SHAWARMAATI — Restaurant in Gilbert

We live in the neighborhood and have been waiting for a good Mediterranean place to go in close to home. With that being said, here is my fair review of the good, the bad and the ugly.

I was warmly greeted and my order was promptly taken. The man taking my order was honest and said that they were running about 30 minutes behind. After looking at how crowded the dining room was I asked if it would be ok if I left and came back. He made my order a “to-go” order, took my number and said he would call when it was ready.

Unfortunately, because they were so busy, I never got a phone call and went back about 45 minutes later. Thankfully, my food was ready and sitting on the counter. Once I got home, I realized they had forgotten the Tzatiki (my favorite part of Mediterranean food) and I genuinely didn’t feel like going back.

I had ordered the Gyro plate with rice and my husband got the Falafel plate (also with rice instead of fries). Both the gyro meat and the falafels were well seasoned and had great flavor; however, I don’t know if it’s because it had been sitting on the counter or in a warming tray for too long, but both items were dry. The rice was good, but nothing super fancy. The hummus was excellent. It had great flavor and texture. The little side salad was sad and was mostly radish. All, in all, we got a lot of food (it was dinner last night and leftovers for lunch today) for a really good price. We just hope the overall quality improves with time.

I think what is most disappointing was the chaos that seemed to be taking place behind the counter in the kitchen and the time it was taking for orders to go out. There were lots of unhappy patrons due to food not going out or the orders being wrong. I could tell both dine-in and take-out customers were getting irritated with the long wait times. Which is weird because it seemed like there were a lot of people in the kitchen who were working, it just didn’t feel like they had a very good rhythm going or clear processes/procedures in place to help keep a good flow. I did notice a man (possibly the owner or the manager?) standing behind the counter talking to someone and despite the chaos of what was going on in the kitchen, he did not step in and help out. Not to mention, the overall temperature of the restaurant was quite warm (yes I realize it’s Arizona in August, but when your kitchen is exposed to the restaurant like that… you better make sure you have good air to keep people comfortable).

I’m going to give them a month to work out the kinks before I give them another go because I REALLY want this place to make it. I just think they need to quickly step up their game as I know 2 other Mediterranean restaurants are also going in within the surrounding area in the very...

As planned, we tried it again this weekend now that they've been open a while and rather than posting any additional negative comments I'll just adjust my stars from 3 to 1 and not go back. It's unfortunate and I'm thinking to myself am I just that unlucky with the food I get because I'm not understanding how these recent 5 star reviews are getting very different food from what I am. Original Post: I don’t do a lot of reviews on Google but I was super excited this restaurant finally opened and we were able to be there opening day. I am hopeful my review might help it improve as we definitely saw the possibility of a great place and will try give it another chance in a month as grand openings can be rough. Good value on amount of food for cost. Service was good people friendly time from order to receive was right at 15 minutes. I’ll preface the next things by pointing out they had a fair amount of people in the restaurant it was about 415; two couples walking out with to-go orders as we went in and a family ordered in front of us so this isn’t a result of going during a slow time, orders were being filled regularly. The fries were cold and really really stale as if they’d been sitting for hours, not really edible. I got the Mix plate and the beef was dry and crumbled apart but had great flavor. The chicken was very unfortunately much drier and close to inedible. The falafels were delicious as well as the tzatziki that came with it. The hummus was great but I was a little surprised it didn’t come with pita slices or anything to eat it with. My husband got the chicken wrap and was only able to eat half because the chicken was so dry but said if the chicken was better it’d be a really great eat. There’s huge potential in this restaurant and we love Mediterranean food so a year in Arizona we were hopeful this could be a go-to place. We’re certain the Owner was the gentlemen on site who was being very attentive with his staff and guests so I feel pretty positive there will be...

First off, the place still looks like it's closed from the outside. They need a "we're open sign" or something. Upon going inside, the flow of the building is very strange, with what looks like a build-a-bowl style counter flow that you have to walk past or cut through seating to order. Every person who came in after me looked were equally as confused. The trash is only available next to the register so there's congestion throughout. They call out orders by number, but don't tell you your number at the register leading to more confusion.

I got the Shawarmatti Platter to try a bit of everything, and while the best of it was fantastic, the majority didn't come close. The kafta and steak kabob were seasoned well and juicy; definitely my favorite parts. The pita that came with it was extremely stale, as if it was made a day or two ago and just left out. Watching their cooking setup and seeing a pile of wrapped pita just sitting in the open air, it explains that. Something they'll need to address. The chicken kabob was extremely overcooked, even burned in some spots; a struggle to get down. The rice, hummus, and salad were average, but came with a large serving of each. Grilled onion and tomato came with, to add some additional flavor, but there definitely needs to be some heat. Maybe adding a grilled jalapeno in addition. The garlic sauce was fantastic, but hard to enjoy without a good pita.

Overall, there's potential here, but there needs to be some sharpening to get the bures out of the newly opened spot. I'll probably come back in a few months to see if...