by Charles H.

Stopped in for a late snack on a recommendation.  Ordered the gyro, pretty standard for a middle eastern place.  Looked around the extensive grocery items.  Nice gentleman running the store.  Appeared to be his wife doing the cooking.  Very traditional. The wife had her head covered.  The TV was on and showing an Arab version (owner said it was Lebanese TV) of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire".  Gyro was OK.  Good pita bread, lettuce, onion, sauce.  The gyro meat apparently was the same frozen stuff they had in the freezer. Not exactly fresh carved gyro meat, it resembled the SizzleLean that Mom used to make when I was a kid.  Oval shaped, processed, and very thin sliced.  $4.99, not a big deal for a snack.  The dolmas however were delicious and came with a very tasty dipping sauce which was (I'm guessing) yogurt, mint, and sour cream.  Check out the groceries products if you go here.  Especially the dates, candies, olives, and exceptional baklava pastries.  Plan to try the schawarma next time with tabouleh.

by jennytha j.

This place is very small and does not look very clean.  But the food is excellent.  I love their lemon chicken platter.  Always leaves me wanting for more.

by Anna H.

I really wanted to like this place, but it just was not good. The restaurant was cold and seemed a little dirty and the food wasn't good enough to make up for that. It was also too pricey for what you get.  I just left feeling really disappointed.

by Erica R.

I was disappointed.  There.  I said it.  I am such a fan of great mediterranean food and was *so* looking forward to eating here - and everything smelled delicious.  But the entire experience just kind of sucked.  The guy must have lost our tickets or something, because it took forever and our entire order came out wrong.  I apparently got a schwarma sandwich, which was stuffed with a ton of iceberg lettuce.  I also got the mixed pickles and they were mushy.  I'll give it another chance though, and hope they surprise me.

by josh c.

this place kicks butt and i like that it's dingy.  it keeps the wimps away.

by Jennifer K.

Although a cozy little place with only about eight small 2-person tables, I've never been crowded out (on the two visits I've made here).  Ordering is done at the counter and your food is brought out to you on nice festively-painted plates while you sit in folding chairs at your quick-fold table -- not that you can actually see your plate upon arrival, however, as it's covered in a large mound of rice and meat and vinegary-spicy onion-vegetable garnish and pita bread.  But you'll see it soon enough, as everything is quite tasty.  I had the gyro platter, and the meat was very generously spiced, sliced very thinly and cooked on a grill and was very much non-greasy, which I appreciate.Platters (gyro, kibbeh, falafel, lemon chicken, etc.) run from $7 to $9 and include a side salad (topped with the most vinegary tastebud-ass-kicking dressing in this hemisphere), and pita wraps are a great deal at $4 - $5 each.The thing I like about this place aside from the baffling and intriguing items on the scant store shelves (orange blossom water drink -- INGREDIENTS:  orange blossom water) is the obvious fact that the proprietors care.  My side order of baba ganoush arrived with the paste formed into a shape approximating a flower blossom with (mystery) spice powder sprinkled in strategic locations.  Aww, for me?  Sweet.

by Meredith D.

Sweet Jesus I love this place. Its a little hole in the wall restaurant with very good, very authentic food. Don't come here looking for an over-decorated, gaudy, typical Austin cafe. It is barren inside and located in a run-down strip mall. This place is about the food and the people who work here. There's also a "market," or shelves on one wall stacked with dusty food (which tastes great if you take it home with you and cook it).And Jaime's right, you can't get their market goods at HEB, but you can at Fiesta. But still, you can't beat their prices. The food is high quality with low prices.

by Maruf K.

Best kabab I have ever had. If you don't like spicy food this place is not for you. I haven't tried the gyro, but their kefta and shawerma (beef and chicken) are both amazing. Family owned and run. Their pita wraps are around $5 and make a great lunch.

by Jaime M.

This halal market and restaurant has little in the way of atmosphere but a TV that's always playing a channel in (I believe) Arabic, which can be entertaining. It has a selection of fresh and canned/dried/bottled Middle Eastern goodies you can't find at the H-E-B, that's for sure.I like to go here for reasonably priced falafel wraps at lunch time, and their Arabic coffee is reportedly delicious.It's tucked away in the strip mall with South Oats, next to a Domino's Pizza, but don't let that fool you, it has quality eats! Last time I was there, the owners' family was having an Eid celebration, and their huge spread was totally enviable.

by Husejin D.

