Arabesque

Arabesque is truly a hidden gem of Boulder. The food is absolutely delicious and I adore the owner. I've noticed some people have left poor reviews about her and this breaks my heart. She has a strong personality and reminds me of my Russian ballet teacher because of her passion and intensity. Anyone who can't handle it may not have an understanding of cultural differences... or are too sensitive (sorry, not sorry). I've had nothing but positive experiences with her and her food is what I miss most about Boulder since I've moved away. Be sure to get the chicken special if it's on the menu when you go! I'm also in love with her chai, the spices she uses are divine. 10/10 I recommend this restaurant to everyone I know

The food was decent (4/5 stars) but the service was quite awful. I was yelled at for asking whether I can pay at the counter ("No, I come to you!") and generally not paid attention to...It's difficult to write this review as I always have the utmost respect for local restaurants and this is my first negative review in years - but this one was pretty awful. Would not return.

What a wonderful way to end a weeklong vacation with friends. Stumbled across this middle eastern cuisine... not only was all the ingredients, clean and fresh, the chai tea was homemade like no other that I've ever tried. The Turkish coffee was perfect with the tiramisu and baklava desserts.Next time I fly into Denver, I will go out of my way to visit this lovely couples, amazing restaurant! This restaurant was filled with charm and the food with the secret ingredient, TLC!

I arrived here right when they opened and immediately received the best service! The chef who also seems to be the owner is on top of everything, it is a one women show! She gave us some recommendations such as the middle eastern platter(delicious) and a chai tea with Arab coffee (so good).At the end she served us some homemade Baklava that was probably the best baklava I've had in a long time. Wonderful ambience, will come again.

The food is very good and fresh, the setting is charming, but after eating there for several years, today I decided never again. The owner refused to give me ice with my water. Refused because "the water is very cold already." After spotting a customer at the next table with ice in her drink, I asked the waitress what drink I could order that would come with ice. "Iced tea", sheresponded. So I ordered an iced tea in order to get ice. When our check arrived, a 20% tip had already been added. Keep in mind this is for a party of two, not five or more. We did not see any signage or a notice informing us a20% tip was an automatic add on. The waitress was doing her best and wewould have tipped 20% anyway, but to not be told about the automatic tip was the not-so-tasty frosting on the cake.

Aye, this place... i amLaughing a tad at the reviews because she is literally the soup nazi from Seinfeld:)! Haha. I wanted to support this restaurant , so much that I offered my services as an employee several years ago, but after a few days trying to work for her, i quickly realized she would be challenging to work for and moved on. But it's a shame, because I wanted to be that friendly person to greet and wait on guests. Since then i have been back a few times in hopesOf a pleasant experience but alas experienced her rudeness in full force. From over sharing at our table, to being offended when we wanted to sit outside, to not dropping off the check at the table and demanding I tip her 20-25 percent on the spot in front of her made for a very uncomfortable dining experience, and unfortunately she may have lost my patronage for good this time:/ Then she had the audacity to say we stayed and hour and half over the closing time when she told her the entire dining that we could take our time... we were literally her only table! I understand why now, no one wants to drop 100$ at a place and leave feeling like they were abused...:/ lame. Not going back.

After reading through these reviews, we were anticipating good food but were nervous about how the owner would behave. And she was just delightful. Funny, kind, helpful, whimsical. She was literally the opposite of the reviews we read. It was a truly special experience and the food was so good that we got some babaganoush to go. REALLY good hummus and baba! The patio felt like a beautiful french courtyard. All in all, a great experience.

Two of us went in for lunch on Friday We remarked how the menu was so appealing and looked delicious. The owner immediately told us she was Palestinian. We said we were Jewish. First calm then escalated speech from the owner. After her diatribe of Israeli hatred we got up to leave. We hadn't even ordered. She was screaming at us to get out slammed and locked the door behind us. Distressed that this hatred exists in Boulder! No stars!!

I have never written a Yelp review before but Manal, the cook, is a piece of work. I entered the restaurant and it was empty save for one group of 6. Since I saw no one at the front, I walked upto the counter. She then rudely and sharply said "This isn't like a fast food place, sit down at one of the tables, my husband will be late". I was taken aback by the curtness of the response but I thought it might have been a momentary lapse. Another group of three came into the restaurant and she then immediately said the same thing and also shouted,"If you want fast food go to a pizza place or something". I'm not sure what she has against fast food because I hadn't heard anyone talk or ask about fast food or try to hasten her. She then shouted ,"You four are together yes". I think she assumed I was with the other group because we were all brown. I stayed for one more minute but decided to get up and leave because it seemed she treated everyone with this disrespect. Halfway down the street I hear her shouting and she follows me onto the street screaming "CLOSE THE DOOR, I DON'T LIKE WHEN PEOPLE DON'T CLOSE THE DOOR" because apparently it didn't close behind me. Never going back there again.

An absolutely horrendous restaurant with an owner who has completely lost her mind. I highly recommend to stay as far away as possible from that establishment also got a stomachache as a result of the food and had to spend the night at the emergency room for me that was not well tended.