Ali Baba Mediterranean Cuisine of Escondido — Restaurant in Escondido

Big Papa gets stuffed at Ali Baba

After enjoying an exciting performance of "Les Miserables" at the California Center for the Arts, we knew our next stop would be for some grub in our bellies. After a few minutes of app searching, I suggested Ali Baba. Both halal Mediterranean food & nearby, I thought this would be a good spot for some dinner. Would I be proven right? Read on, playa.

I read on reviews that the Feast for Two ($35) could easily feed four, so we went with that for our meal. All I can say is, for the three of us, we were quite stuffed at the ginormous portions of food on hand.

Salad- Iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives with a dressing that looked like Pepto-Bismal. I prefer other types of lettuce over iceberg, but being hungry, I dove into this like a rabid wolf. The ingredients were crisp, refreshing & cleansed the palate for the heartier dishes to come.

Pita bread (2) - Being the size of pizzas, these would make a carb-avoiding person pass out. Warm, doughy goodness that I knew none of us would be able to finish.

Hummus- Nothing like some cool & creamy hummus to slather on pretty much anything. Our plate of hummus didn't disappoint as we devoured spoonful after spoonful

Feast for Two plate- 2 beef kabobs, 2 chicken kabobs, chicken tekka, shawarma, chicken cream chop, pickles, tomatoes, rice & burghul. A heaping mound of Mediterranean munchies, the plate proved to be a daunting adversary to vanquish. This was my first opportunity trying burghul, which reminded me of couscous. I preferred the flavorful rice, myself. The various meat were good, with some being somewhat dry, but the one that stood out for me was the shawarma. The shawarma was tender, juicy & delicious. I enjoyed eating the pickles & tomatoes inbetween the servings of meat and rice/burghul. A great deal for a ton of food!

Service was good. The waitstaff checked on us from time to time, ready to refill our waters or attend to whatever we needed. A large, spacious restaurant with table & booth seating, Ali Baba is not much in décor or ambiance. A much needed makeover could really spruce the place up. A small dance floor & stage are available to get down to some Mediterranean tunes or, perhaps, some New Kids on the Block ;p

Parking is in a private lot & not hard to obtain at all.

Mission accomplished, Ali Baba! We came hungry & you got the job done. Even though we were three grown people with healthy appetites, we had to take home the leftovers we couldn't finish. The Feast plates are great bargains to share amongst a party & the food proved flavorful & filling. If I'm in the area again, I wouldn't mind coming back & trying your baba ghanouj & other offerings.

Highly...

One of the Worst Dining Experiences in North County - Avoid if You Value Basic Service

We've been coming to Ali Baba Mediterranean Cuisine in Escondido every Friday for the past three weeks, spending around $90 per visit while charging our Tesla nearby. While service was never great on the first three visits, this fourth time was the final straw--it was flat-out disrespectful.

We were first seated at a table for five minutes, then moved to a booth once our third friend arrived. After that, we sat for 20 full minutes without a single server approaching us. Another table seated after us got immediate attention and had their order taken within minutes.

I walked to the front and sarcastically asked if we were supposed to order there, only to be waved off with a vague "someone will come." I returned to the table and made eye contact with multiple servers--nothing. Finally, someone came to take our order after we were visibly frustrated. We asked for water and 6 sauces.

Thirty-five minutes into being seated, we finally got water. My Tesla said it would take 40 minutes to charge, and by the time we got water, there were only five minutes left on the clock, that's how I knew how long it took.

When the food arrived, we were told sauces would come "right back." That took another 5+ minutes. After that, we were completely ignored. No one checked in on us. No water refills. No hospitality. We had to flag someone down just to get our water refilled and to ask for the bill.

This place was far from busy--not even half full--so there's no excuse for the lack of urgency, communication, or basic courtesy. Not a single apology was offered the entire time.

To be fair, the food itself was good and prepared relatively quickly, but it's not good enough to justify this level of service. It was tolerable before, but today's experience showed a clear lack of respect for returning customers.

There are multiple restaurants in this plaza, and they will now be getting our business instead. If you value being acknowledged, treated with respect, or simply want a glass of water in under 30 minutes, avoid Ali Baba.

The food isn't good enough to make up for how poor the service is.

Call me Karen, call me hangry, but if I'm spending $90 a week at your restaurant, the bare minimum I expect is to not feel invisible. Invisible isn't on the menu & loyal customers shouldn't be treated like...

I have never been on google and wrote a review before and would never write a negative review for a restaurant unless I felt I absolutely had to.

I love Ali Baba, and I have been going every time I’m in town visiting my family that lives in Escondido and has been going for years since it’s one of their favorite restaurants that they go to on a regular basis.

With that said, my Aunt received a $50 gift card with a receipt to prove it from my brother. This was supposed to be a celebratory way for us to enjoy Ali Baba together but turned into a sour experience for all of us.

When she went to use the gift card and showed the receipt she was told by the waiter she couldn’t use it. When we explained what happened and showed the receipt again to another employee, she then went to ask her manager and we sat there for 10-15 minutes waiting before the manager finally came out.

Steven the manager said they could not accept the gift card because we didn’t have a voucher that was supposed to have been given to us but wasnt.

Rather than recognize that we had the $50 receipt to prove it and were not lying, he only focused on us not having the voucher and wouldn’t budge. He didn't care for anything we had to say and never offered any form of empathy or something to make up for it. Having the voucher was the only thing important to him and our words and the receipt meant nothing.

In my job in service, the customer is always right and we go out of our way to make sure the customer has a great experience and offer them something if they are upset which is basic customer service 101. Steven didn’t treat us with respect or empathy and just kept saying the rules are the rules.

We love this place but have never had a worse customer experience and therefore will not...