This place is buried off the street in a complex near the heart of the university. I ordered in…read moreadvance; it was a place you could eat inside or outside at, but nothing fancy and I was on the go so I was happy with my decision. The falafel wrap yielded a fairly tubular creation; adding hummus made it a bit messy as drippage would occur. The flavors were mild, but I did enjoy the hint of carmelization on the bread. I was a bit surprised that there were no fries on their limited menu; maybe that's fair enough to wherever they're from but falafel and fries is just such a classic combination to me. Regardless, a good meal but not the best one of this sort I've had in Charlottesville.

Dropped by on a Monday evening and it was pretty empty. I ordered the chicken rice bowl (added…read morefalafels) and the desert mix. Guy behind the counter was very friendly but forgot the falafel, I was full anyway but when I mentioned it he quickly reimbursed them. That was really nice! The food is quick and delicious.

First of all, know that Babylon is a market that happens to make delicious food. There are about 4…read moresmall tables inside and several more outside. As far as a Middle Eastern market it's pretty typical. They make the best of the shelf space by stocking them to the max. If you've never spent time in the Middle East then it may seem cluttered, but this is normal for this type of store. There were 4 of us and we ate inside. The absolute stars of Babylon are the food and the people. The gentlemen working were very helpful with the menu and super attentive to anything we might need. They're from Kurdistan and were all very very nice. The food was wonderful. We got 2 large sample platters, large hummus, and a small tabbouli salad. One of the gentlemen heard me telling my friends how they make the Saj bread, within minutes he brought out a large fresh Saj for them to try. It was hot and amazing. All the meat on the platter had great flavor. The rice was delicious, flavorful, and extremely plentiful. The hummus was good. The tabbouli was very fresh with a nice citrus flavor. The platter came with falafel, Saj, sauces, small cups of lentil soup, plates of pickled veggies (2 types of cabbage, jalapeños), along with olives, onion, cucumbers, and lettuce. The fresh baklava was absolutely amazing. To cut the sweetness they gave us some delicious black tea to finish the meal. We all loved Babylon and will be going back whenever we're in the area.

I was driving through Harrisonburg VA and stopped at Babylon for authentic kurdish kebab. This was…read morethe best experience, food was great and hospitality was amazing. I will go to this place again for sure.

I love the food here, and the staff is courteous and pleasant to deal with. If you want good yummy…read morefood, this is the place to be.

Man something changed here... maybe some brand new Kurds in town? the food was great but here is my…read moreChatGPT conversation FYI. I can't recommend anymore just bc it was so filthy. We didn't get sick tho so if you want an adventure go and get you some. Almost seemed like they didn't have running water... if you think we are nuts for staying-- we have eaten here a few times before and it wasn't like this lol My convo w the machine: We were at a Kurdish restaurant last night and the table was filthy so I asked the waiter to bring us a rag to clean it and instead he brought us a plastic sheet to lay on top. Is it possible he misunderstood what I was asking? When he put the plastic down it was evident just how dirty the table was!! Yes -- it is very possible he misunderstood you, and the plastic sheet actually makes me think that's more likely than him thinking, "Yep, this table is filthy; let's just cover it." A couple things could have happened: If there was a language barrier, "rag" is a particularly easy word to miss. It's colloquial English and not necessarily a word someone learns early. "Can I get something to clean/wipe the table?" would probably have translated more clearly. In some Kurdish/Middle Eastern restaurants, disposable plastic table coverings are normal, especially for meals with lots of shared dishes, bread, rice, grilled meats, etc. So he may have understood your request as "we need something on the table" rather than "please clean the table." He may also have interpreted your gesture toward the table as asking for a tablecloth/cover, and thought he was solving exactly what you wanted. The hilarious/awful part is that putting down clear plastic apparently created a museum-quality display case for the grime underneath. If the table was genuinely covered in old food, grease, crumbs, etc., though, that's obviously a cleanliness issue regardless of the misunderstanding. The misunderstanding could explain why he brought plastic instead of a rag; it doesn't explain why the table was that dirty to begin with. So yes: I'd give him pretty good odds of having misunderstood "rag." I would give the table no such benefit of the doubt.

