Cafe Al Karar

Hadn’t been to Al’s in awhile, and suggested to my coworkers that we should grab lunch there. We’d always been happy and satisfied. No more! Now the name is changing, as is the service. The chicken was tough and dry, the hummus was terrible and the seasoning was absent. To add insult, the prices have increased. We won’t be returning. Too bad.

I was a regular here, it was the best fresh tasting Mediterranean food around and I brought people here and everyone thought it was so good and prices were great… not anymore last 3 times there its been long waits and stale greasy, soggy food… extremely disappointed… what happened???

Honestly, this place used to be 5 stars for me, which makes writing this so much more heartbreaking. I would never have thought that Al’s would be my first one star Unilocal review. My coworkers and I used to frequent here almost every day to order shawarma platters. However, something has changed, and we’ve all noticed a decline in quality and service over the past few months. Almost every one of my recent takeout orders were missing the hummus and garlic sauce. 3 orders ago they forgot the pita and garlic sauce but gave us hummus. The rice is now either overcooked or undercooked, never perfect. The chicken no longer has any flavor. What used to be one of the greatest value for delicious food has now turned into $ 10 of nearly tasteless units of food. If anyone in management reads this, whatever you changed, please change it back! For now, I’ll be going elsewhere for lunch. :(

I used to love going here. I went nearly everyday for lunch for nearly two years now. They had great food at great prices. However, something changed about two months ago. They started changing the décor, all of the employees that used to be there are gone (including the kitchen staff), and now it’s kind of a mess. The time it take their kitchen to make order has been steadily rising, the quality has been going down, and orders are almost always incorrect.
30 to 40 minutes has become the new standard wait time for a simple order, like a sandwich. On more than one occasion I have had to wait for over an hour for orders despite the restaurant being slow. I could understand a off day here and there but it’s everyday now.
Orders are wrong more often than they are right, having items requested be left out or just completely the wrong food.
I don’t know what happened to change everything but sadly after waiting for a hour and 15 minutes for an order yesterday, I am call it quits.

Service — Great
Food — Amazing
Price — Mind blowing
This is my favorite spot whenever I’m in Detroit downtown. I have been coming here almost every other week and have yet to find a sandwich that hasn’t exceeded my expectations. San Fran Lamburger… Stacked Corned Beef… you name it!

I purchased a groupon and decided to give this place a whirl. I took my mom and we had two lamb platters and chicken wings. The food is fantastic here! Their hummus is the best I’ve tasted EVER and the garlic sauce is light, fluffy, and not too overwhelming. Their fattoush was the perfect accompaniment to the lamb and rice. Their in house hot sauce was very interesting. It’s not very spicy, but it has a kick and is definitely flavorful. I highly recommend this place, especially for a night on the tow. Just a quick note: you have to pay for close by parking, but it was only $ 5. The waitstaff was a combating and polite. But make sure to be patient. The food takes some time but is well worth it. I will be back

I asked for bacon and was brought ham. When I mentioned to the server that I ordered bacon he said they were out. You would think that I would have been made aware of that prior to them bringing me ham. The food was very bland. I do have to say their homemade hot sauce was legit. When we were ready to leave I had to approach the server to get our bill. The menu has potential. I think some customer service training and food execution training would be a good first step.

Excellent! Wonderful food and service. Calvin delivered great service and timed our meals perfectly. We started with the nachos, that were amazing. Rich with flavors.

A wonderful little middle eastern café! I was taking a discovery walk through Detroit and stumbled upon this place. The reviews are all spot on! The food is fresh and delicous, the place is clean, and wonderful service.
I lived in the Detroit area, I would come here often.
The lamb burgers and smoothies are fantastic!

I can’t speak to anything else here, food-​wise, but I had the San Fran falafel burger and it was so delicious. I wanted to shrink myself, crawl inside it, and eat my way out.
My order was up quick and they checked on me a few times. So the service was great. It really couldn’t get better.

Al Karrar is an amazing restaurant. Their breakfaSt specials are unique and tasty with a mediterranean twist. I have dined here several times and every experience is great. Their smoothies and raw juice are refreshing and healthy. You can’t beat a $ 1 coffee when you order breakfast. I enjoy this restaurant because their food is healthy and I love the fact that their coffee cream is cholestrol AND tropical oil FREE! The owner is a phenomenal guy. Definitely try the San Fran lamb burger.

Everything here tastes amazing and the prices are so affordable. Loved everything, definitely coming back.

Unilocal for win.
In Detroit on a Saturday it’s tough to find a good non-​chain non-​fast-​food lunch spot that is open.
Café Al Karar popped up on the Unilocal app within walking distance and I’m sure glad it did!
The Chicken Sultan Platter is ridiculously delicious.
Very friendly waitstaff — on top of drink refills and the meals came out in no time at all. The pita with hummus they serve as well is also great!
Can’t wait to go back for a second visit and try something different.

This is a new place in downtown Halal which is a plus, very clean and friendly staff. I always get the breakfast platter or Lamb burger is really good with fries… All my staff often order from Al Karar and they all love the food… I highly recommend people to try this place

Café Al Karar never disappoints. I’ve never had a bad meal whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner. Don’t be afraid to try their special platters. Tonight I got this monster of a platter that contained salmon croquets, rice, fatouch, hummus and garlic –all for $ 8.99. Easily enough food for two. I don’t know how they do it but this place is a real bargain and the food is phenomenal.

