Damascus Restaurant

Plain comfortable décor, friendly professional casual service, and SUPER food. We love the place. Moussaka, kafta, chicken, moohadra, Greek salad, hummus, and especially the baba are all excellent or better.

Food is awesome best hummus & babaganoush around. Had the Damascus special salad with beef kabob. Kabob was tender and tasty.
Tried the Fava beans and falafel also.
Finished with Baclava and coffee.
Would recommend.

Visiting here from L.A. This place is great! The food is delicious and fresh. The fatoush salad is a MUST HAVE! I

Drove all the way from Virginia to Allentown, PA to try Syrian style food.
Here is what we ordered:
1– Fatouch: The lettuce was bitter and could not finish the plate
2– Fried Kebbeh: really good
3– Grape Leaves: Was not impressed. could have tasted better. Need more lime.
4– I asked for Fatteh, they did not have it. what a shame, it is a main dish in Syria.
5– Asked for Taratour for the Kebbeh, they just gave us Taheeny. they did not mix it well.
Overall:
The restaurant is small, outdated, and the food did not taste like «home». I liked the Kebbeh a lot. Staff were nice. I only gave it 2 stars because I had high expectations based on Unilocal reviews.

Wow! Some of the best Middle Eastern food I have had in the states. Rivals several of the best places I’ve been to in the Middle East. Their Kibbeh Nayeh is only available on Saturday but is worth waiting for. Their salads, hummus, baba ganoush and other dishes are really good as are the kabobs. Family owned and run, friendly, great service. Mom was rolling the grape leaves, both the veggie and meat versions are very good. You get more than your money’s worth in portions, you will take some home.

Damascus was great. I had some falafel, some baklava, and some really strong coffee. Felt like I was in someone’s home. I felt very welcome. Everything tasted great.

We enjoyed babaganouj and «surkey» a salad made with tomato, parsley, olive oil and a zesty, feta like cheese called «shankleesh.»
That cheese came in handy to balance the fried slices of zucchini that came with a sweet pomegranate sauce.
A simple meat pie didn’t have quite the zing as the other appetizers. Pro tip: if you are in Allentown on a Saturday, order the kibbeh naya; raw beef served with sizzling onions and butter. Looks like what you would make burgers out of but is absolutely addicting.

I’ve eaten at your restaurant once. Absolutely amazing. I’ve never been to Damascus, but have been to Beirut and thought your dishes were authentic and made with love. I wish you the best right now as I read articles on the Syrian War and the refugee issue in PA. Keep on cooking.

I was trying to find a good middle eastern restaurant for takeout on a Friday night and Damascus was definitely a great choice. Nice staff, great food! I’ll definitely be back!

Another fantastic experience. I was lucky enough to go there on a Saturday night when they serve kibbye nahyee. It was perfect and our server suggested pairing it with sautéed onion in butter… pure nirvana. This small family owned place is a gem and next time I town, it will be my first stop. I took home as many appetizers as I could back to NH especially the foule and baba gannoush.

They have great food! Get the fried cauliflower. It’s amazing!

This is one of my absolute favorites!!! I’ve never had a bad dish and the service is excellent. Always make a reservation and bring a good bottle of wine!

After reading the rave reviews on Damascus, my husband and I stopped in for dinner during a visit to Allentown. Wow! The baba ganoush was outstanding, as was the rest of our meal: Fried kibbe, fattoush salad, surkey (with shankleesh cheese), medium rare lamb kabob and a birds nest pastry. We were in food heaven!
Our server was very helpful in helping us decide what to order, as were the family at the next table (the husband said he had been eating at Damascus for 30 years!). what a friendly place!
We enjoyed dinner so much, we returned for lunch the next day. The Greek salad and stuffed grape leaves with meat were excellent!
If you’re visiting Damascus during the day, consider stopping by the nearby Allentown Art Museum downtown to see the replica of Frank Lloyd Wright’s home library.

