Skewers Kabob House — Restaurant in Modesto

If I could rate the food alone, it would be 5 stars. Unfortunately the service was very impersonal right from the moment we walked in. Our hostess which ended up being our waitress as well, was indifferent to the point of being rude. It was myself, my wife, and my four small children aged 9, 8, 7, and 6. They have a kids eat free offer every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4. We arrived at 4:05 and I asked if we had missed the kids eat free offer, to which she very crassly replied, "Yes you did.....", as she grabbed menus and headed to a table which I assumed I should follow her to. She put the menus on the table and walked away. She came back a good 10 minutes later with water, bread , only a few butters and to ask if we wanted any appetizers. I ordered some prawn skewers. We ran out of butter before everyone could have some at the table, so I waited quite a while to be able to flag her down when she came back out of the kitchen area. I asked if we could please have some more butter since not everyone received some, and my wife wanted some garlic yogurt dip. She seemed bothered that I had flagged her down to request this but said she would get it. She kept passing by our table and not bringing it, I even saw her bringing out bread and butter to another table. A good 20 minutes went by until she came out with the appetizer. She asked if everything was fine, and I pointed out that she had forgotten about the butter and yogurt dip, to which she did not apologize and just said okay and walked off. We were seated right on the other side of a divider wall from the kitchen pickup area. The whole time I was there I could constantly hear her deep into personal conversation with the other employees, at one point even one making crude genitalia jokes. Another 5 minutes go by and I finally hear her ask the kitchen to put some yogurt dip in a small bowl. Which means that not only did she not grab the butter which was an easy task, but she hadn't even put the order in for the garlic yogurt dip until just then. A few minutes later she comes out with our dip and the butter, and thankfully some more warm bread because the other bread was already very cold. She asked if we were ready for her to take our order, we said yes and gave her our order which included four kids meals, and a meal each for myself and my wife. She seemed very hurried and pressed for time so it made the ordering process a little uncomfortable. The kids meals were meant to include a drink as well as ice cream for dessert. She did not mention this to us, nor did she make an effort to provide it. The food took a much longer time to come out than it should have, but when we did get it, it was amazing. Everything tasted great, and was cooked almost to perfection with the exception of one kids Lula Meal which was slightly burnt, but not horribly. We were about 99% done with our meal when we noticed that the kids had only had water and that a drink was meant to be included. I told her about it and again very unapologetically, she said okay yeah, what can I get them. They chose apple juice, but apparently they were out of that, so the kids chose lemonade as a second choice. Unfortunately it was at the end of the meal, and I had to point it out and to get it, but at least they got it. I also brought up the fact that they should have ice cream included with their meal and she said they only had vanilla but could put a chocolate, caramel, or strawberry topping on it. I asked my four kids which type they would each like and it seems that was too time-consuming for her so she walked off and said "I'll be right back". Once again instead of being right back, she took at least another 5 minutes before coming to get the ice cream order, and then another 10 minutes or so to bring it out. Quite a while later we got our check, and to top it all off, one of the line items was a mandatory 20% gratuity. No wonder there was no effort for decent service. I didn't notice our hostess/waitress's name, but she was young, and African-American. The place was...

Upon entering the decor is very classy and you can see the bar to the right and if you look to the left you'll see an elegant wine cellar. We were seated after a short wait. Talk about setting the mood here. There is ambiance. The booths are romantic and to be honest it made me feel special and it inspired excitement to explore this world of ethnic foods. Our server knew exactly what she was doing and she was amazing. We sat in a booth and she dimmed the lights a bit for us after she heard my friend say that the lights should be dimmed. She memorized our order and was genuine in the way she gave service. The food was delicious. We started with the Hummus Duo and Greek salad. Best Hummus I've ever had and such a fresh Greek Salad with this Kalamata Olives are a fave of mine. My friend ended up requesting more olives for me, so sweet right?Our main course was the family combo and oh my, the soft fragrant rice on it's own is a winner. The kabobs are so succulent and tasty. The Filet Mignon was my favorite. The grilled vegetables were superb. We ordered a Prawn Skewer just to try it out and it was grilled just right and not overcooked. We ate and just kept saying Mmm....Mmm. We decided right there that this is worth returning for. Another staff member aside from our server checked on us as well. I observed the staff and saw that they are a team with great communication. A couple of observations worth mentioning as to why I gave 4 and not 5 stars. Hear me out on this. Skewers Kabob House is a very nice dining experience and is upscale in my opinion, and the staff reflect that, especially in their appearance. Our server was very polished in appearance, as well as other staff members, except for one. I noticed a server with a very messy bun with a creme colored scrunchie. Her shirt was unbuttoned more than the other staff and slanted a bit, making her appear very care free. She was loud and a bit animated when talking to other staff and it was enough to catch my attention and take notice. Another thing worth noting is the restroom, which was littered in toilet paper. Also, the bar was loud ( on a Tuesday- smh I know right this early in the week lol) and towards the end of our meal we could hear the noise coming from the bar. On my way to the bathroom in between the bar, restrooms and kitchen there is a mat, and that too was littered with little bits of paper and what not from the floor. Again, you notice these things and in a fine restaurant such as this you expect not to see these things. Aside from that, the food is incredibly delicious and the service is...

Have been visiting Skewers for years and years. Always boasted to others about Modesto having the best Mediterranean food.

That opinion has come down crashing during a few visits in the past 6 months. The food quality has gone south in incremental adverse steps. Kept going back to give benefit of the doubt that it was a one-off incident but now I am convinced management has lost its way. Either they have become over-confident, or heady with success or lazy. But it is clear that the hand is not there any longer. For me, a customer of over 20 yrs, the last straw on food quality was a take out order of their once-renowned hummus and eggplant dip. On arriving home and laying things out for a party, my daughter served herself and immediate reaction was yuck! There was absolutely NO SALT in the hummus, none. It was packed in the kitchen without any seasoning whatsoever. Next, the eggplant was so bitter, it was simply tossed to garbage. I seasoned the hummus and added lemon and olive oil to make it passable for party. My wife and I shook our heads in disbelief because we had been discussing how the portions over several meals at the restaurant were packed nowadays with an excess of rice, salads, pita bread. The main entree is to like 5 overcooked rubbery prawns or a small portion of the cheaper pink salmon, being the only 2 dishes we eat (we do not eat chicken or beef). This has been our observation that the price has been steadily creeping up and quality deteriorating surely and firmly. Skewers was an awesome meal experience once, but not any more. It's over. Added Later: Unbelievable response from the owner that "I was having a bad day". This is a thorough and thought-out review over months of watching this place go downhill in quality. I am sad about it because we truly used to like the food. I think they forgot the adage "customer is always right". If the owner was to dig deep, he will find a prior 4 to 5 star review from me. This guy cannot take honest crticism or face the facts that the place is in...