Chef Alisah’s Restaurant

What a find! Turkish coffee was great. I highly recommend purchasing the surprise platter — it was an excellent deal for the price with tons of delicious and well-​seasoned meat.

It doesn’t have a fancy vibe but is attractively if sparsely decorated, but trust me you want to come here and get lost in the food. Try the Surprise Plate. It has a little, no a lot, of everything — grilled vegetables, broccoli and cheese, chicken, a variety of sausages, some gyro meat and tatziki, whatever the chef wants to put on the platter. It is beautifully presented and abundant enough to guarantee leftovers. The family who owns Chef Alisah’s clearly takes pride in their restaurant and food, and I appreciate that they check back to make sure you like everything. When I was there as part of a group of six, the waiter and the chef checked twice to see if we were all happy, and then the chef brought us a very generous extra platter of food he said he usually just prepares for friends and relatives. What a wonderful gesture. This is a bring-​your-​own wine/​liquor place, which I appreciate. To me it’s nice to select my own wine and not have the usual huge markup cost. I’ve eaten here several times and have always left delighted.

Chef Alisha’s is ethnic home cooking at its finest. A surprising hidden gem. I had the stuffed grape leaves. It didn’t have the taste of greek dolmades. It wasn’t similar to a Roumanian stuffed cabbage .The taste was uniquely Bosnian. They were excellent. Reminded me of the eastern european foods my grandmother had prepared. If you’re a foodie. This is the place to go.

Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and grew up with the food. This place is top notch and definitely the real thing, no questions. The Cevapi are a must try, everything is incredible and I don’t think you could go wrong with a single thing on the menu.
Alisah, the owner/​chef is so kind and personable, he is happy to provide the best service and experience and definitely can make recommendations!
Like I said, you cannot go wrong here! Incredible food and service!

This might not be fair to the restaurant, but I have a lot to compare them to, because I have many, many friends from former Yugoslavia, both Bosnian and Croat. I have the great fortune to eat food prepared in their homes, from the homemade bread to lamb stews and soups to stuffed cabbage rolls, and more. The food here is good, but honestly, nothing above what I eat at my friend’s houses, and the menu features are really the very basic, simple, common, everyday dishes for those regions. This is comparable to going to say China, or Egypt, or Madagascar, or Bolivia and paying $ 20 for some meatloaf and mashed potatoes. But, all said and done, yes, their food is good.

Been here a few times now. It’s very pleasant and tasty homemade food. My only complaint at this point are the very difficult dining hours. I don’t think the owners realize how may people skip going because they don’t want to be rude to the closing hours. I would have gone to lunch at least ten times this year but my lunch begins at 1pm. I can’t arrive until 1:20 and they close at 1:30 so I don’t bother. Same story at dinner time. I would have given four stars but the hours sucks.

Hidden Treasure
Literately this restaurant can easily be missed as we did. That would be a great shame. A bit skeptical but following other Unilocalers, we went on the hunt for this hidden gem.
Never having tried Bosnian food before we went with chicken, meatballs and stuffed grape leaves.
I had the stuffed grape leaves. Not over cooked but melt in your mouth soft and seasoned well with a tangy sauce that I couldn’t get enough of. It comes with buttered rice seasoned well and very very tasty.
My husband and son had meatballs with rice and similar sauce. The meatballs were well done, moist, juicy and great tasting.
My parents had one of the fried chicken dishes. The chicken was crispy on the outside super juicy and tender on the inside, very well cooked and seasoned. It came with some very delicious sliced soft potatoes.
A couple of dishes came with a salad that even my seven-​year-​old liked, although he said it was a bit spicy, he still kept having more.
We are from out of state but have made plans on coming here again next time we are close to Tucson.

Fresh, clean and delicious. Service was beyond good. Apple dessert was best.
Bookmarked it so I visit again when in town.

How have I not already written my review for this place? I live 2 hours north, but every trip to Tucson must include a meal at Chef Alisah’s. This family-​owned restaurant is very welcoming and I like talking to them on our visits.
We always get the chef’s plate, and always leave stuffed and with leftovers. Today I picked it up to-​go and it’s an even more impressive array of food when you are handed a heavy container with three layers of rice, meat, and veggies. I think that when they printed the menu they got the words «two» and «four» mixed up, because the platter for two will feed four. Possibly still with leftovers!
Oh and the fact that they have Slovenian soda («Cockta») and Turkish coffee on the menu are nice extra touches.

