Halab Cafe — Restaurant in Columbus

I love supporting local businesses, but I’d be misleading people if I gave this place more than 3 or 4 stars. The stars are mainly for the super friendly staff — we had a pleasant experience service-wise. But when it comes to the food, it just wasn’t it.

I came with a friend, and we spent about $90 plus tips bc we ordered a few items to split and try, and honestly, the food didn’t live up to the price. We ordered the roast chicken, and it came out super dry — we ended up taking it home and turning it into sandwiches with some creamy sauce just to make it work.

We also got the grilled kibbeh, which came out frozen in the middle. I had to send it back to get reheated, but even after that, it wasn’t impressive. Didn’t even bother taking it home, which says a lot since it’s supposed to be one of their signature dishes.

The staff recommended the meat shawarma — it was okay, but it didn’t really taste authentic or very Levantine. The hummus and baba ganoush were also a miss — both tasted like they were missing salt, lemon, or some key seasoning.

We tried the cheese and meat pies, too. The cheese pie had potential, but the cheese-to-bread ratio was way off — felt like we were mostly eating bread. The meat pie also tasted off, like the seasoning wasn’t quite right.

The fresh bread they serve was probably the best part, so props for that. We also got the falafel, but it was dense and dry inside instead of fresh and fluffy. Tried saving it with the tahini sauce, but the sauce itself was thin and bland.

Their fatoush salad was okay, we added some salt to fix it, but the veggies were fresh at least.

Overall, I wouldn’t go back, but to be fair, I’ve heard good things from others, so maybe it was just an off day. If you’re curious and in the area, it might still be worth trying...

Had lunch with a friend here a few days ago. Once you enter, the place looks great. It was really nice and clean and the small tv they gave on the far wall was playing highlights of the AFC Asian Qualifiers. I was initially worried that at noon on a Thursday the place was completely empty, but they've only been open a few months and the gentleman who took care of us said dinner is their busy time. We sat, read the menu, and made our selections. My friend got the chicken shawarma wrap and a Turkish coffee. I got the beef and lamb kabob wrap and a coke. We also got a plate of fries to share. Unfortunately the desserts were not prepared, as I really wanted to try the cheese sweetness or the kunafa. The wraps were excellent. The meat was flavorful, the veggies were fresh, and the sauce really brought the whole thing together. The wrap was probably almost a foot long and maybe 4 inches wide. You get a little dollop of a sauce you can dip your wrap in. It reminds me of a tzatziki sauce, but not quite. It was very good for both the wrap and the fries. The fries are lightly battered so they are a little crunchy on the outside, which I really like. My friend said that the Turkish coffee was nice and had a bit of an herbal taste to it. Overall it was really good. I hope they can get more guests to come in more often,...

I should've followed my 1st mind and went to olive and lime. Being from Detroit, For some reason, most Mediterranean restaurants here in Cbus have thee hardest time understanding the assignment, with this place being one of them. First off it was completely empty in there and now I see why. The lentil soup was bland as hell, I didn't even finish it. The waiter asks what I would like to order I say a "fattoush with chicken" he says "so you want a fattoush with chicken wrap or chicken and rice on the side" I said "no, I want a fattoush with chicken on top" he says "we really can't do that" (I don't understand why that would be such a complicated task). I look on the menu and see something that says "chicken shawarma salad" I ask "what's in that" he basically describes a fattoush with chicken just without the fried bread, I guess he realized how stupid the whole situation was. He puts the order in, comes back with a semi fattoush salad with chicken on top, but he put ranch and some other type of sauce on it, I don't understand where the miscommunication happened but it happened. I didn't even bother to send it back, I just ate what I could and left. This place is awful, if you want good authentic Lebanese food, go to...