After this place, every other Georgian Shawarma eatery seems #2!…read moreMeat is very flavorful and seasoned to perfection. Vegetables are very fresh, well diced and make the shawarma extra flavorful and healthy! I'm also a big fan of the Hachipuri double cheese. It's more cheese and less dough. For cheese fans like myself. A good variety of deserts also helps with the sweet tooth! The cashiers are always friendly with a warm smile. When it's a long wait during lunch & dinner rush, they are always honest about 20-30 minute wait. Why? Because they are that good! Repeat clientele is a big sign that they're doing something right. It's mainly a pick up eatery. They do have couple of tables outside w umbrellas. Great fresh air and sun It's not a full restaurant. The staff works hard in full view of the public so I can see them using great hygiene and cleanliness with the food. I always respect when places don't hide anything. Later in evening they may run out of meat. If picking it up, place order and pay for it before arriving because they will make your order ready for you to pick it up. If arriving, they may run out before you arrive. Overall 5 stars. Definitely recommend

The shawarma is delectable and plentiful. The desserts were lackluster despite the marketing by the…read morecashier; she tried her best to convince us which items to get and even gave us a fork in case we wanted to dig into it while we wait 20 minutes for the kebab. On that note, I wish they had given us a warning that it'll be at least 15-20 minutes for the kebab. Had we known that, we would have ordered another shawarma and left. The kebab was cooked through and spices were all there, can't complain on that front Space is bright and clean. It was not crowded when we stepped in but it definitely picked up quickly soon after. It can get rowdy depending on the time of day. One issue to bring up is they DO NOT give any coin change back. If your total comes out to $17.50 and you hand over a $20 bill, the register will only give you $2 as the change. Not sure if this is the same policy at their other location but that is plain weird. No sign up regarding that either. That doesn't stop us from throwing a few bucks into the tip jar though.

This place is not bad, they make their own bread which I love, and the pieces are big. The chicken…read moreshish was ok. The meat was not to my liking personally, I like more of a char grilled taste which this did not have. The rice and veggies were good. Not a cheap place, it's about $15 for a small chicken shish and the desserts are about $8 for a piece. But priced the same as other competition nearby. Not somewhere I would personally go again but was good for a first try. I personally prefer another place not too far away from this one, the Shish kebab in my opinion tastes a bit better and not as dry and has that charcoal grilled taste I am looking for. Seating area is separated from the walk-in/cashier which is nice.

I've eaten at this restaurant maybe 8-10 times. They have wooden chairs and tables (nothing fancy),…read morebut their service is great, and their dishes are so delicious. My favorite appetizer is the fried calamari. Each piece melts in your mouth. Please be aware, they automatically add a 20% tip on the check. I didn't realize until my last visit, I erroneously gave a generous 40% tip. I've also ordered takeout via Uber Eats. We always order Babaghanoush, Falafel, and our favorite large platters. I normally get my favorite, Chicken Adana, but I tried their Chicken Gyro this time. It was good, but I still like the Adana more. My kid loves the Chicken Shish Kebab. We will be back for more.

