Al Aseel Grill & Café

Let me start off by saying that the fried chicken looked hella good but tasted pretty damn average. Don’t get it.
I got the grilled combo plate and my friend got the lamb. The meats and rice and tomatoes and what not tasted great. The meats though… cooked pretty well and had the perfect amount of char. Seasonings were great and tasted very Mediterranean in terms of flavor profile.
The waiters were terrible though. I came first and sat down and was given a menu. I then told them my friend was coming and that he’d need one too. My friend comes and we sit there for 4 minutes. After these 4 minutes, two women come and sit down. The waiters then give them their menus and takes their order BEFORE they even hand my friend a menu, and believe me, I WAS trying to get their attention this whole time. It took them forever to actually come to us to take our order and they were horrendous at refilling our water. If I hadn’t been having such a great time catching up with my friend, I would’ve been a lot angrier at them for basically ignoring us for a majority of our stay. They almost charged my friend for a soda that never came to him too.
Again, the food was pretty good, and the portioning was enough to leave you full but not bloated, but damn do these waitresses suck.
7/​10, would come again once in a while.

Ugh what a gem. This restaurant is not even 5 mins from where I live and trust me when I say there’s so many middle eastern restaurants in this area. Some not all that great to even mention. I was really hesitate to try this out being many failed experience in the area. But since I gave my bf the choice he picked this one
Fast forward. Exterior is very nice. They have a patio. It’s a little too hot and humid to check that out but hey they have that option for all your nature seekers. Haha. Inside is very old and need updates. More hesitations… we didn’t know and walked to the register to order. If you’re dining in you can choose a booth/​table for service. We ordered the ½ fried chicken and lamb chops.
We picked a booth and water was brought to us. They have complimentary pita bread with white sauce and this really spicy peppered dip. SO DELICIOUS. Recommend to mix with your rice if you can handle the spice. Our entrées came out fresh and hot! The lamb chops were worth their price. (12.99) A little small in size but good nevertheless. The fried chicken was sooooooooooo tastey.(7.99) omg. If you ever had Jones then these are a little more seasoned. Close to lemon peppered. Battered real well. I see why they have this place recognition for its fried chicken.
We will defiantly be coming back when craving some middle eastern cuisine. All hail halalalalalalalalammazzzinnggggg!

Company catered lunch for us here, we had 15 orders and every single one was right. The To– Go service was exceptional! My coworkers raved about the Tilapia being perfectly cooked and seasoned, this place is definitely authentic and the service was above and beyond friendly
Only advice I would give them is that maybe they should exercise more cleanliness, inside looked a little dusty.

The best place ever and love the café it’s so good .fry chicken is out of this world. going back again.

Dislaimer: This review is based on delivery only.
Earning 4 stars on delivery service is difficult, however, Al Aseel has earned every star and has the potential to be 5 stars.
As is usual, I ordered a ridiculous amount of food with the intention of having multiple meals, however, the amount of food served shocked even me.
To start, I sampled the Mezza platter which consisted of 5 different dips served with some of the largest pita I have ever seen. The pita was soft /​fresh and quite good. The various dips were OK, with my favorite being the red pepper dip and the eggplant dip. I thought they were a little heavy on the olive oil, however, once mixed in, it was more palatable. Overall, I’d give this appetizer 3 stars, however, the portion was quite large and this could easily be shared by several people.
I also tried the Al-​Aseel mixed grill sandwich which is served with fries. The fries were nothing to write home about. The sandwich was massive and the meats hot and with good flavor. I used some of the garlic spread which really enhanced the flavor. For the price, this dish is almos unbeatable and I’d give it 4 stars.
The true star of the meal, however, is the musakhan chicken, which once again, was a great value. The flavor however, was spot on. Freshly grilled and covered with sumac onions, I could eat this over and over. 5 well earned stars.
I can’t wait to try Al Aseel again and continue to explore the wonderously cheap menu.

