Roya Mediterranean Restaurant & Tapas Bar

If you like Med. Food, this is by far the best around. The food was great, and service was exceptional. I definitely recommend it.

(Changed their name) but AMAZING food, HUGE portions, and even better service, BIG Thank you to our server, Michael! Extremely attentive to our table and took great care of us! Will definitely return when I’m back in Georgia.
SO YUMMY!!!

I will be visiting this little hidden gem every chance I get. The décor is such a wonderful treat for the eyes, the music is fabulous, the food is incredible, they stay open late, and the service is top-​notch. The atmosphere is just lovely and romantic. The tapas are just amazing. The belly dancer (when she is there) is very entertaining, and dances in an unobtrusive, classy manner, with a beautiful smile. We have thoroughly enjoyed everything every time we have dined here. Highly recommended.

I eat here a lot and love everything I’ve tried. The servers, bartenders and owners are attentive and personable. Great food, wine, and hookah! My favorite is the Greek salad and love the Mirza flatbread pizza!

We came here around 6pm on a weekend. We had the chicken kabobs which tasted basic… And some pork tapa which had a cinnamon carrot purée drizzled on the plate. The pork was more like a big 5oz chunk of fat. Pretty disappointing. We were the only customers in there AND it was super quiet and awkward. I’d say no. I was still hungry afterwards lol

This place is a ripoff, especially if you have authentic Persian food regularly. The food here lacks flavor and season and is often undercooked. It’s also extremely overpriced for the quality. 1001 Nights, Sufi’s, and Persepolis are much better alternatives. Try real Persian food there and I can guarantee you won’t come back to this crappy place.

Eek! Methinks not.
Thank you Unilocal for reading my mind. Honestly, even though I used the 50% off scout mob deal, I would never pay full price for their meals. We had the chicken kabob and the koobideh kabob and the quality of the meats were poor. I had to drown my «chicken» with tabasco so the spiciness would get my mind off the texture of the meat. The same goes for the koobideh, gag.
This is what I get for eating at suburb restaurants.

The place was a bit inconvenient to navigate to but that is not the reason for the two stars. It wasn’t the worst experience I’ve ever had so it doesnt deserve 1 star. I shouldve seen the red flags when it was just me and my friend in the whole restaurant at a prime dinner time.
We went here because of a happy hour promotion for $ 5 tapas and a Unilocal deal we bought. Combining it would have made this endeavor well worth the trip. or at least 3 stars.
We ordered 6 things and only 1 of them was decent, mediocre at best. It was the wings, but how bad would it have been if they messed that up too. The things that were said to be succulent tasted like charcoal. The savory dishes were so sweet, I might have gotten diabetes. I am pretty sure the salmon pasta that i ordered was in the freezer for at least a month prior to thawing. I may be exaggerating in some cases, but I’m pretty sure I got a headache after leaving there. The whole meal came out to twice what we intended to pay for.
Service was not that great either, only one server and he didnt seem to thrilled to be there. He was not helpful with the menu and had no knowledge on drinks. He didnt even smile, which made everything more awkward than it already was.
The restaurant was clean. It has a nice ambiance, if thats what youre paying for. I’m amazed that others gave this place such high reviews. They either got lucky and the food came out right, or they … have terrible taste in food.

My wife treated me to a birthday dinner recently and boy was it a treat. We decided to go the tapas way and we were just blown away. We had the Greek Salad, Kofte, Ribeye Flatbread Pizza, Calamari and Baba Ganoush. Everyone one of them were amazing but our favorites were the Calamari and the Baba Ganoush. Absolutely delicious. Our server Ian was super and even prepared a small strawberry cake for my birthday. I can’t wait to go back again.

The food is great. The food came out fairly slow. The restaurant wasn’t crowded. And the sever wasn’t that knowledgable of the menu. But the food was great !

