It's a Mediterranean Chipotle. The service is fast and great. The food is fresh and uses free range, organic-ish products. The atmosphere is industrial chic (love it). So what's the deal?
Well, the deal is I'm just not in love with the food. If you have never had couscous or falafel or schwarma or kabob, this is an OK starter kit, but it's pretty far from the source material. In some ways the comparison to Chipotle really works against a place like this. Here's why:
Chipotle, whether you are a fan or not (I am a fan), has got food that is entirely recognizable in form and flavor as Mexican fare. The guac is fantastic and, oddly, rivals some of the better Mexican restaurants in the area. Tacos are still tacos. They are built the same way. Meat on the bottom, followed by sauce and lettuce on the top. Burritos are still burritos. Same as burritos that you get anywhere else (though probably larger).
The kabob pita sandwich I had at Roti illustrated that it's different with Mediterranean fare. See, Mediterranean fare is about distribution of elements, not layers of elements. The Chipotle format doesn't allow for any nuances, such as tossing the ingredients together or applying sauces anywhere other than a single area in the sandwich. The pita has to be stuffed in the order in which you choose the ingredients. The result is a pita that is cold and doesn't have much flavor with odd, segregated pockets of pita components.
Hummus isn't the sour cream from Chipotle. You can't take a big spoonful and fwap it in the middle of a sandwich. A) This hummus is such a neutral flavor B) It's ice cold and quite dense (and you're putting it on a hot sandwich) C) Hummus is meant to line the inside of the pita to keep the other sauces from spilling out. It should be a persistent flavor and texture, not a big spoonful of cold, pasty sauce in the middle of the sandwich. Also, chicken (or whatever protein) needs to be tossed with cucumbers and tomatoes and lettuce. Again, you can't just have a tomato and cucumber part of the pita and a chicken part of the pita. It's about interplay of flavor. That's not what I got. I just ended up eating the chicken part.
But the problems continue with the falafel, which is hardly falafel at all. The flavor and texture are completely different. The falafel at Roti taste like fried samosa filling. It's not bad, but it's not falafel. Good falafel have a much better crunch, a more granulated and bright green interior, and don't taste like coriander or cumin. They taste more like light garlic and herbs. Again, it's not that the falafel here tasted bad, but if this is your first falafel experience, expect something entirely different when you order them elsewhere.
My wife had a Sultan Sandwich, which was better than my pita, but neither of us were blown away. The flavor was pretty muted, which is unlike any Mediterranean place I've eaten at. Also the sandwich had more of a pickled flavor than spice, so... ehhh.
The thing is, if you're not crunched for time and running out for lunch, there are far, far better pita places in the suburbs that are far more satisfying and are maybe a bit cheaper. You'll wait longer for your food, but if you can afford the time you'll have a better experience and much more flavorful food. While Chipotle can (at times) rival decent authentic Mexican restaurants in flavor, I can't say the same is true with Roti and other places out there.
Not everyone likes the same things, so maybe you should check them out for yourself. This restaurant is affable enough, but the obvious comparison to Chipotle just made me think of a place I'd rather be. I'd normally give a restaurant like this 2 stars, but I'll round up because this is a new place, I only had the one experience, and the employees are really likeable folks. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll see them again anytime soon. Sorry guys. read more