Sami’s Wrap ‘N Roll

In another city I had a favorite flourescently-​lit middle eastern restaurant… so I was hoping Sami’s (now called Café Beirut) would be similar. Not quite. Fattoush salad was passable but the dressing wasn’t as flavorful as I would have liked and the tomatoes were really mealy. They were cut up into little bits, but still. Lettuce was iceberg. Falafel wrap was fine, too, but I was hoping for a little better than «fine». There’s nothing wrong with the food here, per se, but it’s just not as good as I’ve had before at similarly down-​market places. If it were $ 4 for a falafel wrap rather than $ 6, we might have a longer conversation…
Guy at the counter was friendly and funny.

For the price, this place was great! The rice with lentils and onions was especially good and the delivery was less than 20 minutes.

I have a special place in my heart for family run businesses, especially those serving up delicious grub from their neck of the wood. Enter Sami’s Wrap and Roll. Whether you hit up the push cart on Longwood Ave or their newer locale in JP, you won’t be disappointed. The family is Lebanese and the menu serves a variety of Middle Eastern favorites such as hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, lentil dishes along with tasty breakfast sandwiches and some great salads. Sami himself mans the JP location and I frequently ask him when they are expanding to Dorchester!
My fav is the veggie omelette burrito, which is comprised of eggs, peppers, onions, mushrooms, salsa and cheddar cheese wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. I used to add 7 packets of hot sauce myself that is until Sami’s son suggested they add in their house made hot sauce, spicy and awesome!
I also am a huge fan of their salad selection (very fresh with house-​made dressings!) and iced coffee. The best part is the service; they genuinely care about their customers and really aim to please whether by altering menu items to fit your tastes or simply knowing what it is you order and getting it started for you with a quick nod. Can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow!

I am not an expert but I love middle –eastern food and this Middle eastern platter was one of the best I ever had. The falafel was fresh and tasty, the hummous was just right. The salad and the salad dressing were the BEST ever. The salad dressing and fresh salad with a bunch of olives, just the right amount of feta and fresh and tasty greens and veggies was heavenly.
The owner said that they will have ‘turkish coffee’ soon. It was really nice break from other spots on Centre street.
And the have free wi-​fi! I will be back.

i wish i got to talk more to the person behind the counter before ordering. i ordered falafel because i wasn’t sure what it was and knew that it was good. so this place was down the street from where i worked. there were alot of options, and i should’ve invested more time in ordering. i would’ve chosen a wheat wrap instead of white, but wasn’t given the option…
i liked my falafel wrap though. lots of lettuce and tomato, not too much sauce which is just perfect and the falafel itself was yummy. i will try other things on the menu in the future, now that i know better.

I had a hankering for falafel and figured I’d give this place a shot. Not too much to say other than I was a bit let down. It’s probably my fault for not being more specific about what I wanted but my wrap came with falafal, lettuce, and tomato… and that’s it. Where’s the hummus and pickles?! I thought the falafal had a nice flavor, but I didn’t love the texture. With other great falafel options (granted they aren’t quite as close) like Rami’s and Falafel King, I’ll take a pass on Sami’s.

A year later this is now my Saturday morning breakfast stop when I am running errands in Jp. Nothing says ‘up your ass hangover’ like a huge iced coffee and a steaming pile of eggs. Thank you.

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE ~ Used go to the Longwood Sami’s back in their heyday twice a week and late night most weekends; you couldn’t find a better falafel period. After a long absence, I rediscovered Sami’s and today, ordered a Falafel Wrap with Baba Ghanoosh and Tabbooli; hoping it would be at least half as good as they used to be. The Falafel was as good as the old Sami’s; flavor was there but the rest of the wrap could have come out of a vending machine. Tabbooli was old, flavorless and skimpy. There was so much tahini sauce I couldn’t even find any Baba Ghanoosh; let a lone, taste any.
Don’t bother to check the daily specials; there’s nothing special at this reincarnation of Sami’s. Sami Saba Jr, running it now, has no clue how AMAZING the old Sami’s was. Now it’s just a bad deli with a middle eastern mask. SAMI’S RIP.

Depressing find. I’d heard this place was great (and for coffee as well) so my girlfriend and I decided to get wraps here instead of Purple Cactus across the street. The place itself is fairly run down. I’ve seen worse, but it’s evident they’re not trying very hard. The guy there was pretty awkward about taking our orders. My Falafel Monster wrap was wrapped fairly loosely and not very carefully put together, and the falafel wasn’t that flavorful. Just didn’t taste very fresh overall. The coffee was terrible too, simply put. I was going to put that there are better options for mediterranean food in JP, but there really aren’t. Spend more time in Allston/​Cambridge if you’re looking for good falafel.

The owner has no pride in his offerings of substandard Lebanese cooking. There with other Lebanese friends. We ordered about 4 different things, we couldn’t finish any of them. You may think the food is fine, but it is sloppy and overcooked and under spiced.