The strip mall exterior shrewdly conceals this garden of culinary delights from those who lack the…read morecuriosity to pursue them. We started with an order of dolma- grape leaves stuffed with seasoned rice and cooked to just the right consistency- nothing was still crunchy, nothing was yet mushy. They vanished like djinn in the dawn, before I could get a picture. With them arrived our beverages- fountain drinks of the usual sorts. (Coke products.) As an Alan Parsons fan, I ordered The Pyramid - a homemade pita mounded with lettuce, tomato, homemade guacamole, brilliantly seasoned chicken cooked to perfection and served with rice, green beans, Muenster cheese and a marvelously spiced sour cream sauce. My Bride got the Loaded Greek- an Acropolis of fries, topped with a temple to the Muse of Gyros. Caramelised onions, red peppers, gyro meat, olives and tomatoes covered with feta and tzatziki. We split both dishes, enjoyed them thoroughly, and found ourselves sadly too full for dessert. The rice pudding and baklava combo is calling me to return... The total for this repast was a mere $34.42 before tip. More than reasonable, and just one more reason I'll be back!

We've been many times to this restaurant and, it never disappoints. We love Mediterranean food and,…read moreeat it whenever we get a chance. It's small, but worth every minute. Mediterranean food is very popular,but not many choices in this area. Wish they were able to move into a larger place.

Incredible hospitality and fantastic food. We couldn't resist trying many things from the menu. Our…read moreserver was the owner, and it was so clear he was passionate about the food! He gave detailed explanation about the dishes that made it taste even better. And the flavors were on point--from the refreshing sourness of the shafuta to the crisp fatoosh salad to the veggie marboka (so good slathered with the green chilis!) to the lamb fasha with fresh hot bread. Flavor and texture combos you won't find elsewhere! And of course we tried the spiced Yemeni coffee. When I mentioned it was my sister's birthday, he brought out a delicious, complementary piece of semolina cake with a honey syrup and two cups of shai So good, and even better with a little shai poured on top! From a cost perspective, you get large portions for a fair price, so be adventurous. Come for the food, stay for the hospitality. This is not an in-and-out-spot: it's a time to linger and enjoy. This place has to be next on your list of places to try.

DELICIOUS! Amazing! Try it! First time having Yemenise…read morefood. It's similar to what you'd call Mediterranean cuisine with slightly different and delicious spices. Service a great! Faris took time to tell us about the menu and recommended an amazing grill combo! We had grilled lamb chops, chicken,koftah, rice, side salad, fresh pita, and salsas. Two of us couldn't finish it all! The flavors were amazing! I really enjoyed the lentil soup we had with our hummus starter. The soup came out the perfect temperature. Not too hot not too cold legit just right! I had the shai which was delicious! Black tea with spices. And Faris was kind enough to give us each a sample of the shai adani , black tea with condensed milk and spices. I'll for sure order a cup next time. Think chai latte flavor! The restaurant itself is very nice inside and there's an outdoor patio as well! We will for sure be back!

A & A was a fantastic foodie experience! Extremely fast and good customer service. The mood was…read morevery relaxing, calm place to eat lunch or dinner. Our food came out in a timely manner. We received alot of food for two people, everything was fresh and was seasoned well. You cant go wrong by choosing this place. I would definitely return if Im ever in the area again. Prices very reasonable also.

My family returned in January 2026 to enjoy a delicious lunch as a pit stop on our drive to…read moreBlacksburg, VA from northern VA. My two sons one again devoured their chicken / lamb kabob platters. This time, we tried the appetizer hummus plate (which is highly recommended). On Saturday afternoon around 1pm, the lunch service was excellent. The restaurant has a warm and cozy vibe. My wife and I ordered takeout sandwiches (gyro + chicken kabob) which were great. There's plenty of parking available in this strip mall across from the EMU baseball fields.

We are in town celebrating the very recent birth of our grandson. We offered to bring dinner and…read moreasked our daughter what she would like. She said she'd love to try Downtown Cairo. Her wish was our command, so we found their restaurant on Forest Ave. We are no strangers to Middle Eastern cuisine so we were interested to find out what an Egyptian place around here would be like. Wow! It was fantastic! We ordered the "lunch" gyro combo for our three year old granddaughter... she will be eating it for the rest of the week haha! Son-in-law got the Egyptian street burger, and the rest of us ordered bowls with shawarma meat. The meat was flavorful and tender. All the toppings were fresh (there are lots of great options). Falafel was spot on! I hope they're fabulously successful, because we can't wait to come back the next time we're here! There's lots on the menu (grape leaves and Habibi fries) that I want to try.

Yummmmmm. What a nice change of pace! Super fresh food, and super delicious dessert!! I built my…read moreown bowl- lettuce/rice, chicken schwarma, hummus, veggies, falafel, tzatziki and hot sauce. I only got the small bowl and I ate maybe 1/3 of it! That falafel is to die for! Next time I will be getting just the falafel as my meat, for sure. Everything was so so good and fresh!