Baraka Eats and Treats — Restaurant in City of Lackawanna

I saw Baraka on Step out Buffalo and I just knew I had to go. I went with some pretty high expectations, however I know when I went they were still brand new/ freshly opened... They needed some grace as far as things went.

I was confused from the moment I walked in the door. The inside is very small and it was loaded with people. They only had about 6-8 seats for people to sit along the window. There was no clear way for me to figure out who had already ordered and who was waiting. Everyone was standing all over the place. After I asked all the customers near the register if they were waiting to order or not I proceeded to wait about 10 minutes or so for someone to take my order. I saw they were busy so I just hung out! I'm glad honestly because it gave me more time to read the menu and see some things I might have missed when looking online.

Finally, it was time to order. My sister and I were both there for everything Dubai chocolate lol. We ordered the Dubai brownie, Dubai croissant, Dubai crepes and Dubai strawberries. They didn't have the Dubai brownie... No problem, we were sad but no big deal. We have 3 other things right? No.

So once we ordered we waited about 15 minutes and received our Dubai strawberries. They were truly to die for. We ate half of them and forced ourselves to stop so they weren't gone before we got home. Another 30 minutes go by with no hopes of seeing my Dubai croissant or my Dubai crepes. The building has cleared out for the most part and there is only a handful of people plus us in there. Finally I hear my name and approach the counter. Just when I thought I would be taking my last 2 items and going home I was struck with the news.

They charged my card for the croissant but didn't have any. Now I knew this was going to happen, why you ask? Because someone who ordered after me tried to get one as well. But they told her right when she tried to order it that they didn't have it. I was just waiting for someone to tell me they didn't have it. That is when they offered me a refund or more strawberries. I went with the strawberries which made me sad. Don't get me wrong they are great but I don't get to try half of what I came here for now. She said give them a few more minutes for the crepes and strawberries.

Now at this point people who have ordered before and after us have come and gone. As well as some who ordered before or after us that were still in the same boat as us. 1 or 2 items and no idea when we will get the rest of our orders. After being in there with little standing room for just over an hour we started to get frustrated. Once we finally got the rest of our food we were there for about an hour and 15 minutes.

In conclusion, the food is tasty as hell and worth the trip. However please know they are still new and working out the kinks of operation. There service will get better with time (hopefully). If you like good food and sweet treats it's...

We drove from Cape Cod, MA just to try this place, and we were not disappointed!!! The atmosphere is very happy and welcoming, the staff/owners are incredibly kind and gracious, and the food, OMG THE FOOD!!! We had the chicken shawarma wrap, which was tender and juicy chicken directly off the spit with pickles and the best white sauce, the falafel wrap was fresh, homemade falafel with pickles. Each wrap comes with a side of some type of white sauce, a tzatziki style yogurt sauce for the shawarma and the falafel had some kind of aioli/mayo(so good!). The owner had us try their homemade salsa which is similar to a chimichurri, and I put it on everything!!! Seriously, this stuff needs to be jarred and sold!!! We also had a couple Sambusa, a really yummy meat pastry pocket! And we had to try some sweet items as well, Dubai chocolate croissant, Dubai strawberry cup with milk chocolate, and a couple other pastries that I can't remember what they are called, but one was a pull apart soft dough balls filled with cream cheese and drizzled with honey, the other was a layered phyllo with savory seasoning and a sweet crusty top (almost tasted like pizza). Everything was a chef's kiss and is one of the best places I've ever eaten. Baraka is located off the beaten path with minimal seating, but definitely worth going to. I can't wait to take another trip back! Thank you so much for making our visit...

The chicken over rice with garlic sauce was very flavorful, the rice was perfectly cooked, the chicken was a tad bit dry but it was a delicious dish. Would definitely order again. The Dubai chocolate strawberry cup was also delicious.... Very rich and sweet with a nice crunch from the pistachio butter. The baklava fingers were okay, the texture was great but the flavor was mostly of butter. The square baklava pieces had a great moist texture, and a pronounced floral syrup flavor, I would guess Rose syrup. The sabaya was okay, a little dry, better after microwaving, not as good as homemade yemeni sabaya I've had from other people. Sabaya should be very soft and stretchy, this was more dense and dry. The honeycombs I would not order again, also a bit dry, flavorless, bland, cream cheese inside had no flavor. the Dubai brownie was really good, nice and soft texture, great flavor, crunchiness in the center. The berry Bliss smoothie was delicious. The strawberry crunch cake was...