Ordered: Mango Melon Hookah (~$25) Mint Lemonade (~$7) Mixed Hot Appetizers (~$25): bourak, kibbeh balls, meat pie, falafel Appetizer Mix (~$25): hummus, baba ghannouj, labneh, mohamara, with fried bread Mixed Grill (~$27): kufta, chicken tawouk and filet mignon served with rice, grilled tomatoes, onions & parsley Aya's take: I was super excited to try Mazaj since I'm Lebanese and absolutely love our food. I stopped by around 6pm on a Thursday with a party of 8. We were seated outside right away as they didn't get busy until about 9pm. The Mint Lemonade is a must! If you ever go to a Lebanese restaurant, get it - trust me. It's refreshing, lightly sweet, and went well with the Mango Melon Hookah. The Mixed Hot Appetizers & Appetizer Mix was a great sampler for the table and everything was well-made and pretty authentic. I'm a big fan of Mixed Grill platters and let me just say, the 3 different meats were juicy and seasoned well, and the toum (garlic aioli) was spot on! A bit pricy considering the quantity/quality but all in all, great meal, great time, and great ambiance! read more

See all

Everything about this place is excellent The food is amazing, service is top notch, and the hookah is reasonably priced and is one of the best in area ... the ambiance is quiet usually read more

Let me preface with the fact that I am half Arab. I ordered through Uber Eats on a whim and came here afterwards to check reviews. Immediately, I regretted my decision due to the poor reviews, but I thought my experience might be different. It wasn't. Keep reading. My food arrived hot. I first opened the fried cheese. The cheese appeared to possibly be made in house. That was a good sign! The cheese was perfectly grilled. No complaints. Would eat it again! Now on to the shawarma. I only took two bites. Why? Because the meat was chopped! Everyone knows that shawarma is made with meat sliced from a vertical spit. Even the Greek version, the gyro, has sliced meat. The meat was seasoned well, however, I couldn't get past the fact that I felt like I was eating dog food in a pita. Overall, two stars because the food is not bad like some reviews said. It's cooked perfect. However, I couldn't get past the texture of my shawarma. I'd say proceed at your own risk. Don't chance it on an entirely empty stomach. read more

