Jerusalem Pita and More — Restaurant in Lansing

I've eaten here a few times and had a handful of things from their menu now, ranging from the pies, to the shawarma, falafel, and just about everything in between so I feel I can make a pretty safe judgement when I say there's nothing 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 with Jerusalem Bakery, but there's a lot to be desired here as well.

Today I ordered the falafel combo and kafta combo, garlic sauce and baba ghanouj.

Across the board, there was a clear lack of seasoning/salt it felt like in virtually every dish, and this is something I've noticed on prior orders as well. While this isn't that big a deal, there are some clear issues with a few things.

The first thing was how the toum (garlic sauce) was made by someone who was apparently unaware you need to use young garlic, or remove the germ from the garlic, otherwise it ends up an acrid, spicy, nasty, mess. Which is exactly what it was. The garlic sauce was nearly inedible because of that. Frankly, that's totally unacceptable for a menu item.

The falafel combo was pretty good, they appeared to be freshly made falafel, and not frozen but they were lacking a bit in flavor depth, as was the hummus. (the tabuli though was fantastic)

The Kafta combo was also something they made as well, and it showed. It was pretty good, again though suffering from being a hair under-seasoned. The fatoush salad was great, the hummus was the same as the falafel. The big issue here was looking at the two side by side, the vegetarian option was the same price, (despite that fact that falfel are VERY cheap to make) there was nearly twice as much food in the kafta combo vs the falafel combo. A few lettuce leaves sat at the bottom of the falafel combo, a GENEROUS rice pilaf was under the kafta. The tabuli salad was a small scoop, the fatoush was overflowing and huge. They are absolutely taking advantage of their vegetarian customers.

The baba was also lacking in flavor depth, generally there's a deep smokey flavor to baba from the roasting of the eggplant (sometimes you'll even find charred bits) but there was next to none of that here.

Overall, everything was edible, their baked goods (pies) are pretty good, but overall it lacks flavor, and the care you'd expect of someone preparing your food. This is a place that goes through the motions and lacks passion for their product and it shows. Considering Sultan's and Sparty's are in the close vicinity, this is a soft pass for them. It's not horrible - but it's not great either and that's really not a good place to be when there's stronger options nearby.

If you have to go, stick to the shawarma, salads, and baked pies, they are obviously their...

I don’t know why this place has such high reviews. I chose it because it had a higher review than woodys oasis or alladins. I will say this place was cheaper, but….

The guy seemed unfriendly and short with replies when I called. I ordered the chicken schwarma combo with tabooli and pita (came with hummus and rice too).

When I got my container I asked if the pita we were served was from their “made fresh daily” pita and they said no, it was a random store bought pita. Not only was this a missed opportunity on their part but my girlfriend and I both thought the pita was super hard.

Now for the main issue. When we got home and ate the schwarma we noticed the styrofoam was melted where the chicken and rice were, like they microwaved it in the styrofoam. I do not think this is acceptable because it’s not safe nor healthy. (The sides I got they pulled from their shelf stock of food they were selling).

I wouldn’t go here. we...

You rock! Honestly, I bumped into this place in a search for a non-snobby lunch joint. My first choice was too snobby for my taste so I decided to get a quick eat somewhere else and I'm glad I did. Because I discovered this gem. Yes I know, I ordered okra soup, it's so simple. But this is where you judge talent; it doesn't matter how complicated or fancy your menu is, it matters the quality you put out, big or small. A trick to judge a sushi chef is to have them prepare tamago sushi for you. Plus, I like okra soup, and any version of it has a special place in my heart. The flavor was incredible. The okras were so soft, they melted as if they were butter; I'd never seen any okra cooked like these before. If this dish is one of those already-made dishes, one can only imagine what they can actually do with their menus. I'll come...