Hala Cafe & Bakery

So yummy, and can be vegan friendly!
This place has a sit down restaurant AND a grocery section so you can get inspired by their menu to make a dish at home; o)

If you ever came here for the lunch buffet, just know that is gone, but I think it’s a good thing.
All of the food is so much more flavorful and well made, it’s absolutely delicious.
I could literally eat here almost every day, the food is fresh tasting and always plated so well. I’m actually very very happy with the improvements that they’ve made.

If you are looking for Arabic food and spices, then this is a good place to find them. They also bake Arabic pita bread fresh daily.

Great food. There was nothing we didn’t love. Tried pickled veggies for the first time, and they were surprisingly good. The kufta was delicious, and the falafels were amazing as was the pita. We ordered takeout for dinner tomorrow: falafels, lentil soup, pita, jasmine rice, hummus, and tebbouleh. We also took home some pistachio and cashew baklava. So yummy!

Great food, but roof fell in on this plaza :(you can still get some pita bread at their beach ave storefront, but restaurant is apparently out of commission for a month or two. Hope they hurry back!

Yummy buffet! Great price for healthy and delicious food! Only wish the buffet bar had labneh.

First time here and we called ahead to see if the buffet was on and the woman was very short. It’s a small buffet but very tasty. They change the buffet choices daily. The cold buffet was soo good. I enjoyed the feta, hummus, cucumber yogurt, etc. some of the main dishes were chicken curry, stuffed cabbage rolls, stuffed zucchini rolls and all were tasty. Only sad thing was no lamb or beef except tiny amounts stuffed in veggies. They do bring out fresh falafel. Ordered a Turkish coffee, think of an espresso shot. Very lil guy but has a good kick. It was 2.00 for something you’d pay like .50 at Starbucks. Istanbul has a much bigger and better selection. Plus no dessert. Doubt we come back. Oh and he wanted to go back but there were no plates so I asked if they could put out plates, but the other girl snotty like said there’s one right there to our server. Btw it was chipped and dirty. She was probably the one that was so polite on the phone. The longer I’m here the worse the review gets. Changing from 3 to 2 stars.

Excellent food! Was traveling in the area and saw good reviews so I thought I’d check it out. Definitely recommended!

Buffet is always really good and pretty fresh. The chicken is tender and honestly reminds me of something my MeMe used to make. The falafel made to order with the buffet is, in my opinion, the best in town. Crunchy on the outside, softer on the inside, and their tahini is perfect.
You can’t go wrong with this family owned and operated restaurant that’s been in business forever. There’s a reason why!
FYI, they are only open for lunch nowadays, and closed Sunday.

This place, for lunch, was incredibly underwhelming. The food looked nothing like the promising pictures, the food was less than yummy, the place was shabby and the waiter was not very nice. The only good thing about this place is that they sell injera which is difficult to make (read impossible unless you have the right machinery) and hard to find but is amazingly light. a little tangy like sourdough and savory.

I’ve been to Hala 3 times in the last year, twice in the past week. Outstanding, authentic food. I’ve had the hummus, the shawarma, gyro. All delicious and fresh. I live out of state, in an area where there are many middle eastern food restaurants. I initially expected a compromised (Americanized) version. Not so; totally authentic. And quality is equal to or better than ME food I’ve had back home.
And pita bread is outstanding. I could eat it all day.

I love Halas, the store more than the restaurant. I rarely eat in, but I shop at the store regularly. Hala’s seriously has the most fresh pita bread around. Depending on my arrival time, I’ve gotten it still warm from the bakery. Of note: If you need pita bread around Thanksgiving or Christmas, call ahead and find out when the delivery is. Arab households have pita, not crescent rolls. You will see the line of women waiting for the bread delivery to buy 10 packs without blinking an eye.
If you love hummus but are sometimes lazy like I am, they sell cans of premixed chickpeas and tahini. Get the Cortas brand. The Ziyad uses way too much lemon. Don’t forget the back of the store for spices, the big vats of olives, and the freezer section where you can find halal foods and frozen entrees. My staples that I’ve been buying for years from Hala’s are bread, spinach pies, olive oil, zaatar, lupini beans, bulgar wheat, roasted/​salted pumpkin seeds, and date cookies.
The store is family owned and has been around for years. The employees are helpful and one even pulled some pita chips from the restaurant for me when I needed some to go with my hummus for a work potluck.

