Middle Eastern Cuisine

Love their Sunday buffet. *call to confirm they are having it. Their chicken shawarma wrap is my go-​to wrap. They also offer a nice variety of vegetarian dishes. My favorite is the Baked & Stuffed Eggplant: you get 2 rolls, one stuffed with spinach and onion, the other with cauliflower and tahini. And if you just want a drink, you can walk to the back to the Olive Lounge and Bar. Really good prices to boot. Keep up the good cooking MEC!

Love the daily specials! My fave is the Tuesday veggie combo for $ 5! Their harissa is authentic and addictive!

The special hearts of Palm appetizer was unique and delicious. I had the flat bread pizza, which was ok, thinking I should have gone with the falafel. Also had a small greek salad which had beautiful greens and just the right dressing… nice and light. Finished it off wi th the rice pudding, topped with the freshest green raisins and walnuts. Overall great experience… would come back for that appetizer alone… not to mention the prices were very reasonable… all the above for 19 bucks.

good food, friendly staffs, and very tasty deserts.

I’m new to takoma park and decided to start trying all the restaurants in the area. I walked up the street to find this cute little middle eastern restaurant with some awesome deals. I had the falafel pita, French fries, and a tall boy. The falafel was crispy on the outside but perfectly soft on the inside and also had tasty seasoning. The waitress was very nice and the restaurant has a feeling of community. It was an excellent lunch.

Friend and I stopped in there a month ago and had the Mezza Platter.
«generous portions of hummus, eggplant, falafel, grape leaves, mediterranean dip on a large platter.» (from the menu description).
We loved everything on it and could barely finish it. This was good food and I have been to other Middle East restaurants many times in the DC area for the past 30 years. Their hummus was almost as good as mine. Almost.

Fantastic fresh food. The owner/​waitress was extremely friendly and gave great suggestions. We had lifts, gyro platter, and lamb and chicken shawarma. Cannot go wrong with any choice!!!

This is a nice cozy and inexpensive restaurant. I love their kabobs, the side dishes (stuffed eggplant especially) and the Greek salad. They saved me from cooking many times. Their prices are very reasonable and they do cater too. I actually used this place to cater for my Birthday party last year and let me tell you: food was great, plenty, delivered on time and presented properly. I was a happy care free clam. So yes, I give them 5 stars, in their class of restaurants, for being reliable and friendly and for offering tasty food at a great price.
I definitely recommend them.

I really liked our first visit, but was less impressed with our second visit. The service is excellent, but we haven’t found any dishes that we find exceptionally good. Good enough, yes, but not excellent.

Middle Eastern Cuisine is right next to the famous Mark’s Kitchen and, truth be told, I often thought it was one establishment. It was only when I hopped on Unilocal and read the reviews of Middle Eastern Cuisine (MEC) that I decided to make another trip to Takoma Park.
MEC is a relatively small, cozy, austerely decorated place with a friendly staff and an overwhelmingly large menu (especially for lunch). In addition to the extensive menu, the waitress will also likely present you with an additional page– the lunch specials. I ended up ordering simply — with the veggie platter — which featured some truly extraordinary baba ghanoush, two delicious (and warm!) grape leaves stuffed with flavored rice, and some cut-​above-​average hummus. It was served with exceptionally dry pita which made me think that MEC could really bring its A-​game if it got some Zaytinya style pita — big, poofy, warm bread. But hey, for about $ 8 per person, MEC is a steal, and a great place to grab a quick, casual, tasty lunch. I’m not sure I’d venture from my corner of DC to Takoma Park just to eat at MEC, but if I were in the neighborhood, I’d definitely go back.

