Yara Lebanese Cuisine

The service is actually not very good here. The waitress was pretty rude and when I went it was cold out but they had all the doors open, the entire restaurant was shivering and they still left the doors wide open. But, the food was so good I still had to give it four stars. I mean this was deliciously memorable food. If you can tolerate the poor service the food is worth the trip.

I’ve been grabbing on Yara’s Lebanese Cuisine since they opened up over a year ago and it has been a pleasant experience every time. savory and fresh Lebanese dishes are my happy healthy go-to’s
grub:]
Now the real stuff is their meat: their chicken kabob, lamb shank, and their gyro’s are pretty darn delicious. the servings are more than enough food for what you pay, worth the price and beyond. typically the larger plates are to be shared, but somehow we always forget and order two large plates and a mezza plater– we ALWAYS have leftovers.
now, I judge a Lebanese restaurant based on their Baba: Yara’s is so-​so, I am not a huge fan of their chunky texture, I do like the taste, their Foul Mouddas is not as tangy as we prefer but it’s good. Yara’s appetizers and mezza platters are what I really like!
Set Up:]
Table service; once greeted and seated, you can expect to have fresh food delivered to your table. during the warmer months they have outdoor seating on the front patio and tend to have the garage doors open.
honorable mention:]
Want to call your order in for take-​away, do it, we tend to grab our food to go at the last minute. Yara’s serves a healthy dose of fresh food every time without the moody «I have better things to do» vibe. If I can say one thing about Yara’s it is the fact that they are always so friendly and welcoming, even when we decide to place a to-​go order 15 minutes before they close we are always greeted with happy and positive vibes, how often is that? that type of friendliness is not the industry standard, it is absolutely rare.

Delicious food! I visited Portland and was under the impression that every popular place I visit is overrated, but this restaurant lived up to its expectations. I tried the lamb kabab, it was one of the best I’ve ever had.

Go to portland they said. Try the shawarma they said. They were right.
The herbs in the shawarma were delectable. Every bite was a burst of flavor to delight the soul. The meat was juicy and the wrap was hefty. The next time I’m in portland I want to try some of the other shawarma places and see if all the shawarma in this place was blessed by the gods. This place was a white plate sit down place, I’d like to try a street shawarma next time I’m in town.
The wrap was hefty. The portions are just satisfying but the taste is fantastic. Service was friendly, attentive and the accommodations beyond adequate. The weather was warm when I visited, but I heard it isn’t always the case. After mentioning the weather the waitress was nice enough to say, «Portland likes you.» I like to think she was right.

Beautiful place for a dinner-​date. We will definitely come back and enjoy the mujaddra again. The lentil soup was a little bit different but great to dip pita bread in. Next time I’ll call ahead early and beg them to play Arab music for a special touch

Dinner portions are hearty enough where you don’t over eat. Average plate for dinner is about $ 13. You get a good size dinner salad, and two kabobs. Chicken shwarma had a big heaping of chicken and onions. We got two entrees and a yara mezza to share for 3 people and it was plenty of food.
The mezza comes with a little bit of everything and it comes with 3 small pitas. The pitas were soft, but it was a little bland. I think the food is great quality and will be back. Service was decent, and the server was attentive. It was a mellow night and I like the cozy atmosphere. It’s a good date night location.

Yum!
The food at Yara is delicious! We started off with some hummus which was very delicious and they give you a large serving. I got the chicken shawarma plate which was seasoned nicely and it also came with a salad.
We’ll definitely be back!

