Metropolitan Cafe & Catering

I definitly recommend the sautéed chicken. Food was great and the yogurt sauce on the meal was perfect.

Was very very slow service. Like I watched a whole 15 – 20 minutes on Sports Center. The food was all right, not amazing.

I like it here! This place does a speedy business during lunch, when all the Uptownians come clad in their blue button downs and tight black pencil skirts. I like the flavors, I love the price, and I like that one box lunch makes enough leftovers for a solid cold lunch the next day. The hummus is really good, anything else chickpea so far has been great as well (after 5+ visits), and the meats and rice are pretty consistent. All in all, an Uptown win!

This place is taking advantage of the fact that it’s one of few «ethnic» restaurants in the area and people seem to be mystified by the glowing lanterns inside. The «meat» in the döner wrap, if it can even be called meat, is over salted and tastes fresh… out of the microwave. Real döner has shaved meat off of a huge rotating slab. It’s a crime. I hope a legit Turkish place opens and puts this establishment to shame. They should stick to hookah and drinks.

I was so looking forward to having a good meal considering I love Mediterranean food in general. First off it’s false advertisement. There food is the farthest from authentic. The kabobs tasted like it was marinated in salt. The falafel was nothing like I ever ate before. Just terrible. The rice was good but that’s about it. And there shepherd salad was not at all a shepherd salad. There sign says «taste of Istanbul.» My friend who is from that city says they don’t even have half the things there that they had on there menu. Definitely not what I was expecting. Try at your own risk ;) good luck!

yummy! I just had lunch here. It was delicious and served quickly. It is located in an «arcade» of many small restaurants near downtown Charlotte, NC where everyone in your conference group or business can find what they want. Then you can all eat together in the open air space between the restaurants.

Great place for lunch or even dinner. Some dishes may be a little on the spicy side so if you like bland food this may not be the place for you.
Highly recommend the number 3 which is sautéed chicken over rice. Very tasty and a great portion size. All their sides are good like chickpeas and try the kisir.
Also they have places to sit upstairs but much better enjoyed sitting over at Romare Bearden park which is close by.

I came for an early lunch with my husband. I ordered lamb kebobs with hummus and kafir (eggplant). I asked the cashier what she recommended so that’s how I chose the kafir. It was delicious! Totally not something you order on looks, but ridiculously good (think guacamole: it ain’t pretty but when done right, it’s awesome). The lamb was rich and flavorful. The hummus was original. Maybe a spinach hummus? Made a little coarser than perhaps you might be used to. I liked its originality. They gave me a little warm pita but I def could’ve used more. The rice was bland but not terrible.
This is a grab and go kinda place. They use that godawful styrofoam (why is this stuff still legal??) we ate outside in the courtyard, which is quite nice. I think they had one tall top table inside.
If you are in downtown Charlotte, this would make a nice place to pick up lunch. My only real complaint would be the lack of proper eating utensils but I’m guessing the place is too small to host a dishwasher.

Delicous. Don’t let the three stars fool you. I can’t speak for the service but the food is outstanding.

I seriously cant find a better place for fresh grilled chicken kebabs in Downtown Charlotte. Local spot, and tasty. Fresh every time. I start to crave it when I’m not in town.
— #6 Chicken Shish Kebab
— Extra cucumber sauce salad on top
— Rice & hummus as my sides

This is a great stop for lunch. They’re relatively quick, they have a diverse menu, and good side options. The tabbouleh, falafel and lamb/​beef kabobs are staples for me. Oh, and when I went yesterday the hummus was ON POINT. It must be a new recipe, I don’t remember it being so good last time. Might just go back for hummus snacks from now on.

I go here all the time for lunch. never been for dinner, but i would imagine the same quality and service. the food is always very good. I have had several dishes including the most basic– donor kebab. also, as several other have commented, the turkish coffee is always great and good pick-​me-​up for mid day.
Fairly small operation (as many places are in latta arcade) so i wouldn’t recommend going with more than 4 people.

I used to come here all the time freshman year of college, but in the last few years the nice and quiet atmosphere has turned club like. It isn’t as much fun as it used to be.

I remember my disappointment with the closing of Sofram Grill in Tower Place on HWY 51. Call it snobby if you wish but I thought Sofram failed solely because suburbanites are generally too afraid to try anything more exotic than Olive Garden. Had it been uptown or one of the hipper, more cosmopolitan inner neighborhoods things might have been different. Now with the success of Metropolitan Café uptown, I’m beginning to think my hunch was right. It’s great to see Metropolitan is thriving. The vindication is just a bonus.
I went in for a (very) late lunch; around 5pm. Restaurants generally aren’t at their best way after lunch and before dinner because what you’re served is often hours old. While my kebab wasn’t as hot and fresh as it could’ve been, it was flavorful and contained a very generous serving of meat. An added bonus was that it wasn’t dripping with grease as kebabs so often are. I was told it didn’t come with a side, which was annoying. Fearing a kebab alone wouldn’t satisfy, I ordered the piyaz appetizer, a cold white bean salad with green peppers, red onion and tomatoes in an olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing. Delicious! It was so good and so refreshingly simple I ended up making it myself at home. So it seems not including a side was a blessing in disguise. The piyaz was way healthier and probably tastier than a side of fries could ever be.
After the meal I couldn’t resist ordering a cup of Turkish coffee. You’d do well to do the same. Just a few warnings for those not familiar with Turkish coffee: It’s strength is such that NASA is considering using it to fuel manned missions to Mars. It’s served hot enough to melt lead. It’s thick enough to be used as a personal lubricant in even the staunchest and most repressed conservative bedrooms. Oh, and the grounds form a thick sludge at the bottom of the cup. So let it cool a little, sip it slowly, leave a little at the bottom of the cup and try not to think of santorum.
I can’t wait to give Metropolitan another try at a peak hour. All indications tell me I’ll be revising this to give them at least another star.

