Abu Ali — Restaurant in Houston

TLDR: good food, mediocre Ramadhan Iftar buffet, customer experience is non-existent, surprisingly: has a children's play area! I frequent Abu Ali's Café pretty regularly, I'd say once every month or so, usually with my wife and 3-year-old, we most often have a good experience overall, we enjoy the shawarma and Iraqi tea, and the occasional Kunafeh (pretty delicious!). But recently things went south, worse customer service, a mandatory 18% service charge on top of every bill, and a Ramadhan Iftar that has so much room for improvement: limited selection of food served, dishes go out pretty quickly and won't be replaced, forcing people to take more from the get-go, and leaving so much food to go to waste in the process. At least, there is a -rather-packed- kid's play area where my little one can enjoy some play time while we drink tea/coffee. All of the above warrants 3 stars at least in my book, however, today I went to eat there and, despite a "kids under 5 eat free", they charged me $13 more for my 3-year-old, despite telling them that she is under 5, literally mere seconds before they billed me. Upon complaining that they charged me in error, the server said there is no manager to refund me, and can either give me $7 cash or leave my # to be called tomorrow to "discuss" refunding $7 back. Needless to say, I left without any refund for their mistake -partial or otherwise- and with a bad taste that will have me stay away from this establishment for a long time. For that, I'd sadly give a 1-star rating to a place that holds a big place in my heart, hopeful things will be better...

Food is excellent, but waiters ….. it feels like they are not happy to see you. Instead of checking on customers they are on their phones. The first waitress came to me ( no smile, no hello, nothing) started taking the order and wasn’t sure if the item I ordered they had it or not, she said she will check and will let me know, guess what? She never came back. She is beautiful but no personality whatsoever. A little later another waiter came to take the order, he wasn’t bad I could even say he was friendly. But it was a hassle to order , English problems, I totally understand that, I’m an immigrant myself and started in USA AS a waitress with no English. So it’s ok. But you don’t need to speak the language to SMILE, right? When he brought the check out it was 18% service charge. I didn’t even ask why he put 18% service charge, as the matter of fact I Left extra 20% for tips, cause I used to work as a waitress, so always leave extra. The waiter didn’t even say thank you. A person giving you a 38% tip, I think you can say thank you or by by or smile , something. It wasn’t my first time coming to this place. I liked the food. But before it was another waiter taking care of me, I don’t know his name. Tall guy and smiley and very pleasant, he made me feel welcome. But last 2 times terrible experience …. Never going back , I’ll take my money elsewhere, there are plenty restaurants around and I don’t want to come to a place where waters make you feel they don’t...

One of the finest and biggest Mediterranean Cafes in Houston - Cafe Abu Ali on Richmond avenue is open until 3 am. NOW you can actually have midnight munchies and may even have some healthy mediterranean options OR If you’re like us, we would love to eat some desserts and knafeh!.

This chill hookah cafe also has halal breakfast options, pizzas (they make fresh in front of you), grill items such as chicken tawook, gyro, shawarma, lamb chops. We loved their hummus, baba ghanouj, tabouli and kibbi! Our absolute favorite was the meat platters (chicken , kafta, tawook, beef kabob) with hot seasoned rice.

They have a huge selection of cakes and desserts - tres leches, chocolate cake, ferrero cake and the freshly made knafeh! It was fun watching them make the knafeh and it was absolutely crunchy, sweet and delicious. Don’t forget about their smoothies and fresh drinks!

Next time we will try the kharouf, philly cheesesteak and other desserts!

Follow them to learn about their daily specials (Kharouf specials on Sundays, 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥, 𝘛𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘌𝘨𝘨𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵...