Samad Mediterranean

As I continue to eat here week after week, I am now addicted to the garlic sauce (aka crack sauce) and have to have it. So does my 13 year old. (We smell like garlic together!)
Amazing food. Never disappoints.

The best Mediterranean food in town! The hummus is excellent, kafta kabobs are scrumptious and grilled to perfection. I will continue to make the drive on a regular basis, worth the drive from Lawrenceville. My husband had the gyro and fried cauliflower it was very tasty. Prices are reasonable as well as the portions. This is a hidden gem!

A nice short black hair in the hummus! That really opens up your appetite!
Ordered the Moe Meat, the gyro and kafta were old and taste less, just like the pita bread. The chicken kaboob was ok, but not impressive.
The server girl was nice and polite, but had germs under her finger nails.
Would not recommend this place, as I’m sure they will fail a simple health inspection.

Great Mediterranean food. Euros, falafel, hummus, salads, and chicken sandwiches. Everything tastes fresh. I love their gyros, so I’ll grab that and a side of beets, to make me no feel so bad for eating the gyro. The beet salad is really good.

I can’t stop going back. I dream about the gyros. I’m obsessed!

This place has been coming up on my Unilocal search and I finally got to try it. The place is big and doesn’t have much theme but I give it 5 stars for the price. I got a gyro wrap combo with a house salad and drink for $ 7.48. That is even cheaper than most fast food joints. I will definitely come back. The gyro was delicious but could have used a little more spice. The only compared good amazing gyro I had was from a food truck called UrbanTaali. The salad dressing was really good and the portions were huge. The service was excellent and guy was really friendly. Hope to return again one day and recommend other people to come. They have plenty of room for large parties. They also have a medium size selection of grocery so you can kill 2 birds with one stone. Check it hole in wall out, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Fantastic Mediterranean food at a great price. Best we have found in the Area. Always consistently good. The wait for your food can occasionally be a bit long when busy, but not a big deal. The owners are super friendly as well.

«Appearances are often deceptive» keep this in mind when you are entering the mall. If you are looking for a fine dining experience then this is not the place but if you are looking for a casual laid back place with great food this is the place.
I had Iftar buffet here and it was great. The environment is casual and the owner is very nice. You enter and have your food and pay later on. After leaving this place I had a feeling that owner had shared his home food and as customer you come to his place, share food, enjoy yourself and pay.
They also have blackboard wall for kids and chalks for them. Overall it’s a nice family place. I really liked this place and will be back.

I really like the food at this little Mediterranean hole in the wall. What it lacks in atmosphere it more than makes up for in food. The Hummus, Chicken Kabobs, Falafel and Baba Gnoush were all great but … the Lightly Fried Cauliflower with Garlic Hummus Sauce was Crazy Delicious !
It’s not on the same level as Rumi’s Kitchen, but it’s not trying to be.
I give it 4+ stars for what it is. a small, casual inexpensive Mediterranean café with good food.

I… don’t get it.
I mean, the food was good, but Aladdin’s, which is right down the road, is sooo much better to me. I had a gyro and two sides, and the pita bread was really yummy and lightly toasted and wonderfully soft and chewy, but as a whole experience I wasn’t wowed. There were four of us and we all liked our meals but no one exactly raved about them. We were pretty hungry too, so who knows. One of us ordered chicken instead of lamb, and got lamb instead, but we went with it.
Also, the guy behind the counter was abrasive. Like, there was NO warmth about him at all. He didn’t offer up any information even after I told him it was our first time. Maybe it’s a cultural thing but he seemed so agitated and impatient with us that it made me not want to give him my service, but it was raining and the hole in my stomach was making itself known. At Aladdin’s, you walk in and they smile at you, say hello and are usually very welcoming.
The photos of Samad’s food look delicious but … I don’t know. Maybe another day. But for right now, meh.

Maybe the owners of Samad will adopt me so I can eat this food everyday. Don’t be fooled by the nondescript location next to Stars and Strikes. This is amazing food. We usually have to drive into the city for good Mediterranean but never again!
Samad is a counter service restaurant but you can eat in or take it to go. Saturday night was busy but service was still friendly and attentive. Standouts were the fried cauliflower, garlic sauce, pita, baklava, and baba ganoush. Hummus, falafel, and gyro were all excellent, as well. Prices are very reasonable and portions are huge. We had a ton of food with drinks and spent $ 30. We even had leftovers. The space is very clean and kid friendly. The walls are chalkboard painted for the littles.
We will be back many, many times!