TL;DR/food in order: Musakhan, Mixed Mezze, Maqluba, Bedouin Zarb, and then Mansaf. 4% addition for…read morecard usage. I'd probably leave them a 5 for portion compared to price and quality, but the service wasn't good for multiple reasons. I went to this Palestinian restaurant, open since late last year, with a group earlier in the evening. The food overall was very tasty, but I found the service at best inept. I understand that it's a casual spot, but there were multiple issues throughout the evening with the two female servers. We were first without napkins, had to ask for more silverware, and had to repeatedly ask for spoons to share, so we eventually just reused things and moved them back and forth between dishes. There was also the fact that they don't serve tap water here even when asked, so it's a $1.45 minimum unless you want one of their drinks. I got a mint lemonade for $4.95, which was decent, and others got water, a hibiscus drink for the same price as mine, or a malt drink. They also brought out a ton of dishes while we were still having appetizers and eventually just put stuff on another table as we obviously didn't have room, so I guess order the appetizers only to begin with unless you want an overcrowded table. There were also issues with the bill, but I'll bring that up later. We started with the excellent Mixed Mezze for $29.95, with hummus, baba ghanoj, labneh, olives, pickles, salata tahina, tabbouleh, falafel, makdous, and fresh Soul of Palestine bread. The portion was large, with the dish reminding me of the old portion size from Ayat or Al Badawi before either expanded. The mixed mezze were all tasty and went well with the warm bread, with particularly good falafel (3 pieces) and hummus, but the baba and salata tahina were tasty as well. The only thing hard to split was the makdous, which came with one eggplant, but the inside was tasty. As mentioned, as we were plowing through the appetizer, our entrees started to arrive. First to arrive was the Bedouin Zarb for $31.95, listed as a traditional Bedouin method of cooking meat in the pit oven, served with rice. The meat in question was lamb, and there was a pretty big chunk that was very tender. The rice was the highlight, as it was nicely spiced with some slivered almonds. The dish reminded me of a slightly weaker version of the Hadramout Lamb from Yemenat nearby, but it was still tasty. Next to arrive was the best dish of the night, the $24.95 Musakhan, listed as the national dish of Palestine, made of roasted chicken over taboon bread topped with onions, sumac, and nuts, served with yogurt. I was originally going to get the Ouzi, but I went with this instead as they were out of it, and it was a blessing in disguise. Compared to the other Palestinian spots, the chicken was much more tender here, and they put a lot more sweet onions on the bread. The only complaint I could make is that I wish there were more nuts and sumac. Also, for the same price, there was the equally excellent Maqluba, listed on the menu as Jerusalem Flip, with spiced rice, half a chicken, eggplant, cauliflower, potato, and salad. Like the other dish, the chicken itself was very tender, with the rice being a bit less spiced than the Zarb but still flavorful, with a couple of crispy pieces. The various vegetables were very tasty, and I particularly liked the cauliflower, which I wish there were more of. The yogurt with cucumber on the side reminded me of raita. Finally, there was the $31.95 Mansaf with lamb cooked in dried yogurt/jmeed, over a bed of saj bread and rice topped with nuts. As with the other dishes, the portion was quite large, with a giant amount of fluffy rice. The lamb was very flavorful, but not nearly as tender as some other spots, with a bit too much rendered fat. This made it a bit harder to split compared to the better version at Al Badawi. The jmeed added some nice sour flavor and helped with the richness. We were planning on trying their $9.99 knafeh/chnafa (a new spelling for me), which is one of my favorite desserts, but they were out of it along with the other halwa. That was unfortunate, but it made the bill a bit less annoying. Speaking of which, they weren't able to separate the drinks from the bill at the end. They also auto-built in a 4% card usage fee and couldn't print a bill for cash usage to save on that fee, so I had to calculate it all, which was a pain. Eventually, we left with plenty of leftovers for around $40 a person, minus drinks.

The interiors are pretty, brightly colored and lit for an approachable atmosphere…read more The menu is fairly large. I did notice they have multiple portion options for larger family style meals as well as regular sized. we shared : Appetizer - Foul; fava bean soup that was lemony and very tasty served with bread. Main - Bedouin Zarb; absolutely delicious, fragrant rice and tender cuts of lamb, included a yogurt cucumber salad Would love to try they whole fish on a future visit. That was the original hope for today's meal but they were out of a few things. Will definitely need to come back for dessert as well. They only had the Knafeh today but would love to try their style of rice pudding (Rooz Oo Haleeb). Pardon my spelling ! Menu has descriptions as well , so fear not if you're not super versed in Palestinian food.

This restaurant is amazing!!! The people are so nice, the food is so good! It reminded my mom of…read moreher grandma's cooking. The inside of the restaurant is so nice and clean. This restaurant is so underrated and it's so amazing. I had fish and it was amazing. My dad had the lamb kebab and it was so juicy and delicious. And the bread. WOW. Love this place, do recommend!!!!!

