Alcazar Restaurant

by Vicki F.

Reliable and delicious middle eastern food.  My friend and I are taking a tour of middle eastern restaurants in the valley and this one is a keeper.  Yum.

by Nic Z.

Seven of us dined at Alcazar on Saturday night and it was quite good.  Yes indeed, this is yet another falafel review for Nicole R!  Alcazar is really great but make sure you go there early on Friday or Saturday evenings to avoid the pre-fixed menu.  (unless of course you are interested in that)  We got there early enough so that we did not have to deal with the pre-fixed menu so that was nice!It was funny, the two items that I was the most excited to try (well aside from the falafel!) were the two that let me down.  First, I was so excited to try the Sajj Bread which is made to order on weekends.  It is lavash bread that is prepared over an open flame outside and topped with cheese.  I couldn't wait to try it but......the woman who makes it wasn't there yet!  That was a bummer.  The other item that bummed me out was the muhammara which has pomegranate, roasted red peppers, walnuts, and other assorted spices.  Man oh man was that insanely hot.  I could barely eat a couple mouthfuls.  Paul loves spicy food normally but he didn't really like it either and neither did his sister or mom.  Everything else was fantastic.  I got the vegetarian combo which normally has hummus, falafel, baba ghannouj, grape leaves and tabouli.  I substituted the baba ghannouj and grape leaves for the muhammara and the fattoosh salad.  They give you so much food!  The hummus was good, it had a nice spiciness to it and I enjoyed the dollop of EVOO on the top of it.  The falafel was sweet, had a nice crunch to it, and wasn't greasy at all.  The fattoosh salad was good too, very fresh, although it had way too much dressing on it.  That was kind of a bummer.  Oh, and the tabouli was great too.  It had a nice sweet taste to it and was quite fresh tasting.  And just because I can't eat any meal at all without cheese I just had to order the shanklish which was fabulous.  It was seriously delicious.  It had spicy cheese mixed with onions, peppers, tomatoes and EVOO.  Man oh man that was so good.  Everyone else liked what they ordered too.  Most everyone got a mixture of kabobs and loved it.  We all loved the olives that they give you when you first sit down and the big baskets of warm pita bread.Really good food!  I actually think it is worth driving to the Valley to check it out!  The portions are so big, I had tons of food leftover....although the shanklish didn't stay around for very long!

by Bryan W.

Had lunch at Alcazar after reading a review in LA Weekly.  Yummy Kebab.  I really owe it to Alcazar to go back to dinner and consider if I should up my rating to 4 stars.

by Bobbie D.

This is as good as it gets for Lebanese/Armenian cuisine.  In one word : CLASSY. Everything is delicious- When I come here with my group, we usually get  the mezze combination, combination kebab, and my favorite, Sultan Ibrahim- the Red Mullet fish indigenous to Lebanon- amazing. Of course we have to order the ergileh, or hookah which is THE BEST hookah outside Lebanon. Smooth, classic- and it is served  properly. Make sure you order the Arak (licorice liqueur) alongside it.  On the weekends, they have  a prix fixe menu for $43- 10 appetizers 3 entrees and dessert- complete with live belly dancing and the owner Vatche (an Armenian singer) will join in on the fun and sing in 5 different languages with his velvet voice.  Come here for a true Lebanese experience.

by Sharon B.max R.Abigail C.Rockit O.Gregory H.