I really wanted to like this place, but unfortunately, I was disappointed. I love Mediterranean food and was looking for a place closer to my home instead of driving to Silver Spring. Unilocal showed that MEC was really close by and since it had ⁴⁄₅ stars, I thought I would give it a try.
I ordered the chicken kebab pita and some fries to go. The fries were really hot and crisp, the way I like them, but they were bland (no seasoning, no salt). Same could be said for the chicken pita. The chicken was moist, but lacking in flavor. There was also a light sauce on it that was somewhat odd in flavor and didn’t add anything positive to the sandwich. It was also a little on the small side. After paying more than $ 10, I was still a bit hungry. On the upside, the staff was very pleasant. I want to give it another try, but my gut (literally and figuratively) tells me to move on.

Came here for lunch time and the place wasn’t packed yet not too empty.
LOCATION: This place is right next to other restaurants which made it hard to decide whether to eat here or not. Its a few blocks from the metro station and the neighborhood is very friendly and safe.
ENVIRONMENT: This place is small. Clean tables and floors which is very important to me. Very nice designs on the wall & you can tell they’re known because of the framed magazine covers the restaurant was featured on. Descent restroom and yes, its selfie worthy. Nice liquor rack also. Music playing was of middle eastern I think.
SERVICE: The waitress was very friendly. She managed to give me some tips on what I should do with my left overs.
FOOD: I ordered the Fried Eggplant and Gyro both of which were delicious! The Fried Eggplant is crispy outside and soft in the inside sprinkled with parmasean cheese on top. These came in 6 sliced crescent shape so there’s definitely a possibility that you will be stuffed by the time your main entrée arrives. The Gyro was amazing! Tasty in every bite. I wished they served me with some type of spicy sauce for it even though it was very flavorful. That’s just me, though.
Nice place, good food and affordable.

I want to give 5 I really do but the meat portions are small :-/​. I ordered chicken kebab with couscous the chicken was well seasoned and yummy but I only got 4 «chunks» of chicken.
I also ordered the lamb over basmati rice for my hubby it looks good but again — 4 chunks.
The best thing was the veggie lasagna — so delish you forget that it has no meat! Next time I will order more meat for the other dishes.
The naan was very good too.

I haven’t lived in Takoma very long, but I’m guessing for a sit down restaurant it doesn’t get more cost effective than this. They have nice sandwiches for next to nothing. I had a lamb kebab wrap that was pretty good and only 6.25. The sandwich was decent and large, but not that memorable. I plan on coming back to try out some other items.
This place really gets 4 stars because of the price and atmosphere. Just seems like a neighborhood dive that is very family-​oriented. I love restaurants where the kitchen is literally part of a cozy dining room. Our waitress was excellent. I tried some of my fried’s homemade tea and it was awesome. Also has a little counter where they sell pastries and specialty items. They seem to do a lot of take out business, which I may try soon.

I was excited to try this place because it’s one of the few restaurants in the area that is not a pizza joint. They were closing early because it was a blistery night but we’re nice enough to let me order takeout. I had the eggplant stuffed with veggies topped with a marinera sauce and couscous. It was pretty good. We also ordered the chicken Shwarma entrée but were sad to get home and find that it didn’t come with pita or the yogurt sauce. The cheese dessert which was the rave of some reviews tasted like sweet cheese and was disappointing. The staff was helpfl and friendly. I might give it a try again during the kabob happy hour on Thursday.

I haven’t been this excited to write a Unilocal review in awhile. i just got back from Middle Eastern Cuisine, a homey family-​owned restaurant, for dinner tonight, and it was delicious.
We arrived around 6:30pm and there were no other customers present. We had the cozy and casual dining room to ourselves. The server made excellent recommendations which included the veggie platter and stuffed eggplant entrée. In particular, the tabbouleh, falafel, and labneh were excellent. The eggplant was drizzled in tomato-​based sauce and was a bit salty, but it reminded me of a wonderful home-​cooked meal. For one entrée and one appetizer, the meal was under $ 20, which was a huge steal for the area. I can definitely see this as potential to being a regular spot to grab dinner.
Our server had also suggested their Monday night special «frenched lambs» and the «kitneh platter» that we did not order (definitely would try that next time!) Because of her wonderful recommendations and the relaxed atmosphere, we had a super pleasant Monday night dinner here.
It seems that they have daily specials from only 11−5pm throughout the day, including Monday $ 5 gyros. So if you’re in the area for lunch, this may be a good option. Even though the bar attached to the restaurant in the back serves the menu here in conjunction with the «Olive Lounge,» I found the atmosphere in the front of the restaurant a lot more intimate and quiet to enjoy a nice meal.

