Shaya

What a meal. It’s really 4.5 stars for me. It started of with a birthday card from the staff waiting for me on the table as I sat down. That kind of thoughtfulness puts you in such a great mood right from the start.
Highlights include the pita, the carrots, the hummus (not the cauliflower on top, which was too salty, but the hummus itself was incredible), the eggplant/​tomato dip, even the olive oil with za’atar! The crusty rice with sour cherries and greens was a pretty amazing flavor combination. My bf loved the lamb, my shakshouka was good (yeah, just good), and then the milk & honey labneh cheesecake with burnt honey ice cream for dessert was so fantastic that even though we were so full by that point, it was still a delightful and welcome way to finish the meal. And they give you fresh pita with your leftovers! This was definitely a memorable birthday meal.

Shaya is as good as it gets. My wife and I have been here twice, with the last time coming a couple of weeks ago. I made a reservation the day Shaya won their James Beard award, for a few weeks later, knowing that it was only going to become harder to get reservations there.
We had the tabouleh, lutenitsa, Moroccan carrots, and curried fried cauliflower with pita to start. The flavors in these dishes were unparalleled to anything else i have eaten recently. For our main course, we split the falafel sandwich, which came with a side of fries. The kitchen was able to prepare the falafel and fries vegan, and even gave us a very good vegan zipping sauce for the fries. Our waitress was fantastic, and did everything she could to make our meal enjoyable.
Shaya is a world class restaurant. Make a reservation now, if you have any desire to eat here in the near future, because it is not going to get any less popular.

Shaya is fantastic. I’ve been to Israel and this restaurant was honestly as good as anything I’ve eaten there.
We ordered the lutenitsa, baba ghanoush, pickled ramps, shakshouka, and tahini hummus. Just an absolutely beautiful, delicious meal. This restaurant truly deserves every bit of hype and praise it has received.

It is just sooo good! We booked a dinner reservation well in advance for 6 people, though if dining with 1 or 2, many seem to have good luck by walking-​in (but get a reservation if you have time!). The table was ready we when arrived. Atmosphere was more casual than I was expecting but most folks were dressed nicely. The pita is amazing! Made fresh, hot, and delicious. If I had one complaint, it would be my own ability to pace myself. By the final course, we were almost too full to eat a bite. Here is how it went down:
For the table 5 — $ 23, baba ganoush (so good! smokey and fresh), labneh yogurt (my favorite!), asparagus (delicious but small), tabouleh (not worth it.), lutenisca (roasted pepper purree — delicious!). If looking for a light option for 2 people, I would definitely come back, order the sampler and a bottle of wine and enjoy. Small servings but with the pita it spreads a long way. This is where my pacing went wrong!
Curried cauliflower hummus — $ 12 delicious. excellent quality but small portion.
Falafel w/​cucucumber and tzatziki — $ 12 awesome tzatziki. We ordered an extra side as well and I would consider asking for it as part of the ‘for the table’.
Lamb kebab — $ 16 would not order it again, small, not memorable.
Matzo ball soup — $ 11 good portion of duck and flavorful broth.
Slow cooked lamb — $ 36 I am not a lamb fan (I grew up on a farm, don’t ask…) but my friends were. Portion was huge, moist and beautifully served. I heard all good things.
Shakshouka — $ 16 really good, served in cast iron pot, lots of flavorful bites. Love the egg. Would definitely order it again.

It’s losing a star because of the server with the German tattoos. I lived in Germany and noticed our waiter had a tattoo of Germany, I asked if he was born there, and oh boy was he the rudest prick face I have gotten in a while. Then I asked what city, and he responded just as rudely with eyes rolling.
If you don’t want people to talk to your waiters, or try to small chat, let us know at the door.
He brought us water and filled drinks properly, did not want to engage in any kind of convo what so ever.
My wifey asked me to tip him cause it was our 1 year anniversary dinner.
Food was above average, the bread was good. I go out to eat so I can be waited on by someone nice and feel special. Not a damn jerk who is pissed about someone asking him about his tattoo all the time. I actually had a reason to ask him.