Verynice and family friendly. Family owned. Very tasteful. Loved their Gyro. Will def. go back again.

Ordered a meat plate and some other stuff as a party of 3. Excellent value, since I got to take the leftovers home and enjoyed the meal for a second time. BYOB — bring a bottle of California Zinfandel with you to avoid the 100% restaurant mark up (or a Balkan grape juice if you can find some). Don’t miss this place!

7 Stars. Jackpot! I ordered the Surprise for 2! This is the best food I have eaten in Arizona.
Flavor. Portions. Culinary Passion.
I am speechless and FULL.

This place sat in my bookmark list for years — mostly because I am rarely ever on North Oracle Road.
But I finally made the trip up to check out this sweet spot.
What luck.
This casual Bosnian restaurant is on point! The spot is casual enough for the daylight and evening hours but, with the table settings, can lend itself nicely to date nights (though the lights are always too-​too high).
It seems to be a good draw for couples and small families. Doesn’t seem to get too insanely busy, but does keep a decent stream of customers.
On the menu (which is fairly small, comparatively), you will find tufahiju, sarmu, pljeskavicu, sarma, sataras, mahune, riza, grasak, baklava and cevape, which are Bosnian ground beef sausages. Smallest order you can get as an adult is 10 — so come hungry, or ready to share.
Here is my endorsement: get the tzatziki and ajvar and do try the cabbage (dinstani kupus) with butter rice. Good goa! What a perfect combination.
The tzatziki does not have even the slightest bit of bitterness to it. It is soft, smooth and creamy.
The ajvar (a roasted red pepper spread with a strong hint of eggplant) is much heavier, and complements the tzatziki quite well.
The cabbage — and I do love, love, love cabbage — was flavored with tomato sauce, carrots, onions and I am not sure what else. So good!
And know that the serving sizes are massive. That order alone could have fed two adults, especially when you get extra bread offerings for the tzatziki and ajvar.
Also, the Alisha family is quite lovely. Beautiful family running a darling business. I felt like I was part of their extended family. True story.
And watch out for specials. For example, the most recent one was a special roast lamb dinner at $ 17, served with potatoes and bread.

I had the giro sandwich here for lunch today — it was good, lots of meat. I was totally stuffed for a 9.00 plate, and couldn’t eat the last bite of meat. There was a good amount of dressing and tomatoes, and onion on it. The atmosphere was cute with inviting purple table clothes, and a nice outside seating area. Service was fast and friendly, I would go back. Some of prices were pretty high for some of their dishes.

How silly is it that I am already getting excited simply by reading their menu for the first time? Highly recommemded! No need to read the rest of my review. Save time by skipping my review and go there!
So I see you’re not easily convinved… ok. Follow me. The menu is diverse, filled with Mediterranean and other items for both meat eaters and vegetarians. There are about 40 items on the menu with well known Mediterranean dishes like gyros and little known (to me) Bosnian dishes. The menu also included schnitzel (go figure!). First time, I ordered the Traditional Bosnian dish #2 (special beef dish with mushroom sause) which the staff (Chef’s wife) said was her favorite. The meat, covered in mushroom and white creamy sauce, was delicious. Mushroom was cooked right, not too done. Get Bosnian coffee after the meal. Coffee was thick and gritty… in a very tasty way. I’m so glad I tried Alisah’s.
On the second visit, I ordered the surprise dinner for 2. I had read before that the amount of food was insanely large. And it was. If my friend was a 6′ 17″ (no one should be over 7′ tall) marathon runner, perhaps we could have finished it. But no! She was only 5′ 8″. Desipte our concerted effort we made very little progress, and I had leftovers for three meals. The food was excellent. The service was great until we unknowingly made them stay late… The server, in a baritone disgruntled tone, made it clear that they closed 45 minutes before (we … sorry!!). Evidently it was a night of fantastic food and great conversation.
This is a kind of place I’ve been looking for in Tucson, an escape from the same –o-​same-​o. Go try it!

Amazing and authentic food! Had large group of people here for dinner and everything was terrific from beginning to end. The owners are lovely people too. Highly recommend!