Wow! If you like Middle Eastern food, let me just say, this is currently the best in town. I have tried them all, since this is my favorite type of food. My background is Bosniak, which is Bosnian Muslim, so growing up I ate a lot of similar foods. But Bosnian food, although quite delicious, lacks some of the spices and ingredients found in Middle Eastern dishes. I loved Eid celebrations as a kid, because of the cornucopia of food that awaited us after prayers on the first of a three day holiday. Middle Eastern food when well executed is unbeatable. The cuisine draws on many of the same food sources found on other Mediterranean tables, but it is the Arab influence that sets it apart from say Greek, Turkish, or even Moroccan. More precisely, the best Middle Eastern Food I have ever had was made by a Palestinian woman. After her meal I was ready to die. I believe the food served at the Jerusalem Gourmet Market is Palestinian as well. Many of the dishes and techniques are similar. Take away the spartan surroundings and I feel as if I were eating at someones house with the way the food is prepared and served. The Moussaka is not as you would expect if you ordered it at a Greek or Turkish (or even Bosnian) restaurant, but it is delicious none the less. It is more of a casserole served over a bed of yellow rice. Very good. The Kibbeh is choice as is the Kafta. Hummus! OMG! It does not get any better. This is the real thing everybody! The husband and wife team and their son (I think) are very friendly and will remember you after only a couple of visits. The salad is a little plain, but the rest of what they offer makes up for it. There are traditional sweets served as well. I have not tried them, but the date cookies are a personal favorite.

by Bacon E.

Austin is not a mecca for Middle Eastern food and this is the only place I know of in South Austin that serves it.  It will do if you have a craving that you just need to have satiated, but the place is dirty, and when we went the food was not very fresh tasting.  It was pretty cheap, but that's to be expected.  The gyro meat was tough and too salty.  Perhaps it was because it didn't come off a big rotating cylinder like what you normally see in other North American cities.  They did have this one really delicious condiment sauce though.  I had no idea what it was.  Overall, I prefer Pars Mediterranean Supermarket and Deli for gyro.  Just fresher and higher quality.

by Jennifer M.

I am with Anna.  I wanted to give this local business my money, but I just can't do it.  Their location is ideal for a weekday Greek craving that hits like a tsunami, but the restaurant and the food are just dingy and bland.  I just don't feel comfortable that the Health Department has passed them at every visit.

by Steve E.

Great middle-eastern food from a family run business.  What's not to like?Jerusalem is the kinda place you'd pass by a hundred times (nestled in one of those forgettable strip malls on Oltorf) and never even know it.  Oddly enough, this area of generic strip malls on Oltorf (between Burleson and Pleasant Valley Rd.) has a number of other excellent ethnic restaurants, but I'll save that for another time. A big reason why I like Jerusalem is the intense flavor of the food.  The spices really stand out in dishes such as the falafel.  Considering that all of the falafel I've had up until that point was fairly bland, the contrast in Jerusalem's version really stood out.  The same could be said for the Kibbeh that comes with a vinegary hot sauce.  The hummus is also very good and stands out in it's almost pudding-like texture and multiple flavors.  Both dishes, like the falafel, are things I've eaten many times before but have never had it quite like I've had here.  The grocery side of the store is also very good.  Although small, they have a number of hard to find middle-eastern foods at extremely reasonable prices.  I bought a jar of fig preserves that was twice as big and half as expensive as similar items found at Randall's and Central Market.My only complaint?  Well, the decor isn't much to look at, but hey, did you come here to look at the walls or eat??  Go visit them today!

by Liz F.

Hmm. I just really can't like this place. Even the gyro place at barton creek mall has fresher gyro meat. I am pretty much sure that he doesn't mix the lamb and beef himself and I didnt see the rotisserie that you would normally shave the meat off of. The dolmas are straight from the can, most likely from the ones sitting on the shelf, served at room temperature. The tzatziki sauce is lacking something, it just tastes like greek yougurt.

by brett j.

If you don't know what to order here just ask, the owners are always helpful. I have bought a hookah here, came here for lunch many times, and I've also had them cater an event for work (ordered about 100 spanakopita). Their food is always so tasty and it beats the hell out of all the other places in the area.

by Richard F.

Liz F. (and please note that I have NOTHING to do with this restaurant - read my other reveiws) - If your frame of reference for Middle Eastern food is mall Gyro's please do not write reviews for ANY Middle Eastern restaurants as you have NO idea what good middle eastern food is. The fact that you don't even know that the Gyro meat you refer to comes pre-made on "cone's" at mall gyro places further proves this point. Just so you know, Gyro's are Greek (the Turks will claim they are Turkish -eg. Doner sandwich) not middle eastern. You May like Tino's as it's probably more up your alley... (Don't bash a Middle Eastern Place if you're looking for Greek Food, that's like going to a pizza place and asking for a burrito and then being upset that you didn't get the burrito you expected).For those of you that can discern the difference between mall food court fare and authentic cuisine that is cooked to order, you MUST try this place even if it is just so that you know what authentic Middle Eastern food tastes like! It will expand your horizons. It is by far the best Middle Eastern food in town (Palestinian Family Owned - and some of the nicest people you will meet).

by Karen B.

I like Mediterranean food but I would not call myself a Guru.  I was impressed.

by austin d.

First timer at Jerusalem today for lunch.  I had a huge craving, as I usually do, for some good Mediterranean food.  I heard the gyro meat isn't fresh off the big rotating thing so I got the moussaka.  The warmth of the food was just a tad over room temperature which was disappointing.  But it was pretty good!  I'm used to the layered moussaka that looks more like lasagna.  This came out spread over a thin bed of rice.  It was different but I still liked it.The hummus was runnier than I've been accustomed to and was a little heavy on the tahini, but also farily delicious.They get their pita from Phoenicia so it was pretty solid.