Got take out here for lunch one day and it was great! I opted for the chicken platter. The portion was huge! It was good for 3 – 4 meals. The chicken was seasoned very well and the rice was good. The only down side was the they put this white sauce that looked and kind of tasted like whipped yogurt on top. It had a consistency of ranch which I am not very fond of, but other than that the food was great and I will be back to try other items. I love that they have a raw juice drink option everyday.

My 2^nd time here now and now I think can gauge this place even better. Café Al Karar is the best bang for your buck in terms of quality, taste, price, location, and cleanliness. Its like the Middle Eastern version of Coney’s and I secretly (not anymore) want to eat through the menu! There’s something for everyone here!
For halal eaters: this is your place.
For breakfast lovers: breakfast menu starting at $ 1.99 for 2 eggs and sausage
For sweet tooth lovers: banana french toast and pancakes… you want baklava, they got that too!
For lamb lovers: GET THE SAN FRAN LAMB BURGER! Lamb burger on grilled bread! (the cheese is grilled on inside AND outside making it San Fran style!)
For vegetarians: FALAFEL SAN FRAN style! or Veggie Platter with tabbouli, hummus, falafels, grape leaves and Toum
For salad lovers: FATtoush salads the size of your head
For Italian/​carb lovers: The AL-​Fredo
For sick days: Chicken lemon rice soup
For working lunch: Free Wi-​fi! Password: Alkarar1368 I believe (or ask the waitress)
I’ve had the Lamb San Fran with their housemade BBQ curry chips and I wanna say those are probably better than any of their side order of fries. Not only is the lamb juicy, seasoned well (or not at all! Its just that good of a cut!) and not gamey at all, but the chips… delicately fried, not greasy, not too curry-​offensive but satisfies the ultimate crisp– curly-​crunchiness in a chip. Don’t forget to drizzle the crack CAMEL SAUCE in between the sandwich. Hell, drizzle it on your chips! Seriously, we bought a $ 5 bottle and came back b/​c we ran out. Dare I say its better than Sriracha. OK I said it! (What kind of an Asian am I?!)
The 2^nd visit I was lusting over my friend’s Shepard’s omelet which is served stuffed with lamb (I’m on a lamb meat only diet here now), mushroom, spinach, bell peppers and feta if you’d like on top of hash browns. I like my potato’s crisp so I ordered it as Far East Omelet which is all the same ingredients but potato’s on the side. Its not hash browns but more like their housemade potatoes. Ask for it crisp then proceed to drizzle ketchup and CAMEL sauce in it. The omelet is so filling and seriously, the portions are so big I don’t know how they stay in business.
On that note, how do they stay in business? This used to be Al’s Paradise Café but expanded. Whenever we go, its always ¹⁄₃ filled, huge portions for a meal less than $ 9 WITH TIP! Almost impossible to get a lunch less than $ 10 now a days! CAK is huge, can accommodate a larger crowd, clean bathroom’s and seating BUT HOW IS IT NOT PACKED? It’s ok, I get to snoozey on up with the staff which is always nice.
Do yourself a favor: Skip any burger if you want meat and get the Lamb San Fran burger and drizzle with Camel Sauce. Then take home a bottle or two of Camel Sauce b/​c its good on pizza, eggs, pasta, sandwiches, and maybe slathered on your arm if you like that too!

Been here 3 times now and left more than satisfied each time. Prices are more than reasonable, and the atmosphere is nice. The décor is modern and noise leave neutral. The staff know their menu and are very helpful when it comes to choosing between different menu items. Daily specials are written on chalkboards at the front but the staff are glad to help with that too. For breakfast, the pancakes are absolutely delicious but if you’re here for lunch, don’t pass up on the San Fran Lamb Burger and be sure to ask for the Blazing Camel Hot Sauce too. Their signature hot sauce (Blazing Camel) is now bottled for individual sale (only $ 5 per bottle) and it’s amazing!

Stopped in today for a meal and it was great! Interesting and varied menu. Reasonably priced! Bonus: breakfast served all day! Order the grits instead of potatoes as your breakfast side and you get a BIG bowl full with lots butter the way grits should be served.
I ordered an omelette that included lamb, feta, onions, spinach and maybe a couple of other ingredients. It was tasty and filling and very enjoyable and best of all it was something different and unique. Great coffee that didn’t need anything added, too.
Our server was friendly and patient and knew the menu. Nice décor. Open early. It gives me an excuse to come downtown more often. I highly recommend giving this place a try.

We stopped in here for dinner before seeing Eminem/​Rihanna just because it was the closest restaurant to Comerica that wasn’t completely slammed from the huge crowds. I was a little disappointed. I got schwarma, and it didn’t taste bad, but it was really… soggy? It was like it had been boiled or something and then coated with oil. It was just a little off… Also I am a really big fan of garlic sauce but theirs must have been made out of some über garlic — I could barely eat it it was so strong. You could tell the pita bread came out of some day (or two or five) old plastic bags — it was not fresh at all and they just gave us one piece folded up in a sandwich baggie.
I probably wouldn’t go back.