NAYA — Restaurant in Darien

Darien local, here. I went to Naya for the first time. We dropped in because Sweetgreen had some sort of issue and weren’t taking orders.

Naya is a Mediterranean fast food type place. You order a starch and a protein then add toppings. Toppings are lettuce, hummus, tzatziki, pickles, tomatoes, different relishes, slaws and pickled things. We ordered grape leaves, a falafel wrap, falafel bowl, and baklava. We took it to go. It was all perfectly fresh and wonderful. Frankly, it’s just really nice to have something different from pizza, Chipotle, and burgers for a dinner under $100. Kids working behind the counter were local teenagers who were polite and eager to please.

Our total was around 30.

I really like this place and encourage...

On 25 Mar 24, I did not order any food because when I arrived inside there were already seven people waiting for online orders to be fulfilled. Only two employees were present at the line of food and able to complete ordered items while one employee washed dishes and another cooked new proteins back-end. After fifteen minutes, I noticed two separate families of four people walk in line behind me and eventually leave. One delivery driver began shouting expletives to the manager or main person in charge. I eventually left with my friend never ordering any food. I'm just going to let my neighbors and friends know of the lack of staffing and get food from somewhere else so the current employees don't suffer under so many unreasonable...

A welcoming addition to the area - middle eastern food, especially "fast casual", is hard to find around here.

The food we got was tasty, good portions and a nice variety of meat + veggies to choose from. Big fan of the chicken shawarma and the sauces rounded out the bowls nicely. On the other hand the rice was quite clumpy and the falafel someone else got had quite a dry crust on it like it had been sitting there for a while. Also tried the Kibbe snack, pretty good!

The place was very clean, bunch of seating area to have a quick bite if needed. Service was friendly and efficient.

I'll be coming back for more, I hope they get in their groove and can serve...