Some of the bad reviews for this place are a little absurd. I guess I don’t rate on service and décor as much but freal, if you’re eating dinner at the Latta Arcade and want to be pampered you’ve got another thing coming.
Anyways, my Iskander Kebab was pretty good. It’s Kebab meat on top of pita covered in tomato sauce and yogurt. I thought the yogurt in particular was pretty solid and while the meat was not mind blowing, the portions were generous enough to make up for it.

WOW! I am in LOVE with this place!!! Let’s start off with the awesomest part — they will let you taste a side to see if you like it before you commit to it! That’s customer service, especially in a place that has food that some people have never tried before. I assume they’ll only do that when they aren’t slam packed busy, but it’s worth a shot to ask even if it is.
Lamb kebabs were awesome. Very very tasty — the spices were so delicious, it almost didn’t need the sauces (kinda thin, though — I could have stood for them to be a little more… meaty. ha!). They give you a choice of a tomato sauce or cucumber sauce to go over the meat — I got both, but I think the next time I’ll just get the tomato — the tanginess compliments the meat very well.
You get a pretty decent amount of food for $ 9, 2 kebabs over a generous helping of rice, and 2 sides. They have a couple of tables outside and a cute little upstairs part that you can sit at to enjoy your food — and BONUS — there is also a little hookah lounge upstairs with couches and TVs — I’m all about the hookah (no funny business though, straight up peaches and cream tobacco, lol).
I can’t wait to come back here and partake in some hookah and relax — that’s my kind of date night.
And maybe next time I’ll try a GIGANTIC baklava… they looked so gooey and delicious.

I don’t know why Metro’s gotten such bad reviews. Every time I’m here there’s always a line. I mustn’t be the only person who likes this place?
My first take at Turkish. While I can’t really tell you how authentic it is, I can attest that everything’s pretty good. Whether it’s the doner, the meatballs, the chicken doner, to the lentils and chickpeas, yumm chickpeas. Every single item on my plate is licked clean.
So back to the Turkish thing. As stated, I don’t know how authentic it truly is and forgive my ignorance, but the food is very similar and tastes just like gyros, meats and vegetable sides in that general region.

I’ve eaten lunch twice now at Metropolitan Café which is located in the Latta Arcard across from the Plaza. Café is streching it quite bit unless café is Turkish for little dive hole in the wall place. If you are looking for fine dining, even casual dining look elsewhere. Cosmopolitan Café is really a get it and go place. With that said, it has been busy both times I have been there. No place really to sit inside, but there are 3 or 4 tables outside.
They serve Turkish cuisine, mainly kebabs and some vegetarian offerings. The kebab thing threw me off the first time. I ordered the döner kebab the first time around. It wasn’t meat on a stick like I expected. It looked exactly like gyro meat to me. So I googled «döner kebab» and up popped tons of sites. Döner kebab is literally means «rotating roast,» and it looks just like a gyro roast. I don’t know whether it is cooked on site or elsewhere and brought, but it was good. The entrees come with two sides and rice. The sides are kisir, which to me looked like a version of couscous, which is made with bulgur, parsley and tomato paste. It was also very, very tasty. Other sides where a green bean salad, white bean salad, grilled eggplant salad, and cabbage salad. They also had hot sides such as steam vegetables, which is what I got. The veggies were way overcooked but still tasted good. The rice was not just plain rice, but was creamy like a very thick risotto.
The second time I went there I got the döner kebab wrap which comes with one side. The wrap is just that döner kebab in a choice of wraps (white, whole wheat & spinach) along with other toppings. For my side I got the white bean salad which was very good. You can take any of he sides and make a combo vegetarian wrap which seemed to be very popular. The prices are reasonable, $ 6.99 for the döner kebab entrée with 2 sides & $ 5.99 for the wrap. The owner & staff are very friendly and keep the line moving. Not much to look at, but the food is pretty good.

Had the doner kebab for lunch today. I don’t think it was anything spectacular — the rice was too mushy for my taste and although the description reads beef AND lamb, I only saw one or two slices of beef. The lamb was the typical gyro meat and could have been more soft, in my opinion. All in all, the portion was big but I didn’t finish the meal.

Sorry to say, this was not my favorite place, and it’s not even a place I would choose to return to. Yes, the doner kabobs were good (but not great), but service was SLOW (even though we were the only ones in there), and the lady making our plates did not pay attention when my friend and I asked for no red sauce in our wraps. Sodas and water are only available by the bottle, and they are expensive. This was the worst $ 9 lunch I have had in a long time.