This is hands down the best and most authentic Mediterranean restaurant in Houston. Staff is super friendly and price is very reasonable.
My favorite dishes are the fried whole chicken and Musakhan chicken. You have to try them!
I have tried so many different fried chicken here and there and Al Assel makes the BEST fried chicken so far. The skin is fried to a perfect golden brown color, while the meat is tender, juicy and savory. It doesn’t get better than this. The chicken is served with rice and cucumber and tomato salad, which give it a good balance.
The Musakhan chicken is also divine and the dish has three layers of goodies. The roasted chicken sits on a bed of pita breads, and topped with caramelized onions. The bread ends up soaking all the good flavor from the chicken and onion. Sumac is generously used in this dish. Sumac is a middle eastern spice that has a burgundy color and lemony flavor. The chicken is roasted to perfection — the skin is crispy and the meat remains its softness and tenderness.
Oh I almost forgot to mention the garlic sauce, pepper sauce and pita bread. Pita bread is fluffy and freshly baked. Pepper sauce is authentically spicy. Garlic sauce melt in your mouth instantly. They go very well with the bread.
Totally one of my Top 5 places in Houston. I come here 2 – 4 times a month. Every time I see a more diverse crowd. The moment you step in Al Assel you better be ready for the mind blowing experience.

Food Quality is not consistent as it used to be two years back. The ingredients change drastically every time, e.g. uncooked pita bread and rice, beef in chicken sandwich, veggies missing in sandwich. Cats and birds always around when you sit outside. Arrogant staff, they charge tip even when few (4) people dine-​in. I’ve stopped going to the place now, will find out better Mediterranean restaurant.

Well I finally found something I dislike and I hated it so much I have to take off a star. Their Philly cheesesteak is a horrible mess. The worst I’ve ever eaten by far. First of all, it’s not a Philly cheesesteak if it’s on a pita bread. It’s a pita bread with cheese and beef.
Second stuffing a pita with greasy cheese and beef is a horrible idea because it gets soggy fast, even before you’re finished with the first half. This is why legit Philly cheesesteaks use sturdy hoagies.
Third on top of it being a greasy, soggy, sloppy mess, it was bland. No taste at all. I could not bring myself to finish more than half. From now on I’ll steak with the Middle Eastern Dishes and the fried chicken only because they do that very well. That Philly cheesesteak is a revolting nightmare that needs to be removed from the menu or fixed.

I read so much about the fried chicken that we made the crosstown trek. It was worth it! There were 3 of us so we had the whole fried chicken and the mixed grill. Yep, I can attest to the the fried chicken being a must have. The mixed grill plate was wiped clean. The only down side was the rice on both platters… needed a bit more seasoning. The pita bread was fresh, hot fluffy… ahhhh.
Our hostess/​waitress was friendly and was kind enough to educate us on some of menu items. Maza appetizer plate was on the house as was our after meal hot tea… I guess she liked us and we came in before the lunch crowd. The garlic paste was good but their hot salsa was amazing… fresh and oh so spicy.
Highly recommend the lemon mint drink… wow, not very sweet, tangy and so refreshing! Perfect for these hot, humid Houston days and nights. In fact, I’m going to try to recreate it at home.
We were all too full to try their desserts, but we’ll be back and look forward to trying their baklava and tiramisu.

We have tried their musakhan chicken, hummus with meat, fried chicken and pompfret fish multiple times now.
Authentic Taste and generous portions. They bake their bread fresh as well.
Over all great food quality. We have not dined in yet and have taken the food to go so far.

Love this place. The food is amazing and cheap. I usually get the grilled whole chicken with aside of rice. The rice is aromatic and chicken is juicy. It comes with garlic sauce and it’s bomb! You could also get the chicken fried as well. It’s a really good place for groups as the portions are huge.

Starting with the food … it was good until late 2013, then turned everything upside down …
Service … is the worst that you can get in a restaurant, and happened to us 4 times, where we go now had to wait at least 25 minutes just to get A MENU, while there restaurant is EMPTY, waitresses just look at you and smile …
The first time ever in a restaurant you where ur order takes 30 minutes to be ready while the restaurant is EMPTY. also the first time ever where u get the APPITIZER when u get the main course and not before it !!!
Last time I had to had a harsh discussion with the owner who saw how lazy were the waitresses and asked us to stay near have the food on him, that was a generous offer but we rejected that and that was the last time we went there … MARCH 2016 …
Bottom line … if you Wana go there. eat before u go in coz it will take them ages to get ur food ready …

The food was amazing!!! I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a new, good spot to eat. The service was great and the food was fresh. I will be back soon.

