Al Safa Restaurant

So tasty, friendly owner and the best lebonese breakfast ever!

He has these tiny pastry with cheese or meat look likes half an empanada. 1.25 a piece. they should be a quarter a piece. I bought hummus and no olive oil on it nothing but tahini tasting more chick pea than tahini. Gross no olive oil or little spices. I asked him where the pita was and he said that would an extra .25 per pita. I threw the already bought hummus on the floor outside in disgust. Greedy asshole. Way overpriced bad quality. Old man is obnoxious too

the place is dirty. the Oldman need to wash his hands .way overpriced .I can not recommend a dirty garbage place. food poison.the food is too
for people who don’t care.

This is such a cozy place! The staff are lovely and they take their baking and cooking very seriously.
I love the menouche, fried kibbeh and meat pies! I haven’t sampled the desserts yet, but will do so very soon!
FYI — the premises are kept clean and well lit.

My favorite place to eat in Bay Ridge! The food is delicious and the owner is so friendly. He makes you feel like you’re spending Thanksgiving with your grandpa. I had the falafel sandwich and it was DELICIOUS!

Super dry schwarmas and the lamb tasted odd. Not sure why this place is so highly rated

Honestly they need to fix their Falafel and Hummus also they should make sure that their pickles are fresh. They have been around for long time and they should fix the taste of the food much better.

Food was not good, service was nonexistent and my husband felt sick the next day. We didn’t finish our plates and most of the food was thrown in the garbage.
Would not recommend, overpriced for the amount of money and lack of quality.

This place is just terrific. We had tabouli, bulgur and tomato salad, and the best shawarma we’d ever eaten. Beautiful desserts with rose water and almonds, tea with fresh mint. Everything is homemade and the smiling owner is a complete sweetheart. Highly recommended.

This place is so nice. The old man, Abu Muhammad, is kind and generous. The food is fresh and authentic. It is also very inexpensive.
I recommend any of the sandwiches and the Arab tea. The sandwiches max out at 7 bucks and the tea at 2 dollars for a pot with fresh mint. The atmosphere is also pleasant.

The food is prepared fresh and delicious. The owners greet you with a smile and are very hospitable. A local treasure.

Al Safa has perhaps the best falafel in neighborhood. For my money, it has a slight advantage over Karam — perhaps not in taste, but definitely in service and hospitality.
I’ve been to Al Safa many times, but only at strange non-​meal times of the day, so I’ve never experienced it when the place is popping during lunch or dinner hours. At three o’clock in the afternoon, when nobody’s in the place, my food takes only three or four minutes to come out. It’s prepared specifically by the owner himself, a small white-​haired man, who is both kind and polite, who always calls me Sir, and who wishes me a good day when I leave.
The actual falafel comes in a longer pita, and is affixed with pickles, purple onions, tomatoes, lettuce and white sauce. For it being a quickly prepared meal, it’s not rushed by any means. I think the pickles are a good touch and I would recommend other Middle Eastern restaurants to pick up on it if they haven’t already. It adds a new complexity to the meal that most falafels don’t have.
I should also say that the falafel is never dried or burned as it can be in some other places.
I’ve also had the hummus sandwich. It’s sort of the same deal, but because it’s a bit messy to eat, I usually go with the falafel option.
People have written that the place looks dirty, but I haven’t had that experience. Perhaps they’ve worked extra-​hard to keep it clean. Maybe they’re sprucing it up just for my presence? Anyways, I will always stop in whenever I find myself in Bay Ridge.

Well priced and delicious — one of the best places for Lebanese food in the city. The staff is great, too.

The kafta sandwich with a slice of baklava as dessert: best $ 8 spent! The owner and his wife are very sweet.

In Brooklyn visiting. Stopped in for something quick. Had the Dandelion with fried onion, grape leaves and tabouleh. Loved them all. The service was very friendly and helpful.

No idea how this place has 4 stars. I ordered half chicken and it was so dry, I literally couldn’t bite into it. And it had this terrible taste like it’s been sitting out for a while. Just disgusting. And they forgot the fries. Never again.

This wasn’t my first time try Lebanese food. The location was good with large glass doors. We ordered chicken and beef combination which costed $ 12 and $ 14, rice pudding, hummus and a kind of big middle eastern pizza bread. Also, we ordered dumplings take-​out. The taste was ok since this was a deli, not a restaurant at all.
So Next time, Just try another middle eastern restaurant. That is my only advice.

I was going to give 4 stars because the bread was really cold but I said I’m not gonna take stars off just for cold bread n semi warm rice when everything else was delicious. Then again we came in when its half an hour to closing so they probably didn’t have enough time… they use the rice that was already in the containers ready to be sold and open that up for us and heated up our kabobs and gave us some baba ganoush which was delicious and a little small side salad. Excellent flavor. Very nice service!

I never thought there’d be a day I’d ever post a one-​star review. Unfortunately that day has come and such as life, there are plenty of «firsts»
The atmosphere is a dreadfully dingy casual café-​style lunch establishment, however open quite late at night. Walked in on a Friday evening, and waited what must’ve been an eternity to be acknowledged by the old guy behind the counter, forget the order-​taking part… Not even the courtesy of a «I’ll be right with you». I understand this is Brooklyn, but c’mon!
I know there were at least three other people eventually queued up behind me and I’ve no idea what the man behind the counter was working on. (Apparently not much) He was also working solo.
My level of frustration reached the point where I simply must (and did) walk out, despite the fact that the person called out three times to get my attention, my mind was already made up.
The single most important factor remains:
If the people at this restaurant are not even caring enough to respect you as a customer, what possible care could that person have for the food they’re going to sell/​service you or your well-​being and of those around you?
Needless to say I will not be coming back.

This is a nice little family owned place. The old man who is the chef is one of the nicest people in the area. He asked me how I was and actually started a conversation with me. He welcomed me to the area and told me a little bit about Bay Ridge when I told him I had just moved to the area.
The food is good and well cooked. Perfectly seasoned and very tender. They have good kebabs and shwarmas. I haven’t had a chance to try any of their baked pies. They have a good beet salad.
I give this place 3stars because it looked a little dirty but maybe it was just a bad time. Though their food grade posted on the window is a B. It may be a red flag. Also my shwarma was a little soggy. because of the sauces.
A nice local place, despite some things it lacks I still go here often.