Baba ghannouj — Restaurant in Durham

My wife and I went there for lunch on a Thursday so it was moderately busy with the lunch crowd. The food was overall pretty good except some of the food looked like it had been sitting out for a while and several things on the buffet were running low.

The main thing that was off putting for us was when I paid at the entrance, the cashier pointed to the tip jar and said “cash tip here”. I was caught off guard by this because yes that is obviously the tip jar and I thought it was strange that she was telling me this. I paused for a moment and she repeated “cash tip here” and pointed at the tip jar again. I normally leave a tip on the receipt but she never gave me the receipt and just kept pointing to the tip jar. Luckily I had some cash on me so I put it in the tip jar but it made me feel pressured and very uncomfortable. After we sat down we noticed the cashier was doing the same thing to everyone else. I could see many of the customers looked uncomfortable as I did. It wasn’t a great feeling to start the meal. I’m not sure what would have happened if I didn’t leave a cash tip. I’m sure she saw I had cash in my wallet when I paid which is another reason I felt really awkward. It felt like she saw the cash in my wallet and was asking for it.

As sad as it is to say, this was enough to make both my wife and I not want to go there again. And to top it off, I felt like she didn’t even earn the tip we left (the cashier was also cleaning tables). I left $5 and all she did was clean up our plates at the end of the meal which took less than 1 minute.

A word of advice for anyone going there, take a little bit of cash with you and just throw it in the tip jar to bypass the...

Could be 5 stars easily, but here's my main problem with the place. The buffet is so poorly set up it makes going through the line a traffic nightmare. Plus it is not restocked enough. Three times I have gone in for "to-go" food and walked out with nothing because either too crowded or no food. The problem is, the food is so awesome. I'll keep going back, but more like once every two months when I am willing to put up with the high probability of leaving without eating anything. Please fix how the line works, change it from a "U" shape to a straight line "---". And allow people to go on both sides. And split the meats so the bottlenecks are separated. Or put meats on both ends. Put the sauces away from the main lines so people can add them afterward. These are basic buffet tips, not hard to implement. Please Baba G! We love your food.

Updating review 10-Aug-2018. Big problems with lines still exist. Walked in to see at least 30 people in line to get buffet. Baba G owners you have people who love your food. You are doing something so well it would make all your competitors green with envy. This is a license to print money. Please improve your buffet setup. On 55 at 54 go to lunch at Thai China to see a good example. This sort of setup is harder to stock (and keep stocked) but would serve your Customers better (and make you more money...). Walked out with...

I came in yesterday on a fluke for my brother-in-law (gyro platter to go). I must say I was astonished by the line, for I only get a 30 minute break, and there were like 10 plus people in line to pay for the buffet. Yet and still, I ordered and waited. I looked 👀 at the buffet, and was impressed with the selection that they had. I'm not sure 🤔 who the young man was, ( maybe owner), but he was really sweet and totally aware of the quality of food that they serve. He says to me, " Go over and get a sample"). I tried the falafel and the chicken kabobs. OMG 😲, orgasm in my mouth 👄. I let him know that the food was AMAZBALLS. Then sweet young man says, " Go back and try the gyro meat". Now listen, I HATE gyros to the max. The beef and lamb combo, was totally not in my tastebud liking. But this one here MAN OMG 😲 I LOVED IT, and the tzatziki sauce....YUMMY. I'm ordering from here for lunch this Friday, and my husband and I will be doing our date night here as well. For those who are complaining about the price, you pay 💰 to eat the the best, and this by far is the BEST. So to the young man, thank you 😊, for the suggestion of trying, because now I'm hooked. Looking for to my lunch on Friday, for the taste of your food still lingers. I was worth the wait, and...