Kebab House — Restaurant in Louisville

TLDR: This is the best Mediterranean place I've eaten at so far, and I've eaten at many places, like Sahara in Lexington (for locals who may know), including throughout Israel. I saw the five-star rating with 216 reviews, which indicated something special was happening here.

My wife and I stopped in and were promptly seated by the host. I ordered the grilled chicken, whereas my wife ordered the chicken shawarma. Before our food came out, we were served some lentil soup, which was savory and had a rather silky texture.

Alongside our entrees, I ordered the babaganoush and the grape leaves--both of which exceeded expectations. And the grape leaves--those were the best I've ever had. They redefined what I thought grape leaves could taste like. I highly recommend them. The flavor was balanced, and no single note dominated the rest. Superb.

The flavor was also beyond my expectations, and the chicken was succulent and juicy. To be honest, I do not know how they achieved the flavor profile that colored that dish, for I have not tasted a dish like that before. (And I've been eating a lot all over the place.)

So, the chef is skilled and passionate--it comes out in the cooking, and the host can tell you all about that. And the service was flawless. Follow their recommendations on which foods to try. I believe it was the chef himself who came out and asked, with a grin, how the food was. He knew it was good, and I knew, too. To add even more to their service, we were served a warm sweet tea with our meal, a nice little treat!

All in all, this is now one of my favorite places in Louisville, and I'm happy that they set up shop...

UPDATE: it's delicious and I have not felt this richly nourished physically and spiritually since 2020 (last time I had the guy's food).

Decor review: I walked in the wrong door. It was one of the greatest days of my life. Unexpectedly for a pickup order they gave me one of the little cups of lentil soup after I paid. It was so good that when I was drinking it on the way to my car I felt an expansive love for all of humanity and decided that Baxter Avenue/the Highlands/Louisville, KY is a wonderful place full of beautiful people. When I got home and started eating it (large hummus, chicken wrap, falafel wrap) I accepted the limits of a complicated family/business relationship and felt connected to the touchstone of loving that person fully and unconditionally, freeing us both from the dynamic of competing visions and freeing myself from anger in the present moment and the future frustrations that would otherwise have been inevitable. Also got two orders of the baklava which I think the dude called "the pistachio", because turns out they have a pistachio one and a walnut one.

Rating: 7 stars out of 5

Secret menu tip: If a person you know is going through a difficult time or suffering from years of the universe showing them no kindness or mercy, you can order them pickup or delivery. There's also plenty of seating. I got a side hot sauce and it's this bangin' green/chopped garlic stuff that I've never had before; I'm probably going to just drink whatever I don't use on my chicken wrap. I feel warmed by the centuries (millennia?) of love passed down and imbued into this restaurant's foodways and the hummus came with...

Scammers who will steal your money. Ate lunch there today with a friend. Got the Chicken Shawarma Entree which was listed for $14.99, and my friend got the Chicken Shawarma Sandwich which is listed as $8.99. Didn’t think about it and ate my meal and talked with my friend and enjoyed our time. Went up to pay and was told my meal was $30 before tip. It had been about an hour since we had looked at the menu so I weren’t sure how much our meals were and went ahead and paid. When we got in our car and were on our way down the road when my friend, who paid after me, said she was charged $16.

The owners say there is a 3% card fee, and of course a 6% sales tax. That doesn’t add up for waiter meal. For my meal a 3% card charge would add 0.45¢ (14.99 x 0.03 = 0.4497 or 0.45¢) and the tax of 6% would add 0.90¢ (14.99 x 0.06 = 0.8994 or 0.90¢). That would bring the grand total for the Chicken Shawarma Entree up from $14.99 to $16.34. They charged me $30 which is $13.66 more than what they say they are charging.

They should be ashamed of themselves for running this scam on people!

Don’t wast your time because there is way better more authentic Mediterranean food for cheaper than their menu prices (and certainly cheaper than their scam prices) and you’ll be supporting honest, hardworking people instead of scum.

** In reading through these reviews it looks like this is a tactic they use, so I’ll be filing a consumer complaint with the Attorney General so we can stop this...