2.5 stars. Why round down? I always round up when I would normally give a .5 rating. I figure that I am maybe being critical or I figure that the restaurant deserves the benefit of the doubt. I just couldn’t round up this time.
Things started off ok. Our server came to our table relatively quickly to take our drink order and was friendly. Things went downhill from there. My husband ordered a beer. The menu said that they have special kinds of beer and to ask the server. He made a bit of a deal about how he had worked there for a few months and had no idea what we were talking about. So, my husband chose something, and didn’t get it until after our food came. After we asked for it three times (including a request to a host or busser of some sort). We asked for bread. Didn’t see that until after we got our food either, and we had to ask for that twice, once to the manager/​owner.
The food was just ok. For the price, not worth it to me. We had kabobs which were recommended by our server. A kabob is pretty simple, but these were just lacking. There wasn’t really any flavor. The saffron rice just tasted like basic basmati, nothing special.
At one point when we were done with our meal, our server was a little MIA… but he could be heard in the bar area complaining to the owner/​manager about something. Unprofessional. He came over to our table with a huge sigh.
We had a Scoutmob. My husband joked that he must hate coupons (because we heard him complaining in the server area — sort of expected him to just put on a brave face after being «caught»). He made this huge deal about how people with them usually don’t tip well and even though a customer’s bill is less, he doesn’t do any less work, blah, blah. Unprofessional. And tacky. Because the service had already left much to be desired.
I wouldn’t go back. I’d much rather grab something at Zoe’s Kitchen, or Taziki’s. Really amazing food and flavor, for a much better price.
I wanted to love it. Just didn’t.

Excellent food! Beautiful atmosphere. Live musician. We got tabouli salad, hummus dip with pita chips, and falafels with a salad off the tapas menu. All tasted fresh and good. Then we shared lamb shank for our meal. Really good. That rice was great.
You will like this place!

The food was delicious and the service was good. I loved the live entertainment from the belly dancer. Nice spot.

This place is just awkward. It’s in an awkward location, tucked around the outskirts of Mall of Georgia no one ever ventures into. There was an awkward silence as soon as we walked in due to lack of music or patrons. The belly dancer, although lovely, had to awkwardly dance for an empty audience.
The boy and I decided to come here on a Friday night to have dinner before heading to the movies. As soon as we walked in, we were shocked by how empty it was for a Friday night and how quiet it was. No music or anything! We definitely had our pick of tables and were promptly seated by the hostess. I quickly noted there were only 2 other tables in this fairly large restaurant and absolutely no one at the bar. Really strange for a Friday night.
Restaurant was beautiful with low lighting and very modern. Also very spacious. Unfortunately, there weren’t anyone else there to appreciate it.
Our server was quick to get to us and we received very good service. No complaints there.
Food-​wise, nothing really impressed us. We had a hummus platter for appetizer. The hummus was no better than what I could get at the store. And the two types of bread that was brought out weren’t anything great. One was regular pita and the other was a thicker bread with sesame. For entrees, boy got the gyro and I was in the mood for chicken parmesan and glad to find that on the menu. The fries that came with the gyro was delicious. They were thick cuts with the potato skins still on them. The gyro itself was bland and the meat needed seasoning. My chicken parmesan was actually really good. Chicken was tender and flavorful and the tomato sauce had nice chucks of tomato in it. I appreciate them placing the angel hair pasta on the side so it did not get soggy. However, for a Mediterranean restaurant, the hummus and gyro were disappointing.
Being a Friday night, there was also a belly dancer that came out to perform for about 15 minutes. They did play music during this part which made the atmosphere more lively. The belly dancer was lovely and her outfit was gorgeous. We honestly felt bad that she had to dance around the entire restaurant when there were no patrons at all on one side.
Overall, we won’t be back just because we weren’t really impressed by the food and the overall atmosphere was just lackluster. For a Mediterranean place, you need to play some sort of music to create an ambience!

OMG.
This place is incredible. We got there around 8 and had our pick of table in the restaurant. Our server was great, checking on us frequently and really sweet. We ordered the caramelized pork app, and wow it was perfect. It had this crispy honey glaze and carrot purée on the side. So good! For entrées I got the gyro wrap, which the server was kind enough to let me substitute the fries for basmati rice. I love me some basmati rice! Hubby got the Koobideh Kabob. I may have tried his dish… several times… lol it was that good!!! This place is a must-​try for date nights. Dimly lit with purple walls, crystal light fixtures, and tall leather booths. Very romantic. Plus, they have belly-​dancers on Friday and Saturday nights. Hubby caught a brief glimpse of one, but there was a wedding reception going on in the back so most of the dancers were back there. We will definitely be back!

