Arabesque on Devine — Restaurant in Columbia

This was a sad review to post but I feel it must be done for hopefully the sake of saving this Restaurant. It used to be solid.

We’ll start with the good since it’s so short. Our waitress was amazing and the atmosphere is so chill and comfortable. The only redeeming food was the hummus and bread…which to be honest wasn’t special just the only item that wasn’t horrible. The grape leaves were ok…

Now for the entrees

As a man of Mediterranean decent, I know lamb must be an absolute specialty of the house when attending a place that affiliates with the Mediterranean… And maybe at one point years ago it was….however The $35lamb shank was meager and bland. Like…it came from the saddest skinniest oldest lamb ever. Compare that to places at a similar price point and it’s enough to actually make you upset at how ripped off you feel. Unfortunately it only gets worse. The beef tenderloin was chewy to the point of being inedible…and the shawarma like how do you mess that up, was lacking in flavor presentation and anything that one would enjoy.

again we’re not talking about cheap dishes here. It’s clear they’re sourcing from low quality vendors and attempting to pass it off for the sake of margins. For 125 bucks for 3 adults we’ll literally go anywhere else for less money and more enjoyable food. We won’t be coming back unless significant changes are made. Insanely disappointed and I truly hate to say that.

Did you or whomever come out and ask how our experience went? Nope. We did leave a good amount of food though…no boxes necessary is review enough.

Yea. We stayed 2 hours because it took most of that for the food to come out, which isn’t ideal when there’s a 2 year old involved.

I listed each item we ordered…which for those counting is 5. 2 apps and 3 entrees for 3 people and a 2 year old.

Whatever man, we tipped 20% on because as stated the waitress was awesome. Which for those of us still mathing is 125 bill.

Stop making excuses and start make better food.

I do appreciate your response and look forward to your...

Edited with response to owner’s note at the bottom.

SHORT VERSION: My partner and I had placed an order of hummus and falafel for our wedding reception. Arabesque did not make any of the food. We only found out a few hours before the wedding, at the time when we were originally asked to come pick up the food.

LONG VERSION: My partner and I enjoy Arabesque’s food, despite the poor service we sometimes experience when we dine in. For some of the food at our wedding reception, we wanted to get hummus and falafel, because both items are quite good at Arabesque and we wanted our vegetarian wedding guests to have something good to eat. We called months before the wedding to inquire about such a bulk order, and we were given an estimate for how much the order would cost and we were also told to call back a few weeks before the wedding to confirm the order. Just like we were asked to do, we called back a few weeks before the wedding to finalize the order and to set up a pick up date and time. Around 2 pm on the day of the wedding, our family members went to pick up our order. Arabesque had not made the food and had forgotten about our order entirely. This was quite frustrating, to say the least, to find out a few hours before our wedding guests were supposed to eat. Arabesque said they could give us a tray of hummus that they had made for the restaurant for that day, which was much less than the amount that we had ordered in the first place. One might think that we would be given the hummus for free at that point, but we were charged for it.

Our experience with Arabesque was infuriating. We hope that whoever is responsible for this mistake owns up to it, apologizes to us at the very least, and works to ensure a pleasant experience for future customers.

RESPONSE TO OWNER: We were assured multiple times that the order had been placed, so the problems mentioned reflect poor communication and organization...

Alright...so I am a Mediterranean guy who knows what is the authentic Mediterranean food, and ate at numerous Mediterranean restaurants. This restaurant has some good items like Kubbeh, hummus and other appetizers.

Their Kuftah and Sheesh Kababs are not bad. However, beef and lamb, nop, not at all, seasonings are almost not there. When we asked for a souce for the meat ( garlic sauce) they said they charge money for it...what a shock!!! You order their family size mix grill, and it does not come with a sauce, nor bread!!!! If you want them, you pay for them extra!!!!

Now, lets talk about the portion size, it is too small. For example, their sampler appetizer size is a joke!! They charge about $13 for it and barely enough for 1 person! Either increase the portion or reduce the price.

On top of all above, we waited long time for the food, and it came on multiple loads, where some has to eat while others are waiting especially kids🙄.

We ordered a pot of tea at the end. When you are in a Mediterranean restaurant and you order tea, it comes flavored, either mint or sage or other flavors, however, they brought it plane!!! We asked for mint, they said, nop, only plane tea! The waitress knew it should be flavored (we asked her when ordered it), but looks they were out of it, rather than fixing the issue, they played dumb about it!!

The outrageous part was the gratitude tip, it was forced in the receipt by 20%!!!! Come ooooon people....it sounded like a trap! They new folks wont appreciate their service that much, hence they may not tip generously as customers tip based on the service, not based on what the owner decides!

Anyway, I know now I wont be eating there again, and wont refer folks to it. Sorry guys, I would love to support small businesses, but do not like such mentality of...