Al Rafedin

This place is what Yelp is all about. One of Phoenix's hidden gems.Al Rafedin is a tiny restaurant in a run down looking strip mall at 37th Ave and Camelback serving some great Middle Eastern Food.You have your traditional items, kabobs, chicken, lamb, falafel and hummus, sandwiches and entrees served with rice.The portions are large and served with soup, which was a lamb broth and come with a plate of radishes, pickles, onions, jalapenos, a lemon wedge and cilantro. Pita bread is also served with the meals.The food is fresh and prepared as you order it.Al Rafedin family owned and operated. We were served by the son and the father, who was also the chef. Both were very friendly and welcoming as well as the patrons. The authenticity of the food was verified by the fact we were the only Anglos in the place, all the other customers were Middle Eastern. In fact, the owner told us this is the place where all the local Middle Eastern people come for food. If you love Middle Eastern food, this place is the best this side of the Tigris and Euphrates.

On the corner of a dirty little strip mall, this little place blends in with the other various ethnic storefronts, but don't let that scare you- the food is worth the trip. The decor of the place is not bad- nice tables and chairs with a little vase of fake flowers- no corny painting on the wall, and no pretense of trying to be someplace they aren't. It's a simple place, with simple food. I had the falafel, and my companion had the lamb. All entrees come with salad- which is really a plate of cut up veggies (cucumber, pickles, jalapeno, onion), cilantro, and yogurt sauce, pita bread, and soup. The soup tasted like lamb broth. Not my favorite. It wasn't bad with rice and cilantro added to it, but it wasn't that great either.The falafel was really good- a little crunchier than I am used to, but the flavor was fantastic. The lamb was good too- i'm not a big fan of lamb, but this was really tasty. Traditional hot tea can be had for a mere fifty cents, but I advise you ask them not to sweeten it if you're a purist. They put quite a bit of sugar in it. All in all, a good trip. Our bill topped out at an amazingly cheap $16 and change, and we had leftovers. Well worth it.

So stopped by this place for lunch today. I've been driving past it for quite some time, waiting for the right time to stop in, well today was my not so lucky day.Our experience started out just fine, we were welcomed with a nice genuine smile and we sat wherever we liked in a very comfortable homey atmosphere. We perused the simple menu (that was filthy dirty) and decided on a falafel sandwich and the tikka sandwich(lamb and beef). We were promplty advised that he didn't have sandwiches and we had to order a dinner platter. Mind you, there are no prices on the dirty menu, aside from the modestly priced sandwiches. So we opted for chicken and falafel. We also ordered a side of hummus $2.50. Our food came out and everything was okay. The falafel was the best thing, but as the other revues read came with the plate of veggies/pickles yogurt sauce and some pita. At this point I'm looking down at everything that would be on a sandwich, including pita bread...but "we have no sandwich"....UM OKAY!! It was alot of food, we picked untill we had our fill and then the check came. Well, the verbal bill was $34. WHAT????? $34 DOLLARS FOR LUNCH, THIS IS NOT RUTHS CHRIS STEAKHOUSE...AND THE FOOD WAS AVERAGE!!!!! (I thought to myself!)So I was about to pay..when I was like no way.. I went over to the menu on the wall. They were over charging me $10.00. I graciously confronted the son enquiring why it cost so much. The father immediately chimed in from the kitchen and walked out with a raised voice being confrontational. Ok, I'm never out to get something for free... this was alot of money for 2 for lunch..c'mon.He barges out of the kitchen with a hand full of ground meat ..yes raw ground meat! Then he hands the fist full of raw meat to his son out in the restaurant. His son whom has been handling money grabs the raw meat and heads to the kitchen. Then he begins typing numbers into the register ..I'm correcting him on the prices as I'm reading them from the wall. He keeps trying to charge me 3.50 for yogurt sauce which we did not order and presumed was part of the meal, as it would've been to dry to palate with out it. NO QUESTION. I keep telling him, sir we did not order the yogurt sauce, you just keep trying to charge us for it...After an upsetting escalated several minutes we came to an understanding that the bill was $24. As per prices posted on the wall and what we had ordered. He made us feel like we were trying to pull one over on him, when actually it was the other way around. I handed him $30 dollars and promptly left. THIS WAS A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE.I was really hoping to love this place. I love supporting local business, and I love middle eastern food. I wish them the best.

The owner/ chef was very personable and made a spread fit for a king. The service from the father/ son duo was outstanding. Great people, great food (best falafel I ever had), and unheard of portions. If you're looking for the bells and whistles of a highly commercialized restaurant look elsewhere. But if you're into locally owned and operated restaurants, this is a diamond in the rough you don't want to overlook.