Frankly I don’t understand where the 4.5 star rating comes from. I love Mediterranean food and although this place was fine, there was nothing special about it that would make me want to come back. Even the hummus to me was pretty bland, although it was the one redeeming quality for my friend.
Service was meh, we were one of a couple of tables in there and even that seemed to be a little much for them to handle. The shop is neat in that it has the restaurant side, as well as a small grocery of specialized foods for this cuisine.
It took quite awhile for our food to come out, and while I enjoyed the baba ganoush (which I’m really picky about), everything else was pretty bland. The pita was served warm and on point though. Everything was just average, and my friend’s meat dish was very overcooked and dry. I would definitely prefer to seek out other locations in the area if I’m craving this sort of food.

Great food for a reasonable price. Baba Ganoush may be the best in the city. Try everything at least once to decide on your favorite. A very plain place is a non descript strip mall (has a new stars and strikes, which I hope brings the restaurant more business). But, the food is amazing. Also throw away plates and plastic forks. Be sure to get the hot sauce and the garlic sauce, hummus and taboli. Nothing fancy but food is fabulous. Family owned and they are happy to have you eat with them.

Don’t be deterred by the ambiance. Samad is anything but fancy, but take one bite and you won’t care. Even though they serve complete Mediterranean meals, the cuisine is really Lebanese street fare and it’s delicious!
The dishes are simple and very portable. The portions are generous and while the recipes aren’t fancy, they are consistent. The gyro meat is decent quality and the chicken is tender and flavorful.
Some of the standout items include the tabbouleh and the falafel. Both are fresh and hit the mark for how they should taste. It’s difficult to find authentic Middle-​Eastern sometimes.
There aren’t necessarily any surprises to be found at Samad, but it’s an easy going meal that might just qualify as comfort food. The prices are very fair too.
It’s at least worth a try!

As part of the Farewell Tour of lunches, I took some of my coworkers to Samad. They were mad at me for having waited so long to introduce them to this place. And proceeded to return within a week. Yes, it’s that good.
The main reason to go is the toum — emulsified garlic in oil. Like really garlic mayo — creamy. Excellent sauce. Put it on everything you eat.
They’ve got amazing fresh salads and they’ll let you pick any as your sides, regardless of what the menu says it comes with. So instead of rice and house salad, you can get beets or cabbage salad or arugula salad or romaine salad, or tabbouleh.
Their meats are well seasoned and juicy and so flavorful. The fried cauliflower is divine. The space is simple and feels like a grocery store (and you can buy groceries to take with you) but the food is amazing.

Pretty good food. I like the different salad options and the mezze platter! The environments super casual, like a cafeteria. Paper plates and utensils. So for a quick lunch that’s healthy, reasonably priced with a variety of options — I’d go back.

Came here before the Harvest Unilocal Elite event since it was nearby to my brother’s office; the event and allowed us to eat without worrying about getting caught in traffic (triple score!).
The inside of the restaurant is pretty basic. There are tables (mostly long family style) arranged inside, a soda area next to a grocery like corner and the food counter in the front. The gentleman working the front was very nice, he never rushed us and even gave me a complimentary taste of the potato salad.
We grabbed a table and shortly after, our gyro’s arrived. The portions are huge, so bring your appetite. We both got the Lesly plate, which comes with chicken, gyro meat, pita bread, tabouleh and hummus, however, I asked for the yummy potato salad as a replacement for the hummus. My brother pointed out that the pita was grilled, which gave a really great crunch factor. I nodded in agreement because I was already on my second bite and didn’t even visually notice this.
There were a few other diners, and some take outs but the place was pretty quiet. Bro said that they get really busy during lunch and he prefers this over Aladdin up the street.
If you are looking for good no-​fuss Mediterranean food then you need to come here. I wish they were here when I was working in the area!