A great lunch spot with good food and almost never busy! Came here with my coworkers last week (was my first time but everyone else had been coming for years). I was a little disappointed in the bread/pita being a store bought type and not freshly made. A little pricey $12 lunch special, but includes salad, hummos or baba ghannouj, and dessert. A lot of food for the price so it's worth it. It was my first time having baba ghannouj and I am a FAN! If only it was more available in other establishments. I ordered the Shish Tawook (marinated chicken breast) and it was yum yum yum! Very flavorful , tender, and moist. The rice was also flavorful. The dish came with more of the pita type bread but this time had a little sauce on top. Dessert was just some place pieces of baklava. It was tasty but I'm not too big of a fan of baklava. Everyone also tried the yogurt drink... SAL-TYYYY is all I have to say. Good for the experience but will not be ordering again.Service was good. It helps that it wasn't busy when we got there. I think only one other table, but when we left there was probably 4 other tables. It's a big space and I'm assuming there's some type of live music on the weekends? I saw the instruments and there's a dance floor all set up and ready to go! I think they also dub as a hookah lounge? The patio is a good size and I saw hookahs lined up against the bar area.I'm definitely coming back for the baba ghannouj and shish tawook... now just gotta work on that in house pita bread...It is nothing like what they have advertised on their web site. The food is more like a left over taste and quality. Their package of $35 and $45 for entertainment and food is an insult to anyone's intelligence - too little cheap food for the price. The service is not just poor - It is unprofessional. I can not believe they have lasted in business for this long. If you do not like water-pipe (hookah), the smoke flowing inside their dining area from their outdoor site may not be pleasant for you.Though the food is above average, it's hardly worth the wait!  We waited a full hour for our food.  It was like pulling teeth to get the waiter's attention.  Also the restaurant was unnecessarily cold inside.Excellent fresh food! Middle eastern food in So Cal is very generic. Greek is not the same as Persian and is not the same as Lebanese or Afghan, etc...etc. Alcazar is Lebanese. We started off with Babaganoush which is very different than a Persian style. It was more like a Tahini humous with olive oil. It was delicious. We also tried the "Mezzas": Fried cheese Potatoes cubed in spices and pan fried Dark Purple raw tomatoes with spice On to the Kabobs, I had a mixed plate, Chicken, Ground Beef, and Lamb. All cooked to perfection, tender and tasty. One other side we tried was the Farik. It is a roasted wheat dish that is like rice. Very Very good and a great change from rice. I really enjoyed the food here and you could taste that it was Fresh made to order. Best Lebanese food in the so cal area. If you want to taste real good Persian food try Shiraz and you will see the difference between Persian and Lebanese. http://www.yelp.com/bi...It was at Alcazar that I delved into zombie cuisine: a sizzling platter of pan fried brains. And before you squeamish folks scrunch up your face into the semblance of a prune, let me tell you, you're missing out on a dish that would surprise you with a most pleasant of tastes and textures once you get over the same psychological barrier most of us put aside when we eat a cocktail weenie or hot dog. N'Khaat is not like how I imagined eating the thinking cap of a bovine would be; the organ is divided into bite size pieces, breaded, coated with herbs, fried, then served sitting in a tangy pool of minced garlic, lemon and dressing. What started off as a tentative "I'm curious, so I'm gonna try it bite" quickly turned into a "grab the whole plate and ask for more pita to accompany it" deal. Everything else we tried that evening was quite satsifying, including the house hummus, which diverges a bit from traditional offerings, and partners the garbanzos with fool mudammas and chili peppers. I ordered a K'bbeh Nayye' Ourfali, the middle eastern equivalent of beef tartar, and it was almost too rich for my taste (I say "almost", admitting I finished 3/4 of a plate by myself). My vegetarian girlfriend raved about the olive-laden zeitoon salad, which was quite delicious, but I was too busy eating brains and raw beef to really acknowledge vegetable matter that evening. Throw in their cheese plate and we had a most memorable meal (also being my birthday supper) and we're sure to come back to try all the other options we reluctantly had to pass up on our first visit.Note: if you read of a Los Angeles man dying from Mad Cow Disease four years from now (the time the disease takes to manifest itself), you might be right in guessing it's me. But damn if it wasn't worth it.

by Nerisa L.

The food is amazing, but you may need to flag down the service if you need to be acknowledged!  I'm a stickler for customer service especially if you are in the restaurant business. I could have just ordered the food and brought it home if I was going to be ignored.

by Sharon B.

