Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe - Colonnade — Restaurant in Birmingham

I first tried Taziki's when I moved to Birmingham in 1997. I've eaten it off and on since and never had any strong feelings one way or another. I don't know what's changed within this establishment to cause the three to four year decline, but its never been as bad as it was today. Look, there's no reason to wait 40 mins for any of the food on your menu. The wait times have been increasingly bad. Everyone waits - dine in and pick up. It's a cluster. This is not 5-star dining and you're not cooking anything complicated. Either hire more employees, or hire better employees. Today, we had to walk around the restaurant to find silverware and napkins. Empty tables were dirty. My daughter slipped in a puddle on the floor and almost bit the dust. There was no salad dressing on my "Caesar" salad, and my daughter discovered her chicken raw 1/2 the way through. I should've taken a picture - it was health department bad. She feels sick now with possible food poisoning, and I feel sick because I just paid $50 for this terrible lunch experience. $50. Nobody apologized. Nobody cared. But nobody had a problem flipping the tip button in my face after ordering. Its been real guys, but you've lost me forever after a quarter century. There's nothing you offer that would make me want to stand in line and overpay for you again. As a friend, however, I suggest you also address the issue of you having only one unisex restroom for the whole store. It's just another line...

While I love Med food...the space here is very awkward. Limited thought was put into the design of this restaurant. You walk in the door and are already in line to order. After ordering and paying; it's a calculated dance to get your drinks and when you get to your table they are soo sticky, it feels gross. The tables are clean. They simply didnt get sanded before another coat of stain/poly was added. But management knows this and does nothing. EDIT! I guess the Mgr got the memo and I am happy to report that THEY FIXED the Tables! Yay.

They have you tip at check out as though you will have wait service. Other than the initial food delivery, there is no wait service. I for one didnt want to do a dance routine around the long order line and get to the cramped drink area to get more water.

Management & All the staff are extremely friendly & proficient.

If the weather is nice, I suggest dining outside although farthest from the busy curb.

As for the food, it is freshly prepared and quick to the table although portions are still basic (some dishes like salads could use a dash more protein). The sauces are delicious, the lamb is generslly over cooked (lamb should be med rare to rare) but still tasty. Veggies & salads are always fresh!

I will continue to patronize because of overall; I dig the healthy food and...

About what I would expect of a chain Mediterranean restaurant. I ordered the Signature Pasta. If that’s a “signature” dish, I would hate to taste the everyday menu items. It was bland, lacked any seasoning to speak of, the balsamic vinaigrette tasted like a packaged generic version of what should have been a flavorful dressing. My wife had a Greek Salad with chicken. Her Greek Dressing was watery and the salad was mediocre at best. Both of these salads were on par with what I would expect in a box from the take-out section at the grocery. I asked the young lady working the grill if she had another dressing to suggest, one that might add some flavor to my pasta dish. She said no, it comes with balsamic and there was nothing else to put on it. She actually debated with me until another staff member grabbed a container of the Greek Dressing and one of the so-called Vinaigrette, and pushed them across the counter to me! They both tasted like dressings from a supplier like Sysco Foods. I guess this is what passes for Mediterranean in a chain location in an...