If you ever wanted to know what a James Beard award tastes like, this is the place, all the hype was lived up to and more!
Shaya is freaking MAGICAL when it comes to food… hummus is probably the most boring & bland food on planet earth… Shaya reshapes the dish into a centerpiece and foreshadows your whole dining experience. To take something so humble and transform it into a creamy, tangy soulfood pillow of deliciousness is genius! I will never look at hummus the same way again!
Seriously, I would come here just to eat the Nan bread and hummus. Also had lamb that was so tender that I picked a a knife and fork and the meat just fell onto my fork! This is cooking at its highest level and the city of New Orleans is very lucky to have such a fantastic and different resteraunt in the city, and anyone that comes will feel lucky as well.
I can’t rave enough about the greatness of this place! If you are anywhere in the south make it a point to come out and support this place, it will open up your mind to a whole wide range of flavors and cooking techniques that you don’t see everyday!

Wow. Shaya truly rocked my socks off. It is in my top ten restaurants I have been to. Period. And a stand out even in New Orleans, which obviously is an amazing culinary destination that I just can’t get enough of. I loved the menu concept which seems to promote trying a variety of items rather than just the traditional appetizer/​entrée/​dessert. My favorites for the table were the creamy Ikra and the hearty Lutenista. And the seemingly endless supply of warm pillowy pita bread was a major attraction for me. The combination of smoked white fish and pink peppercorns on the avocado toast was inspired. Total satisfaction.
The James Beard award for Best New Restaurant is well deserved. Congratulations!

Being largely unfamiliar with Mediterranean cuisine beyond the basic kabobs and hummus, my interest was definitely piqued when our local NOLA food & drink guru at Revelator Coffee raved about this place.
We managed to sneak our way in on a weekday evening and the food was just phenomenal. The pita bread made in the «blue egg» was the fluffiest I’d ever tasted and it paired perfectly with the lamb ragu hummus that just exploded on the palate. In keeping with that theme, the lamb kebab was beautifully seasoned and its combination of flavors and tenderness made it easily some of the tastiest game yet.
Service was top notch as well as our waitress kept a close eye on our progress through the meal and checked in regularly to make sure we were doing well.
Though still a novice, I can certainly say Shaya has the top spot for Mediterranean in my book so far.

Living in Southern CA and having a close family friend who is Middle eastern, I’ve been exposed to great Mediterranean/​Lebanese/​Greek food. But after I’ve dined in this place; it just elevated my dining impression and expression of Mediterranean food.
I can describe their food as authentic yet elegant and sophisticated. They take Mediterranean food to a whole new level. Tried the different types of hummus (you can pick 3) so we had the one with grilled asparagus, caviar and grilled onions. Then we had the lamb and it was out of bounds!
It’s really hard for me to put in the right words to describe their food so I would just like to encourage you to try Shaya so you can actually experience it for yourself. One word of caution though, this place gets packed even during lunch so I would nightly recommend calling ahead for reservations. But even if I had to wait in line for an hour, I will not commas because I know that my dining experience will all be worth it!

