habibi's Café & Restaurant — Restaurant in Lucerne

Let's get the only good part out there first before I get to to the bad and the horrible. The staff/Manager was at least nice to the kids and brought them coloring pages to color and color markers.. This kept them busy and is appreciated. The outdoor seating is nice too. But the atmosphere was completely overshadowed by the other elements of the experience.

The food was OK. Tawuk (7/0), Kefta (5/10), Awsal/lamb grill cubes (5/10). Again taste is subjective. It wasn't bad but wasn't amazing either.

I generally never give bad reviews and also generally never worry too much about slight racist behavior since it's unfortunately so common. But in this case it was so obvious that the gentleman handling the restaurant didn't want us there. First off when we entered he just flat out told us (a family with 2 kids and an infant in lap) that we don't have a table and did not ask us to wait, he just sped off to serve others. Then I found a place to wait myself and told him I'm waiting. Then again when a table for 4 became free I had to ask him to seat us there.

Again I was asked to wait while he cleans up the freshly vacated table. In that same time some new customers came in, a couple and a pair of ladies. Now in this case there was the type of immediate greeting with a smile which one would expect from the manager of a nice restaurant. And ofcourse they had napkins, plates and cutlery set at their tables well before us. I'm at least happy that my kids were spoken to with a smile. But all in all that was not a good start and if it wasn't for us being hungry after a long trip we would have just gone to Tassnim (another nice middle eastern/Lebanese restaurant in Lucerne).

And then the food. We had a mixed grill plate and another kefta (minced beef kabab). We only got 1 small flatbread in 4 pieces which would hardly be enough for one skewer. We did try to gain attention and ask for some extra but probably weren't loud and obnoxious enough. Anyway by this point we felt too drained/disappointed to ask again.

This lack of attention was shared by us (a pakistani family) and I noticed another middle eastern / Arab family being treated with the same cold treatment. If it's slight problems then I don't take the time to write a negative review, but in this case I feel compelled. If you are brown skinned and don't know the owner personally, I'd recommend going to Tasnim and avoiding the possibility of feeling unwelcome.

Again this is a very well liked restaurant with a lot of good reviews. I would never write this if I had the slightest doubt that I am over reacting. But I feel this is important to know for other tourists like me who expect a welcoming positive experience at a nice restaurant. The lady was polite but probably too many customers to handle for her, but we definitely felt unwelcome based on the initial interaction with...

Recommendation: Avoid

Food: Overall Mediocre, Sandwiches seem to be good though Service: Bad Prices: Very High for food portions and quality

We ordered a mixed grill and they were out some of the items that come with the mixed grill Not a huge deal, we just substituted what we could for the items that were out of stock Mixed grill and included items took ages to come out, around 45 minutes (the restaurant wasn’t even busy) When the mixed grill came out some pieces of the dish were hot and some lukewarm The mixed grill was missing an entire skewer (it only comes with 3) which my wife informed me later by looking at pictures on other Google reviews The wrong items were brought to us initially and we had to go up to the service counter to inform them because the staff was totally inattentive (even though they were generally friendly when you did talk to them) which ended up adding even more time to a long wait time

I did get a sandwich for takeaway which was pretty good

I WOULD NOT recommend this establishment. There are plenty more establishments in Lucerne with better prices, better food/portions, and better service. If you do come here, I’d recommend sticking to the...

So noisy, that it was impossible to hear or speak to give an order. Trying to take groups and couples when they don’t have the room or the staff. And a Lebanese restaurant should respect Lebanon enough to serve its wines. A group of 10 shouting teenage or 20 something women wrecked any chance of enjoyment. Will NEVER GO BACK. From your reply I see you did not know that I was president of the Club that had booked 2 tables with you that night. I was there greeting fellow members by waving, as talking was impossible, and when I was seated ready to order your waitress took the orders from those around me and then walked off (perhaps the noise generated by that “happy” table was too much for her to cope with too?) As my wife had ordered she stayed but no Club members were at all satisfied with the ambience of your cafe. Your “happy” table was allowed to dominate an entire eating venue and were rude when politely asked if they could be a little quieter. So, please keep your one “happy” table and in doing so lose two tables of people used to a little more...