I've been going to Mazaj for over 8 years now and definitely won't return again. At the time to pay, I decided to go up and split the bills into 2 bills for 2 credit cards to pay. I realized that there was an additional water bottle (we only ordered 9 for each person, and the bill had 10 water bottles) and a second kabob platter that no one ordered. I told the manager/part owner Rola about the added water bottle and she said, "it's not my fault, you ordered it," which is never the right response. I explained to her that we ordered 9 waters for each person and there was an extra at the far end of the table that none of us ordered. I then told her about the added kabob platter to which she responded, "I have to double check with the waiter hold on" and went to ask him. I didn't mind, although her saying that indicates that I'm not telling the truth. I explained to the waiter and Rola that once again there's 9 of us and repeated our individual orders and even showed them our table with 9 plates on it. Rola went back to the register and printed out a new receipt without the added kabob platter and left the additional water bottle on it. I told her again and she reluctantly went back to the register, made comments about how she didn't know how to use the register, and printed out another one without both of those added items. To make it easy for her, I wrote down the items for the 1st check and the other items for the 2nd check. It took a few prints to get it right, so she asked me to look at the screen and tell her what to add on which check, which I didn't mind at all. I got my check and gave my friend her check. There is a "Credit-Debit fee" that they charge for credit card payment that is automatically added to any receipt, which didn't make sense because if I were to pay cash, it wouldn't be applicable. But it's added on anyway. The Credit-Debit fee on my receipt was $4.80. There's also an automatic 18% gratuity, which is common. I handed her my credit card and she inserted it while I was reviewing the check again. I saw her click an additional button on the credit card button that eventually led to an additional $5.20 that was listed as a "Credit-Debit fee." The initial $4.80 was already included in the total that I was paying. I asked her about it and she said, "It's the credit machine, yeah, it's not us. The credit card machine does it like that." I don't know what the credit card machine exactly does, but I do know that charging $10.00 for a credit card fee is fraud. I became really frustrated and decided not to continue dealing with this person because it was already about 30 minutes of going back and forth and trying to help her through her giving me, a long-time customer, attitude. My friend went to pay for the 2nd check. The 2nd check also had a credit card fee charge included in it. This time, when Rola inserted the credit card, my friend and I watched her as she herself inputted an amount for a second credit card fee. We both realized that that's not "what the credit machine does," that's what she does. My friend asked her about it and she repeated the same line that she did to me a few minutes earlier. My friend told her there was already a fee she paid for and it didn't make sense for her to pay $7.00 for a CC fee. Rola put her hand up to my friend's face and said, "No, no, no, I'm not gonna argue. No argument," which at that point was full-on disrespect. I told her that's it's more than 2x the first fee on both checks. A CC fee is also almost always 2.6% if I'm not mistaken. She said she would call the owner and ask him. She got off the phone and looked at her employee and told him to "take out $3.00 for her." Then she said, "actually take out $2.00 to give her." The employee did so and apologized, but we explained to him that it's not about the money, it's about this person attempting to overcharge just to make more money in a really deceptive manner. She proceeded to go back into the kitchen cursing in Arabic. We all definitely won't be returning to Mazaj because this new, or most recent, management functions on fraudulent activity and disrespect. I remember when I met this woman a while back and she told us she had just took over this place. She was welcoming and accommodating, and that's completely different now. This additional charge definitely is done to all other customers and people are told "that's what the credit card machine does." *Side note: 2 people of our group ordered the golden fried shrimp, meaning there were 2 orders of that. Both got their plates with 5 shrimp on each plate: 10 shrimp in total. On the menu, it says "10 pcs of golden fried shrimp." Each plate is supposed to have 10, not 5. I was charged for 2 orders that were supposed to have 20 shrimp in total. ($26 for 10 pieces of shrimp). I called to get that resolved and was told by the person who served us that I would receive credit for it back to my credit card account and haven't yet. read more

Mazaj - Charged for 2 plates when we technically received 1 plate - Lebanese Near Me - Paterson, New Jersey

See all

I Dine in every weekend with my friends and seems like the menu went up and the service is terrible . Food is great and really it's a lovely place but come on now you're charging double to stay indoors and it's doesn't make sense . My bill was over 300 dollars and I only ordered three entrees . Soft drinks & a hooka. But seriously all entrees were super disappointing there was barely any rice and enough meat . Each screw has 3 pieces of meat and such little amount of rice and salad Sheesh I rather take my money somewhere else read more

I'm going to get right to is so when we got our apitisers it was another 3 hours until we got our food. I we were the first ones here and the 3 other tables that came after us got there food before us and I saw that the cooks were literally watching the the show instead of cooking which made me frustrated. Othe rthan that every thing else was fine. read more

Mazaj is the the best restaurant / hookah lounge around in New Jersey! From the environment, quality hookah, and authentic delicious food makes Mazaj a must try that will keep you coming back. On top of everything, Mazaj is led by Rola who is accommodating, caring, and friendly who always makes sure every experience here memorable that will keep you coming back! It's not often where a business is led by a someone like her who is truly genuine and acommodating like she is for her guests, and she goes above and beyond to make sure your time spent here is worth while every single time. Without a doubt, Mazaj is the best you'll find in New Jersey, and huge shout out to Rola again for being a leading example time and time again of what best in the business is! read more

Not sure why this place has low ratings. It's not the best Middle Eastern Food out there but it's definitely good! The meat is flavorful and well cooked! Not to mention the live entertainment was very enjoyable! The belly dancer was fun and talented, she even balanced things on her head per a customer's request. She also swallowed fire! I wish the entertainment had gone on for a little longer and yes the music is loud but cmon people-this SJ a great way to spend a Saturday night! Service was good and so was the hookah-they have lots of flavor options! read more

