El Harissa Market Cafe — Restaurant in Ann Arbor

Like many of the other reviews point out, you should know that El Harissa has great food, a great vibe, and is run by some amazing people. You should go. That said, I want to share a different experience!

It was very important to my wife and I that we supported smaller family-run businesses for our wedding. My family has been going to El Harissa for a number of years, so it seemed natural to ask them to cater; however, we had some apprehension because our reception was in Ferndale, which is a 45-60 minute drive from their restaurant. We didn't want to put them out with the commute, but nonetheless they happily agreed. Fast forward to a week before the reception, and I received a catering contract from my venue that had details that were not previously discussed with me or the folks at El Harissa, such as that the caterers would be responsible for water service, table bussing, and had to be present for the entirety of the reception. All of this was a fairly reasonable ask for large-scale catering company, but it was not my expectation here. Moreover, if I had received the contract sooner, we could have had a discussion about this earlier, but instead, I had to drop these details on El Harissa at the last minute. Again, they accommodated our needs without issue. Come reception day, everything runs perfectly, but after all of the excellent food service is done, the folks from El Harissa that stayed to the end of the reception quietly told us that they had a flight the next day at 6 am! They put in all of this effort to accommodate us and not once did they indicate how much this was putting them out! Their consideration of us and our event was second to none. And naturally the food was amazing. It was easily the most talked about thing at our wedding, and people are still raving about it a week later. If any other company had catered, our reception it would not have been as successful.

They took care of us, they will take care of you, and they deserve your business. So if you got all the way to the end of the loquacious review, hurry up and head over...

This place is lovely. I attended an event that had their food and everything was just... special. Each thing I tried had a little touch, the salad with some beautiful bits of date and pomegranate jewels poking out. The choice of seasonings and herbs 🌿 everything so fresh, made with care and love.

We started with dessert first, and it was so hard to decide what kind of gelato to try! We sampled the coffee bean, the lemon mint avocado, the spiced hazelnut fig, the rosewater baklava w/pistachio, the lemon sorbetto with crystalized ginger 😋 we basically wanted to try everything! They are all incredible. We'll just have to go back...

For dinner we tried the roasted root vegetable & date tagine, the chicken tagine, the Chicken Chermoula, sliced roasted chicken that had a heavenly herbed Chermoula dressing paired with it over a bed of saffron infused rice. I'm sensitive to flavor enhancers and the rice tastes like it has boullioin flavoring, but not everyone is sensitive like I am. The taste was great though. We ordered toum, the delicious house made garlic sauce.

We also got the Berber Terrine du Poulet made with ground chicken which is combined with green onions, egg, fenugreek &other curry spices & mixed with shredded potato. We loved the sauce that came with it.

Our order came with fresh, warm pita bread and there was also a little side of the harissa dip. So good! 🤤 I had to go back and order a full toum and harissa dip to go, so my parents could enjoy;)

I definitely recommend this place. The shop is so cool and we loved the pottery and all the other offerings.

❤️🌿Bonus I adore that they participate in the A2R3 initiative, that lets you reuse containers so it's more ecologically friendly.

Go to El Harissa Market Cafe, for a meal, gifts, takeout and catering! 11/10 We...

El Harissa is one of Ann Arbor’s most precious gems. Not only can you pick up uniquely delicious Tunisian/Moroccan cuisine, you can treat yourself to a great selection of GELATO by the scoop! The staff and owners (family owned and managed) consistently have an excellent reputation for genuine kindness and great service. The food is prepared fresh daily and served in various proportions takeout style (refrigerated or hot if specified), but there is limited cozy dining space and table service if you choose to dine there. I love the salads, chicken tagine, everyone loves the spice mushrooms! Try the myriad of fresh accompaniments such as their namesake (harissa!), carrot dip (huriyya?), garlic dip (labneh), and hummus!

Need good gifts? The accompanying Market in the cafe is great and has new unique, high quality olive oils as well as unique Tunisian finds that the family personally finds on travel. I bought an awesome collection of wooden spoons and forks that have served me well for years now. I also buy olive oil there.

My friends and extended family have been amazed that with only one visit, one of the family owner members remembered their name and profession upon their return. It is that...