Tabaraka — Restaurant in Hawaii

Having done business in Dubai for the last 13 years and have spent quite some time in the UAE and Oman, I was more than ecstatic to have a taste of the region come to my part of the Island. I decided to go with the premium $26, essentially sampler plate that gives you a everything. The excitement was killing me. They advertised two, what appeared to be 6-8” skewers of chicken and beef. What I got was three little chunks of both, buried deep beneath a layer of veggies and sauce to hide the fact you were being skimped. The dissatisfaction was real and burned within my soul. After a total of $27 with change for lunch I was still hungry. I felt violated and as if I had been robbed. After a month of recovering from the shock of my initial visit, my deep love for that sweet, sweet shawarma drove me to give this place another go. Perhaps the first time was a fluke? It happens. After mustering the constitution and went to the window to order. To my disappointment, no shawarma available. I decided on the $14 shisha-kabab. Have a low bar going into it after my first experience, this plate was a little better portion and meat-wise. Perhaps because the owner was there? To be fair, the flavors of everything were very nice and took me back overseas. I would still recommend trying it out. Don’t waste your hard earned dollars on the expensive plates like I did. Go for the cheap options. The side of fries helps fill the hole. As a business owner, I understand the plight of opening a new storefront. Especially in a place as small as this one. That’s why I’m giving 3 stars. If the owner gave more meat and a larger portion for the expensive items, this place would truly be a gem and I would be eating here several times a week. Needless to say, I will not be back...

My husband and I moved from Los Angeles to Hilo last year and were missing Middle-Eastern food. My Persian dental hygienist who moved to Hilo from Los Angeles recommended Tabaraka. My mom, husband, and I tried the kafta sandwich (seasoned ground beef) and the "coast style shish-tawook" sandwich (skewered-chicken cubes with Lebanese garlic sauce). Both of the sandwiches were excellent! The sandwiches were made to order, so we did have to wait for a while for them to be prepared. But they were definitely worth the wait-the sandwiches were fresh and delicious! The fries were exceptionally delicious with a special paprika seasoning. The garlic sauce was very tasty, and the pita bread that was used for the sandwiches was soft, warm, and fluffy. You could tell that everything was prepared with great care and pride in excellence. My family and I highly recommend this food-truck restaurant. Thank you, Tabaraka, for bringing excellent Middle-Eastern kababs and...

I'm sorry, I'd love to eat here because I love falafel and hummus, but for a food truck to be charging such high prices and every single review saying the wait is 45+ minutes is ridiculous. Chickpeas are cheap. Pita is cheap. Frying this stuff up takes 3-5 minutes. Your staff should be able to work 5 plates at a time, not one at a time. The excuses by the owner for producing 1 plate per cook every 10 minutes is not valid. The reason you have to have such high prices is NOT because of quality ingredients, but because of such poorly trained cooks causing high labor costs. Even if making each item from scratch, each of your cooks should be able to crank out a plate every 2-3 minutes on average, because they should be working on multiple orders at a time. $23 for your vegan plate is unacceptable (who would order without pita or garlic fries?), especially from a food truck. Lower your prices and train your cooks, then I will visit, and would...