Mazaj - Lebanese Near Me - Paterson, New Jersey

See all

Fantastic service, wonderful hospitality, and tasty dishes . I took my 80 students on a field trip to Mazaj to experience Lebanese culture and cuisine and we were not disappointe, we only had an hour to spend after returning from a trip to the Met museum and we all got served very quickly and made it back to school on tim. My entire school is abuzz now with the wondearful experience we all had at Mazaj. read more

Came here with a friend. Ordered hookah, food, and drinks. Everything was great. The service was a little slow but I think that's because the waiter was new. Other than that it was a nice place to chill. The hookah was smooth, the food tasted delicious, the manager was really nice, and the Arabic coffee we ordered was on point. Will Be Back. read more

I will not be coming back here again, and I highly don't recommend Mazaj. Read full review below. Booking: Like all Arabic entertainment places (and I've been to just about every one), we thought that once we reserve for a party, the restaurant would hold our table for the full night. This was not the case at Mazaj, and that could be counted as my misunderstanding. Even though we were late, they still accommodated us and gave us a table. While they had multiple tables available, they still gave us a very hard time over it. Food & Drinks: - The food was of average quality - The chicken was very dry, and the only good thing to highlight was the Kufta. - We ordered ice for our drinks, to which they brought an ice bucket with BROKEN GLASS in it. I have a picture to prove it. Service: The main reason we will not be coming back is the hostess, who had a terrible demeanor the entire time. She needs to be fired, plain and simple. She does not belong in the restaurant industry. - She gave us an attitude as soon as we walked in about being late. - When I was showing her the picture of the broken glass in our ice bucket, she was rolling her eyes while I was talking, which was extremely rude. After she went to verify with the kitchen if this happened, she didn't come back once to apologize. - When I told the waiter about the broken glass, he took out the glass and then started walking away. I called him back to take the entire ice bucket with him. He came back within seconds with fresh ice; a sure indication that it wasn't even properly washed. - They wanted to charge our group an "Entrance Fee" on the bill, while we booked their full dinner and entertainment package. The "Entrance Fee" turned out to be ice service. After complaining about the broken glass in ice incident, they removed it from the bill. The best thing to highlight: - The DJs - Johnny, Eli & Mina. They're the only reason we actually stepped foot in this restaurant. I'll be posting this review on Facebook and Google, along with the broken glass picture. read more

Mazaj - Lebanese Near Me - Paterson, New Jersey

Rude waiters. Literally refused to bring glasses to drink out of. Just gave us cans of soda. Three requests to get pita for the hummus. We sat and looked at the hummus for twenty minutes. They seated us directly next to the front door. Blast of cold air every time the door opened. Refused to move us 'all of those empty tables are reserved ' tables stayed empty for over an hour. When I complained the manager stared at me then walked away without saying a word. Do they NOT WANT NON ARABIC CUSTOMERS??? read more

Good hookah and service. Outdoor is quite nice as well. I'd definitely come back more often. The hookah makes a killer orange mint

Do Not go to this place! The manager is unrespectful. The waiter made a mistake with the order number she put quantity 2 instead of one for meat Arais then the manager started yelling at the waiter and he hit her with the chair for this small silly mistake. I am no longer going to this place and I will jot recommend anyone to vist this place as well. read more

This place has ants crawling everywhere. We told the waiter and he either didn't understand or do anything. Didn't know how to react to his reaction. Felt very uncomfortable and itchy the entire time. Despite the good food, will be not going there anymore. I'm afraid my fries didn't have black pepper but ant pepper. read more

I've been here on several occasions and unfortunately the more I come the worse my experience gets. The only good thing about this place is the Hispanic female worker (sorry I didn't grab her name). She was the only one on top of things as far as service. 1st visit- Arabic coffee took 40 min to arrive and the place was empty. Server never came to check on us once, didn't even offer us water. Hooka was the only thing prepared well, but our coal was never changed. 2nd visit- Hooka was prepared terribly, as far as service, the female mentioned above did an awesome job at making sure we were okay. Even reminded us about a new addition to this establishment opening up for the holidays. She really knew her stuff around this place. Constantly going back and forth between buildings and had a nice and friendly attitude. Their fruit shakes do taste good, but you'll be waiting a while for them. 3rd visit- By far the worst. Hooka was prepared terribly. Again, coffee and sweets took almost an hour to arrive at the table, had to go outside and into the other building to ask someone for service. Very rude and obnoxious Arabic lady, who I assume to have been the manager or owner? Not sure, but I will not be returning. Much money was spent here and I've constantly received terrible service. This place has the potential to be great, especially since they have an outdoor area, restaurant and a building for just hooka/drinks . 3 different buildings but the service is crap. PS**** skip valet (5$) and park for FREE on the street. read more