I never knew this place existed until recently. In addition, I had never been into this shopping center until I visited Samad Mediterranean, although I have passed by it many times.
By the time I arrived the Tabbouleh was gone, I ordered the spinach salad instead. I ordered a lamb and chicken kabob and I substituted the rice with rice with lentils.
Casual dining experience and overall the food was good.

«There are two kinds of people — Greeks, and everyone else who wish they was Greek.» — My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
I love some fabulous Greek/​Mediterranean food, so when fellow Unilocaler and friend Angela M suggested getting this off the Bookmarked list, I was all in. Look, it is in an odd location (sketchy looking, practically empty strip mall that I wouldn’t dare frequent after dark), but once you take the plunge you will be glad that you did!
We walked in and were greeted by a lovely lady who asked if we had been in before. When we explained that we were newbies, she immediately handed us a plate of 4 samples of the salads and 2 forks for us to have a taste — and we were hooked. We were so busy munching, we forgot we were supposed to be making a decision! We tried the chickpeas, beets, tabbouleh and red cabbage salads. We talked to our hostess about what we liked and she made suggestions accordingly.
I picked the mixed kebab plate which came with rice, pita and a salad of my choice — I went for the tabbouleh (as I could not stop eating the sample). I selected a chicken and a kefta kebab. The platter also came with a larger than life pita, rice and a grill roasted plum tomato. Angela and I also opted to order (upon suggestion of our new friend) the fried cauliflower.
Before our food came out and we were still munching on our salads, we were brought a sample of the fresh off the stove lentil soup to try (and 2 spoons). Wow, they were really treating us like family. Also delicious, not salty, or grainy, but the right level of lentil and broth. Kind of thin, but with a little tooth to it. Next, the cauliflower — nutty and rich with the perfect texture — almost like it had been over roasted on 800 degrees for a minute. So flavorful, it would turn any hater of this cole vegetable into a full-​on cheerleader.
As if the lunch couldn’t improve, our entrees arrived. It was a massive plate of food and I thought to myself «why have you over ordered?» But everything was amazing — the chicken was moist and tender, intertwined with onion and green bell pepper pieces. The kefta took up the entire skewer and had the perfect smoky yet sweet flavor. I picked at the rice, and while it was also delicious, I preferred my carbs come from the pita!
Thankfully, Angela and I had both read Stephie’s review and heard about this garlic sauce. We both ordered it on the side. We were warned of its potency, but after 1 bit, you don’t give a damn. It is PURE garlic heaven. I was dipping my meats in there, spreading it on my pita… I wish I had more things I could have put in the sauce as I had a little left over (Angela polished hers off). But let me tell you — you will want to steer clear of humans the rest of the day unless you have mouthwash or a toothbrush handy!
I was so full by the end of the meal that I thought I might have to roll myself out of the building to my car, but I was sure I would be returning again… and again.

I’ve got to push them up a star. Even with the bleh interior I’ve started to really like this place.
The owners are incredibly friendly and want your experience to be as positive as possible. The woman will let you try any of their delicious «salads» so you can make sure you pick your favorite. All the pre-​made «salads» (loosely coined since some are really just veg type sides) are delicious, but my favorite is the cabbage one. It is lightly coated in vinegar and oil and retains it’s nice bite. MMhhh. After you order at the counter generally she will have you sit down, bring you your food, and then once you are done you go to the register to pay. The only problem I see with this method is remembering to pay after you get your food.
To combat the overindulgence of tzatziki on the chicken wrap I order it on the side. This way I can control the amount AND have some for fry dipping. The fries are perfectly crispy. Sometimes they could use a little more salt, but when dipped in some garlic sauce or tzatzikii they are perfect. Your breathe isn’t, but they are.
The amazing garlic sauce that they have, be sure to ask for a side because I don’t think they always put it on the plate, is actually called toum. It is emulsified oil, garlic, and lemon juice. Shit is fucking delicious and appears to be easy to make, but honestly I would rather come here and get some fresh made to go along with a hot tasty chicken sandwich and fries.
All in all this place has come out much higher on my lunch list. Would I drive here from Cabbagetown just to eat? No, probably not. However, I would pull off Ga400 and come here if I was anywhere near though and that says a lot.