Root of Beirut — Restaurant in Edmonton

I was visiting Edmonton for a couple of days and I remembered seeing this restaurant featured on one of the youtube food vlog channels so I had to come check it out. I am very happy I did.

The food is absolutely scrumptious! I got kibbeh, kishk manakeesh (pita pie), and saj bread chicken shawarma.. everything was so very yummy. The kibbeh perfectly crunchy on the outside with a soft and tender inside, the meat stuffing was great quality no hard cartilage or tendon pieces which i sometimes find in this type of food in other places. The manakeesh was amazing i didn't know what kish is and kinda still don't know but it had a taste similar to yogurt with some other distinct flavores. The dough for the manakeesh I could tell was made fresh it was soft and fluffy! And lastly the saj shawarma was mouth watering it was very saucy inside with the garlic and the chicken juices and the actual chicken meat was also great no tendons or cartilage pieces and there was some nice roasted/browned pieces which added to the delicious flavor. The saj bread itself was crispy and very light and was well wrapped to prevent any mess. I was thoroughly satisfied and very full. It was a lot of food so i ended up wrapping half of it for leftovers. The price is right too very affordable.

The atmosphere kinda reminded me of local middle eastern restaurants in the centres of middle east countries, it had character and no pretentious energy at all! Very modest and simple decor and staff and they focus all their effort on the food which is great!. I don't know if this is something that always happens but i was quite irritated with a consistent beeping wherei sat initially not sure what it was.. but i just moved my table and focused on listening to the arabic music and i stopped noticing the beeping.

The staff and service was great. Very accommodating people and generous. I did ask for the fries inside the saj sandwich but they brought it on the side which was way too much for me, nontheless it was great.

I hope they can open up a branch in my home town in Ontario where we don't have any middle eastern...

I used to absolutely LOVE Root of Beiroot. It was my favorite pizza place in Edmonton, the only place I would go to. But after what happened I don't want to go back ever ever again.

I was visiting some people on Christmas Eve and they didn't have any food so I figured I would call RoB to see if they would cook some pizza. The server said the kitchen was closed but she would ask. When she returned to the phone she said yes to making me two extra large pizzas. One only cheese and one with pepperoni. When I got there they gave me two medium pizzas and charged me for extra large and the pepperoni one barely had any pepperoni on it. Not as much as they usually give.

Don't get me wrong, I still appreciate that they offered to make me pizzas on Christmas Eve. But to charge me for extra larges and give me mediums with barely any toppings on it just felt very off putting. If they didn't want to make them I would of preffered they say no. I ended up going to McDonald's after to boost the food quantity.

Just to be clear though normally the food is amazing, the service is spectacular, and atmosphere is tough to beat. The last encounter just rubbed me...

We ordered catering from R of B to be delivered on the south side for a year-end wind up party for 25 people. The only two people that were Lebanese were my husband and his brother.

We ordered hummus, baba ghanouj, tabbouleh, pita, fatayer, falafel, labneh, fattoush, chicken, beef skewer, french fries (not Lebanese, but they go well!), rice, kibbeh, lebneh, garlic sauce, falafel sauce, and all of the pickled vegs go with each dish. Our brother taught everyone the names of the dishes as they dug in. Our guests love the food!

They delivered on time, the food was fresh and all handmade, the dressed dishes were kept separate so we could mix them so they were fresh when served. The food was spectacular and our guests were so intrigued with the different flavor pallet. You cannot beat the flavor, the uniqueness, nothing weird or gross with the meats, and the quantity for what you pay for is exceptional. We sent everyone home with extra food and received wonderful messages from our friends today that they loved the food.

If you haven't tried RoB and you are concerned about quality or flavour - don't be! Just...