The date and I went here this past Saturday evening and enjoyed a great meal. This place is around the outskirts perimeter of the Mall of Georgia, but it’s on the less popular side. You can see the restaurant as you drive by, but you have to be on the lookout.
There was a mini appetizer that came out. It included three miniaturized bread pieces with feta (?) cheese, butter, and olives. We decided to share the kofte and chicken kabob. The kofte was two small grilled ground beef and lamb pieces mixed with herbs and spices. It came with a mini salad and something that looked like yellow rice, but it wasn’t. And I can’t remember what it is called either. :\ That date absolutely loved his «chicken and rice» as he calls it. Lol. His entrée came with a skewer of spice and herb infused chicken along with the same mini salad and buttered rice. Both our plates had roasted tomatoes infused with flavorful herbs.
As for dessert, we had the baklava with walnut since the French silk pie was out. The baklava was naturally sweet with the walnuts that was doused in syrup. The dessert was composed in layers. So it was much easier to eat it one layer at a time then by cutting it with a fork. There was hookah available as I saw another diner sitting at the bar area enjoy some. There were also belly dancers – with fire. o. O
Although not a super popular place, I think this restaurant is a good find. I guess word of mouth hasn’t spread yet. Overall a great place for Mediterranean food, friendly service, and a great atmosphere for a date or romantic evening. Did I mention that there were belly dancers?! Lol.

Ok, so Roya is decorated really pretty. Modern yet really cozy. We went on a Friday night and were sat immediately. I LOVE the booths.
We started off with a bottle of wine. I have to say that I don’t think they have a good wine selection. But we chose one & drank it. I brought my parents here because we love Mediterranean food and we hadn’t had any since Miami. They were a bit turned off when they saw the menu and realized it’s not just Greek food… I was surprised to see shrimp and grits on the menu. But I do realize where we are and that they want everyone to feel like they could eat something they know. Which then again, I don’t see why a typical American would come to this place even thinking there would be some type of southern dish. I would keep this place solely with Mediterranean food!
We stuck to Mediterranean tapas and gyros and loved everything we ordered. Especially the grape leaves. Everything seemed fresh and they were pretty big sizes. We ordered tiramisu, baklava & crème brûlée and all three were excellent.
I purchased the 30 for 45 deal and they honored it, it’s nice they have that on Unilocal.I will def be back :-)

Ok, it is just one question for the folks who live in the area.
Why would you sit for 1 – 3 hours waiting at a Mall of Georgia chain like Cheesecake, Changs, etc., when you can drive to the back corner of MOG Blvd and have chef prepared food at a independently owned restaurant?
Can say I have yet to eat an entrée’ since we order off the Tapas menu like Fava Bean Falafel with sumac, pistachios, eggplant purée and served with mixed greens. Shrimp and Capers is another along with hummus.
They do have a lasagna dish which I hear is huge!
In the Mall area it is here or Parma.

I’m so glad I found this place close to the Mall of Georgia. I’ve been here twice now, once during lunch and once during dinner. I think I prefer coming during lunch because of the environment (i.e. tinted windows and candles). The first time I came, thanks to the $ 30 for $ 45 Unilocal deal (by the way, I think ScoutMob has a 50% off deal too), my friend and I were able to eat everything in the pictures below.
The crispy caramelized pork was just right, crispy on top and tender inside. I was really surprised by the musaka – I wanted to try something really different, and while I’m not a big eggplant person, I really liked it! The combination and taste were very unique. Can’t wait to go back here. :)

After going on the crazy restaurant food binges that I do, it’s good to finish with a Mediterranean restaurant — it’s healthy, light, and refreshing… detox.
Indeed, Roya’s Mediterranean fare was all of those things. Lemony couscous, flavorful fresh salad, and grilled skewers of marinated meats. Healthy. I needed that.
However, here’s what I didn’t need: the continuous annoyance of the belly-​dancer parading around the place clinking her little finger cymbals. Yes, heterosexual male complaining about the belly-​dancer… I know, I’m surprised too. But hear me out, there’s more to the story: The family next to us was rather enjoying the belly-​dancing display — so much that the father placed a few greenbacks into his pre-​teen son’s sweaty palms and encouraged him to slip the cash into the waistband of the belly-dancer’s costume. Three facts made this scene very disturbing to me: this was only a child, the father encouraged it, and the belly-​dancer went along with it. Perhaps I’m being prudish here, nevertheless… awkward.
The actual setting (sans the belly-​dancer) was quite comfortable. Our waiter was polite, prompt, and unobtrusive. Honestly, I’d come back for the couscous alone. It was that good.