Absolutely amazing Halal food. It doesn’t get any more authentic than this. Prices are also very reasonable, and there is no way you’re leaving this place feeling like you could eat more. Because you can’t. You just can’t. The first time I was here I got the lamb kebabs. Perfectly cooked and tender — I don’t think I could shovel food in my mouth fast enough. Gotta get the garlic sauce — it’s divine and goes well with almost everything. Dishes at Al Aseel come with rice and a salad with cucumbers/​tomatoes.
On the second occasion that I found myself here, I ordered the famous fried chicken (½ size). You get about four pieces with rice and salad, along with pita bread, garlic sauce, and a chili sauce. The hype does not lie– that is some good fried chicken. –Crispy, savory, juicy. For about 8 bucks, that’s a great deal. I also recommend the mint lemonade. It’s not very sweet, but super refreshing.

I have a new fave restaurant :)!!!
The lamb chops and fried chicken are killer!
To start, I ordered the Appetizer Tray which consisted of 4 items: hummus, baba ghanouj, taziki sauce and something red. I enjoyed the hummus and tahini. The red stuff was too concentrated and I only had 2 bites. The baba ghanouj had something else mixed in with it which I didn’t care for.
I also received a warm Puffed up totally delicious pita bread before my meal. What was funny is how long it stayed puffed up as I ate it especially despite the fact that it was so soft and billowy.
First off forget all those high pricy lamb chop meals at the fancy restaurants (even the pics from those fancy places look blah). These lil medallions of lamb chops are perfectly seasoned and were cooked to my preference. The outside of the lamb had a nice almost char flavor but was not charred so the flavor was incredibly delish. The inside was a light pink and was so tender. Guaranteed to make you moan while you eat them! I would work for free to get their recipe… Lol
Now the rice that comes with the platter was blah and lacked seasoning. I was sad…2 star rice. It needs seasoning or butter to amp up the flavor. Then there were chopped up tomato, onion and cucumber on my plate that also needed more seasoning or dressing, feta or a combination of the above…3 stars.
The fried chicken had perfectly thin, crunchy skin and fried to juicy perfection. Not oily either! Well this place does it perfectly…5 stars for the fried chicken. The rice and cold veggie side dish was of the same quality as the lamb chops meal.
My friendly server did her job well. I only had to ask someone else for something one time…4.5 stars.
You can eat at the bar area, regular 4X4 tables or a booth. They also have hookah available at the back tables but it didn’t bother me.
Lots of food to try such as baked chicken, chicken kabobs, chicken musakhan, Cornish hens and seafood entrees, etc… Plus they have apps and soups. They have kids meals, desserts and Arabic coffee, teas and soda.
The manager came by to check on how everything was. Enjoyable, casual and affordable place. Will be back for the fried chicken and crazy delish lamb chops! BTW very lightly whipped garlic sauce. FREE PARKING :)
This place has potential for sold 5 star. Just need to amp up some flavor for the rice and veggies.
Unilocal Review # 364

The food here is delicious! So good. The only thing I’m missing is my favorite part of middle eastern– which is that grilled whole tomato on top of the rice. I’ll have to ask next time if they do that. We had the humus and pita bread– freshly baked. Amazing. And warmed up stuffed olive leaf plate. And the mixed kabob #1 I have to say the kabobs are EXCELLENT. Delicious, juicy and well seasoned. It’s no wonder they have so many healthy reviews. And it looks like they also cater, which makes sense. Because the flavored are spot on. Would LOVE to go there more. Also got reintroduced to Arabic coffee! Mama Mia! SO delicious. The cardamine seems to be ground into the thick coffee, it’s thick like Turkish coffee in little cups. Very tasty! Recommend both the baklava dessert and the tiramisu. Both delicious!