That was disappointing. We’ve eaten here for lunch before and it’s been good for a quick meal to share. Today was underwhelming and will be our last visit. We ordered the Yara platter and lentil soup.
–when we walked in, the biggest table was not bussed and covered in food scraps and trash. It was never bussed in the hour we were there dining, which was odd and surprisingly unappetizing.
–soup was thinner than usual, so not very flavorful. A noticeable difference because their lentil soup is typically super tasty.
-«we haven’t made any hummus yet today» said the server to every table that ordered something with hummus, and she didn’t offer anything to replace the hummus, I had to ask. It was 2:30 on a Sunday, so wtf? It’s a Lebanese restaurant, and that’s obviously probably not true that you haven’t made it «yet.»
–the server was inattentive to the tables, and took a 5 minute pause to chat with some neighborhood business people about sustainable building. I know how long it took for her to have her conversation because I was waiting for pita during that time. Kind of hard to do anything with a double serving of baba ghanoush without any pita.
–surprise! we got charged extra for that pita. That’s a first, and a perfect cap to an unimpressive meal.

I ate at Yara for the first time today. The menu is pretty small, but the food was very good. The service was quick and polite. I would definitely go back.
We shared the sample platter and I had the lamb shawarma and Turkish coffee. All yummy!

Omg! Everything was so delicious! We got 4 dishes and passed them around. Chicken kebab, kofta kebab, chicken shawarma, and lamb shanks. Each was better than the last!

Friendly staff and quick service. We tried the chicken and lamb kabobs with a side order of hummus and pita bread. Everything was great!

I’ve been to Yara four times over the last 18 months or so and have not had a bad experience yet.
I’ve only stopped in for lunch. I’ve tried the lamb shawarma, lamb kebab and the shawarma plate (lamb and chicken). I always get a cup of the lentil soup too.
Every time I have been, the food has been pretty on point. The soup is always delicious and I love the lamb shawarma. Whatever the hot sauce is, it’s great! I will definitely be back for more!
Of the four times I’ve been for lunch it’s never been very busy. My only complaint would be that last time I went our food took far too long to come out. We were a four top and there were only two other tables of people eating alone.
Honestly, after writing this, I could really go for a lamb shawarma. Mmmmm…

This is seriously the best Lebanese good I have had in Portland! The service was great on top of it. The lamb was cooked to perfection. And gosh did I enjoy the house made yogurt! The space is cute and inviting. I think this is our new Lebanese place!

Enjoyed lunch today! Friendly service, Chicken Shawarma with fresh fried fries. and a cold Pabst, lovely!
Thanks guys, it hot the spot!

Ordered four lamb Gyros to go and it made us sick, stomach ache, headache, and body aches… ALL OF US! I breastfeed my 13 week old baby, she is non stop crying after I fed her! The food was very dry and flavorless, thankfully they had a spicy sauce to go with it, but not really… We got sick. Very low quality ingredients, even the pita was hard. The bill was $ 37 when it should have been $ 34, where did the extra $ 3 come from? I left a $ 3 tip,
NOT WORTH $ 40 We didn’t even finish our food, next time we are going to the Blue Olive.

As a Persian girl who has grown up her entire life eating Middle Eastern food, Yara is the real deal.
The woman who works at the front counter and usually serves me is nice, courteous, but not overbearing. The rest of the staff is obviously Lebanese, which is nice.
They bake their own pita bread, which I absolutely love. It’s so delicious and soft, definitely a change from the reheated naan bread that other places sometimes use.
My favorite item on the menu is usually the lamb gyro, because the meat is so rich and delicious, and it pairs really well with the other ingredients in the wrap. I always get a side of fries, but they’re willing to accommodate you if you want pita or salad instead.
The prices are lower than Al Amir and Habibi but higher than food carts, so a perfect happy medium that comes with the ambiance.
Overall, ⁵⁄₅. I love Yara, and will continue to come here.

Went as a group of 4, so good to try different items that my friends ordered.
Lentil soup: good.
Salad: just okay.
Chicken Kabob: Decent to good.
Chicken Shawarma: Really liked this (my wife did not like this as it had onions, which is not typical for shawarma).
Lamb Shank dish: not that great.
Appetizer platter: decent (i liked the falafel, hummus, baba ghanouj wasn’t great). the Naan was served cold (was probably just sitting out there).
They had only one dessert: baklava: just okay.
For the prices we paid for the items, I wasn’t happy.
The service was not good… the server comes across rude (however, not sure if he was rude, or comes across that way with the language barrier).

