Patio Mediterranean Cuisine

by jennifer h.

I came here with a few friends last night and it was adorable! The decor is very reminiscent of the street view of a European cafe, according to my interior decorator friend. We ordered:1. Lebanese salad2. falafel3. Lebanese sausage4. hummus and pita5. eggplant dipI absolutely loved their Lebanese sausage! It was sweet, juicy, and full of these anise-like spices that I cannot quite name but absolutely loved. Their hummus was a little too thick for my liking and lacking in tahini, but otherwise, it was garlicky, lemony, and very tasty. Watch out for the heavy use of olive oil in the dishes, but I think that might be a defining characteristic of Mediterranean cuisine. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it tends to be low in fat, so they tend to drizzle olive oil liberally for an extra kick. I was not a fan of the eggplant dip, as it tasted burnt. The falafel were quite yummy, but they grow a little stale as they cooled, so eat them while they're hot. I loved their Lebanese salad because of the generous splash of fresh and fragrant herbs. Prices can be a bit high, but go in between 3-7 on weekdays for their happy hour deals on certain appetizers. My friends and I made a meal of them.

by Sandy L.

The food is good but their portions are rather small.  I think this may be because they don't get too many customers and they're probably struggling to stay afloat.  If prices were cheaper or portions were bigger I'd definitely go back.

by Nate G.

Came here on a Saturday night with my girlfriend, deciding to use our entertainment card. Very disappointed. First we were pretty much the only people eating here (the window was dark from outside so you wouldn't know this driving past it). The server was nice at the start and recommended us some appetizers. We then ordered the two main dishes of shrimp kebab and combo platter. The shrimp was NOT FRESH and smells funky. Because I was on a date with my girlfriend, I tried to be polite, and hint to the waiter that something was wrong--either the spice was too much or the shrimp was not fresh. He immediately became defensive and said that it's the spice. His defense went something like this: two other people before you ordered the shrimp and that's why we even ran out of shrimp. WTF?! Was that supposed to mean that they used old shrimp on us or that we should just shut up like the last two people who ordered it? He didn't comp the meal, insisting that the shrimp was fine (even if we didn't eat most of it and they just threw it out the kitchen). To be fair, the combo platter was good for the most part, but the portions are small for $17 a plate. Our total bill came out to about $27, that's already with the entertainment discount (50%). So, it is EXPENSIVE, the serving is SMALL, some of the food is NOT FRESH, and half the time NOBODY was there (not even the waiter). And oh, the decor looked like someone's weird masochist dream, with chains and crossbones hanging on the ceiling. BE WARNED!

by Ryan H.

Had a great experience here recently. We tried the chicken kabobs and the lula kabobs and the shirazi salad and everything was delicious. The portions are large and the wait staff are very attentive. We dined inside, but the restaurant also has a very nice patio in the back. They run coupons in the local papers pretty often, but even without the coupon the prices are pretty reasonable. I would definitely dine here again.

by Helen P.Elizabeth T.Donna S.Pauline L.

