Mary'z Mediterranean Cuisine — Restaurant in Houston

Off Richmond in the uptown/galleria area it's a great spot to hit up after a day of tiring shopping at the mall.

On weekends (friday, saturday, sunday) it is valet only for parking. $5 when you pick up your car; not a complimentary tip only service like many other places. It's not really possible to avoid the valet; I went around back to find somewhere to park for free but you wouldn't be able to walk through to Mary'z from the back.

Once you walk inside there's a hostess directly ahead and two rooms on either side; to the right is a bit darker and grungy looking (I suspect this is where you are to smoke hookah if you so wish) and to the left is a brighter area with an open kitchen and lovely modern industrial lighting.

Mary'z Sampler Many of these were still frozen at the center. They are clearly frozen already cooked and then reheated afterwards. I wasn't concerned about food safety since they were cooked in advance, but it did make it a bit odd to bite into something warm but cold in the center. The seasoning and flavor, though, were absolutely amazing.

Fries - I wouldn't recommend these. They come with regular ketchup and don't have any particular seasonings. McDonald's would be better honestly (well, in the sense that they would be the same but cheaper).

Pies - the cheese pies are to die for. The beef are also very lovely; the spinach are bit sour and weren't really to my liking. They're rather large in size and will fill you up very easily with 2 or 3 pies.

Tea Pot - a bit pricey at $8 for a pot of tea but you do get several glasses worth of tea for the pot.

Cheese & Sujok Flatbread LOVELY. Just the right amount of sujok (rather small crumbles) but throughout the pizza so that every bite gets a flavor smash of the sujok. The cheese is rich and not too oily. The pizza crust is pretty thin but goes very well with the cheese and sujok combination. The makeup is actually round like a pizza and is probably ~12 inches; a great steal for just around $8.

Service is sparse...

We visited Mary's Mediterranean Cuisine at 7 PM and called ahead to reserve a table. However, we later learned that if you're in the non-smoking section, reservations aren’t needed after 5 PM. We were seated at a table for six.

Food Review:

Baba Ganoush – Good, smooth, and well-seasoned. 8/10

Marie’s Hummus – Creamy, flavorful, and one of the best hummus dishes we've had. 9/10

Fattoush – Unfortunately, this was a big disappointment. It lacked key ingredients like pomegranate molasses and sumac, making it far from authentic. 1/10

Muhammara – Perfectly balanced, rich, and delicious. 9/10

Stuffed Grape Leaves – Fresh, well-seasoned, and flavorful. 10/10

Fried Cauliflower with Tahini – Absolutely delicious, crispy, and well-paired with the sauce. 10/10

Chicken Liver – Cooked perfectly, full of flavor. 9/10

Bread – Fresh, warm, and amazing. 10/10

Tabbouleh – Well-balanced and refreshing. 10/10

Arak – Decent, but nothing special. 7/10

Makanek (Lebanese sausages) – Well-spiced. 9/10

Fried Kibbeh – Crispy outside, flavorful inside. 9/10

The staff was great—friendly, smiling, and attentive, which added to the positive experience. However, the valet parking was $10 cash or 12.5 credit card, which felt excessive for no apparent reason.

Most of the food was great, and we would have given it 5 stars if not for the disappointing fattoush. It really needs key ingredients to be considered an authentic version of the dish. Overall, though, the experience was great, and...

Rethink your valet strategy. It is extremely disappointing that the manager would use the excuse that we are in a dangerous area and that valet is the ONLY option. There are plenty of lebanese food/restaurant in the galleria and there are plenty more in midtown/heights Houston that doesn’t force people to use valet. Look at El Tiempo Cantina which has supre valet parking and they charge ZERO dollar! They ran to get more car and got my car fast, and I would tip them. But never did they force me to pay them. What is even more shady is that they didn’t even tell me upfront that there is a $5 charge neither did they give me any other option. They make me wait a long time even though there was barely any body in the restaurant.

So like I say... for the sake of your restaurant, make the valet complimentary with tip optional. That’s the way to do it. And please if you are going to respond with a smart comment about why the valet needs to charge $5, you can save it.

How was the food? I honestly thought it was good until I got choke by the valet asking me for $5 before he would get my car. So not good enough for me to come back with this kind of service. We will just go to Cafe Layal and...