I ordered the fried chicken for 7.99 it came with rice and tomato and cucumber salad with pita bread or garlic dip and spicy dip. Everything was delicious

I am a big fan of going to hole in the wall restaurants. So I gave this place a shot. The restaurant isn’t that clean but I expected that when I decided to go here.
The service was okay. Our waitress was nice but I never got a refill for my drink. She also brought our food out at different times… All of our food at different times from the sides to the entrees. That sucked because I forgot my food even came with a salad so I was full by the time it came out.
As for the food… The bread and dipping sauce were good. After having that I was excited to try my entrée. I got the fried chicken and my wife got the grilled fish. My fried chicken wasn’t too good, not bad but not good. It lacked spice and seasoning. But my wife’s fish was horrible. The char and seasoning was put on the top of the fish with the bones so the meat of the fish was flavorless.

This place has too many good things to list my favorite is the Aseel chicken it’s amazing also they have very good fish dinner they make the best humus and fresh bread baked around the clock on location just delicious

½ a fried chicken, lamb chops, and a Turkish salad hit the spot. All dishes were seasoned well and the rice was cooked perfectly. I’m looking forward to trying the grilled quail and chicken on my next go. I highest recommend the fried chicken and lamb chops.

With a spur of the moment, I checked on Unilocal to see what restaurants pull up in the area. Al Aseel was rated 4 stars and great reviews. The pictures of the fried chicken were what caught our eyes. We went in and it’s a small cozy place with 6 – 8 staffs and the owner. We told our waiter that we are here the first time and found them on Unilocal.We ordered mixed grilled platter #1 and ½ order of fried chicken because I wanted to see if it is the best in Houston. For appetizer, he recommended Turkish salad. He said people who had it would asked for the recipe. We decided to go for it. Omg, it was so good with the warm naan bread. Roasted tomatoes and fresh onion and other stuffs. The owner came by and gave was sample plate of other appetizer items such as humus, cucumber salad mixture, and a chunkier version of humus but I don’t remember the name. We don’t know if he gave us the sample because it’s our first time or they were friendly and welcoming. Regardless, they were friendly people and always coming around to make sure we like the food or if everything is good. Next time we are going to try their grilled chicken. The table next to us had it and it too looks so good. We will go back for sure. The flavor and taste of the food are amazing compared to other Mediterranean restaurants we had so far.
We normal don’t gave 5 stars but this place earned it. The staff was friendly and our waiter was very sweet and helpful. He knows his food. The flavor of the food was amazing!

I wanted to eat something different after the gym. Chipotle doesn’t taste like anything after eating it more than once. I saw al aseel was open so I thought why not let’s try it.
I got the lamb kebab which came with rice and salad. I also ordered fava beans and a piece of bread. The lamb was medium rare and really juicy. Melts in your mouth. Service was good, the ladies there are attentive and friendly. You’ll see stuff typical for an Arab restaurant. Guys in their 40’s talking about politics and playing cards, hookahs, Arabic music plays in the background, its not extremely expensive either.
Stay black,
–

This was a terrible choice. Especially after a movie at the nearby AMC 30 when we were craving for a late night Mediterranean munch. They served us a soggy and watery abomination in the name of a «Greek Salad». The meat platter barely had any meat and the bread was kinda old and stale. To top it off, this place was kinda expensive for other mediocre Houston area restaurants — costing us well above $ 25+Tips for just a salad and an entrée. Just giving the 2 stars because the waitress was really nice with us.