See all

Used to be my favorite place in Paterson.. not anymore.. Food was bad.. the French fries were so thin they felt like I was eating plastic.. the taboule was so salty.. I ordered lamb chops.. barely any meat.. overpriced for no reason. Really bad experience after all.. and to top it off.. $5 is a required valet charge? Don't see this management lasting long to be honest.. read more

Came here with a few friends for some late night hookah and fell in love! I'm not a huge hookah fan, but this place has some great flavors. My friends and I went with the blue mist & loved it. What really sold me was the great customer service. The staff was extremely friendly & attentive and the overall atmosphere was very warm and relaxing. I will definitely be back! read more

DO NOT COME HERE. DO NOT COME HERE. DO NOT COME HERE. I know we are living in unsettling times and I normally wouldn't leave a review like this during these times, but the service is absolutely AWFUL. For one, your food will arrive 1 hour late and you'll have to basically beg for forks, which come out 30 minutes after you get your appetizers and are filthy. After seeing the dirty forks they give you, you'll have to beg for plastic forks. Oh and best believe you won't be getting napkins either! My food came out cold as hell and the fries were just awful. The appetizers were tasty (the ones we could eat with our hands, I can't tell you about the others because we had no forks!). After complaining, the server was rude to us because he's mad that he's ugly! The belly dancer wasn't even Arab and had no rhythm. She just looked dumb! Management, please hire more servers. If you don't have enough servers, stop giving tables. ****After getting the bill, we saw they added on stuff that we did not even get and management said "we saw a server put that on your table!" Are you on crack? The people working here are on crack. No one is going to lie to you about $10 calamari. They also removed the gratuity fee from our bill because they knew nobody served us. Big fat owner is rude too! This place needs to go out of business. Nobody does anything right here. STAY AWAY! read more

I went their yesterday to get Hookah with my friends and I should say I was disappointed. We order a Hookah for 4 of us. It was all fine until one of us ordered Hummus. The server came and said that Manager said that one hookah and hummus for 4 people is not okay and that we should order at least a minimum of $15 per person. We were disappointed because by then we had all eaten and we were just there to get hookah and some hummus. The food came late but it tasted good. We ordered 2 plates of falafels, 1 plate of hummus and 1 plate of wings. The most weird thing was that One plate of Falafels had 6 falafels in them and the other had only 5. We also ordered 3 Sprites and 1 Coke and the waiter brought out 1 Sprite and 3 Cokes. In conclusion, their food tasted good but their service is bad and if you're a party of more than two you will have to order worth at least $15 per person. read more

I have come to this spot a few times. This is a good spot for some hookah and it's also a BYOB. It's better to come to this spot on a slow day, on busy days the service isn't the best. The food is pretty good to and its a nice portion that will fill you up. Me and my friend had the chicken and steak platters with the rice, The meet was plentiful and juicy and the rice was good to. I would come back here, but I would wait to the summer. read more

I must start here by saying that I haven't eaten here yet. But my friends and I came by to smoke some hookah outside because it was a beautiful night. The 5 stars is for the exceptional service we received. Everyone who attended to us, including our waitress the hookah man and other employees who helped us was so friendly and cared about our needs and such. We also looked at the time and realized the restaurant was scheduled to close at 12 midnight and we were there a past then and no one on the staff rushed us or made us feel uncomfortable. The hookah flavors were great! They give you 4 coals so I just slid one off because that was a little too strong for me. I can't wait to come back and try the food as well! read more

I definitely recommend this place for a night out with friends, they have a very delicious food .. I like their labneh and hummus , tabbouleh and kefta .. thank you very much guys for how you treat your customers read more