The man behind the counter was helpful about his menu favorites and answering questions. It was my first time eating here, so I went to the old standards of falafel and grape leaves. Both were served up very fast and were great. One oddity was that the stuffed grape leaves were served as a sandwich, which I have never seen before. It was good, but unexpected.
I will return!

i haven’t been back to this place in a while. reason being, it just didnt impress me after the first visit. The last time i was there, i ordered a falafel and didn’t feel good the rest of the day. The flavor was just bland. I was excited to see a middle eastern store open up, but this place just doesn’t cut it for me.
The only decent middle eastern place i have found in the boston area is Shawirma King. Too bad its a hike away from me.

Not bad. I’ll probably come back to check out some of the other goods, like the Amy’s rice. I agree with other reviewers though that the Falafel was sub-​par. After I few bites my reaction was: really?! Everything about it was OK except the falafel itself which was «fried to a crisp» as advertised and, as a result, extremely dry.
Sure my last falafel was in San Francisco — but I shouldn’t have to go all the way to the West coast to have a decent, delicious… I can’t stop thinking about it… falafel experience.

Upon a second visit, this place is less impressive, and thus this review is more comprehensive. The second time, the falafel was dry, and the chili I got as my soup was a dull flavor with almost no really pepper flavor.
Still decent, but not the best thing in JP.

Sami’s is immaculately clean, and in a good location. I was surprised at the diverse items on their menu since I thought it would just be middle eastern wraps.
OK that’s the end of the nice things I have to say about Sami’s.
Went there once, had the falafel as that is what they are famous for. I threw half the sandwich out. Maybe its just that I’m used to places with a bit more authentic middle eastern going on — like Brookline’s Schwarma King or even the Middle East Restaurant in Cambridge. My sandwich was really well wrapped, not too much bread (I hate when they double the bread for no reason), but the falafel had a burnt, sour taste. There were no pickles or hot sauce. It was a very bland all-​american version of a falafel sandwich.
In short, no love, and thus, no reason to go back.

My salad was a poor excuse for a salad. Way too much iceberg lettuce, a few olives, a slice or two of green pepper and onion, under-​ripe tomatoes, tasteless feta, unfresh pita bread. I asked for a salad with falafel, and they gave me a SINGLE piece. Um, OK. The falafel was good, but a little greasy for my taste. My friend’s falafel bomb wrap looked good, but if you mess up a salad, how can you really make anything well? If I were in the area and wanted falafel, I’d come back to try their wrap, but doubtful that will happen.
Two stars for large menu and accepting credit cards.

Fresh, but disappointing flavor, portions and atmosphere.
The food itself is 3 stars quality – it’s definitely fresh, but it’s boring. The portion size-​to-​price ratio definitely takes a star off.
We got the falafel sandwich and the Mezza plate, around 6.50 each (I think they added a buck to my sandwich because I requested pickled peppers and radish on it), and a side of baba ganoush. The food tasted fresh but the portions were totally pathetic. The «Mezza Plate» was 2 falafel balls, 2 grape leaves, and a scoop of tabooli on some romaine leaves. Pathetic. The baba ganoush was flavorless.
My sandwich was smaller and more expensive than other (much better) Boston falafel places.
Also… this place reminds me of my high school cafeteria.
I won’t be going back.

First, let me say that I’m annoyed at the stupid Unilocalers who visit the new spot one goddamn time and then think that the whole world wants to hear a little story about their awesome field trip. You know what? Fuck you.
Second, in recognition of point one, let me just say that I’ve been to Sami’s THREE TIMES. Because I care about writing a quality review. I’m not like these other assholes who show up once, scarf down some grape leaves, and then start typing their thoughts so they can yell «FIRST!» Seriously, what gives?
If I were just rating the food, I’d give this place three stars. For instance, the lettuce and tomatoes were cold, soggy, and tasteless; the tahini was bland; the meats were (gyro and both types of shwarma FTW) were overcooked and a little dry. On the other hand, wrap is nice and thin and who can say «no» to pretty good meat and sauce? So, mixed impression.
But, listen. The place is cozy and immaculate. They’re adding some much needed gastronomic diversity to Centre St. JP. The prices are good. They accept credit cards. Owner is the nicest dude in the world.
You know what, bitchez? That deserves a star. +1 star. JP is much better off b/​c of Sami’s low-​cost, relatively healthy fare.
But, if you want the best Lebanese food around, you need to go to Shwarma King in Brookline. Truth.

Tasty middle eastern makes it to Centre St. Needs some tuning, hence 3-​stars. The falafel is very tasty but needs to be served a bit more crispy. The grape leaves were warm, moist and luscious, excellent flavors and not over citrus-​ed, balanced. The tahini sauce that came with the falafel was weak and flavorless. Chicken shawarama wrap was generous but the meat needs to be more crispy, cooked, too soft for my taste. And the sauce again was flavourless. Hoping that my next visit I can taste some tuneups, or, at least ask them to crispy up my order.

Not quite ready to heat up leftovers for lunch, I looked across the street to see that Sami’s was finally open! I’m a frantic fan for fabulous falafel, so a visit was a must.
The proprietor was at the counter and walked me through the menu: tons of options, fresh ingredients and everything prepared «the traditional way». My falafel wrap was hot and the pickled turnip, onions and tahini made it perfection. I took it «to go» and am happy to report that it didn’t fall apart on my journey back, either.
Did I mention that this can be enjoyed for five bucks + change?
Also, they now accept credit cards.
Go tell your friends — Sami’s JP is open for business and waiting for you!