Abo Youssef Mediterranean Food — Restaurant in Austin

I usually don’t leave reviews this harsh, but this food truck experience was genuinely awful—and honestly, I didn’t want to waste any more of my time on it, so I asked ChatGPT to write this for me.

Right on the front of the truck is a shiny certificate claiming it's one of the “Top 100 Places to Eat.” And if that doesn’t raise your expectations, the Google rating will—4.8 stars. How? I have no idea. I can only assume the reviews are filtered, heavily incentivized, or coming from people who haven't tried actual good food.

I ordered a chicken shawarma expecting something flavorful and fresh. What I got was an overpriced mess. The only thing this truck seems to know how to cook is chicken—and even that was dry, bland, and left a weird aftertaste. The rest of the plate was either soggy, rubbery, or completely flavorless. It honestly felt like cafeteria leftovers dressed up as street food.

Then came the baklava. The menu promised something sweet, flaky, and freshly made—exactly what good baklava should be. In reality, it was stale and dried out. Yes, it was flaky, but only in the sad, brittle way that old cardboard flakes after too much time in the open air. It tasted like it had been abandoned in a plastic container at the back of the fridge since last week.

To make matters worse, the service was just plain bad. I felt completely unwelcome from the moment I stepped up to order. The man running the truck treated my presence like an inconvenience, as if taking my order was doing me a favor. Later, I looked up his responses to negative reviews—and unsurprisingly, he doesn't handle criticism well. He routinely lashes out at anyone who dares to point out the obvious flaws in his food

Oh—and did I mention this was expensive? I paid a premium price for something I ended up throwing away the same day. That was probably the most painful part of the whole experience.

Bottom line: Don’t let the certificate or suspiciously high Google rating fool you. This food truck is all hype, no substance. Save your time, money, and taste buds—there are plenty of Mediterranean restaurants out there in Austin that actually deserve your support. This...

THEY DO NOT TAKE ALLERGIES SERIOUSLY!!

I had to explain to the owner that I'm allergic to sesame seeds before he would agree to give me tzatziki sauce instead with my falafel. He kept insisting that I eat the tahini. After telling him two times I can't eat the tahini I then had to tell him two more times that I can't eat it because I'm allergic (in front of a bunch of people). Why should I have to try so hard to convince someone of my food allergy? I hate being that person, but my discomfort and pain isn't worth making some random guy satisfied that I ate his tahini. I grew up on middle eastern and Mediterranean food, I've had sesame seeds, tahini, and eaten a lot of hummus & babaganoush. But after suffering for so long and finally learning why, I've realized it just isn't worth eating. Luckily, my allergy isn't severe enough to go into anaphylactic shock otherwise I would've just not paid and left the food due to their serious lack of professionalism in handling a customer with an allergy. I think this annoyed him so much he charged me $48 for only a gyro wrap, a combo plate, falafel, and a side of fries. And like a fool, I still tipped 20%. After looking at my receipt which was texted to me (thanks to square, he never gave me one for obvious reasons), I saw that I was charged $5 for the tzatziki and also a side salad. The other prices I saw in person also didn't accurately reflect the prices on the receipt. The food was poor quality except for the gyro which was good, but not good enough to make me return somewhere that doesn't take my...

One of the BEST food trucks in Austin serving Mediterranean food. It’s located in a busy area with bars/restaurants, inside a gas station parking lot. It was our first time there but we have heard great things. We were greeted by an older man, he was extremely nice and runs the truck by himself. I asked him if he was Egyptian since my bestie is and she is from Alexandria. The owner said he was from Alexandria too! ☺️

We ordered the shish kebab plate, mixed grill plate, HAWASHY, and he gave us complimentary baklava since it was our first time there.

The meat plates were so good. The meat was generous and the pita bread was soft, warm, and so good with the hummus and meat on it. The salad was refreshing and cold. Works really well with the meat and rice and white sauce. The mix grill plate was a combo of lamb and chicken—get it if you want to try both meats. The HAWAWSHY was very very unique. It was a very big bread stuffed with beef and lamb. It was so soft, easy to pull apart, slight sweetness from the bread and spice from the meat. We got it as an appetizer but the size of it is a whole entree. I highly recommend you try the hawawshy next time. And lastly, of course the baklava was amazing. We air fried the 2nd one the next day and it was so good.

The food is so delicious!! Prices are keeping up with inflation and still cheaper than those sit in restaurants. Give this food truck and the Egyptian man from Alexandria a chance! :) I believe it’s ranked #83 best places to eat in Austin. There are a few picnic tables...