Lavash Cafe — Restaurant in Columbus

So we drove to Columbus for the Twenty One Pilots hometown shows....so of course we had to hit Lavash. Full disclosure- I am middle eastern so my standards are very high having grown up on authentic ME food. Well, let me just say, confidentially, now don't give me up but.....THIS FOOD WAS BETTER THAN MOMS!

The hummus was the perfect consistency with just the right amount of tahini/ chick pea ratio. Some places, one overpowers the other but not here. And the pita bread....hot, soft, pocket perfect....was amazed to find out they bake it fresh! Toufayan should take lessons on how to make the perfect pita! It was pure heaven dipping that into that hummus. And the mujetdara (mojadara).... I grew up having this with bulgur and Lavash uses rice. It was delish! Seasoned nicely and not oily. I hadn't had this in years and it was nice to have it again.

Main course- the hubby had gyros on pita- meat was plentiful, flavorful and tender with just the right amount of lettuce and tomatoes along with just the perfect amount of tzatziki sauce so as not to drip all over the place. The kid had the falafel sandwich on pita. In the NYC area we head to Mamoun's for falafel as it is our gold standard here. Well, we have a NATIONAL standard now as Lavash's falafel was incredible. Moist, again with the right ratio of lettuce, tomato and tahini- Mamoun's is now in second place. I had the chicken kabob sandwich on Lavash bread. Chicken was perfectly cooked and there was a decent amount to fill you up just right. And the perfect amount of sauce on top so as to provide flavor and not drip all over the place.

The food was sooooo good we ate there twice! And the prices are reasonable and the employees were so nice. The owner even came out to check on us to make sure everything was just right. To boot, the amount of goodwill they provide to the community is admirable! I appreciate how hospitable they were to us clikkies flocking to their establishment in the span of 4 to 5 days, taking pictures of EVERYTHING .... they just smiled and let us have our moment after TOP gave them theirs.

Now we just have to sit in silence (TOP reference LOL) until Twenty One Pilots come back to play in Columbus so we have an excuse to drive 10 hours to have our Lavash! Or they can open one up in NYC please!!! If you are in the area- make sure you drop by, you will NOT be...

Not a fan of either the non-authentic food or the ridiculous over-inflated prices. A $12 Greek salad with “house dressing” that appeared to be Wishbone salad dressing brand that I can buy at the grocery store, made up of mostly lettuce, 3 slices of cucumber, 3 grape tomatoes, some red onion, and 3 olives still with pits, oh and a bakers teaspoon of feta. Ridiculously overpriced and not even authentic or any good! Let’s move on to the $11 chicken kabob wrap with a tahini sauce. Um still hungry and it didn’t taste Mediterranean, or Lebanese, or Greek! Totally not worth it. Daughter ordered the kabob entree for $20. Most of her plate was made of yellow rice from a box, and not even the authentic kind that had slivered almonds in it. The kabob didn’t have any taste that would make you think this is Mediterranean cuisine. Pita was warm when it arrived and within a few seconds hard and chewy…microwaved maybe? Salad that accompanied it was sparse. My Daughter said, “ well now you know.” Yep $45 for 2 people and we’re still hungry… never again!!! Soo many better that are FAR more authentic Mediterranean than this one.

Edit to respond to the restaurant’s claim that their high prices = quality ingredients: that response is laughable when the whole point of this post was that they use grocery store wishbone dressing for their “house dressing” with a supposed “Greek salad” which is mostly lettuce and practically no feta for $12. Secondly they use something that tastes like uncle ben’s rice for their $20 entree which is mostly rice. Far better food and quantity for the same price at other...

Less busy than I expected on a Saturday afternoon but I'm not complaining lol. It's an order, pay and find your own seat type of restaurant and they will serve your food. There are two sitting areas and you can refill your soft drinks yourself. We decided to order the combo for 2 and added a baba ghanoush and kibbeh. Food came out relatively fast (they forgot our fries but they quickly fixed that). It was a lot of food for 2 adults and a toddler but since we wanted to try most of the menu, particularly the lamb chops, it was well worth it. Hubs grew up eating Lebanese/Mediterranean food so if he says it was good food, then it's good food. He noted that the baba ghanoush tasted great but would've been better if the oil was mixed in better. We both loved the medium well lamb chops and definitely a must have! The kebabs were good too, it geared towards the dryer side but it was cooked just perfectly and the spices were perfect. The pickles were a bit too spicy for our liking. Sauces were fine. When we were packing away the extra food, the server offered my daughter a free cupcake which was really awesome of her! My daughter loved the icing and like a bite of the cake hahaha but my husband and I enjoyed the chocolate cake part (hubs is usually not a fan of chocolate). We ordered a homemade walnut and a homemade pistachio baklava to go and even after a day, they were amazing! The walnut wins our heart. The pistachio was just a tad too sweet but still...