Let me start off by saying how AMAZING this place is!!! Between the hookah, food/desserts and drinks ... you seriously can't get better from anywhere else. To top it off, it's BYOB! Each time I've gone here with friends, Rola has been so kind and sincere to us. She really makes us feel welcomed! On Saturdays they have a live DJ and belly dancers!! Would 10/10 recommend this place if you're looking to have a great night! read more

Service was horrible - waitstaff seemed more interested in socializing with their friends and smoking hookah. Waited almost 20 minutes to get a menu, 20 minutes to order, and a long time to get our check. Food was mediocre. Not recommended. read more

Mazaj - Lebanese Near Me - Paterson, New Jersey

Great place to hang with friends during these crazy times. The food is good and the music is great. If you like watching a belly dancer that's also something they have. Place is awesome for low maintenance crowds who are just there to have a good time and grab a bite. Minimum is $45 a person and hookah starts at $20 on a fresh fruit head. You can get a hookah and something to eat to meet the minimum and have a great time. It's also BYOB so that's cool. read more

Trust the reviews. I'd give it no stars if I could. The literal worst service ever, the staff and manager have no respect or even basic manners. It's like they want people to LEAVE. I'd been coming to this place for over five years because I liked the setting, but they have no regard for returning customers and have never been anything but rude, ill-mannered, and unaccomodating to me. The manager's face legitimately makes me angry now. read more

Hi going down!!! I have been coming to this place since 4 years ... this is the good place to have BYOB , we used to come every weekend to this place .... and yesterday we got horrible experiece..... i loved their lamb liver comparing to other day yestrdays lamb liver we had a quarter portion of that.... we called the manager she didnt show up.... she was hiding behind the wall.... she is giving me excuses like she do not have chef. And one more thing we havent recieved our complimentary green olives... service was sloppy but i can give couple of stars for that.... we are totally unhappy with the customer service.... read more

Mazaj - Lamb liver - Lebanese Near Me - Paterson, New Jersey

See all

I came here with a few of my friends the other day and I was a bit disappointed. I was slow in the beginning but when it hit 8 all hell broke loose. The food they have is generously portioned and its not to make up for the taste, because it tastes great. They have "Valet" parking for $5, but if youre sitting outside you literally have cars inches away from your seat, very appealing. Service was horrible by the end of our night. We finished eating and then wanted our checks but didnt see our server for another hour.... not even to have our tables cleaned. I don't know about you but i don't like to sit staring at dirty plates. Hookah which is the main attraction for this spot is great, so I've been told. I am not a smoker but everyone was raving about the smoothness and taste. Overall I would recommend this place if you have a lot of time to sit around and wait, don't come and expect a quick and attentive staff. read more

Mazaj - Chicken shawarma platter. - Lebanese Near Me - Paterson, New Jersey

Honestly, the food is good, the hookah and music are good, the only thing that I would not return for is the service. I've been here 3 times and all 3 times my friends and I were waiting for almost 30 minutes to be attended after being seated, and it was not a busy time. Then having been a server in the past, the servers do not check up on tables as often as they should. It's unfortunate, but like I said, the food, music, and hookah are good. So if you have nothing else to do one day, this is the place. read more

I don't know why so many people gave this place one or two stars. We went tonight for a double date - the service was on par, which matches perfectly with the Lebanese culture: relaxed and easy-going. If you go to a Lebanese place and expect everything to come out fast, you are eating at the wrong places. Go to a diner for quick service. As usual, the hookah was exceptional (latest 4 hours for $16). The food was as good as always. And the atmosphere was a lot of fun - we are inside and danced along to popular Arabic and rap music with a large birthday party. If you are looking for a good, relaxing time and delicious food, this is the place to be. read more

