Ali Baba Mediterranean Grill Cincinnati / AB MED GRILL — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I'd never been there before, but.... I actually thought it would be great. I had set aside about an hour to grab a bite here. which seemed incredibly realistic since when we got there, there was only one other customer leaving with her take-out. we ordered and waited quite a long time. and there were THREE guys in the back cooking. for 2 people. I spent $26 dollars for a VERY light meal for my daughter and myself (and a side order of hummus). Already, I was in sticker shock considering that the tables were cheap plastic laminate, the atmosphere was like a fast food place.

ok. I ordered a Gyro. at THIS place, they only offer (4) ingredients in a Gyro. Meat, tomatoes, onions and sauce. I specifically asked for NO onions because they make me terribly sick. we waited. I asked (complained) about the crazy long wait twice because I had a meeting coming up. ummm....where's our food? they did not apologize, just gave some kind of whiny explanation that the kebobs take a LONG time. It was 20 minutes longer before they brought the food and, of course, no one apologized that it took so long because frankly, they just didn't care. I asked about forks. he points to the back of the room and tells me I have to get them myself. plastic forks. (and HOW would I know that? since the meal for one adult and one kid was $26 bucks and came out on plates. I kinda thought silverware was not really an unrealistic expecation.) Customer Service seems to be a foreign concept there. (get it? foreign)

Then, no one asked how our food was. Because..... the REAL kicker for me was.....yep. the gyro had onions on it. I had to pick them out of the sandwich with my fingers because I had NO time to wait for them to make another by then: I was nearly passing out from hunger by this time. (NOT exaggerating), but also, I had a scheduled meeting to get to. Even as it was, I still got sick on the onions that had been on my gyro (yes, some people ARE that sensitive to raw onions, which is why I specifically asked for no onions.) and I had to go to a client meeting with onions on my breath and the smell on my hands. He said he just forgot about the onions. there are only (4) ingredients. how do you forget when this is WHAT YOU DO ALL DAY? I put them on the hummus plate and waited for them to check on us. a sincere apology would have fixed everything. but ALL 3 guys were babbling in the back to each other. (no other customers). I actually took my pile of onions that I intended to discuss with the guy. but, there was no one to speak to. I dumped them on the counter, which of course was incredibly rude, but I figured if he was going to ignore me, that was the only way to get his attention. and, once he noticed, he was offended. HE was offended. After they managed to make this my WORST food experience in a Cincinnati Restaurant in at least 10 years.

I've had some TRULY great gyros /Mediterranean food in CIncinnati that was prepared in 5-6 minutes or less. I could have driven to Sharonville, eaten a FANTASTIC Gyro, and been back ON TIME for my meeting in the time it took at this place. Yes, I was 15 minutes late for my meeting. nice, guys. ...

The Tale of the Ali Baba and 1 Scammer

Very little food given for the price mark up by 6000% still hungry afterwards Expired Yogurt Cold Pita Bread Hot Sauce not given but haphazardly thrown on Hummus which caused the food to leak, I drive a Tesla Model Y 2024, and I had to put this expired food inside it. Not the best look for Elon Musk's car.

Owner thinks he is doing a really good job, when you walk in, his own employees seem scared of him as he seems to be running a dictatorship and you can notice the tension. When I asked for Hot Sauce, I did not say to throw it on top of Hummus and cause it to leak all over the food and the container.

I did not ask for smelly, expired Yogurt.

I did not ask for very little pieces of Chicken and be given bad, expired Smelly Salad.

The pita Bread was COLD.

These are the type of scam places that take your hard earned money.

Charge MORE but give me food. Actual good food that I ordered. I ordered Chicken Kebab for 14.00. Not Barely any Chicken, Health violation Expired, Smelly Yogurt and Bad Lettuce for 14.00

Charge people more, I don't care but do Honest Business.

In New York City, the most expensive food place in America, you get way more for less price. Just Google it.

This restaurant is bad, but since there are no other options, people go here.

There is a reason, there are no lines and its almost always empty.

the owner is so ignorant, it's one of Those Restaurants where Gordon Ramsey would do a TV show about.

The owner needs Customer Service training Scam prevention Training How to not De-Fraud customers How to be Humble Food Safety Training Not giving Expired Yogurt that smells so Putrid..

Will this place improve? Probably not but that's why I have this review to share my concerns.

My poor Tesla having to go through the smell of expired Yogurt and Lettuce.

Yuck!!!!!!! Give real food to people and give what they pay for.

if you go to KFC even or McDonald's, they give you more, better tasting and cleaner food for 14.00

PS it's called a Microwave, you can use it to warm up a Pita Bread at least there instead of giving it straight from the fridge to the Customer.

Update: so I am not the only one feeling this way, if you scroll through the reviews you see so many bad reviews recently that Echo what I say. This place has "fallen" some recent reviews are saying, but that's highly offensive to places that have actually fallen.

This place was never good. Expired food, Bland Lettuce, Cold Pita Bread and no rice. The audacity of the owner to cheat and De-Fraud the customers is Breathtaking.

Over the years I tried it a couple of times, but I will never set foot in this place again.

How do you put little cubes of Chicken that is less than 5 % of the actual meal and call Chicken Kebab. I know, how. Because you are taking advantage of the nice people of Cincinnati. People here are super polite and nice, sometimes to their own Detriment.

If this type of establishment was in NY or LA, the customers would sue and file a collective action lawsuit for...

I originally gave Ali Baba Mediterranean Grill 4 stars. I have gone back since my original rating and they have earned me upping them to 5 stars. My first review I ordered a Gyro sandwich platter to go. In the time it was prepared, to the time I picked it up, and to the time I drove back to my hotel, the pita bread got soggy and wasn't great. But the gyro meat itself was really really good. I have since gone back 2 more times for lunch because it's close to where I work. I again ordered the gyro sandwich platter these 2 times. Between getting it handed to me in the to go container and driving back to where I work not even 4 minutes away, when I sit down to eat it the sandwiches have been AMAZING! Tzatziki sauce perfectly compliments the sandwich and the pita was just the right consistency to hold the incredibly full sandwich full of gyro meat. It was hot. It was fresh. It was incredibly tasty. The only thing I don't necessarily care for is the curly-style french fry with spices coating the fry which I'm not a fan of. I prefer fresh cut potato french fries. But even the fry doesn't detract from the 5 star rating for me. Do yourself a favor and give the gyro sandwich a try here. You won't be...