This is a very charming, family owned restaurant the deserves a better location to be able to seat more people.
The young service staff was genuine and eager to please, very timely, and added to the atmosphere nicely.
The food was well flavored. Starting with the mouth water ajvar, which is a red pepper dip that you sop up with their homemade bread — heavenly! The sausages were phenomenal — actually, the whole meat platter was. The chicken was cooked thoroughly but juicy and subtly seasoned. The burgers were good — not amazing, but good. The steak was also phenomenal, like a carne asada — I loved it.
The dessert was very nice as well… we really enjoyed the stuffed apple.
We will go back — not as frequently as we’d like because it is a touch pricey for a family of 5, but definitely will go back when we can.

Amazing food! Amazing service! It really doesn’t get any better! The reviews are no joke. This place is awesome!
Super clean, the owners are very friendly and obviously take huge pride in what they do!
The three of us (my husband, our 9 year old, and I) started with shopska salad, and then ordered the surprise plate for 2. The food was plenty and we had to take almost half home in a to-​go box! Everything in it was just amazing! I am Bulgarian and the food reminded me of home. It is very similar. Loved everything!
Try their Bosnian sodas. They are different but good. The bread is also amazing!
I wish they had a San Diego location! Next time we visit Tucson we’ll definitely be back!
Woohoo! As good as it gets!

I came here alone the other day because I read the Unilocal reviews and was curious. I’m really happy that I did as I had an excellent time.
Since I arrived right at opening, I was the only customer. I got some serious five star service. Chef Alisah was very personable and made some excellent recommendations. He let me know, «It’s very important to me that you have a good time because I want you to come back!» That attitude is the secret to restaurant success, in my opinion.
I started with a cup of Bosnian coffee. It was exactly what I was expecting, served with sugar cubes and everything. One of my favorite drinks of all time and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
He recommended the Gulas, and I also ordered the tzatziki and ajvar appetizer. I didn’t care much for the ajvar as I thought it was too sweet for my tastes, but the tzatziki was incredible. I even got some extra bread to enjoy it with — which, of course, is some delicious homemade bread.
The Gulas was one of my favorite things I’ve had to date. It is kind of like Bosnian pot roast. I think I could eat that every day. It was lightly spiced, not too salty, and a little creamy. The meat was very tender and melted in your mouth. They also served me a nice, light salad with a wonderful homemade dressing.
His wife, who served me the majority of my meal, took care of me when I asked to try the baklava. She proudly asserted that she makes it herself. It was some wonderful baklava — just enough honey, sweet but not too sugary, and flaky. Let’s just say I was full when I left the restaurant. I can’t wait to come back and bring my husband so we can try the Chef’s surprise next time!

My fiancée Santi T and I saw this Bosnian restaurant on the road and decided to stop by to grab an early lunch. As the first to arrive, the purple and white interior was well organized, with plenty of sunlight coming through the windows. The captivating décor included ceiling fans, Bosnian paintings, and squared-​shaped tables that spread across the white tiled floors.
The Cevapi ($ 10.50) came with 10 pieces of kebob sausages, chopped onions, sour cream, and warm flat bread. The beef sausages were a bit over salted, but moist, and came with a good bite with a garlicky endnote. The salted flavors intermingled nicely with the sharp onions, and the smooth sour cream rounded out the taste buds with the soft and crispy flat bread to give textures.
My favorite item during the visit was the Sarma ($ 13). The ground beef was nicely seasoned wrapped with sweet cabbage and sauerkraut. The seasoned rice was cooked with olive oil, butter, vegetables, salt, pepper, and was addictive and outright delicious. I would love to order this dish again.
During the meal Chef Alisah was very gracious to emerge from the kitchen to greet us. He also brought us a plate of Piletina U Sosu Od Gljiva to sample on the house. The chicken breasts were covered with homemade mushroom sauce. The chicken was moist and tender. On the other hand, the mushroom sauce was too salty for me but delicious when dipped with the remaining bread at the table.
The hospitality was genuine. The same could be said about the service that was friendly and efficient. Although this was not the best Bosnian restaurant that I had experienced, it was still a memorable meal nonetheless. The overall experience was positive but the rating has much more to do with their dishes being over-​priced compared to others of the same cuisine. I hope to come back with a larger group to try their Bosnian Style Kabob and the Surprise Plate.