A great lunch spot with good food and almost never busy! Came here with my coworkers last week (was my first time but everyone else had been coming for years). I was a little disappointed in the bread/pita being a store bought type and not freshly made. A little pricey $12 lunch special, but includes salad, hummos or baba ghannouj, and dessert. A lot of food for the price so it's worth it. It was my first time having baba ghannouj and I am a FAN! If only it was more available in other establishments. I ordered the Shish Tawook (marinated chicken breast) and it was yum yum yum! Very flavorful , tender, and moist. The rice was also flavorful. The dish came with more of the pita type bread but this time had a little sauce on top. Dessert was just some place pieces of baklava. It was tasty but I'm not too big of a fan of baklava. Everyone also tried the yogurt drink... SAL-TYYYY is all I have to say. Good for the experience but will not be ordering again.Service was good. It helps that it wasn't busy when we got there. I think only one other table, but when we left there was probably 4 other tables. It's a big space and I'm assuming there's some type of live music on the weekends? I saw the instruments and there's a dance floor all set up and ready to go! I think they also dub as a hookah lounge? The patio is a good size and I saw hookahs lined up against the bar area.I'm definitely coming back for the baba ghannouj and shish tawook... now just gotta work on that in house pita bread...

by Taylor G.

Even a weekly visit isn't enough.I grew up pretty close to this gem and never knew about it until some co-workers took me there for lunch one day. I was totally blown away by the quality and taste. I almost always get the Shish Tawook (chicken breast skewer) with fareek (a grain in the brown rice family, soooo good). The hummos is unreal, I've never had anywhere else come close. And DEFINITELY get a side of the garlic spread. Unlike Zankou Chicken which uses butter to make their spread, Alcazar uses olive oil so its a much healthier alternative and tastes AMAZING!! I put it on everything; pita, chicken, rice...if its on my plate its getting dunked in garlic!The lunch specials are the best deals, about $11 for a TON of food. My fareek substitution costs an extra $2 but is well worth it to me. My only gripe at all is that quite often it takes a long time to pay. In tradition with a 'relaxed' lunch they don't push you to leave but quite the opposite, we handed off our credit cards and waited 20 minutes once for the receipts to sign, and we were the only table the waitress had! But I won't deduct stars for it, I would give Alcazar 6 stars if I could so a full 5 is still an honest score :)

by Gregory H.

It was at Alcazar that I delved into zombie cuisine: a sizzling platter of pan fried brains. And before you squeamish folks scrunch up your face into the semblance of a prune, let me tell you, you're missing out on a dish that would surprise you with a most pleasant of tastes and textures once you get over the same psychological barrier most of us put aside when we eat a cocktail weenie or hot dog. N'Khaat is not like how I imagined eating the thinking cap of a bovine would be; the organ is divided into bite size pieces, breaded, coated with herbs, fried, then served sitting in a tangy pool of minced garlic, lemon and dressing. What started off as a tentative "I'm curious, so I'm gonna try it bite" quickly turned into a "grab the whole plate and ask for more pita to accompany it" deal. Everything else we tried that evening was quite satsifying, including the house hummus, which diverges a bit from traditional offerings, and partners the garbanzos with fool mudammas and chili peppers. I ordered a K'bbeh Nayye' Ourfali, the middle eastern equivalent of beef tartar, and it was almost too rich for my taste (I say "almost", admitting I finished 3/4 of a plate by myself). My vegetarian girlfriend raved about the olive-laden zeitoon salad, which was quite delicious, but I was too busy eating brains and raw beef to really acknowledge vegetable matter that evening. Throw in their cheese plate and we had a most memorable meal (also being my birthday supper) and we're sure to come back to try all the other options we reluctantly had to pass up on our first visit.Note: if you read of a Los Angeles man dying from Mad Cow Disease four years from now (the time the disease takes to manifest itself), you might be right in guessing it's me. But damn if it wasn't worth it.

by Abigail C.

Though the food is above average, it's hardly worth the wait!  We waited a full hour for our food.  It was like pulling teeth to get the waiter's attention.  Also the restaurant was unnecessarily cold inside.