The Block Oven (Arlington) — Restaurant in Arlington

It really bothers me that I have to be writing a negative review of this place, but this is a necessity to inform others. I had been coming to Tarbouch everyday to meet friends here after I had moved for at least 3 months. Over time, the waitress staff had become more condescending and rude to myself and I am not sure why. On this particular date, the experience was horrendous. I received my hookah and everything was going alright. Many hours later as my other friends were all in attendance, things suddenly went down hill. While we were smoking hookah and conversing, all of a sudden the vents began fuming out thick visible particles. All of the vents on the patio were doing this at the same time. The air became thick, heavy, and painful to breathe. Within minutes, I was coughing furiously and my friends began coughing as well. We were fine everyday smoking hookah for many hours for many months so clearly the hookah had nothing to do with our coughing spasm. Hvac ventilation systems are known to pour out fiberglass when they are being cleaned out (which literally cuts your lungs). I opened up a window only slightly because it was about 50 degrees outside and did not want to potentially inconvenience people with cold air even though the fumigating vents were incredibly dangerous to anyone's health. Just moments later, a car was pulled over by an officer who stopped right in front of the window in which we were sitting. His flashers were on and his bright beam signal light was pointed straight through the window behind me and into my other friend's faces. They were being blinded by this so I decided to begin attempting to lower the blinds that they have in front of the window to prevent the sun from bothering customers. I thought this would be okay, like the windows, because the waitresses would open and close the blinds and windows with no recognizable pattern and would do so based on customer preferences. The moment I began lowering it, a waitress turned to me and said in a rude tone of voice, "what do you think you are doing?" I explained that I was simply going to lower it while the cop was there and raise it once he leaves because my friends were being blinded to the point that one felt sick from it but the waitress demanded that I leave the blinds alone. When I asked why and stated that they let other customers mess with them whenever they want to (which I have seen other customers open and close them before at night due to lights) she said, "it isn't the time no put it back up." Alright then...except the moment I raised the blinds, another waitress comes forward and demands that I close the window which was barely cracked open. I simply asked her to explain why when others are allowed to open and close windows whenever they want to (when other tables smoke cigarettes, they would open the windows and leave them open for hours while it was below freezing outside). She said there is no reason for it to be open and my favorite part, "because I say so." I then asked if they were aware of what was pouring out of the vents and how it was causing us to cough very badly. She said, "it doesn't smell anymore so close it right now." As I was going to close it and say that I was going to close it when it actually stopped venting (even though it still was) she shuts the window and I barely removed my hand from the window closing on it. As she was walking away she said something rude (something about being annoying though I can't remember exactly what was said because at that point I was furious and my memory became hazy). My friends were in awe and couldn't believe the exchange of events and how we were being treated, I turned to them and began asking, "What have I ever done that would cause you to treat my friends and especially myself with such disrespect?" They ignored me and murmured under their breath. My friends and I discussed the events then the vents began fuming heavy particles again so we left. I hope that my friends and I do not feel desperate enough to return after this. This was completely inexcusable...

Incredibly distressing experience today. This is a negative pattern of behavior every time with the heavyset Tunisian guy with glasses. When we visit DC around once a month, we usually stop by here at Tarbouch because it's the only place we can enjoy nice Arab food. The other female waiters serve us very well every time. But when this heavyset Tunisian guy with glasses serves our table, it's usually a bad experience. Last time he served us, he didn't give us napkins, utensils, or hot sauce even though we asked and were waiting a while. The food didn't even come all at once, so we were waiting for each dish to come out one at a time.

Today, we had a girl as our server and took our order and brought our food. But upon checkout, this guy is the one who handled the payment. We tried to tip her but he cancelled the tip and left abruptly without giving us a receipt. We had to track him down (for a receipt) because he immediately went to the back kitchen area so when we requested the manager, then he showed up. So we tipped the girl who served us with cash. The reason we asked for the receipt is because the last time we went there, he added 2 bottled waters to our charge even though we didn't order it. We thought it was an accident that time so we didn't make it an issue. But we wanted the receipt this time just in case to check. So when he finally came with the receipt, he had added 2 bottled waters again so it seems last time it wasn't an accident and he did so intentionally!! We asked him why he added this and he said the girl who took our order is the one who did it. But she said she didn't, he did! This is highly unprofessional! The owner should really be aware of this heavyset Tunisian guy with glasses, and as a customer you should be aware of what he's charging on the receipt. The 2 bottled waters he charges went into his pocket because they "go by the table" rather than who...

So funny story is this is a hookah bar and a really good late-night Middle Eastern cuisine spot on the highway. There is a 24-hour CVS across the street, where I get my prescriptions sometimes after work. I sort of stumbled upon this place while waiting for my prescription.

I stepped into this place with this amazing bizarre Cafe and immediately I thought I was transcended into a Middle Eastern country. I was the only woman in this place as well as the only white person but that's okay cuz when I'm hungry I tend to just go for what I want. I ordered the fries and quite honestly these were the best fries I had in my life the owner gave me this side of curry sauce, Chipotle . I am not sure what it is but it's delicious are they coming back for these fries ever since.

Even more impressive is the amazing murals on the wall which is by a local artist having pictures of Jack Nicholson and Salvador Dali was really captivating.

I also had tried one of their middle eastern tapas including eggplant and okra. Very tasty. Staff members are very nice and friendly and despite their circumstances I'd felt comfortable in there. Definitely try this place for hookah you're into that sort of thing haha I'm not. But moreover for the food and beyond beyond and let's be honest where else can you get food after 11 pm weekdays...