Petra Grill — Restaurant in Fort Collins

I used to be a frequent customer at Petra grill. I've lived in the Middle East for 19 years, so I know what good Arab food is supposed to taste like. And Petra grill is good, for Fort Collins standards (which may not be that high). In any case, the reason I've decided to review them is because over the last few times I've visited, the food has taken an incredibly long time to come out. The server is not very attentive to the needs of the customer. The last time I went to Petra, will remain the last time. And sadly, I refused to eat their food. I was there with my young family for an hour, and people who came a long time after us got their food before we saw ours. I say 'saw ours' because I told them to keep the food and demanded a refund (which they thankfully gave me). We even knew what we wanted to order, didn't look at the menu and ordered as soon as the server came to our table. This kind of service is unacceptable. They are taking advantage of the fact that they are the only decent middle eastern restaurant in town. Just for the record, what we ordered should normally only take 10 mins (the reason we went there in the first place as dining with little kids can sometimes be a challenge). We ordered a chicken shawarma, a beef shawarma, an order of hummus, and an order of french fries. 45 mins into our time there I asked for the french fries and the server said, " it's in the oil"....really??? French fries in the oil takes 2 minutes to get ready - unless you had to chase down the Idaho Potatoes semi truck and buy your potatoes and bring it back to the kitchen, get your julienne cutter out and then heat the oil before you cook them for 2 mins (I'm pretty sure they just use a frozen bag of fries). As we were walking out, the server brought our food out, but an hour in and after multiple conversations with the server, and after watching others get their far more complex orders, I frankly didn't have an appetite anymore. For anyone curious about how long a shawarma wrap should take to make, just go to YouTube and search for Shawarma street food ... It takes 2-3 mins tops. So, I'm sorry to say, but this is...

We had high hopes for this place, as it seemed popular. Upon arrival, we noted that the staff were not present to greet guests, and the restaurant was empty save for one guest waiting for an order to take out. A staff member did eventually appear and advised us that we could sit wherever we would like.

Shortly after sitting, we were presented with menus and not asked anything by the staff. Another couple eventually arrived and seated themselves nearby. It was at this point that water was brought to both tables, with the other table asking for hummus.

I noted that a server wearing a white shirt then walked right past our table to the other and asked them if they were ready to order. This individual walked right past our table (again) without a word. Another server wearing a black shirt came out with straws and utensils for both tables but said nothing to us.

This same server brought out the other table's hummus and was about to walk past our table again when my wife finally got his attention by asking him if we could put in our order. He took our order and walked away, at which point I stepped away. While I was gone, the two aforementioned servers were having a conversation in another language and kept looking pointedly at my wife and laughing. This gave a really bad vibe, which resulted in our deciding to go elsewhere for our dinner.

It's too bad, we really wanted to like this place but the service was just not...

My partner and I ordered takeout and were looking forward to trying a local Mediterranean restaurant; after the experience we had though, I guess we'll need to keep looking. The vegetarian combo plate was mostly rice, filling the largest compartment of the takeout box. What "rounded out" the combo plate were 3 pieces of falafel, 2 small pieces of cauliflower, and small portions of tabbouleh, baba ganoush, and hummus. When I say small portions for the spreads, I mean just enough to cover the bottom of the smallest compartment of the container. Not what you're paying for, at all. They were out of the makluba 1/2 chicken I ordered, but they called me right away to let me know (which I greatly appreciated) and I swapped out for the mandi 1/2 chicken. Rice was solid, but sadly the chicken was overcooked, with the leg portion being so tough that I had to treat it practically like jerky in some places. For dessert there were 3 pieces of baklava with walnuts... well, you can see the pic I included to see how that went. From the great online reviews I expected a lot more. It could have been an off night, or maybe takeout isn't their strongest suit? If you want some great seasoned rice, this is your place! Otherwise, I'd suggest putting your Mediterranean...