Okay… I now officially REALLY LOVE this place after have trying other things on the menu.
I recently discovered the stuffed eggplant dish and so my life has never been the same. The eggplant is lightly breaded, one stuffed with garlic cauliflower purée and the other with spinach and onions then topped with a simple tomato sauce. Freaking delicious and it’s noted as a Takoma favorite, so seems I’m not alone. I’ve also had the vegetable stew which was pretty good.
Still love their wraps and stuffed eggplant the best.
Good service.
Comfortable little spot.
Great prices.
Love this place!

I just had another pleasant lunch at Middle Eastern Cuisine and want to give it another star because the Gyro Wrap was very tasty and a lot less messier than regular Gyro sandwiches. It was served with a slice of pickle and some olives. I also had the vanilla cheesecake for dessert and loved it.
The restaurant was well air-​conditioned, plus it had ceiling fans. So nice and cool on a very hot afternoon!
And the waitress is very polite and helpful and has a lovely smile.

Short Story Long: 7÷19−7÷27 Buy Local Challenge: I wanted to challenge myself to buy local this week since it is «buy local challenge week in Maryland» I took my time and walked around the Takoma park area. I passed Mark’s Kitchen, Republic, and a few other locations. I wanted to support this family business, it seem like it would have been amazing.
Service: I walked in the door and was not greeted. I sought for a friendly and welcoming face. I had to make the first verbal contact, my order was finally taken as if I was at McDonald’s in a random unfriendly area. I made my order and the slender woman with a ton of makeup just walked away and began tending to her tables. There was no mention as to my total payment due, she just walked away from the counter. I sadly had to ask the person who made their order before me the payment process, we were both baffled.
Atmosphere: There is a difference between cozy and really small with too many chairs. When I walked in and looked around trying to figure out where to make my order and again trying to walk back to the door to read the posted reviews the walk was uncomfortable. I was disturbing other customers sitting down. You can’t move without bumping into another person. The vents need cleaning and the floor was so sticky, my shoes kept sticking to the floor.
Food: Two males prepared the food and it «smelled» delicious.
When I arrived home I wanted to enjoy this dinner, sadly the feta cheese on my salad was the only tasty thing in my two boxes. This was not the middle eastern and local experience I hoped for. I did not want to waste the food so I had to eat it.
Over All: I will not return nor recommend this restaurant. I would not recommend if asked; I’d like each person to try for themselves and hope they are received differently when the walk through the door.
It’s not that hard to make eye contact, smile, and welcome your guest, paying customers, and locals.
I read a few reviews while waiting on my food and I was not pleased. I was already too late, I was hungry, and hoped my experience would have been different.
I saw the manager replies and mention on a few post that he’d work on correcting these issues. The 7÷1÷14 review by Laurie E. sounds the same as Saverrah I. It’s been a month now and the same non welcoming and bland food is the same
¹⁄₁
I’ll try another local business and hope that will be a better experience. I hope this review helps.

My adventures in Takoma Park continue! I discovered this place while browsing around downtown looking for lunch. Its in a good location and seems to be quite popular as I’ve been here twice and more than a few patrons were inside. I have gotten takeout twice — once the lamb kabob sandwich and another time the mediterranean Falafel wrap. The lamb was average — not that bad. Also, I found the Falafel in the Mediterranean wrap to be just OK but perhaps thats because the rice in the wrap was somewhat offsetting. I guess they were OK overall but I was expecting a little more. Both offered a fair portion size — so I feel like its a good value for your money. I have only done takeout so I cannot speak to the sit down service — that said, their staff seems very friendly.