The location of this restaurant is a bit odd, it's on a main street, but in an area that's a little obscure.  Fortunately, I was able to find street parking right in front of the restaurant (and it was free because I parked after 6pm).  The interior of the restaurant looked like a hodge-podge of a pseudo mediterranean home/exterior (i.e. the odd painting of an opened window by the front door).  There were a  bunch of tables randomly dispersed around the front dining room, I'm not even sure if there's a back room. They also had a small bar but unfortunately I didn't have any drinks.Now let's talk about the most important part- the food! I was there with a party of 7 and luckily one of the girls ordered the hummus and pita.  The hummus was pretty fresh and the pita nice and toasty. I wouldn't say it was the best hummus I ever tasted, but it was pretty good (I think it was the hunger talking).  I ordered the beef kabobs (filet mignon) and it wasn't necessarily the most expensive dish on the menu (the seafood was the priciest, duh), but it was reasonable compared to the portion.  It came on a large plate of rice (and 10 pieces of large beef chunks!), with a grilled tomato, large pepper and 2 pieces of pita with sun dried tomatoes and seasoned onions.  The meat was succulent and flavored well, nice and tender! I was pleasantly surprised :)I ordered an iced tea and I'm mentioning this because the waiter service was pretty good (granted by the end of the night- or 9pm, we were the only party left in the entire restaurant), and I got refills pretty frequently.  At one point the music started skipping and suddenly a remix of Cher's Believe came blasting on the speakers. We were all startled because they were playing traditional Lebanese music before and then we got a flashback to the 90s! Overall I thought the place was pretty good for the price, I don't know why people were complaining about the dinner price (perhaps the lunch is expensive), but it was well worth the amount of food I received. I would recommend this place (even though its out of the way for me).So I changed my mind last minute and decided I didn't feel like pho; I wanted to have Med food at Patio....The restaurant is slightly dimmer inside and reminds me of a pub, likely because of the bar and the brick-like floor.  What threw me off was the music; it wasn't really relaxing to me, and considering that there was no one else in the restaurant (they were out on the patio), it was a little loud.We were seated inside near the bar, and the server took our order of the Medditeranean feast for 2 (http://www.boorah.com/...):  Hammus, Tabbouleh, Pickles, Olives, Lebni, Mouhammara, Mutabal, Cheese with Veggie platter, Warak enab, Cheese boreg, Falafel, Foul.Entrée: Chicken Kebab, Lula Kebab . ( add Beef Kebab for $2.75/pp )  I think someone posted a picture of some of the stuff that comes in the med feast.  Anyway - I can't say I loved everything that I tried; I'll credit that to acquired tastes.  However, their "empanada thing" was good; loved the cheese/veg platter, Olives, hummus and some of the other items I couldn't Identify.  I did enjoy the rice and steak especially; it was very tender, juicy, and well seasoned. Our waiter was available to us, refilled drinks regularly, and seemed genuinely proud of what he was serving.  All in all, a good experience; slightly pricey.  Next time, I'd rather just order an entree instead of the feast, since there are so many things I don't think I'd finish.So, it's lunch hour and the co-worker has a coupon for 20% off at The Patio. So what the whore, let's try it out. With a little gentle, yet firm persuasion, I convinced our group of five to try out the (in large booming voice) ARCADIA FEAST!! platter for 100 clams. How could you go wrong? It included a butt load of mezzes and kebabs and rice. Right??  The food was endless. Endless I tell you. And with five of us and our coupon, we felt like theives. The food was delish. The pita bread was HOT and crispy. So much better than other places that flop cold, lifeless pita at you (sometimes still in the BAG). the others had never tried the muhammara, and they loved it.  Honestly, the feasts are are DEAL to please all the palates and wallets in your party. But WAIT! There's MORE!  Did I mention Happy Hour?? That's right folks, for the limited hours of 3-7, you can get half off wine, beer, and well drinks and $2 bucks off happy hour appetizers. The bar tender and server were nice and friendly. And we'll throw in this special deal of karaoke on Wednesdays! That's right, request your favorite songs or SING your favorite songs until midnite.  So call now!! This deal won't last....We came here with a party of eight on a Thursday night and it was pretty quiet.  A lot of the reviews said that this place was a little pricey, but I thought the prices were decent.  The dinner entrees ranged from $12 - $18, which I didn't think was that bad since the portions are pretty large.  A lot of us ended up taking home leftovers.  The place was cute, the service was pretty good and the food was delicious!  Also, parking was not a problem, which is always a plus!

by Helen P.Elizabeth T.Donna S.

