Mandaloun | Mediterranean Grill & Hookah Bar in Addison — Restaurant in Addison

Our first visit to Sanabel’s was yesterday for Sunday lunch before a matinee performance by the WaterTower Theater at the Addison Theatre Centre a few blocks north of the restaurant. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by Nas – a most gracious and welcoming host who showed us to a table. As it was a slow lunch (probably because folks were in Labor Day weekend mode), Nas doubled as our waiter

We started with, for us, that litmus test for Middle Eastern food: hummus. We chose the original (they do have a number of other flavors and you can optionally add various ground meats to it) and it was perfect. One of us loves lamb and Nas steered us to the lamb chops: 5 small lamb chops mostly totally trimmed of excess fat and perfectly grilled medium-rare – they retained their juiciness and were expertly spiced. The chops were served over basmati rice and I chose baba ganouj and fried cauliflower as the two additional sides – both were scrumptious. The other main ordered was the chicken shawarma pita sandwich with fries and, per my other half, was delicious. Throughout the meal, Nas provided excellent service – attentive, sincere and yet not intrusive.

We live near Tyler so it is a haul to come into town. This is our first year to join WaterTower as season subscribers so, rest assured, at a minimum we shall be eating at Sanabel’s before every matinee that we will be attending. We are excited to tour our way through the menu with each visit. And I am relatively certain that we will be making additional visits – and towing a friend or two...

This place is a joke. Food is just ok, but lack of variety. Here comes the real problem of this place. Service! The lady that served me the other day, was the simple worst. I came to the check out desk to pay after my lunch and paid $40 (2 of $20 bills) for my $26 check. She gave me back only $13. So I asked her to give me $1 more for exact change. Then, she said she didn't have any more changes and asked me to pay exact $26. I told her I didn't have any changes for exact $26, if I had, I would have paid for. Then she shouted at me and complained that I didn't have an exact change for the check and went to somewhere. Few moment later, she came back and gave me an exact $14 change with this comment: "Don't you know that the check doesn't include tip!" What a fantastic comment that the waitress can make to her customer! I was just shocked. The I told her that I knew it and was going to give you some tips, but I didn't think she deserved. I also added that she was not the one who dictates tips, but I was. I thought I was going to call the manager to discuss this situation further more, but I didn't. Then I just walked out of this restaurant, because I didn't want to even stay in that terrible restaurant at all in any second. Just be prepare to be shouted and shocked if you don't have exact changes for your check when you go to this place. Otherwise, just go to different places, since there are tons of good restaurants on Beltline as you know you can get much better services with...

My friends and I came in after a long day from traveling from Houston. We decided to visit this place to relax and unwind. At first we were greeted very well. However this did not last long after we sat and ordered drinks. After we received our drinks we were going to order some small bites as we had already eaten a large mean prior to coming to this place. We were abruptly told that each person needed to order a minimum of $25 dollars. (We’re a party of 6) We nicely explained to our waiter that we just ate and that we wanted to just smoke hookah. He stated this I kid you not “well then how are we going to pay for the band/singer” remind you I’m not from here and nowhere did anyone state this before hand prior to them seating us. Nor is it my problem on who is paying for the singer/band clearly this establishment decided to host this band. Not me! And how can you expect us to spend $150 on just food! This is outrageous and illegal! There is no Texas law that states I need to spend a minimum prior you them seating us and ordering without knowing before hand! And just to make matters worse our waiter came to our table after 45 minutes of us being here and stated oh you have $$$ money still needing to order. The AUDACITY! They only care about their minimum! Needless to say we will NOT be returning here! I would advise everyone that reads this to...