I love Unilocal and use it often when trying a new venture, however I’m lazy about leaving reviews. I’ll do better. Anyway I digress.
My lunch and dinner today was delicious. I ordered the lamb chops. Not only was it amazing, it was enough for two ppl or if you don’t play when it comes to your food, lunch and dinner. Lol
As far as location it gives a neighbor hood, no fuss vibe. I will post a pic of my food because it gets the point across. Oh and I ate my leftovers cold smh. It was planning to reheat it, tasted it and or was a wrap ha!
Now with all that said I can’t give my opinion about the service due to dining with an obvious regular. I’ve not heard good thing though

WORST PLACE EVER DO NOT EAT HERE I REPEAT DO NOT EAT HERE! If I could give this place negative stars I would it’s horrific! This place smells like fish, sweat, and hookah.
Let me start of by saying today is my damn birthday and I am taking the time out of my day to write this review because I am appalled by the way this owner runs this place. We arrived here around 8ish on a Monday night and were seated right away this place doesn’t have much seating except about 10 booths but a few tables in the middle. There were about 4 people behind the counter two girls who were serves two guys who were behind the counter and maybe a couple of cooks in the kitchen. Our waitress sat us at a half booth half table next to the door going to the patio. We sat down looked at the menu and were shocked at the limited options on the menu regardless we skimmed through it. It took our waiter 10 mins to bring the bread and hummus etc and another 10 for the 3 waters and one Mountain Dew we ordered. The pita bread was by far the WORST RUBBERY BREAD I HAVE EVER HAD. I am from Pakistan we live on naan and pita bread and I know a frozen one when I see one. It took so much to tear a small piece and I swear i was chewing for a whole 2 mins before I could swallow it. We ordered our food my father ordered the lamb kabob, mom got the chicken kabob, I got the ½ fried chicken and my brother got the chicken sandwich. It took about 12 mins for our food to come and once the food was placed in front of us and we all just looked at each other skeptical of the taste. Unilocal has never let me down till now and I am disgusted this place has so many stars. My chicken tasted like leather. I touched the rice that was bought to us and it was stone cold. The chicken had an awkward smell and taste like it had been left in the freezer too long. The lamb was the only decent thing about this place, it was less gamier than I’ve had. My mom had about 4 small pieces of chicken and she was quite upset at the portion compared to ours. My brother picked out the onions and tomatoes including some of the chicken from his chicken sandwich claiming it had a weird smell, and this is a teen boy who eats about everything you put in front of him. 2 bites and we all stopped eating and I called over our waitress. I explained to her our dilemmas and she gave us an apology and I even told her it was my birthday and it was our first time and we came from so far hearing about this place. I told her everything from our over cooked chicken to the ice cold rice to the worst bread we have ever tasted in our life to the small chicken kabob portion that was burnt by the way to the most greasiest frozen fries my brother has ever tasted. I asked if we could speak to a manager and she said there was no manager and called the cook to come speak to us. Once the cook came I explained everything to him and even gave him permission to touch my food to truly see how cold it was. Once he touched it he left to go get the older gentleman behind the counter. This is where it took a bad turn, this man… This piece of scum walked up to our table and his first questions was «what’s the problem? Is there something in our food? Why is it bad? Did you see dirt on it? What’s wrong with it huh? What’s wrong with it? We’ve been serving food for 3 – 4 years I have never heard anything bad about my food! Who are you huh?! Whats wrong with it?!» Yes my fellow Unilocalers this was the first thing this man said to me without leaving a single space for me to respond. I was so shocked that I looked over to my dad who was furious. My mom interrupted him and yelled «let her finish! Let her tell you! Give her a chance to talk!» I told my mom it’s okay. I looked over to the man and I started to explain what was wrong for the third time! Before I even finished he told us to leave. YES TO LITERALLY LEAVE BECAUSE WE HAD GENUINE COMPLAINTS ABOUT HIS FOOD! Are you serious?! Is this how you run a restaurant?! Treat paying customers?! Forget it being my birthday, my special day and we came to this shit hole of a place and then get treated like crap for giving our opinion that his food is indeed not edible! We all stood up and left immediately. First off we were not looking for a free meal or even for a comp! My dad was still willing to pay for the food and go some place else before this turd of a man walked up to us and told us to leave. This is by far the worst dining experience I have ever had in my life and we go out to family dinners every Sunday. Needless to say we will never return and also HIGHLY URGE ANYONE WHO IS LOOKING FOR A GOOD MEDITERRANEAN RESTAURANT TO SPEND THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY LITERALLY ANYWHERE ELSE! There are numerous other places in Houston you can go to and get amazing food and not leathery crap.
We immediately went to Avesta Persian grill located on westheimer and wilcrest. Not only is the food amazing there but also the service is hands down the best I have ever received in a halal restaurant.