This is a legitimate Syrian restaurant! The place was packed on a saturday night. I’m not sure if reservations are suggested. I decided to get a takeout order this evening — Chicken Shawarma with a side of hummous. The food came out fast and was delicious! The chicken was moist and flavorful! I have to remember not to forget about this local gem!

Simply delicious… family run and they clearly do not settle for less than perfection with ingredients and service. Great for meat lovers and veggies alike!

We just had dinner at this wonderful little gem of a place, and we’re so glad we did! Everything was very tasty and contrary to one reviewer, we had plenty to eat with leftovers. Very plain décor, definitely a neighborhood place, but the food and service are top notch. We started off with a surkey appetizer (Syrian cheese, tomato, onion, etc) with pita which was great. Then while waiting we were served some hummus and babaganouj. Our entrees were moussaka and shawarma platters. Dessert was baklava. Everything was excellent! Seasoned perfectly! Service was friendly and pretty fast. I felt it was reasonably priced considering all we ordered. Two tips: first, it is a small place so make a reservation if you think it could be busy. It’s easy to drive right by it so look carefully. If the school next door is out there is plenty of room to park on Liberty Street. Otherwise it might be a bit tricky. It’s worth the extra effort, though.

Lehigh Valley has its fair share of wonderful middle eastern restaurants. And Damascus provides us a taste of Syria with a nice authentic flair. Usually I order 4 – 5 appetizers at Damascus instead of their entrees. They are delicious and makes for a delectable meal. I recommend their Labnie (yoghurt spread) with olives, humus (spiced chick pea spread), babagonoush (roasted eggplant spread) and shankleesh (a must have traditional Syrian cheese). I have found their Kibees (bulgur and meat balls) to be a little dry and bland.
Among their entrees, their Shwarma is decent and so are their kebabs. One of their specials, the kibbe nayeh (middle eastern steak tartare) is pretty good and I would recommend that to anyone. Like its Turkish counterpart down 2^nd street, its a BYOB restaurant and from experience, a mild red wine with berry tones go really well with their food. I have always enjoyed my meal at damascus and I am certain you will too.

We were looking for a new place for lunch and husband was on board for an adventurous meal after our Syrian food truck find in Baltimore. Based on reviews here on Unilocal we gave it a try. Very plan Jane décor but that all melts away with the fab food! They have a list on the table of recommendations and customer favorites which was nice. I wanted to give them 5 stars because the food and service were great but the sauces were too heavy handed. We started with fried eggplant but too much balsamic. The Fatoush salad was so worth the extra $ 1.50 but again too much dressing. We shared a combo platter with lamb and chicken. Next time we are just getting lamb; really tender and tasty! My husband ordered the cheese dessert and I had a few bites but it was swimming in a sugar syrup. Our total was $ 32 and we were full! Defiantly makes the rotation for us.

AUTHENTIC. EXTREMELY TASTY. MUST-​EAT.
I came here two months ago when dropping a friend off in Allentown. The food is extremely authentic Syrian cuisine from Homs. Other than in Aleppo Kitchen in LA, I have never had such authentic Syrian food in America. The prices are extremely cheap for the high quality cuisine that you get. It is proof how authentic the place is that the restaurant serves Juz Muz for breakfast which you thought you only could have in the backyard of your uncle’s cousin in Homs — no more! I had the meat stuffed cabbage rolls which were like home cooked Arab food along with kibbeh, hummos, and some other appetizers. The owner was a nice Syrian woman who had come from Homs and makes everything fresh in the back. This is for sure one of my favorites in America and honestly is worth the drive down to Allentown to eat in. I am jealous that the people of Allentown get to keep this gem.

This is one of those places from another time that are modest and amiable.
The owner works the kitchen and his love of food is apparent. The baba is the best I’ve ever had and the hummus, but all the good is excellent. For me the food is the standard for middle eastern.