«They’ve done it. They have figured out food.»
I was left so speechless at how good Shaya was that those were the only words I had to describe the experience.
To be honest, we booked Shaya as an afterthought a few weeks beforehand (the same day their James Beard award for Best New Restaurant was announced), and one of my friends didn’t even want to go because it wasn’t traditional NOLA food (we usually tell that guy to shut up). But as it turns out, Shaya was the best meal we had while we were down there. Hell, it was the best meal I’ve had all year. And that’s saying a lot because I’m a highly selective glutton.
Let’s rewind the clock — our reservation was at 9:30 (which was the earliest reservation we could get on OpenTable). We were offered the option of sitting in their cute backyard but I loathe humidity, so we opted to wait for a party to clear our table. Can’t say I blame them. If I could, I would stay at Shaya forever and never leave.
Their menu is divided into a few different sections, but we just ordered from Small Plates (single plate appetizers), For the Table (mostly things you can dip or sandwich), the Large Plates (entrees suitable for sharing), and the Hummus (self-​explanatory).
We started out with the For the Table plates: baba ganoush, tabouleh, and the pickled ramps. Everything had a really fresh flavor to it. Oh, and the pita bread you get for the table is pretty damn good. We had to get a second round.
For the small plates, we did the kibbeh nayah (beef and lamb tartare) and the crispy halloumi. And let me tell you, the tartare was one of the best I’ve ever had. The two different types of meat complemented each other in this amazing flavor combination that was greater than the sum of its parts. Definitely worth getting if you like red meat. The halloumi was good too. Super crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside, with a pureed peas on the side.
After those courses, we got our curried fried cauliflower. It was nothing short of amazing. Cauliflower is usually easy to hit out of the park, but these guys roasted it to perfection and it was a grand slam.
At this point, we were pretty full. But we still had the mains coming. Luckily, one was the shakshouka, which is vegetarian. It was as good as shakshouka I’ve had before, with a bit of spice from the chilies. Great for dipping the aforementioned pita in.
But the lamb… the lamb was something else. It was a pretty substantial hunk of shoulder, slow cooked to the point where you didn’t even need a knife to take it off the bone. It was topped with walnuts and tabouleh, and sat above a whipped feta sauce. Put them all together, and it was one of the best dishes I’ve ever had. Every texture and every flavor had a part to play and they played them well.
We were all so full, but forced ourselves to finish the lamb because it was that damn good. Luckily, it was our first dinner in NOLA, so we still had the stomach capacity.
Our waitress Meagan was awesome. Her recommendations were spot on, and she laughed at our dumb jokes.
The pacing of the meal was perfect too. It was like a crescendo of tastes. The way that we thought we had the best dish of the night, only to be topped by the next course, and finally ending with the lamb. Masterful.
At one point, there was a problem with one of our shared plates, but they took care of it immediately. The manager even came out to express her apologies, and they made sure everything else was perfect. Even gave us a round of birthday shots!
But honestly, at the end of the day, Shaya will go down as one of my favorite meals of all time. And this is coming from a guy who just completed review #1900.

So incredibly glad we found this place! We are visiting from out of town and didn’t make plans until reaching here. When I tried to make a reservation, they were booking for over a month out! I called the restaurant to check if they had a bar which they do and it’s first come first serve. Perfect I told her, we will try our luck. Got there and only waited 5 minutes before seats opened up!
I was so impressed with the bartender (wish I knew her name to give her a shoutout!). She recommended drinks for us and made a customized drink for my BF and even going back to the kitchen to get some ingredients for his cocktail.
We started with the cauliflower hummus and the falafel. They were delicious ! I thought the cauliflower was just a tad salty but still overall great. The falafel was crunchy and flavorful. It was served with pita bread fresh out of their oven which is fantastic! It’s so hot there is steam coming out of it. They also bring a bowl of olive oil with za’tar seasoning which I thought was a little heavy on the seasoning. No matter, you don’t need it! I asked for another piece of bread so we could finish up the hummus and they promptly brought some over.
We should have been done as we were already full. However, given how impressed we were with the appetizers, we wanted to try more! We did the 3 for $ 15 combo of vegetable dishes. We tried the Israeli salad, whitefish caviar, and the stewed tomato and eggplant dish. I really liked the salad as it was pretty simple with cucumbers tomatoes onions lemon and za’tar. Very light and flavorful! The other two I thought were just ok. Or maybe we were too stuffed to enjoy them.
We saw a couple of people eating the lamb large plate dish and I have a feeling we are going to try to go back again tonight just for that dish because so many people raved about it while we were there!
Overall 5 stars for service, atmosphere, and food! I did overhear people saying there were a lot of termites outside so maybe try to sit inside during the hot summer!

Food is absolutely delicious. But they need to fix their termite issue outside or close the outside area during May. The four stars is for their food and service. But the termites outside is absolutely disgusting. If you’re coming here during May-​June, make sure to get a seat indoors. If it were any other restaurant, I wouldn’t give it four stars because of the termites flying all around you, inside you, and on your table.
Food: Get the cabbage and matzo ball soup. But you can’t go wrong with anything.
Reservations: Make sure you get to sit inside or else bring your own bug spray.