Got to try this place along with a friend who had a Groupon for this restaurant. We went on a Sunday afternoon and we were the only customers there and another family dropped in halfway through our meal. We ordered the Yara Platter for appetizers, Chicken Kabab, Chicken Shawarma plate and Lamb Shank plate. The service could have been little better as we got our entrees even before the appetizers and the appetizers came out in the end. The Bread was cold as it came out late. Had they brought out the appetizers first, it would have tasted even better.
The Hummus, Baba Ghanouj and Falafel all tasted pretty good in the Yara platter. I am not a big fan of the Grape Leaves and Tabouli and didnt try them. The Chicken Kabobs were awesome as they were grilled nice and juicy and the rice was also good. The Chicken shawarma was also decent. I am not a big Lamb eater but my friend felt that the Lamb shank was not that great and he had had it better at other places. Had the Baklava for dessert which was just ok and not so great.
I would definitely return to this place for their food but the service needs some improvement.

Yara is a delightful, fresh, tasty, clean and affordable restaurant. The fare is light but very flavorful and the green salad was much fresher than I’m used to getting at even the best PDX restaurants.
The felafel is cooked all the way through and not greasy. The rice is subtly spiced with onion? turmeric? Cloves? I’m not sure how they made it but it was delicious. The lentil soup was also an unexpectedly different and delicious flavor. We loved the tender lamb and the tahini-​rich hummus. The baklava is fantastic. (I am not normally a fan because it’s usually too sweet for my tastes, but this recipe is perfect.)
I have eaten more expensive Lebanese food but I think Yara surpasses most of them in quality and service. I expect their prices will go up and their portion sizes might go down as people discover this little gem, but it will still be a bargain when that happens. This is my new Portland go-​to for felafel.

Bottom Line — The restaurant (both the food and the service) needs quite a bit of improvement. This may be due to the restaurant being fairly new, so a re-​visit in the future may be warranted to see if the shortcomings are fixed.
My friend’s sister recommended this restaurant based on word of mouth, so we decided to give it a shot! We came for dinner on 28 December 2012, and ordered the following:
Fatayer Meat ($ 6.50, a pastry filled with ground beef, onion and diced tomatoes) — We thought this appetizer was going to be a light pastry (like Phyllo dough). However, there was a big piece of bread, with just a tiny bit of ground meat filling on top. The bread totally overpowered anything on top of it. We were pretty disappointed in this dish and recommend you AVOID ordering it.
Lamb Shank plate ($ 16.50, served with rice, yogurt sauce and soutee vegetables) — I ordered this plate, but the lamb shank only came out with rice. The lamb was on the tender side, though I think it should have been cooked a bit longer to get more tender. I had to inquire about the yogurt sauce and the sauteed (they misspelled it as soutee) vegetables. After the waiter checked, he appologised and brought the vegetables and the yogurt sauce. The best thing about this dish was the sauteed vegetables.
Gyro Plate ($ 13.00, served with salad, rice and Lebanese yogurt sauce) — My friend ordered this dish, and was pretty disappointed. The meat seemed like it was not freshly shaved, as it was dry on each side of the strips. In addition, the meat wasn’t really that flavoured. My friend said she would not order this again.
Our bill came to $ 36.00 + 7.00 tip = $ 43.00 total for our table of two.
The star rating on this review is only for the food; not for the quality of the service. However, we will note that the guy serving is was very nice, though it appeared to us as if he had no prior serving experience. A few pointers: It would be much appreciated if we were asked about drinks shortly after we sit down, instead of not at all. For drinks that come in a bottle or can, it would be nice to also receive an empty glass to pour the drink into.
If this were not a new restaurant, I would totally write off coming back; however, will give it another shot in the future.