Aida’s Cozy Kitchen

Really cozy and cute mom and pop store !
We went a few days before Christmas on a week day and it was quiet.
Had a baba ghanoush followed by chicken kebab plate which we shared.
The host and owner is very kind and took care of us. I would like to be supportive of more of such small niche homely restaurants. Will definitely visit again for some awesome Lebanese food next time.
I did see a variety of Lebanese cookies and sweet eats which I will try in future.

I’ve never dined in here, only take out. But the stuffed cabbage are amazing! My wife tells me it’s a fun please to eat-​in, very casual and the owner, Aida, is friendly and frequently greets the restaurant guests. I’d highly recommend for great Middle Eastern cuisine!

I drove by this restaurant before meeting my sister at her home… we both love Middle Eastern food and we wanted to give this place a try… as the sign on their building said «American/​Lebanese» and we read/​impressed with comments on Unilocal.We ordered cold combo appetizer of tabouleh, baba ghanoosh, hummus. It tasted ok, kinda bland and watery as if they watered it down… I’ve had much better appetizers elsewhere, never that watery, the pita bread was cold, not warmed up. We also ordered chicken ta-​ook with rice, again we were NOT impressed, as we expected some flavor but our lunch was bland again. We both agreed that we will never go back as we know there are far better places to go that has much better food. Also, this place doesn’t look clean (and disorganized in the back by the restroom) and when I went to the restroom, it was filthy, cobwebs on wall with a dead spider, of course didn’t use their restroom, it was disgusting. Do not go there or you’ll be disappointed as we both were.

I discovered this gem of a restaurant when strolling through my office and smelling something amazing. I was given the phone number to call and the rest is history! You can tell right away she takes pride in her food. From just one order, she remembered me. What a special touch. Aida is a sweet lady I ordered the falafel and faloush (sp?) salad. Very tasty salad and the dressing is incredible. Its a good size portion. Her falafels are wonderfully seasoned, crispy and not oily.

I just randomly stumbled upon this place with my mom and sister. We were looking for food and we saw a sign for Lebanese and decided «hey, why not try it.» So we can in and we were not disappointed. I basically asked the ladies that were working there for their recommendations and they did not disappoint. The only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was this one dessert piece my sister ordered but she’s notorious for ordering the things no one at the table (including her) likes to eat. If I’m in the area again, I would definitely come back here because it was definitely a great experience.

What a find! The food is all homemade from scratch and Aida is a lovely person who puts her all into every dish. Very authentic Lebanese with wonderful specials that change daily and are well worth stopping in to get.

I can not exaggerate how much I love this place! I had heard all the hype, but was iffy about coming. My friend finally convinced me to go while we had a 3 hour open campus, and oh my god, I love it! The ladies are sooooooo lovely, which is a treat for someone like me living in Chatham. They do not rush you at all (they even asked us if we wanted to hang out to watch the tv), and they’re in a good mood the moment you come in. The food was super yummy, although I didn’t try the Lebanese food (just home fries and pancakes, which were amazing though!), but I really wish I did. Also, they take credit cards, which is always a major plus :)

This is the place to go for good homemade cooking. It was a great introduction to Lebanese food for me. The mezze platters are top notch and all the entrees I’ve tried have been good too. Good basics as well, like the rice pilaf. I love the fattoush and the falafel. There is also an American menu which has usual luncheonette fare. I have only tried the burger and it was delicious. This is a great place for comfort food.

Authentic Lebanese food, nothing like it around the area. The owner, Aida is very friendly and welcoming. I ordered the fattoush salad with chicken and it was delicious! The fattoush had wonderful flavor and the chicken was very moist and flavorful. The Lebanese sweets are homemade at the restaurant and were excellent. I will definitely be going back to try more dishes!

another simply amazing Lebanese restaurant !! The food is homemade like food. Not too greasy and not commercialized. Service is outstanding. The raw kibbeh (kibbeh nayyi) is out of this world with some olive oil. Yummy! Highly recommend it

This is THE BEST middle eastern food around. Super fresh, great specials, and always service with a smile! I’m Syrian and Aida’s cooking beats my grandma’s! Sorry Nanny! I’ve never had anything from the american menu, but I hear it’s solid diner style. Would give 5 stars, but it’s hot in summer and cold in winter in there.

