Sahara Restaurant — Restaurant in Mississauga

Well, where do I start... We were a party of 4 mature adults looking for a fun Friday night. It advertised daily shows on their FB page. "Enjoy Our Shows & Events Daily."

We were expecting some good value for the money because it was NOT CHEAP!. Food for 4 people =$260 (without drinks before taxes and gratuity). So we thought a show, belly dancing? maybe a dance floor? Something to justify $65/person for what's really basic (but delicious) middle eastern food

The positive: Food was great, as someone who's had their fair share of Tabbouleh, hummus, kabobs etc.. I thought the food was delicious so my compliments to the chef and kitchen staff but not really worth $65/person

The Negative. No show, just very loud music and a drummer walking around No dancing allowed (I asked twice) except by your table. They said it was because of Covid. Don’t buy it. Restaurants and clubs are allowing dancing. No current government restrictions on dancing in restaurants or clubs. On their FB page, one recent picture has people dancing on the dance floor (might be removed once they read the review) They crammed tables since every 4 person table is worth about $500 to the owner

They don't offer a menu. We asked. So you have no idea how much stuff is. Nothing posted, no web site, no information, water is not free LOL

We asked for water, they brought us 4 bottles of Nestle water (the kind you get at Wal-Mart 24 for $1.99). We didn't realize till the bill came that those 4 bottles of water (with no alternative offered) cost us $14.00 (+ tax and the automatic gratuity) so more like $18. It's soooo bad, we actually all laughed at ourselves in the parking lot. Suggest you bring your own water. Maybe they will say it's to protect people (covid) fine, but the bottles cost $0.10 cents each LOL The last 90 minutes we were there, no one even offered drinks, all our glasses were empty, we were drinking the $4 bottles of water. (I'd say this turned into a positive since it saved us from being screwed further

They offer shisha service which was a draw but when 50 people in a closed space are all using shisha's, your throat will get sore even if you don't indulge (we didn't) Music - VERY LOUD with heavy drumming (but no dancing) so you can't dance, and you can't talk LOL

Then the bill LOL. $260 for platter style dinner for 4 people (they did tell us it was $130/couple on the phone when we called initially ). We knew it was overpriced heading in so we were really expecting something to justify the cost. Our mistake $108 for 10 drink: 3 beers, 3 cocktails, 2 Tequila shots, 2 Gin's $14 for 4 bottles of Nestle water $57.30 (15%) gratuity AUTOMATICALLY added to bill. No option to the customer $57.11 tax including tax on the 15% gratuity LOL. Our wives disputed the tax on the gratuity and the nasty owner ignored the issue Total: $$$496.41 $500 BUCKS!!!!!!

We couldn't dance, + no show, + VERY loud music + no talking + bad table service + all our throats were sore from the smoke + the $4.00 bottles of Nestle water + the assumed gratuity + the tax on the gratuity and a grumpy owner (we assumed) who doesn't even thank you when you've just spent $500 in the place. But the food was good So... Caveat Emptor!! I'm ALL for supporting small business, we do it all happily, BUT THIS Place???? Oh My. They take highway robbery to a whole new level. I'm positive there are anyone can find MANY MANY MANY legitimate honest establishments who've had their fair share of Covid struggles and are much more deserving of your hard earned dollars

First and last time at Sahara. Worst experience ever You should be ashamed of yourselves for ripping people off Offer value! your way over priced for what you offer Don't rip people off Be transparent in your charges Offer free water LOL We're all Persians and drove down from Richmond Hill to your establishment. All we could do is laugh at ourselves for having been duped into your establishment...

EXTREMELY RUDE OWNER/MANAGEMENT! DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME ON THIS "UNUSUAL/SPECIAL/LUXURY RESTAURANT"! Terrible experience!

The way the owner responded to my comment shows their true attitude. I wanted to reply to your response, but unfortunately, I deleted my initial comment along with your reply. I wish others could have seen how rude you were.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TELL ME TO GO SOMEWHERE CHEAP? I spent my time and around $300 last night at your place! SHOW SOME RESPECT TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!

I did not insist on getting a table, and I was not with a group of four people. YOU ARE NOT TELLING THE TRUTH!

For your information, I was not informed about the gratuity (which is not an issue because I would have tipped for the service). The problem is that you didn’t notify me or my friends when we arrived. And please explain WHY YOU TAXED THE GRATUITY! YOU DIDN’T EXPLAIN IT. THIS IS A ROBBERY!

And let people decide for themselves what kind of water they prefer! It's clear that this is your policy to make more money, or another way to scam people. Sadly, no one seems able to stop you. Lesson learned! We now understand how "clever" you are in running your business.

Please have some self-respect and don’t waste your time at this "SPECIAL/LUXURY RESTAURANT."

Here is my original comment (I wish I had taken a screenshot of the owner’s response to give people a better idea of this place and how rude the owner truly is):

I was there last night because one of my friends told me about this place. It is extremely overpriced and not worth it. Charging $65 per person for the food and appetizers offered is way too much. And the water! It was unbelievable that they didn’t provide tap water. Every restaurant in Canada offers tap water to customers. This place reminds me of certain Middle Eastern restaurants that try to take advantage of people. Charging $3 for a bottle of water? I know the owner might reply, saying you have to do some work to bring the bottled water to the table, but that’s unacceptable. A pack of 24 bottles costs less than one bottle at your restaurant.

I have a suggestion, dear owner: I can provide your restaurant with water much cheaper than this.

Another serious issue is the gratuity being automatically added to the bill without asking for the customer’s permission. Customers should have the right to decide how much they want to tip (whether it be 10%, 15%, or 20%). And the most unbelievable part is that you charge 13% tax on that gratuity. That's just ROBBERY!

It wasn’t worth it. You can get far better food and service at other restaurants for the same price. I don’t recommend this place. Save your money for restaurants with better service and food, and don’t let this place take...

Visited this place for the second time, that too after a year and disappointed to say that the experience never did change for me:

Last year in Aug I had to chase after the staff to bring our platter. We were supposed to get a few servings but we only ever got two. Second one was served after I constantly went to the staff and asked why isn't our food being served. Basically the entire table paid $280 for two platters(????) . All of us paid around $40 something each for a platter and were mislead to believe that "there will be so much food we won't be able to finish" . Food was barely sufficient. Far as i know, we were all supposed to get a platter EACH but i don't know to this day how the portions are even calculated and it felt like an absolute ripoff.

I let it slide cause it may have been a busy night and quietly paid every dollar charged since I was in a group. All of us ended up paying $100 each and it was a group of 7 people and we ordered more than just food. And despite that we were not attended to properly and definitely underserved for the food portions.

Went a few days ago. My wife and her friend ordered the sheesha soon as they were seated (around 10:30pm). This wasn't a busy night . I came around 11:20pm and joined them after and food had just been served to us. Sheesha still wasn't there. Asked several waiters on why it's taking so long. At about 11:50pm we cancelled our sheesha order after waiting for over an hour for what would have taken 10 mins maximum to prepare. The restaurant closes at 12 and we couldn't sit for long as we had to leave too.

Mind you, the server who came to us tried to force us to pay $40+ each and was saying how they will combine two seperate platters into one massive one. $90 for one platter in which the portions will be uncertain and likely a repeat of my unpleasant experience from last year. We refused it entirely and went for seperate platters.

Would not recommend this place for its downright terrible sloppy service. If it takes a bad review to be heard then this isn't the...