Al Aseel has the best Middle Eastern food in Houston by far. Not only is their menu more varied than other places, but every single thing they have on the menu is delicious. They are famous for their fried chicken, and while it is fantastic, there are some other things on the menu that are my favorites. For example, if you go here, you must try the musakhan chicken. I haven’t seen it at any other Middle Eastern restaurant in Houston. The chicken is baked with pita bread underneath (so it soaks up all the yummy juices of the seasoned chicken) and it’s covered in onions and sumac. The chicken by itself is just fabulous but when you take the bread from underneath and eat it with the chicken, you won’t believe how good it is.
My other favorite thing is the baked pomfret fish. Like everything else here, it’s seasoned and cooked to perfection and the portions are huge. The stuffed chicken is also great (stuffed with rice) and very big! You will get a whole foil tray with a stuffed chicken for less than $ 15 and I’m pretty sure it can feed like 4 people. Their rice pilaf is very good, as is their yogurt sauce. I’ve never eaten anything here that I didn’t love. The restaurant isn’t fancy, but it’s spacious and comfortable. The shared parking lot is pretty big. The owners are friendly and welcoming. I could not recommend it more.

The fried chicken is so worth it! $ 10.99 for a whole chicken is an awesome deal. We had falafel, hummus and the mixed kebab plate as well. Everything was great!
We went to Jone’s chicken first but they didn’t have breast meat (not sure if just then or ever) so we decided to go to here after looking up best fried chicken in Houston. Best decision ever!
My only complaint is there was a strong smell of some sort of fragrance. I think coming from the bathroom. I hate smelling perfume and the likes when I eat.

This place has been on my radar for quite some time now, but I was finally able to go one rainy night and try it. My experience was very good to say the least.
I wanted to try a few items, so I ordered half fried chicken, hummus, cheese pita and lamb chops. This is a good amount of food for 2 people, and a mountain for 1.
Hummus — it came first and was really good. It had a strong tahini flavor and rivals Kasra, it’s that good! The pita bread that comes with it is warm and fresh, it also comes with 2 sauces, a garlic mayo which looks like coconut butter, the other is a green chile sauce which I put on nearly everything.
Cheese pita — like a cheese pizza with no sauce, delicious
Half fried chicken — this was good, pieces are small, but I still prefer Frenchy’s! They have better spices. This chicken was a little bland for me.
Lamb chops — these were my favorite and had a great grilled flavor to them. I think the plate came with six which had been marinated before being grilled. Yum!
Obviously, I had so much bread and starch with the items I ordered, so I will have to cut back next time.
Service was friendly and yes its a hole in the wall, but it’s a fairly comfortable environment in which to dine. As with many middle eastern and Indian restaurants, they have TVs playing Arab music videos in case you get bored.

Amazing Mediterranean place that I prefer over the popular Aladdin’s or Fadi’s because the food is slightly better tasting and it is much cheaper. I’ve tried the half plate of fried chicken and the lamb kebab. The fried chicken is perfectly fried however I preferred the lamb kebab because it was more flavorful. Can’t go wrong with either dish though! If you have room in your stomach order some cheese pita for $ 3.99! Many Unilocalers mentioned terrible service and long wait times but I luckily did not experience either of those on a Wednesday evening.

Ok ok my sister and her bf raved about their fried chicken. So we finally came across this gem tonight and was seated right away.
It is not fancy inside and they do not have modern interior design: more like your hole in the wall place. We sat in table 1 booth. My sister graciously ordered for us (4 people total). She ordered beef kafta, hummus with meat, cheese pita bread, and two orders of whole fried chicken (yes we are fattys). Their chicken is halal and cooked when ordered.
The beef kafta and hummus with meat came out first and followed shortly by the cheese pita bread. The hummus with meat was full of flavor and the meat was small pieces of beef. The cheese pita bread tasted perfect with it and not mention the other sauce (forgive me I don’t know what it is called or how to spell it but the main flavor is garlic). Everything was good so far but the main dish took the cake.
Because it is fried (whole and two of them) chicken it did take a little while for it to come out but it’s okay. The small wait was worth it. It came out steaming hot and blasting with flavor. I don’t know what they did but the fried chicken was juicy, tender and packed with flavor. Unique and bold, good quality and crispy with very light batter the fried chicken pieces were delicious!
I will definitely be back when I am in the mood for some REAL fried chicken! Highly recommend and not to mention, friendly staff. Our waitress was attentive and took our orders right and didn’t charge for our cokes. Another guy (supervisor/​manager/​owner?) came by to check on us and even waved and told us bye before we left.

