Ask for Tanja to be your server. She was awesome!!! We were excited to try Ugly Restaurant, as we…read morelove Turkish food. These folks did not disappoint. Tanja brought us some pita bread and carrot salad to start. That was complementary. We had a couple of cocktails from the bar, which were very good. We next had the Cigar Borek, which were little cheese rolls with a spicy tomato dip that was outstanding! We then ordered the beef doner wrap, which was just delicious! The beef they use for this is really tender and delicious. We cannot wait to return to this lovely Ugly Restaurant. :)

When I see Yelp ratings of 4 1/2 stars on over 80 reviews, my expectations are high. This one let…read moreme down for sure. One of the reasons I love Mediterranean food is its use of spices and infused flavors. A complimentary carrot salad mixed with yogurt was served with warm pita bread. This was not good, frankly, and was the start of what would end up being an underwhelming experience. I ordered the mixed sampler platter for an appetizer. The only thing worth eating was the falafel and the cigar borek (fried breaded cheese). My entrée was the chicken shish kabobs that were accompanied by rice, a small chargrilled tomato, a chargrilled pepper and an onion salad. The chicken lack any kind of seasoning. Even salt would've help. This was probably the most bland Mediterranean food I've ever experienced. The presentation was grade A but the lack of flavor resulted in a Grade C. Even the baklava was bland. For $60 (including tip) I could've had a much more fulfilling meal.

The karak chai with saffron is amazing. Do yourself a favor and get the large. The food is also…read moregreat but lunch (hot food) service does not start until 11am so please be aware of that. We got there a little early and had the chai and a date mamool while we were waiting. They ended up taking our food order a little early so it would be ready at 11am since they weren't very busy and I am pretty sure the front counter worker was enamored with our 2 year old daughter. This was our second time here (we went last year as well when my wife was at this same conference) so I was well overdue to review this place. The food here is fantastic which is why we repeated it - it has to be for us to do that at places we visit. Good or okay doesn't get a repeat from us. The dolmas are exactly what you want them to be and there is a perfect amount of salt on the arabic salad, the cabbage salad, and the pickled turnips. Speaking of which, the pickled turnips here are divine perfection. I would be hard-pressed to find better pickled turnips anywhere. The schwarma is quite solid - not as good as I recall from The Netherlands, but as good as any here in the U.S. The Middle Eastern vegan platter is quite a bargain and delicious to boot. The workers here are very kind and I have no knocks against this place at all. They even sell Dubai chocolate to go on a deal - Buy two original bars and get a Strawberry cream Matcha one for free.

The food was very authentic and amazing. I tried the shishtawook and the Kofta along with fresh…read morefalafel and hummus. The Karak Tea was delicious. Staff very friendly will come back definitely

A tear nearly came out when I brought that chicken into my mouth. It's just so good…read more Good service. The seating and tables were sparkling clean. Plus, the food took like three minutes to come out.

When we walked in, the environment was not friendly. The food was okay, but it lacked seasoning and…read morecould have been better. It is a family-owned restaurant, and we respect their business and support local businesses in Peoria. However, the server could have shown more friendliness. He did not seem polite. We kept saying "thank you" when he took our payment and when he served our food, but there was no response--he just walked away. He needs to learn hospitality. However, when I took pictures of our food, they started becoming friendly. "get the hint" We hope their business do well. Danny the chef was friendly as we were leaving he was busy cooking