4.25 stars. If I lived in New Orleans, Shaya would very likely be my go to restaurant for a date. The cuisine is casual, fresh, healthy, mildly exotic, and GF and vegetarian friendly. The space is light and airy and sports a rather charming outdoor patio. The staff is warm, patient and very knowledgeable regarding excellent wine pairings. And hey, if your date is going poorly, at least you are having a great meal amongst lovely people. If that is your worst case scenario, your life is going pretty well.
I visited Shaya because we had been in town for an extended weekend, and I think the entirety of my vegetables on the trip consisted of some green beans at Lil’ Dizzy’s and smothered greens at Cochon. Needing a bit of a cleanse and beginning to feel like a moderate dick to our one vegetarian companion who had patiently been eating bread at pretty much every single restaurant we had visited up to Shaya, it was time for a vegetarian friendly meal. Shaya is definitely capable of delivering that result in epic fashion.
We started with five small plates all of which ranged anywhere from solid to outstanding. I’d highly recommend the pickled ramps if they are still in season. Matched with generous clouds of feta cheese and crumbled pecans, the pickled ramps provided a satisfying textural and flavor profile balance. The result was a complex dish that presents simply and tastes fantastic. The spicy Moroccan carrots interlaced with mint were another standout from the small plate menu. Shaya’s salad used fresh heirloom tomatoes of numerous varieties and is rather enjoyable to eat. The baba ghanoush is light, fluffy and a perfect match for their house-​made breads and the tabouleh is well-​balanced.
For our main dish, we ordered shakshouka, an amalgam of tomatoes, egg, artichoke, chili peppers, egg, and various spices. I’ve been enamored with this dish ever since I saw a photo of a North African version of it at Emmer & Rye in Austin, and so I was pretty excited that we ordered this dish. It reminded me of a spicy Indian curry except with slightly difference spices. It was a fun, spicy dish that combined a number of my favorite flavors in manners I hadn’t previously contemplated. Nice job Shaya.
For those who like to compare restaurants that receive the highest of accolades, the James Beard award winning Shaya perhaps wasn’t as mighty an experience as that of 2014 Bön Appetit Restaurant of the Year Rose’s Luxury, but both are spectacular in their own right. And, in fairness, I went to the latter restaurant approximately a dozen times and have only had the privilege of visiting Shaya this one time. The real takeaway should be that Shaya lives up to the hype and should certainly be placed on the short-​list of restaurants to visit for denizens of the city.

I couldn’t wait to eat at Shaya after all the hype. I thought it was good, but not great. I went with a group, and we shared a bunch of small plates, and got the lamb shank entrée. I liked the small plates, but the lamb was pretty bland, and a little dry.
For the type of small plates that we got, I honestly like 1000 Figs better.
I don’t see every going back here because of the fact that that the $ 36 entrée was just o.k.

Shaya is a beautiful restaurant. It definitely has an upscale Mediterranean feel to it, which I love. I was able to get a 1:30pm reservation on a Tuesday, which (when looking 3 weeks in advance) was the only option for the four days I was in New Orleans. I guess being the top rated restaurant in the city makes a place pretty busy!
Had a glass of rose which was very good, and went about ordering. I should mention off the bat that the pita bread is probably the best I have ever had (and I’m Israeli), and it is plentiful! To start, we did the pick 3 for the table starters. We had the lutenitsa, asparagus and ikra. The lutenitsa was the standout star, really delicious. I thought the asparagus was only ok, and the ikra was marketed incorrectly. The ikra is described as a paddlefish caviar spread with shallots, when realistically it is a cup of cream cheese with a tiny dollop of caviar placed on top, with some shallots. Not what we were looking for, and had it been described accurately on the menu we would have opted for something else. We also had the soft cooked egg hummus, which was beautifully presented, but the hummus itself was nothing special for me, and the portion was pretty tiny.
For mains, I had the falafel sandwich and my boyfriend had the schnitzel sandwich. Both were delicious, and definitely the highlights of the meal. I think if we had come and just had main courses and some wine this would have been a 5 star review. Ultimately, if you are not familiar with Israeli food this will be a wonderful way to begin to experience it, but if you are very familiar and eat this type of food a lot, it is pretty on par with a lot of other places, but nothing truly spectacular.
Glad we tried it, but in NOLA in the future I will stick to food that I cannot get in NYC.