Fantastic food. I’ve tried pretty much everything out of Al Aseels menu and let me tell you something, some of those meals are heavenly! Juicy and crispy fried chicken, kabobs that will melt in your mouth. The food is very tasty and smells amazing. Baked Pomfret fish and the mixed grill are my personal favorites.
Food is great and the place gets busy, so sometimes it takes a while for food to arrive. But its definitely worth the wait. If I know that I will get my fresh, yummy grilled chicken with amazingly delicious rice — I dont mind waiting for it 15 – 20 minutes, I know I will be satisfied with my meal.
Very friendly owner. Great wait staff! Girls are always polite, always with a smile and very attentive. Good service, food and atmosphere.
I always recommend this place to all my friends!
Thank you.

Fantastic late night spot. This one is located on Dunvale and Richmond. Right down the block from AMC movie theaters. This place should be packed with movie goers looking to eat before and/​or after the movies. It’s much cheaper with great food. I love their Mediterranean food. The staff is friendly.
Ask them about their menu items. If it isn’t too busy they’ll be happy to talk about their food. I come here for the Musakhan ½ chicken grilled over rice with salad $ 7.99. You have got to try this. The chicken is seasoned to perfection. A friend got the lamb kebob before. I had some. I was hooked.
I come now for the lamb and the Musakhan chicken. One of the grill men hipped me to the quail. He told me that’s its his favorite menu item. I took pictures. Doesn’t the lamb and quail look fantastic? I’ll try the quail next go around and let you all know what I thought. It looked great.
They have Hookah here too. Friday late nights is a great time to people watch. I enjoy seeing the North African and Middle Eastern families and friends congregate, talking, eating, adding to the atmosphere. If you haven’t been here, make it a point to get over here. Eat outdoors on a lovely night with your date or friends.
Why 4 stars and not 5 stars since I love it so much? They can be sloooooooow with your food order. Call in advance. Give them a 20 minute headstart. They cram a lot of food on their small grill. They also have a lot of orders. When you call sometimes they answer the phone and sometimes they don’t.
Also, sometimes when I’ve called in my order the person that took my order never turned it in or they still don’t get it started until you’ve walked in the door. It’s hit or miss with that. Aside from that frustration, it’s well worth it and for the price? Oh hell yes…

I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars; however the food was so good I went with 4. The wait is absolutely ridiculously long. Best bet is to call ahead and hope they start your order.
First off this is a quaint little mom and pop outfit so don’t expect fine dining and elegance. Two waitresses tops, one dude cooking and another dude randlomly doing «stuff». I heard this was one of the best fried chicken spots in town, so I decided to try it out. Whether you believe it or not I’m not a big fan of fried chicken! LOL… anywho. I went with the chicken plate and the cheese pita… OMG after a 45 minute wait and watching other ppl receive the same food I ordered after I ordered and a little hell raising I received my food. That first bite eased my anger and soothed my palate. The chicken was hot, seasoned to perfection, juicy and down right good! Now that cheese pita… bruuuuhhhhh that was the bomb! You have got to try this place!
Ok now for back to the service. an hour for lunch and a 45 min wait for my food did not sit well with me. They really didn’t care, didn’t give a flying fig. No gratitude, no customer is right, no apology, you eat, you pay. They were not ugly by any means but as a matter fact manner. I guess being that I can relate to that attitude. I will be back but it will be a minute.

