Massaya Lebanese Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Ashburn

We had a 7:15 reservation on Sunday evening for 3 people. It was our first time there. When we arrived, there were 2 tables in dining room and 2 tables on patio. There seemed to be 2 servers working. The server had us seat ourselves outside, then came 5min later with menus. After 10 minutes, she came to bring water and take our drink order. We ordered 3 nonalcoholic beverages, 2 appetizers, and 3 entrees all at once, since we were super hungry. She didn’t write down our order, so she had to come back to take our entree order again. We never got the beverages.

The apps were delicious, so full of flavor. We got the sampler and the kibbeh. We never got silverware or app plates, even though we asked the server and the food runner. We ended up eating the apps without silverware! I went inside to go to the restroom, and ended up asking our server for silverware again. She said she’d bring it out, but I told her I didn’t mind bringing it out so we could go ahead and use it.

About 20 min later our entrees came out. We asked for our beverages again, when at that point, she told us the soda and tea we ordered was out, so we ordered lemonade. It took 10 more min to come out, and this was after we asked again.

Grilled kabobs platter and grilled shrimp platter came out together. (Those two dishes were delicious. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and seasoned and the chicken breast kabobs was juicy and not at all overcooked.) After giving us those 2 entrees, She told my child that her lamb kabobs would be right out. However the order was supposed to be beef kofta. Obviously she put in the wrong order. After 15 minutes, they finally brought out my child’s meal. The food runner said, “here is your lamb.” We said it’s supposed to be beef. He said oh yeah, it’s beef. Well, not only was it ice cold and dry meat, it was LAMB! They literally brought out the same wrong plate that had been sitting in the window then lied to us to try to cover their mistake??

Finally, after 10 more minutes, we were able to place the correct order for my child’s meal, and asked for it to go since it was already 9pm and getting dark.

The service was absolutely abysmal. Even through all the waiting, forgotten orders, and lack of beverages and silverware, the manager could have came out to talk to us. Even our server could have come out periodically to explain what’s happening. We go no such service. Nothing. I do not recommend this restaurant for dine in. Take out might be ok as long as they put your order...

Priced to be a high quality place with good food but sadly it was not so.

Chicken shawarma is better at halal guys. I think that says enough. Chicken is boiled it seems, flavorless, dry and chewy. The wraps and entree for Shawarma is not good.

The service was okay. The waiter was kind and the food didnt take forever to receive. Honestly no one looked like they wanted to be there though.

To wrap up, as for the atmosphere, it is not very inviting. It's tucked into a corner of a shopping center- that's accessible from steep stairs, with no ramp for strollers or wheelchairs.

When you walk in, you see bright white fluorescent lights - some of which are strobing slightly. Music is blasting loudly- as if it was some night club. I can appreciate the cultural music but if we have to awkwardly shout to one another to speak, what's the point of even dining in.

Not a baby friendly environment. I asked for the music to be turned down politely but it never happened- it got louder. This was scaring my infant and the entire group couldn't enjoy anything.

I should note that there was practically no one in the restaurant when we were there, there was a couple that left shortly...

Clean. Friendly service. Excellent food.

TL;DR: In recent years, we've had Lebanese Taverna, Lebanese Kitchen, and meals at several table-service shawarma places. Massaya tops them all. Not saying those places are no good, but this will be my go-to for Lebanese when possible.

Falafel - the best we've had in NoVA, and I make a point of trying falafel anywhere it's available (restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores) Massaya Sampler - I'm not usually a big fan of baba ghanouj, but theirs was very tasty. Hummus was top-tier. Grape leaves were fresh, warm, and delicious. Tabbouleh is not my favorite, so I'm withholding judgement. Cheese sambousek... I could eat a dozen of those. Kofta Meshwi kebab - Yum, and the tzatziki dip was peppery and a perfect match. I could probably drink a glass of their house salad dressing (although regret it later, I'm sure) Fattoush salad w/ beef shawarma - The best in NoVA (and this is another item I try wherever I can). Perfect balance of flavors across the shawarma and the salad dressing. Baklava - Yum. I'm not well-versed in judging baklava, but...