Au Za'atar - East Village

As someone who is Lebanese, I have to say this is my favorite Lebanese restaurant of all time (LA + NYC combined). The food is soooo good and the restaurant ambiance is beautiful! If you are a party of 6 or more, I highly recommend the tableside shawarma. It seems pricey but it is reasonable when you split the cost among everyone and it is very substantial. If you are a smaller group, I would not order it as it is a TON of food. Any time I have out of town visitors, I always take them to Au Za'atar. I have only had one negative service experience and although the manager rectified it, she was resistant at the time. All my positive experiences outweigh this negative one.The pita is fresh in delicious. I recommend making a little pita pocket with chicken, the garlic sauce, and the other sauce of your choice (either the red or green), plus turnips and other side veggies. Lastly, their fattoush has pomegrante seeds, which makes it delicious. 10/10 recommend.

If you're the type of person who opts to go to the hard rock cafe instead of local restaurants when you're traveling abroad, then this place is for you!If you actually want good middle eastern food, avoid this place. I ordered a falafel sandwich and it was the worst, most dry, saddest falafel sandwich I've ever had. I couldn't even finish it. The "pita" was a dry crappy wrap. The tomatoes were 2 quarter slices for the entire sandwich. There was barely any tahini/hummus in it.Walk 5 blocks and go to Mamoun's instead. Orders of magnitude better.

Amazing Lebanese food! The dishes were so yummy. They also give you so many sauces and sides to try out like spicy or garlic. The chicken kebab was perfectly cooked and not dry. The seating is definitely tight and it felt a little claustrophobic in there. You can tell our table is full! I would request a booth if you can as those are more spacious. The servers are all super professional and friendly. Would love to come back here and try more.

Ever have Lebanese food?Met up with a good friend of mine and recommended we should try particulate dishes. This location I went to was in East Village. Service was awesome for our large party and we ordered two of everything. I want to keep this review short and sweet. Tapas style -sharing is caring Delicious hummus/mezze dips, roasted beets, soft pita bread and a mixture of Turkish and Persian delights. Definitely worth to check out

I came on a Saturday night around 5pm. Restaurant is pretty small, but service is good.We started with the hummus and falafel. The hummus was good, traditional. The waiter said it was homemade. The sauces it came with were really good, a garlic sauce and another white sauce. I loved the pickles and there was also a pinkish side, not sure what that was. I think the pita is also homemade but I didn't ask.We both ordered the Shish Tawook Platter which was huge. Def enough for 2 people to share. We ordered one with fries, one with rice. The rice was really good and so were the fries. The chicken was really really dry. I have ordered this fish before and the chicken was flavorful, but soft. This chicken was not, and even when dipped in sauces it still was so dry it wasn't enjoyable which kinda ruined my experience.We also ordered Knafeh for dessert which was good. I've never had it before. The black tea with mint was also very good. After a while of steeping it did get a little bitter so I would try to finish the pot and not let it sit too long.

Overall: This is a small Mediterranean restaurant specializing in Lebanese food. Everything we tried was very flavorful - theres several other things on the menu I'd like to try on another occasion. The restaurant is lively but a little bit cramped, you feel like you're almost on top of each other. That said, I'd go back again, preferably with a larger group so we can order one of the shawarma towers.Food: 4Service: 4Value: 3Atmosphere: 3Food: We ordered the loubieh bi zait (green beans, tomatoes, onions, & garlic) and chicken chops. The green beans were excellent - they were slow cooked together so everything was tender and were served with pita and several sauces and dips. The chicken chops were grilled chicken thighs served with fries. They were nicely cooked and had good flavor, but were on the salty side. Everything we tried was really good. Other Yelp reviews highlight the shawarma towers - these are an off menu item for 3-4 people. I'd definitely try one of these with a larger group. The table next to us had one and it looked great.Service: We got consistent attention from several different servers. They gave us frequent refills, were helpful describing the menu, and were friendly when we asked questions.Value: The green beans were $16 and the chicken chops were $32. Its a little expensive for what it is, but it was all very good.Atmosphere: The restaurant was full and energetic. Tables were way too close together - the waiters could barely walk between them and regularly jostled our table. We were also seated along the wall, which had wooden pallets with wreaths on them protruding for decorations. They looked fine, but stuck out about eight inches into the table space. Things were already cramped, they didn't need to make it worse.

