Zaaki Cuisine — Restaurant in Queens Park

Makes me sad to say this:

1. they did not wear gloves today BUT we saw them wear handle 2days prior - watched probably the owner put a wrap inside the paper with his hands after hearing it up. This was not my order. Right after that used the same hands to put utensils in the plastic bag. Then he refilled the utensil holder with the same hands with more plastic utensils. The utensils were too much and it spilled on the counter and he picked it up and placed it right back into the utensil holder. His partner also handled the cash registration after preparing some falafels. I wish I didn't get to see this but apparently this was the day the did not want to use plastic gloves.

Sadly we always opt out for servers who don't wear gloves. We did not want the pitta bread and other side dish :( I'm sure it might have tasted good.

2. they get the order wrong - probably just a communication error bec of the mask. Can be managed by just shouting a bit since the music is running in the background. To compensate with the wrong order the guys just made the order but with more portion and said sorry. Good customer service, he said sorry.

Other info: No washroom, they wear facemasks, no free/back parking, only 2-3 chair dine in, Uber delivery, fast wait time, efficient, staff were pleasant to talk to and not arrogant at all.

Food was good! Falafel balls were very big compared to Highgate Donaire. The taste is a bit less spicy and I assume this is due to their customer's palate. They do offer spices of the sides if they want to make it more spicy, cz their normal spicy is an acquired taste to some. That's about it since we didn't opt for the pita bread cz they didn't use gloves.

I will probably try to buy again from here if they have better cross contamination protection. I want to like this place but please wear gloves and don't cross...

We tried this place for the first time yesterday-and the food are delicious!!! You might be wondering why 1 star only? Well, its about hygine and cleanliness.

The place looks clean enough.so its not the place

Its the handling of their food. First, the 2 guys manning the place has no masks on, despite all the people buying are all wearing masks. But thats not the worst part. My wife ordered one of their shawarma wrap...we saw the 2 customers before us ordered shawarma wrap as well. The guys preparing the wrap grab the pita breads with their bare hands, yeah bare (no plastic disposable gloves). One might think they probably cleaned and sanitized their hands, right? Wrong!

When the customer before us paid, the same hands grab the cash (by the way this place only accept cash or debit) ...put it in the cash register, punch some keys and hand the customer her change. AND then, proceed to prepare the next customer's wrap with the same unwashed bare hands. OMG! Cash is one of the dirtiest things one could think of. It passes from one hand to another multiple times in a day. Who knows where those hands came. And with covid in the mix..germs/virus galore!

Wife immediately change her order with the platter..which they use spoon on the food. Thanks goodness. Sadly platter came with pita aslo which again they grab with the same cash-germs hands. We end up not eating those...

Having good sales does not mean you are entitled to negligence. Never order at closing time is my experience. I visited first time Zaki Yesterday at 8:30 pm, I ordered 1 Falafel wrap and one regular Falafel platter without rice, I was provided 1 extra Falafel.

While platting my dinner at home, as u see in the pic, it was shocking to notice that the server did not put the pita. Can u believe it? Mediterranean platter without pita. Seeing me upset since Nonone was answering the phone, my son went to Safeway and bought a packet of pita. Now We both could have dinner. I called twice from home at 9:02 and 9:08 pm but NO one picked the phone. (pic attached) The shop closes at 9 and staff must be taking at least 15 to 30 minutes for closing.

Another thing noticed the next morning, I and my wife had an upset stomach, lose motion, was it due to hummus or something else? Since this is the only outside food we had yesterday. I called today and spoke to the same server who packed my order yesterday, he said sorry and provided owner Wissam's phone #, I called today but no one picked up.

The owner needs extra attention, also food quality checks till closing and customers please...