mezeh — Restaurant in Charlotte

I have been to Mezeh a number of times & loved the servers, food & portions but unfortunately on Fri. I had a terrible experience. As I stood there waiting for someone to serve me, the young woman behind the counter taking her time wiping down the counter (same spot over & over) while having a conversation in Spanish with one of the "cooks" as I the customer waited patiently for her to be ready to serve this customer, finally she decided to walk over & asked what I wanted, no greeting, just "do you know what you want?". As I was requesting my items I was asked a number of times if that was it as if after the rice selection my bowl would be complete, this as she continued her conversation with the other staff member & we were nowhere near the end. Portions were extremely small, which never have been before in addition I had to ask prior to paying for my meal for my pita bread & three times for a second sauce. She may have missed my request due to her ongoing conversation with someone other than the customer. Must have been a great conversation, again in Spanish so I wouldn't know, because they were having a great laugh. I would give Mezeh five stars but this last experience was just reflected extremely poor service & half of the normal portion size. Every other staff member, from the time they opened, has been professional, polite, gives generous portions, attends to his/her customers but the staff there this past Fri - terrible. I'll try one more time but that will be the last time if service & portion size is again lousy. Really...

Don't Order Online! Good food, mismanagement of online customer service expectations vs. reality.

Placed online order (11:51 PM ET, target for 12:05) for vegan & vegetarian bowl (nothing complicated). I arrived at store 12:05 and waited for 15 min before speaking up (meanwhile id assume 10+ people went through the order line). When I spoke up to the worker at the cash register, he was able to show that 1 bowl was completed and 1 bowl hadn't been started. I finally received both bowls at 12:25 (20 min after target time).

My conclusion is a poor customer experience caused by the online ordering system setting up (aggressive) customer expectations that the management team isnt able to successfully deliver on/prioritize during the lunch hour - Based on what I was seeing in the store, there was at least one other customer going through the same experience as I was.

Solution wise id suggest adjusting the online order ready time + emphasizing with team how to better prioritize online orders against busy in person lunch hour.

Food was fine, diverse and filled me up but overall spoiled by the missed customer service online expectations...

I made a $600+ catering order for delivery at 11a from the Strawberry Hill location (attached) and I did not receive all of my food items and basic serving items including serving bowls for a "build your own bowl" catering order. When I tried to call the restaurant for assistance no on answered the phone for 30 minutes straight during open hours. Once I finally got to speak with someone and explained my issues I was told that I would be refunded and would receive a call back. By 3:30p I had yet to receive a call back from the associate or the manager. I called back and asked for the manager (Eric) only to be told that he was not available and I would not get a refund but a credit because “they don’t receive direct money from catering”.

Now I have to go out of my way to drive to the restaurant directly to demand satisfaction when it could and should have been resolved within an hour of delivery.

The Strawberry Hill location should be shut down until they know how to fulfill catering orders and provide timely customer service. Until then they are not worthy of your time...