There should be a picture of Au Za'atar in the dictionary next to the term Tourist Trap. High prices, small portions, and mid food is a devious combination. I knew I was in trouble when I sat down at Au Za'atar and the plate and silverware were saran wrapped. The second strike was as I scanned the entree portion of the menu, I saw... "$32, $32, $29, $32, $44." I just knew it was going to be small portion sizes too.It was just me and my big bro, so we opted to split the Mixed Grilled Platter which rolled in at $68.We were seated outside on the patio, which is really just a sidewalk of the East Village. It was at this point a rat scurried directly over a girl's foot 2 tables away from us. It caused a huge commotion, and my big bro and I considered leaving, but decided to thug it out.Our Mixed Grilled Platter came, and they should really consider renaming it to "the 3 Kebab Appetizer Platter." Strike 4. The Beef Kafta kebab was borderline inedible. We were speculating if it was some sort of Beyond Meat skewer, as it didn't taste like beef. I ended up having to douse it in sauce, wrap it in the thin pita bread, plug my nose and eat it as I wasn't going to leave those calories on the plate when I was so hungry. The other skewers and fries were pretty solid to be fair, but just such a small portion for $68. Laughably small. We ended up going to Cello's Pizzeria after and getting 2 slices each because we were still so hungry.I do need to shout out our waiter Ben though, as he was the only bright spot of the experience. When my big bro grabbed my fake LV wallet and said "When you get this!?" I responded with a "What u mean... I BEEN had that..." Ben chimed in with a quick "Stop pocket watching!" That had big bro and I dying. It's tough to get big bro to laugh too.This is the first BAD meal I've had in awhile, but you need the lows to appreciate the highs. Otherwise you're just numb to everything.Idk when Au Za'atar became a tourist trap, but here we are. There is no soul in here anymore. If you're thinking about coming here, please make the 10 minute walk to Ayat for some QUALITY Middle Eastern food.IG @jnov_ Tiktok @jnov_reviews

The food is SO delicious! I went with a couple of girl friends. We had amazing service with Pau and Ben. James also came by as he is new and learning. Crystal brought over the wine (which was super tasty). Every server was friendly, helpful, down to earth. Such great service! We ordered a few different plates- hummus, lamb kabobs, and a couple of others... all you didn't want to stop eating. The inside of the restaurant also has a nice vibe. It's a small space, but cozy and the lighting and decorations are inviting. I can't wait to visit this place again one day.

"Lebanese for all"This is a like a big middle eastern party brought to life! A cornucopia of dishes awaits you here from vegetarians, every type of dip, and grilled beef, lamb and chicken. With massive positions, you won't go hungry! Hint: Crowd favorite is a mini tabletop rotisserie with a size-able portion of meat loaded on the bottom with about 5 pounds of fries!What's to cheer- Reasonable prices - freshly prepared- fast service - lots of outdoor seating- all of your middle eastern familiar items What's to jeer - it's very crowded usually- there are places with higher quality and more unique items

I had a great meal here. Quite expensive, it ended up being $105.I got the mixed meat platter and the hummus appetizer. The hummus appetizer was five stars easy. It is so delicious, so unique, and the bread it comes with is also delicious. The appetizer is also quite filling so I feel that we could've just stopped there. The meat platter was very tasty and unique. It's an assortment of sausages cooked inside a pita bread. Very cool demonstration. But the taste wasn't all that amazing. Good quality though. But the taste and wowness of the hummus far exceeded my pleasure with the platter.All the sauces that the place provides are super tasty. I especially love the red one. You need to try that.