Have grown really fond of this cuisine and this place definitely hit the spot. Menu has a fair…read moreamount of options and I definitely enjoyed each of the dishes we ended up getting. Started with the pilaff. Probably my least favorite meat of the day but it was plentiful, so tender, and the rest of the rice dish were delicious. Huge portion. I'm such a big fan of manti and almost always enjoy them, but these were even better than most. Plump, juice, packed with meat. Enjoyed the sauce it came with, as well. Finally, lamb rib kebab and lyulya kebab were great. I preferred the latter and may next time opt for the ribs without the fat, but they were both still great. Service was lovely, you can tell they care about the experience. Felt like we were in someone's home eating a home-cooked meal. If we lived in the area we definitely would consider coming back.

Behind a retro blue awning sits a restaurant dear to Brighton beach and to me! Ive been coming here…read morewith my family since I was a child so the food, vibes, and TVs playing endless Russian music are so nostalgic for me. Recently, I took a friend here who is not familiar at all with Eastern European food and she loved all of the dishes. The cutlets were perfectly seasoned, and the buckwheat was buttery and warm. It tasted just like what I eat at home. We also had the sweet cheese vareniki which tasted desert-like and were so decadent with the sour cream. The Compot had a refreshing fruit flavor and paired so well with our meal. The service was quick, and we were able to request extra plates to share our order.

A friend who grew up in the Bronx had never gone to Brighton Beach. 'C'mon,' I said. 'Let's go!'…read more We didn't start off with a bang. Delicious elsewhere, their Ukrainian borscht -- one of my favorites -- fell a bit short. G ordered lobster bisque. Compared to a restaurant in Florida, Oceanview's soup had minimal lobster. Her rating, a measly '2 stars.' G's chicken kebob with grilled vegetables was as good as what I had here before. This time I ordered cutlets, fried with chopped chicken. It was okay, jazzed up with G's hot sauce. I won't get it again. With a glass of wine and a table outside, we enjoyed taking everything in: a heated argument between two Russian men cursing each other over parking. (It was like a skit from 'Saturday Night Live.') A table of locals chain-smoking ... I didn't think anyone smoked anymore. And of course, the rumble of the Q train above which is practically a signature of Brighton Beach. Lunch was actually pricey which is why we avoided both cafes on the boardwalk. In retrospect, we should've splurged on a scenic view for a few dollars more. 3.5 stars.

Amazing bakery amazing restaurant 5/5 very friendly service as well, must try the Kaakread more

Al Reef is a newcomer to Bay Ridge's 5th Avenue serving Lebanese/Palestinian baked goods and…read moresandwiches similar to what Al Aqsa offers a few blocks north. While I had hopes for the food here after stopping in a few weeks ago for a spinach pie, I think I will stick with Al Aqsa as my go-to. We tried the mufaraka, baba ghanouj, and makali. The fried items in the makali were themselves quite tasty, but I was surprised they didn't serve these with a bit of tahini or some other sauce to give some additional flavor. The mufaraka was very, very salty and I would probably skip next time. I enjoyed the baba ghanouj. When I had stopped by in the evening, service was friendly and they offered some suggestions on baked goods. But in the daytime our waitress was quite curt and did not provide any cutlery with our food, which was peculiar. The floor also had food scraps all over it.

This is the third visits in 2 months. I called ahead to pick up the Adjaruli Khachapuri. When I got…read morethere it was fresh out of the oven and the whole store was full with the smell of the intoxicating melted cheese and butter. The sweet owner recommended me to try the eggplant with walnut sauce ( instead of my go to eggplant salad), and the cornmeal patty thing. Let me tell you they were all so tasty! Definitely swing by this store if you are in the neighborhood.

Thanks Georgie for the recommendation, it's my first time trying Georgian food and he recommended…read moreme something that wasn't too different from what I'm used to. Not only was the chicken flavorful but also they loaded a ton of it inside although it dropped into the bottom.

Great panini spot - everything was fresh and delicious. Try…read morethe samboosak! Open late on Saturday nights

Really great for a quick bite. They have an amazing Greek salad I like to get it with the spicy…read morelemon dressing and add tuna. Delicious! My dad ordered a sabich in pita and said it was really good too. Have to come back to try more :)