I love fried chicken. Fried chicken would totally be on my last meal-​on-​earth request. I came here not knowing what to expect and was blown away. Loved theirs. I don’t know how they do it… how do they marinate this beforehand to infuse these amazing spices? And then how do they fry it to perfection with the oh-​so-​delicate thin fried skin on top with juicy melt in your mouth chicken inside?
It’s quite the meal too — we got a whole fried chicken plate (comes on a bed of rice and a little salad on the side), hummus (with pita and another bowl of dipping sauces like garlic and hot salsa), and tabouleh… all for a whopping $ 24 (after tax ad tip). We were stuffed silly and even took two pieces of fried chicken home with us after we failed to have enough room in our tummies.
Sure, it’s kind of divey. But sink your teeth into some of that chicken… and you’re in heaven.
Nice servers and fairly quick service.

Here’s the short & sweet:
Pros:
–when the pita bread comes out piping hot, it’s so fluffy and thick, it went really well with the hummus and babaganoush. They also serve chili sauce in a separate little bowl and garlic mayo. Both which are great convos with the dips.
–the whole fried chicken was very moist, but be careful because it’s extremely hot when it’s served on your table. It had a good crisp and crunch to it and the seasoning was on the spot. The entire entrée itself was a large portion. It can feed about 4 people. It did take a while to come (10−15min) but it seemed it was made fresh to order
–mint lemonade drink was so refreshing! You must try it. It was tart, sweet and quenched my thirst.
–beef kabobs was like a typical beef kabob. It was cooked to a medium well, nothing memorable. The grilled vegetables that came with the entrée was good though
Cons:
–they get one star off because they charged us extra when we wanted more chili sauce. Without even informing us that it’s extra AND they brought out another basket or pita bread to which we thought was free. Nope, they were real slick about handing it on our table without asking or telling us it was extra until we found it on our bill.
–the fish filet picture that was on the menu WAS NOT the same as what was brought out. That was a bit misleading. The fish filet itself was just ok. A little bland still for my taste and nothing memorable. The tomatoes and cucumber salad as a side that came with it was flavorful. The yellow rice was also just ok.
–server didn’t really check up on us or ask how we were doing throughout our time there nor were our waters refilled and we had to get our own plates to put our pita bread on it.
–mood lighting in the restaurant was very abrupt. We thought the restaurant was closing down but we found out later that they were just dimming the lights for the evening. Talk about a tough transition there.
Overall I’ll come back to try their other entrees.

My husband and I went for a late lunch. It was 2:30 on a Friday and items very busy. Mostly men, very few women which had I gone on my own, I’d probably feel uncomfortable. There were families, men smoking hookah and talking in their cell phones. It was loudish and busy.
We decided to order to eat in. We got half a grilled chicken special to share. It is plenty for sharing! We got the chicken on a platter with rice and a tomato, cucumber salad. It came with their doughy bread and two dipping sauces, a little spicy. Everything was delicious. The chicken is cooked with the skin on to a crisp, golden/​red color. It is extremely moist and full of flavor. The rice is kickass and has strong hints of lemon with another spice I can’t identify.
Lastly, you can’t go wrongs with the price. We paid a little over $ 11 for the platter we shared and a sprite. I will def go back.

Palestinian fried chicken??? I’ve never heard of it. I was poorer for it.
Found this place through Unilocal (of course). It is in a strip center and parking is kinda tight. The atmosphere is your typical mom and pop Persian place place with kababs, hummus and such on the menu and hookah of course.
To add to the ambiance, the place has a good selection of older middle eastern gentlemen sipping tea and smoking hookah.
The fried chicken is the surprise. You can get a half or a whole. Both served with rice, salad and hot sauce for about $ 10 bucks. It takes 15 – 20 for them to make it fresh but so worth the wait. The chicken was steaming hot right out of the fryer. It skin was nice and crispy and the paprika sprinkled on it added a good hint of flavor.
I’d have to say this place is just as good as Barbeque Inn and those are fighting words! I lowering it a star since the service is slow and the servers look like they would rather be walking on coals than working there, but this is normal for mom and pop Persian places.
I will be back.
Stay sexy fellow Unilocalers!