Kairos Mediterranean — Restaurant in Charleston

Asked for more information: Most things were fine. Certainly nothing was off or bad. And it felt quite healthy, which is a true oddity for this sort of fast casual eatery.

But nothing was good. The lamb was at best mediocre. What we had was more like lamb scraps. They billed it as lamb and photos make it look like leg of lamb, but what we got was closer in texture to gyros meat that had been sitting around in warm water for way too long. The falafel was freshly made (which unfortunately is sometimes not the case), but it was very bland. Not just under seasoned. Mostly flavorless. And slightly undercooked imo (though that may be personal preference).

I'm really not one to complain about portion sizes. If anything, I think portions at many places are too large. But 4 of those falafel balls in a $10+ bowl is a pretty small amount. Maybe it would be an appropriate amount for a sandwich, but not in a bowl. It just wasn't the right ratio to everything else. Along these same lines, they only put one quarter of a pita in a whole bowl. That's just crazy. Not one person has ever eaten that quarter of a pita and thought "you know, this was the appropriate amount of pita for this bowl!" That comes across as cheap. And the warmed pita was probably the best part of the meal!

Ordering was also pretty awkward. I "get" what they are going for. Mediterranean Chipotle/poke. I felt it just didn't work here. Maybe menu improvements or digital ordering would have improved that, though. I don't find that to be a fatal flaw for me.

So, asked and answered. I didn't actually fundamentally dislike this place. It just wasn't good, and I doubt I...

Please think twice if you’re looking to work here or eat here.

Not true Mediterranean food at all; fake falafel is my favorite. This specific location follows less than half of DHEC and ECOSURE rules. They pass because of long term relationship between owners and DHEC.

Food at this location is over ordered, over prepped with tons of dates/labels missing. In my 2 weeks of training I had multiple guests tell me of sour taste.

What gets even better?

As I’m discussing with what would’ve been my management team (only one guy) about some things I was going to do in order to create order, safety standards, health standards, etc. I was let go “for cutting my hand”.

I have been in the restaurant industry for 10 years and have never seen someone let go within a month of being hired for a knife issue. Even other GMs I spoke to laughed at the premature decision.

Like I said, just be careful,

1-If you’re looking to work there, the “we’re family and have had guys working for us for years” play is false security. They are trying to grow into a huge chain with the backing of a silent partner in St. Louis while not following basic restaurant guidelines that protect guests. And we got several compliments from the truck drivers about our store compared to the other Kairos.

2-If you’re eating there. Looks clean. Everything isn’t old. But 40+ cases of chicken in the cooler at all times? 😂 Tatzhiki made it double, triple, quadruple batches; that’s why it’s sour sometimes. Not real...

First time at this location today and I must say very poor trained staff. First impression is everything to me in food service. When I walked in everyone is eating product behind the serving line. Not one person eating behind the line washed their hands prior to serving. Eating behind the line and no hand washing is a huge food service “no-no”! One of the staff was cleaning her nails over the trash can in plain sight then proceeded to put on gloves to serve without washing her hands. The food on the line did not appear fresh. The rice was dried and the temperature of the food was cold. Also the product clearly was not prepared correctly. I asked the person serving if the “red onions” that were clearly white supposed to be red onions and pickled and her response was, “yes those are purple onions!” It was at this point I knew this was my first visit and last one. They clearly need more training and perhaps a Serve...