The pita bread here was the best I’ve had in a very very long time. Fluffy and fresh. The hummus was very good too. It actually had a peanut taste to it, which I’ve never experienced before, but it was a nice change. All of the cold items at the buffet were fantastic, but I was a little disappointed by the hot ones. Overall though it was still a good deal to get so much variety for the price. Now that I’ve tried the staples (hummus, tabouli, falafel, etc.) I will order something hot off the menu next time. I think it will give me less variety but it will be a better choice for my main entrée.
The buffet actually goes later than previously mentioned by another reviewer. There is a sign on the window that says it goes till 7pm.
The service was excellent. My server made me feel right at home.

When I tried out the buffet in this place, I’ll admit I expected some mildly dried out subpar food. What I got was dolmas, tabbouleh, and a few other foods that I didn’t recognize which tasted fantastic. $ 10 for all you can eat tabbouleh, YES PLEASE! My co-​worker was a hummus snob and was quite impressed with the hummus appetizer and the pita bread. She talked about the pita bread for at least 10 minutes in the car afterwards.
The buffet had a sign that falafel is made to order upon request. Obviously I partook, but found the falafel not even worth eating. It was way to crunchy on the outside and too dry on the inside. My advice to this place is fix the falafel because it detracts from the rest of the awesome food served. Seriously, it tasted like it came out of a freezer bag.

I have been here many times in the past and this is always a great place to eat, atmosphere is great the store next door is always well stocked as well. this place is just great.

The lunch buffet for $ 11 is a steal, especially since the entrees alone are around $ 10. There are several options of different meat entrees and vegetable sides. I think my favorite was the eggplant with the basmati rice. There is also a plethora of dips and antipasti to choose — babaganoush, tabouli, rice wrapped in grape leaves, etc. can also be found, as well as a couple of rice and soup options. All of the food was delicious. The service was also good, although I noticed sometimes the restaurant ran out of plates and pita bread (which oddly is still in the packaged plastic). Considering I can drive here, eat lunch, and return to work within an hour, I would definitely come here again!

Holy crap, I can’t believe there are only eight other reviews for this great Jacksonville place! My brother took me here for lunch one day before I had to fly back to NYC from the Jax airport and it was a very pleasant surprise indeed! I knew we were going somewhere middle eastern, but this place exceeded all my expectations, tremendously!
I was not expecting an AYCE buffet, but there it was looking at us, right in the face. When my brother started digging in, I thought, «Hey — I’m doing what HE’S doing!». I then realized that this is some of the best halal and middle eastern food you will ever find just about anywhere. This, in a US town that has a long and proud Mediterranean immigrant history, there lay before us a trough virtually overflowing with delicious and authentic noms, just waiting for the taking.
This buffet was nothing short of amazing! Falafels, kofta squares in white sauce (incredible!!!), middle eastern pickles, hummus, tasty salad, halal lamb & rice, halal chicken & rice, sautéed okra, sautéed greens, stuffed grape leaves, tabbouleh, pita, fresh salad veggies, you name it! And more!
I must admit I overstuffed myself here. I got on the plane and I almost refused my complimentary Diet Coke! I did feel wonderful and not logily stuffed after having eaten here though and to tell you the truth, it made me want to eat there every day! (Too bad I live in NY).
Picture this place as Jacksonville’s version of NY’s Maoz, but with WAY more variety and also being AYCE. And also with much better food. And also with food more authentically prepared. And also a nicer atmosphere. And also a lot better quality! I bet their offerings from off the menu are even better than the buffet.
The lovely (I believe Lebanese?) cashier (owner?) was also very sweet and engaged me in a fascinating and interesting conversation after we had eaten. I love her!
This is a wonderful lunch destination! You HAVE to go here! It’s great!!! I can only IMAGINE what dinner is like!

Wow! Clean, and roomy inside (with a nice shop that’s attached), and friendly staff. What an amazing lunch buffet — fantastic assortment of Middle Eastern offerings — fresh, flavorful, and the variety is unbeatable. The tabouli was one of my favorites, and the warm, fresh pita. I tried a little of everything and honestly, there wasn’t a bad choice on the buffet. For under $ 10 you leave Hala… STUFFED.

Best stuffed grapes leaves and falafel that my mouth has ever experienced. The dolmas had a warm stuffing, and was very lemon flavored. I have never had it this way, and it will be hard to have it prepared any other way now that I know better.
This was really an amazing meal. I had the veggie sampler and everything on the plate was amazing.
I would love to eat here again if in the area.

This was my first time at a Mediteranean/​Middle Eastern buffet, so I dont have many to compare it to, but I was really impressed. Everything on the buffet was great, and they even make their pita chips on site, and you can buy extra to take home. I am the queen of freezing things that I want to ration out, and I just thawed out the last of them from 7 months ago and they still taste as good as the day I bought them.
This one even has a store attached to it where you can buy all your mediteranean groceries! Alot of imported stuff.
I wish this was in Atlanta… sigh…