SUMMARY: WORST EHWA/CAFÉ IN PATERSON (see details below) I've been going to Paterson for over a decade and am intimately familiar with most of their establishments. I have come to Mazaj more times than I care to recall (usually because a friend was already there) and have never had a good experience. Against my bettter judgement, I went there to chill with my cousin because it was nice out. Service: We ordered our food (just a falafel and humus platter) at 8:05 and received it at 9:45 after complaining 3 times to the waiter that we didn't get it. How long does it take to make humus? It wasn't even busy. Shisha: the shisha was all right but the guy with the coal never came by to change them. I had to ask several times for it to be changed even once and it took about 20 mins since i asked to when it was changed, thereby affecting the quality of the smoke. Price: they increased the price of much of their food. $9 for a falafel sandwich? Seriously? Gratuity: like many places in Paterson a mandatory 20% gratuity is automatically charged to your bill regardless of how sh*t the service was. Hardly an incentive to improve and really grating for the customer who has a bad experience. Overall: place has potential to be better because it had nice outside seating and a juice bar but has been consistently mismanaged for years and I've never once taken or been with someone who enjoyed their experience here. Stay away read more

First of all we don't like give one star also but we don't have option for zero star. Today we went for dinner with our old friend. The restaurant closed at 12 am But we ready to order our main course at 11:20 pm The staff said kitchen was closed. The staff didn't inform us before they closing kitchen. Before the service was great it happen 3rd time problem with food n service The manager rola was list bother 2 attend the table . It's was our last visit at this place can't come anymore . This place is pathetic now read more

Been coming to this hookah lounge for years and I've never had any issues the Manager Rola is amazing ! She is always so attentive making sure everyone's okay, will always be coming here and telling others to as well best spot in NJ for a good hookah + food and BYOB even better read more

Worst service I have received. I was incredibly disappointed by this place (everything about it sucked-food, hookah, service) Save yourself the headache & go to another place. read more

They have the bad service ever! We order 4 hookahs 2 of them even didn't come to the table! One of them is not working! Server was so poor and gratuity was included! We payed 116$ for nothing!!! read more

Had an issue, requested to speak with the manager. Manager lied to my face saying she was not the manager (but a server) when that was not the case. Very unprofessional. Treat their servers terribly and take their tips. Do not support this place. read more

Came here with two other people. At the beginning the manager was nice. Smiling laughing with us. An hour in. Our hookah starts dying out and has absolutely no flavor. I personal barely smoke hookah but when I have, it gets me light headed. This hookah (their $20 blue mist to be exact) barely even made me light headed. Didn't even taste like blue mist. A vape pen would have more smoke and flavor out of it to say the least. We complain to the manager who told us to leave bc we said it was BS that they're not listening to the complaint, instead he's brushing us off and telling us we smoked it too much....we barely touched it because nothing was barely coming out of it. He brought us our checks and told us to leave. LOL and on top of that charges themselves a lovely gratuity. Idk who comes to this place and thinks it's great. But barely being a hookah smoker myself....that hookah was SHIT. I have a small one at home that has lasted longer than one hour and doesn't require 5 coals on it to be able to pull better!!! Mushahadat allah!! Shame on you for scamming your customers and on top of that kicking them out like that. You don't like to hear a complaint then don't own a damn business!!!! read more

This place finding parking is very hard on a busy street. I had came to try this place out because it seems like a good hangout to eat smoke some hookah and it's byob it's 18 and up so I've went there to there "lounge area" with a few friends. Very small lounge area music is good but the owner will stair at you the whole time while your singing or dancing then they add music on to your bill they charged for music! I remember us getting our bill then it said music $30. So I asked to speak with manager when the owner came over he said well you guys barely bought anything after refusing to pay the music part of the bill he threatened to call the cops. I told him I wasn't paying for music and he said we only charge for music for people who spend less than $100 like WTF? read more

This place overcharges you. They take advantage of big group and as an Arab, the food does not live up to its expectations or price. for nearly $60 PER PERSON, you do not get your money's worth in food. This is advertised as a "three course meal" but all you don't actually get three meals. You get your main dish plus a small side dip. They count tea...just tea as a course. They also avoid paying their taxes by advertising that you pay in cash instead of using a card. Although the people are nice, they are scamming you of your money. There's plenty of other places near by where you can get the same food and more for a quarter of the price read more