ALMANARA Restaurante Libanés — Restaurant in Baja California

I'm of Lebanese descent and have traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, so I know authentic cuisine. Initially, the pictures of this restaurant looked appealing, but the experience was far from satisfactory. The food took an unreasonably long to arrive, and the portions were disappointingly small. The flavors were nowhere near authentic Lebanese; it felt like a lackluster fusion of Mediterranean influences that missed the mark entirely.

To make matters worse, the pricing is exorbitant. I was charged for items I didn't even order. When I inquired about it, they claimed there was a mix-up with another table. I was slapped with a $50 charge for a bottle of wine that we never ordered, despite only requesting two glasses, which we didn't enjoy. The staff insisted that once the bottle was opened, I was obliged to pay for it - a policy that's unjust.

It appears the owner may have ties to something dubious, as nothing about this establishment seems aboveboard. This is not a restaurant; it operates more like a hookah lounge with subpar food and a terrible reputation. I strongly advise against visiting this place--I certainly will never return. It's a scam, not a legitimate...

Very bad experience. I ordered the falafel sandwhich, which they call taco, with no tomatoes so i sent it back and it came in a colder pita bread, but i did not make a fuss( i cant remember correctly but i think they also changed it from white to wheat). Except that there were still tomatoes in my sandwhich hidden under the hummus. Meaning that they just picked the tomatoes they could find. The sensible thing would have been to take the falafel out put it on the bread and add the rest of the ingredients, after all how expensive can chopped lettuce and the three pieces of cucumber on the sandwhich cost? Was dying to try this place, but im not...

Almanara is an interesting place to visit. Try to come with several people in order for everyone to share their dish and try as much options that you can. My recommendation is for you to try the dishes with the name 'plato' and ask for a large flavored water, my personal best is the cucumber and spearmint water. I personally don't find interesting the desserts. The ones that I tried felt kind of oily but some of my companions did like them. Maybe next time I'll try one of their fruit cups, the Strawberry with cream cup...