Aladdin Cafe — Restaurant in Lawrence

Sat for 10 minutes before anyone asked about drinks. We were one of 3 tables in the building. We could see 3 cooks and 3 service staff. When we were finally helped we were told of the "special" which was a combination of two menu items that we had never heard of and they weren't explained we had to read the menu to figure it out. We also over heard another server trying to explain what it was and had to pick up a menu to explain said items. We didn't have the special... We finally got our drink order in. The tea had some sort of weird fruit taste mixed in which wasn't asked for. We waited another few minutes for our drinks. When our server came back she asked about appetizers. We asked what our servers favorites were and she had to read the menu to tell us HER favorites. We went with the falafel and some dip that had fried pita bread the fryer oil needs changed because it tasted burnt. I will say that the falafel was the ONLY thing edible in our entire meal. I ordered the steak kabob which was supposed to be tenderloin beef . It certainly was not. It was tough and extremely salty with no additional flavor over a bed of ice cold rice and ice cold vegetables. My dinner companion got a chicken dish that had what looked like 2 cups worth of hummus with over done chicken thrown on top if it. Our meals both came with salads. They were thrown together with a green sauce. When we asked about said salads we were told they're Greek salads and were gestured towards the menu for an explanation which that menu didnt explain and I'd also like to point out that their menu is not spelled correctly and is not clear on anything. Now we get to the bill. The bill comes out to $45.00 even. Now I realize that sometimes this happens. However, if you do the math and add in taxes we were still nearly 10 bucks over and I wasn't presented with an itemized bill or a place to sign for my check. By this point I'm not arguing or asking questions. We were treated as burdens the entire time we were there. Servers need training the kitchen is terrible. When I called to ask for a reciept I told her why I wanted a reciept and she wanted me to talk to the server we had. And I asked for a manager and I was told that there wasn't an owner or manager I could speak with. She apologized half heartedly and hung up the phone. I will NEVER BE BACK. This place is a total ripoff on EVERY level. Please...

My wife and I were recommended this restaurant because we LOVE mediterranean food. We arrived with empty bellies and high expectations. I read a few reviews from Google and yelp, they all seemed pretty decent needless to say, we where excited. The wait staff was very prompt and kind. I ordered their Rosewater Lemonade and the wife ordered diet Pepsi. Once the drinks arrived I took a sip of my lemonade. One word, GRANDMA....it literally tastes like one would expect it to taste if you were to lick your grandmother. Not impressed, I quickly ordered a water and my wife ordered the Krass baked pastry for an appetizer. When this arrived it looked amazing, but that's where it ended. Something was extremely sour in it. The food was bad and I mean expired. We put that aside thinking the meals would be better. When the salads arrived it was literally a quarter of a tomato, one chunk of dry feta, kalamata olives, one slice of cucumber and some kind of decent green house dressing. My wife ordered the Kifla Special and I had the Aladdin Gyro Platter. The best part about the meals was the vegetables, they were cooked to perfection. But both entries were over cooked and I mean until they were rubber and tasteless. The rice was flavored with salt....and I mean a TON of salt. We both shared each other's gross entree trying to figure out which was worse, hers won. The Kifla is horrible. We won't be returning. Oh but the bathrooms were clean.

I think the reason why college students rated this so high is because they eat only bad pizza and ramen noddles. We spent 40 dollars there and I can't remember having a worse meal.

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE .....

If you want GOOD mediterranean food, then go to Jerusalem Café or Jerusalem bakery in old Westport in Kansas City. Everything there is amazing. It's only rated 3.5 stars but it puts aladdins to shame. I think it's rated so low because the place doesn't look the best. And KC Places a lot on looks.

Background on us, we eat out at least twice a day. My wife would make it 5 times if I allowed it. We love good food and hole in the wall restaurants.

I usually only review bad...

We were delighted to find a place to enjoy authentic Middle Eastern food in Lawrence. The possibility of purchasing groceries was also enticing. Here is what we found: Good - the Lentil soup was delicious! A perfect balance of fresh flavors. The sandwich was amazing and the kabab meat very flavorful. The decorations and music were both beautiful and authentic. Bad - The kabab did not come with bread. Since it was shown in pictures of the restaurant's meal online, we requested it since we thought it had been missed. Consequently, we were charged an additional $1.99 for the equivalent of one small (6") pita loaf. We were looking forward to a fresh authentic Fattoush salad. Unfortunately, this was not to be found at this restaurant. Instead of the usual chopped romaine, the Fattoush was prepared with pre-shredded iceberg lettuce. This resulted in a very soggy, mushy salad that was not at all fresh. It was topped with boxed pita chips (not the usual crushed toasted pita bread). Lastly, the usual groceries that one would hope to find at a Middle Eastern grocery store were not found here (bread, hummus, spices, nuts, etc). Maybe these can be found elsewhere in Lawrence? Ultimately, we would return to this restaurant, but maybe stick with soup and sandwiches since this is what they...