Finally made it to Shaya for an early lunch. They have an elegant dining area inside and pretty grounds outside to sit. We chose inside.
My friend and I split the Curried Fried Cauliflower Hummus and the 3 for $ 15 small plates option. We chose the Baba Ganoush, Tabouleh and the Lutenitsa as our 3. They served fresh out of the oven Pita Bread throughout the meal.
Everything was quite delicious. I think I liked the Baba Ganoush best.
I hope to visit again!

BEST HUMMUS AND PITA EVER. The end.
But seriously, the 30 minutes we waited just for that cauliflower hummus was so worth it. If we had had more time in New Orleans I would have loved to order some of the other things (that all looked incredible), but so much to eat, too little time. I will definitely go back next time I’m in NOLA.

Wow!
Fabulous food, fabulous drinks, fabulous service.
We’ve had the following items:
— pita: they’ll bring out hand made, fresh, hot, delicious pita bread and you could certainly just eat that and be extremely satisfied. But calm yourself, don’t overeat on the pita because there’s so many other things you want to try…
— halloumi with pea purée. If you’ve ever had halloumi before you know it can get weird when cooked for too long, but this one was perfect.
— hummus with lamb ragu and crispy chickpeas. Simply delicious! Best hummus I’ve ever had!
— falafel with tzatziki. Falafel was hot and crispy, and smooth inside. Loved the tzatziki, even though I’m not a fan of dill
— slow cooked lamb with whipped feta. Probably the best lamb dish I’ve ever had. The Lamb just came right off the bone, and the meat was so soft. The combination with the whipped feta was just amazing. I’ll be dreaming about this dish for a long time.
Bonus: Mayor Landrieu made an appearance and so did Chef Shaya.

We were invited to Shaya by a foodie friend as we were looking to eat outside the French Quarter. The owner /​chef is a favorite of our friend and now we know why. The food and service here are top notch. Naturally, we over-​ordered and were glad that we did.
For plate sharing, Shaya is a great choice as there are appetizers, hummus, small plates and entrees with great choices in each category. Among our order, we went with kibbeh, baba ganoush, red beets, curried cauliflower, avocado toast, hummus and an amazing (yes amazing) lamb that was probably cooked slowly for several hours. The wine list is very good for range of style and price as well. For dessert, we shared a custard that was strewn with macaroons and fruit. Along with the lamb, another highlight
Our server was excellent. He kept the freshly prepared pita bread coming, poured water and wine constantly, took our order by memory (and got everything right) and was amiable but not smarmy.

This one has been on our list for a few months now and we scored lunchtime ressers in town on a nice cool Friday afternoon.
Bustling at lunch but they had our table bussed and ready a few minutes prior to our 1 PM sit down time.
Place was hopping and had a nice vibe and somewhat upscale classy but not in a pretentious way at all. Crowded bar over in the corner had diners filling every seat there as well. Server was prompt and very thorough in knowledge of and recommendations off the interesting menu.
As you can imagine the menu here is a lot different due to the type food they serve. We chose three of the small plates (loved the brussel sprouts), a hummus selection with fried cauliflower and the Halloumi cheese along with a Strawberry Rose soda, Malka Israeli pale ale and sparkling water.
First off they served a nice hot out of the stone oven puffy pita with an oil based dipper and then the food started coming out one after the other. Might have spaced it a little better but suffice it to say we were knee deep in it soon enough and lapping it all up. Enjoyed pretty much all we ordered and were full. Server seemed to think we could have put down a sandwich too but we declined for next trip in. Desserts looked outstanding as well and a good selection of after meal coffee beverage choices which will also have to wait until next time… and there WILL be a next time.