I've had this place bookmarked for a long while! The opportunity finally came last week when I had a ton of errands to run in the same area and was starving. After conferring with my husband on the phone I decided to call in an order.
Now, there were no pictures of the menu on Yelp, so I had to go to the website. The website listed a very enticing menu, but did not include prices. I eat similar cuisine often enough, I figured I had an idea of the ballpark, so I went ahead with calling in the order.
Celine was so sweet, helpful and patient. I was exhausted and could barely remember my order when on the phone with her. I ordered their Zatar Bread and then got a gyro for my husband. Since she said the gyro didn't come with a side, I added a side of fries. At this point I couldn't remember the name of the entrée I wanted to order and tried to describe it. She knew the one I wanted and even made additional suggestions.
I was very pleased with her service, but when I asked what the difference in price was, I got some sticker shock. Apparently the entrees are in the $14-20 range and what I had ordered was $19.99. I'm not great on the fly with changing an order and was blanking on the rest of the menu items, so I stuck with the order as it was.
She told me 20 minutes and that ended up being the perfect amount of time to finish up my errands. When I arrived I only had to wait a couple of minutes while it appeared that they were double checking everything. They have a small waiting area, but there are so many tables it's hard to imagine that they need it. There was also a charming little store area off to the right that Celine told me was kept on from the original business in the building.
I was a bit bewildered when she came over juggling all the containers, but was pleased when I realized she waited to put them into the bag until she told me what was in each container. She then separated out the salad into a different bag, away from the hot items. Excellent attention to detail by Celine. I paid $39 and took my loot home.
I ordered the Bakhtiari Kebab, which was $19.99 and the menu stated it was a combination of chicken and beef tenderloin on a skewer with bell pepper, mushroom and onion, served with rice and a salad. We ordered their famous Zatar Bread, which she had mentioned was $4.99. So I guess the gyro and fries together came out to about $10.
The Zatar bread smelled amazing. I tried to think of a way to describe the taste and the spices, but there were so many layers of flavor I had a difficult time pinning it down. It's fabulous though, you should definitly get it. I feel a dining experience here wouldn't be complete without it and $4.99 is a good price.
My husband liked the gyro, though he didn't care for the pickles that were on there. He wasn't sure why exactly, I guess it tasted different than he expected. The fries tasted fine, but weren't very crisp. Overall, it was a fair portion for $10.
The salad leaked all over the place so I was relieved she had separated out the hot and cold stuff. I would have been so bummed if the entire meal was soggy. It tasted okay, but it was so wet and messy I just tossed it after a few bites. I guess they need a sealed container for their to go salads.
Besides the salad fiasco, the Bakhtiari Kebab was quite good. There were four pieces each of the chicken and beef tenderloin. I actually thought it tasted extremely good and was cooked well.
I found the beef tenderloin had good spices and was cooked correctly. The chicken was very tender and flavorful, I'll definitely order the chicken again. The rice also had a lot of spices, but it was not overwhelming, it was just right.
I enjoyed the meal, I just think the price is too expensive for the portion. As great as the quality was, I still felt I paid too much. In fact, I'm left with the impression that the prices are super high, but I have no way of knowing if this is true for the restaurant as a whole, because they didn't have a to go menu when I asked. I really wish they would either print up some to go menus or add prices to their website.
I'm still happy with the meal and would return, just not often. I would recommend you check it out, just be ready to empty your wallet. You might think it's worth it after you have the Zatar Bread. :) read more