg. Hummus and pita are so fresh and obviously I would recommend any of the dishes. Good service as well

Amazing!! I LOVE having lunch, dinner, dessert, or even just a snack over here. Food is healthy and fresh. Their clam chowder soup is one of the best I've ever had. The desserts (literally every dessert) are delicious!!! read more

Warm ambience. Nice menu. Great food. Service excellent. Reasonable prices. There is a reason they have survived for so long in Bham. We had a wonderful server. Big wine pours. Great food. Recommended for you and your significant other. read more

Elie's - Warm and comfortable atmosphere. Nicely decorated for the holidays. - Mediterranean Near Me - Birmingham, Michigan

Best Mediterranean food in the area with great service. Also great bartender. Not sure his name but he is bald.

So delicious! Best clam chowder I've ever had! Lettece wraps to die for, go figure;) best of all our waiter was sweet and knowledgable! Go there, it's awesome! read more

So many great Middle eastern restaurants in the area and this is not one of them. Over priced and poor service. Go to Palm Palace, Mezza or Phoenician which are all superb and owners make you feel very welcome! read more

Elie's is excellent Middle Eastern food in the heart of Birmingham. The menu is creative and expands beyond the traditional fare. The ribs are the best in town or that I've eaten in Michigan. I've traveled the world and Elie's ribs are the superlative. Daily specials are creative and the remodeled dining room is great for all occasions. I highly recommend this restaurant!! read more

I stopped here for dinner while on a business trip. The food was excellent and the meat cooked to perfection. Service was quick and friendly. I will return the next time I'm in the area. read more

This is a very popular and unfortunately a noisy Birmingham destination. Food is good overall, lamb chops are excellent.

Carefully prepared Middle Eastern fare in a beautiful, comfortable setting--a very pleasant surprise! We had sautéed calamari and octopus with fresh hot pita bread and then stuffed grape leaves and pistachio encrusted whitefish with tomato and artichoke risotto. Each dish was delicious and beautifully plated. The booths are comfortable for 2-4 and a group looked comfortable at a larger table. Service was attentive. Bonus: the special desserts! read more

First visit last night. The waitress came over and didn't check on me once in the 15 minutes I waited for my friend. We ordered veggies and hummus as an appetizer and several of the carrots had gone bad. We had to ask for drink refills. The Falafel was good. Beautiful interior, horrible service. read more

Visited this place yesterday with a friend. The only reason they get 2 starts is because our server was so lovely. Thanks for a great experience Hailey!! Otherwise, we were super disappointed in the food. The main disappointment is that it is SO overpriced for such a small portion. My tiny little cup of lentil soup that wasn't even filled to the top: $5. The tiny 2 oz cup of garlic sauce: $5. My "house vodka" with soda... $11?!?!?!? Holy mother of NO that is SO ridiculous!!!!!!! My friend and I shared a grape leaf appetizer, they were alright but so so so lemony my eye was twitching out of control with each bite. Then we shared the chicken shawarma plate: let me tell you the amount of chicken, onion, and "rice" that was plated was so tiny. And guess what it was $24 dollars for that!!! Our bill was $120 dollars for tiny little plates, and the shawarma dinner was also pretty flavorless. I want to love this place and this is maybe my third time trying it but unfortunately I will not be back. There are plenty of middle eastern places wirh bigger portions, better taste, for half the cost! read more

The food here is very-good. The service is very-not. I've only been here once, so to generalize is probably not fair, but it's enough to cause me not to want to go back any time soon. Especially with all of the other great middle-eastern options less than a mile away. Again, the food was great. So good that we wanted to take the leftovers home. What topped off the general sub-par service was that the waiter (while we thought he was boxing up our meal) was actually throwing it away. Upon us pointing out his oversight, he turned it around and told us that we didn't ask for it to be boxed, instead of the more respectable response: 'I'm so sorry. Let me buy you a dessert.' read more

Carryout/ bar service is just not the same without Doug! :(

Just went here the other day and we loved it! Great atmosphere, and perfect outside view if you want to enjoy the evening. Food was great, especially the appetizers. Good mix of Middle Eastern cuisine to choose from, and the wait staff was amazing. We will definitely visit here again soon this Summer! read more

Although Phoenicia is the more "upscale" experience between the two, Elie's is sure to satisfy both socialites and foodies alike. Great value for lunch and dinner, Elie's staff is sure to impress. Solos should definitely grab a bite at the lounge - the bartenders are some of the friendliest in town. read more

Better than other restaurants in the same price range. Also you get more food than they show you in the pictures. Tied up with great service, we will be returning. read more

Hostess and servers were very rude and had bad attitudes. Could not enjoy my drink because of the negative vibe, don't want to go back.

The food was average, however I ran into an issue with customer service. I was charged for the wrong bill. They apologized and promised to remove the false charge promptly. Afterwards, both correct and false charges were withdrawn from my bank, about $95.00 (for a sandwich, vegetables and juice). After several phone calls, they agreed to return the false charge, but refused to remove the charges entirely, as an offering for the mix-up and inconvenience. I recommend the management staff reexamine their priorities to accuracy and customer service. read more

I, personally, would never be considered a "shrimp", most people would say "Clydesdale". Since we are in the States, they probably would not call me a "Prawn", but we all know what that is. I ordered "Prawns" for dinner and they prepared "shrimp". I received approximately 6 "shrimp", when I was expecting 2 or 3 "Prawns". Even a guy who wore "Husky" underwear as a kid knows the difference, apparently this establishment does not. Of course they took it away after I looked at it for well over 20 minutes and did not charge me after telling me they were "Prawns". No solution offered. That is the equivalent of calling me "petite" or a "shrimp". Sorry sports fans but in this case "size" really does matter. My father had the "sawdust" chicken. The kibbie was incredibly "adequate". read more

Excellent, consistent and yummy food! The best lentil soup in town! Say hi to Doug at the bar, he will take good care of you. read more

I am from Montreal and grew up eating Mediterranean cuisine and this place has the best kefta and hummus. And as a plus, they have a good cocktail menu. read more