The location of this restaurant is a bit odd, it's on a main street, but in an area that's a little obscure.  Fortunately, I was able to find street parking right in front of the restaurant (and it was free because I parked after 6pm).  The interior of the restaurant looked like a hodge-podge of a pseudo mediterranean home/exterior (i.e. the odd painting of an opened window by the front door).  There were a  bunch of tables randomly dispersed around the front dining room, I'm not even sure if there's a back room. They also had a small bar but unfortunately I didn't have any drinks.Now let's talk about the most important part- the food! I was there with a party of 7 and luckily one of the girls ordered the hummus and pita.  The hummus was pretty fresh and the pita nice and toasty. I wouldn't say it was the best hummus I ever tasted, but it was pretty good (I think it was the hunger talking).  I ordered the beef kabobs (filet mignon) and it wasn't necessarily the most expensive dish on the menu (the seafood was the priciest, duh), but it was reasonable compared to the portion.  It came on a large plate of rice (and 10 pieces of large beef chunks!), with a grilled tomato, large pepper and 2 pieces of pita with sun dried tomatoes and seasoned onions.  The meat was succulent and flavored well, nice and tender! I was pleasantly surprised :)I ordered an iced tea and I'm mentioning this because the waiter service was pretty good (granted by the end of the night- or 9pm, we were the only party left in the entire restaurant), and I got refills pretty frequently.  At one point the music started skipping and suddenly a remix of Cher's Believe came blasting on the speakers. We were all startled because they were playing traditional Lebanese music before and then we got a flashback to the 90s! Overall I thought the place was pretty good for the price, I don't know why people were complaining about the dinner price (perhaps the lunch is expensive), but it was well worth the amount of food I received. I would recommend this place (even though its out of the way for me).So I changed my mind last minute and decided I didn't feel like pho; I wanted to have Med food at Patio....The restaurant is slightly dimmer inside and reminds me of a pub, likely because of the bar and the brick-like floor.  What threw me off was the music; it wasn't really relaxing to me, and considering that there was no one else in the restaurant (they were out on the patio), it was a little loud.We were seated inside near the bar, and the server took our order of the Medditeranean feast for 2 (http://www.boorah.com/...):  Hammus, Tabbouleh, Pickles, Olives, Lebni, Mouhammara, Mutabal, Cheese with Veggie platter, Warak enab, Cheese boreg, Falafel, Foul.Entrée: Chicken Kebab, Lula Kebab . ( add Beef Kebab for $2.75/pp )  I think someone posted a picture of some of the stuff that comes in the med feast.  Anyway - I can't say I loved everything that I tried; I'll credit that to acquired tastes.  However, their "empanada thing" was good; loved the cheese/veg platter, Olives, hummus and some of the other items I couldn't Identify.  I did enjoy the rice and steak especially; it was very tender, juicy, and well seasoned. Our waiter was available to us, refilled drinks regularly, and seemed genuinely proud of what he was serving.  All in all, a good experience; slightly pricey.  Next time, I'd rather just order an entree instead of the feast, since there are so many things I don't think I'd finish.So, it's lunch hour and the co-worker has a coupon for 20% off at The Patio. So what the whore, let's try it out. With a little gentle, yet firm persuasion, I convinced our group of five to try out the (in large booming voice) ARCADIA FEAST!! platter for 100 clams. How could you go wrong? It included a butt load of mezzes and kebabs and rice. Right??  The food was endless. Endless I tell you. And with five of us and our coupon, we felt like theives. The food was delish. The pita bread was HOT and crispy. So much better than other places that flop cold, lifeless pita at you (sometimes still in the BAG). the others had never tried the muhammara, and they loved it.  Honestly, the feasts are are DEAL to please all the palates and wallets in your party. But WAIT! There's MORE!  Did I mention Happy Hour?? That's right folks, for the limited hours of 3-7, you can get half off wine, beer, and well drinks and $2 bucks off happy hour appetizers. The bar tender and server were nice and friendly. And we'll throw in this special deal of karaoke on Wednesdays! That's right, request your favorite songs or SING your favorite songs until midnite.  So call now!! This deal won't last....

by Paul D.

Came here on a weekday...we were the only customers! We were sat near the bar facing the giant plasma screen featuring Nancy Ajram gyrating her hips. Woah. Calm down, Nancy. I ordered the vegetarian plate: Falafel, Grape Leaves, Tabbouleh, rice, and Baba Ghannoush! We also ordered a plate of cheese fatayer (cheese pies). They came out piping hot. Everything was really good, the hummus was "zesty!" according to my friend. It had a lot of olive oil. I definitely liked it. They serve nargileh (hookah) here, but I have yet to try it. Only strange thing was the old chunky lady poking her head out to leer at my friends and I as we were eating. Maybe she was playing peek-a-boo? Creepy.

by Donna S.

So, it's lunch hour and the co-worker has a coupon for 20% off at The Patio. So what the whore, let's try it out. With a little gentle, yet firm persuasion, I convinced our group of five to try out the (in large booming voice) ARCADIA FEAST!! platter for 100 clams. How could you go wrong? It included a butt load of mezzes and kebabs and rice. Right??  The food was endless. Endless I tell you. And with five of us and our coupon, we felt like theives. The food was delish. The pita bread was HOT and crispy. So much better than other places that flop cold, lifeless pita at you (sometimes still in the BAG). the others had never tried the muhammara, and they loved it.  Honestly, the feasts are are DEAL to please all the palates and wallets in your party. But WAIT! There's MORE!  Did I mention Happy Hour?? That's right folks, for the limited hours of 3-7, you can get half off wine, beer, and well drinks and $2 bucks off happy hour appetizers. The bar tender and server were nice and friendly. And we'll throw in this special deal of karaoke on Wednesdays! That's right, request your favorite songs or SING your favorite songs until midnite.  So call now!! This deal won't last....

by alisha a.

The food is delish over here, but the service is kinda on the slow side. but i will be coming back.

by Pauline L.

We came here with a party of eight on a Thursday night and it was pretty quiet.  A lot of the reviews said that this place was a little pricey, but I thought the prices were decent.  The dinner entrees ranged from $12 - $18, which I didn't think was that bad since the portions are pretty large.  A lot of us ended up taking home leftovers.  The place was cute, the service was pretty good and the food was delicious!  Also, parking was not a problem, which is always a plus!