I REALLY wanted to like this place, especially since there is such a severe lack of good Middle Eastern restaurants where I reside. I had been wanting to try Aida’s for a while after reading the rave reviews here on Unilocal so I drove 15 miles to get to get there Sunday afternoon. There was no one eating in the restaurant when I walked in at 2:15 pm, and I found the owner at the counter washing dishes. She didn’t look too pleased to see me there, so I asked if they were still serving food and she thought about it for a second and said yes. I wasn’t sure what their hours were since on Unilocal it stated until 3pm and Google said 8pm, in either case I thought I had enough time to place a small to-​go order. I placed my order and tried to make small talk with the owner, but she wasn’t having any of it and continued washing dishes. I had told her I was so excited to try the food and that I had driven a loooong way to get there, eh, whatever, she didn’t seem to care at all. I thought, no big deal, she’s a busy lady, probably had a rough day (we all do from time to time, etc) and left her to her dishes. After a few minutes, her assistant and her get into an argument about something she had asked him to do and he hadn’t heard her, so on and so forth, they lapse into arguing in Lebanese. I was really starting to feel like I had made a HUGE mistake by making the trip there. After a while (and the sound of many dishes being washed) the food was ready and again, the owner barely looked up while ringing me up. When I requested a piece of baklava to add to the order, it cost an additional $ 3.50 for a TINY piece of the pastry. After I left I kept wondering how anyone who owns an food establishment could be so cold and not even say «thanks for coming» or «have a good day» or even «take care». I got nothing from this person.
When I got home and tried the food, it wasn’t all bad, but the 3 falafels I got in my $ 12 combo order were so dry they crumbled when I tried eating them and the tahini sauce it came with had definitely had gone bad. The Fattoush Salad was fresh, as the Labne, Babaganoush and Hummus, and this is why I gave them the two stars, but wow, I don’t know why the attitude was so awkward and weird, especially when the reviews were raving about the great hospitable service and atmosphere. I got NONE of this. I suppose my quest for good Middle Eastern food in NJ goes on… shame.

Had a great meal! I stumbled upon Aida’s by happenstance, not too often do you find a Lebanese eatery. I easily found free on-​street parking on Main St. I ordered the Kousa special, which is stuffed zucchini in a tomato broth. It was stuffed with rice, lamb, beef, and herbs. It was delicious! Tastes like homemade food. Also got a hummus to go, and that turned out to be delicious as well! Am looking forward to try their falafel and kebabs over rice, as well as their homemade desserts. And they also offer American food, but I love Arabic food (some of my friends are Arab, and make homemade delicacies, and have also vacationed in Egypt), so at a gem of a place like this, will order the Arab dishes no doubt. It is not far from my job, and look forward to returning. Aida is a warm host also.

My friend and I found this through Unilocal reviews and I am afraid to write my stellar review as this place is one of the best kept secrets of the area. 5 star authentic Lebanese food. Aida’s culinary talent is Michelin level so do not be fooled by the undertones of the interior. If you are lucky like us, you will sit outside and Tony will serve you with a smile and old fashioned charm. Our delights included all the staples of Lebanese nibbles… humus, falafel, eggplant fritters, faba bean dip and chilled stuffed grape leaves which was all wonderful. The meal ended with Turkish coffee and baklava… both of which left us in heaven. We will be back again… and again.

This is an extremely small place, but it is quite authentic. It didn’t seem like the menu really consisted of «entrée» dishes. It seemed to be mostly dishes and dips to share. So my one friend and I decided to get the daily specials.
I had one of the daily specials (~$ 11): meat, rice, and string bean in a tomato stew. My friend had the other daily special: the stuffed grape leaves (~$ 11). My other friend had the kebab platter (~$ 15), which was good too.
We also split the baklava and rice pudding. ($ 3.50 each) The owner had cut the baklava into three pieces for us so there was no hassle in splitting.
Everything was very delicious!
This place is located on Main St in Chatham but there is a parking lot right behind this restaurant.

Roasted Colombian coffee. Great breakfast sandwiches and oh the perfectly sized meat pies! ! Going back to try more on the Lebanese menu!

This is some of the best Lebanese food that I have ever had. We were lucky to find this gem thanks to Unilocal.Aida and her coworkers are friendly and welcoming. My wife and I have eaten here twice so far and thoroughly enjoyed both experiences. We found out that she makes everything homemade and it is delicious!

My wife and I were in the area from CT. We found Aida’s. Oh my!!!
This place is fantastic. The owners/​hosts could not be warmer or more welcoming. And the food is truly delicious. We came for breakfast but ended up having both breakfast and an assortment of middle eastern dishes.
The breakfast — made to order was scrambled eggs with feta and sausage — yum! Perfect crispy bacon.
The house specialties were awesome — amazing kibbe, a really great pumpkin soup special — and meat pies, tahini, etc.
And the service and friendly atmosphere are so nice.
Do not miss this place a true find!!!

What an unassuming gem!
My wife and I were looking to explore a new area and decided to try Aida’s Cozy Kitchen based solely on the great scores it has received on Unilocal.We’re very glad we did.
At first glance, you might be turned off by ACK, the décor is nothing to write home about. The decorations are sparse and the furniture is at best outdated — at worst completely out of place.
Once you get past that, you’ll be delighted by the menu. It’s filled with simple Lebanese dishes at very reasonable prices. We ordered a wide range of food from hummus to falafel to Lebanese cole slaw to chicken kabobs. All of it had incredible flavor. Nothing tasted stale or bland. It was an incredibly pleasant surprise.
I’d absolutely recommend anyone to visit Aida’s Cozey Kitchen. Find a nice evening and sit outside while enjoying a variety of delicious Lebanese cuisine.

I was in the area for a job interview and Unilocal pointed my in this direction. Another winner!
Aida’s is a moderately sized luncheonette with a personal touch. It is clear from when you walk in that you are getting a home cooked meal. They serve Lebonese food with an American touch.
The special day was a red lentil soup, which I savored. Being Greek, I had to order the olive and cheese platerr for $ 8. It was exactly what I wanted. Same for the spinach pie.
I am very rarely in Chatham, but whenever I return this will be my go to spot.