Restaurant Ararat — Restaurant in Mundelein

The dishes were very delicious, especially the lamb kabob, the soup chanahi. Their bread is really good too. Although, there is one con, their service is poor. We had an appointment made, the table wasn't ready, we weren't guided to a table, but were told where to sit with a careless tone. Within 45 minutes we got our glasses and water when I finally said something about that. For the soup we were only given three pieces of bread while people at another table got a full basket of pieces of bread even though they came in after us. She told me another loaf is baking so she'll come back and bring some more. The bread came to my table when I finished eating my soup without much of any bread. After ordering from the menu, I also wanted to request an eggplant for my kabob. The waitress told me to wait so she could attend to other clients that just came with a child and didn't fulfill my order. Then came another employee, so I asked her for that eggplant and also asked for a drunk cherry cake. The woman said okay and left. After waiting a while for that eggplant and ate our food, we still waited for our cake. Finally, the first waitress told us that they don't even have the cake we asked for. She began yelling at me for not telling her I wanted an eggplant served at the same time as the kabob. She then waved her hands saying that she's ready to drop everything and leave the place. She claimed I was complaining to someone about her when I haven't left the table. So I told her that the only person I complained to was to her. I barely restrained myself to continue eating the food to not ruin the mood for Mother's Day. The menu has a huge variety but when it comes to choosing what we want, there are many options that aren't available. They come out with the dishes to the people and ask who ordered what, not knowing who they are serving. They should have their menu updated and serve the clients that came first and number the tables, taking orders from specific tables, in a more organized way. Their attitude to citizen-born Americans is more kindly and positive meanwhile more rude and careless to us who speak a foreign language. Why do they treat people differently based on their backgrounds? I forced myself to add somewhat of a tip rather than nothing for them...

I arrived at the restaurant really wanting to like it, as I love world foods, and enjoy supporting locally owned businesses. However, the experience was simply not good. I dined here a few months ago, so based on the more recent reviews, perhaps Ararat has turned things around, but I won't be returning to find out. The flavor of the food varied from ok to pretty good, but the portions were on the smaller side, especially for the price. The primary negative aspect of my experience was the service. I don't have unreasonably high expectations for restaurant service, but I do prefer not to be made to feel actively unwelcome. I had viewed Ararat's menu on their website prior to my visit, and was excited by some of the dishes included in their vegetarian menu (an option on their "Menu's" drop down list). When I arrived at the restaurant, the menu I was provided with did not contain the vegetarian entrees, so I asked the server if there was a separate vegetarian menu. She asked if I was vegetarian, I said no, and she proceeded to ask, with blatant irritation, why I wanted a vegetarian entree then. I explained that I'd seen the vegetarian menu on their website and been interested in several of the entrees. She responded, with condescension, that if I wanted a vegetarian entree, I'd have to call and request it 24 hours in advance (as if I could have somehow known this, despite there being no such instructions on their website). To her credit, she did offer an off menu appetizer sampler when I expressed interest in a few of their appetizers, which I appreciated and took her up on. However, the service for the rest of the meal was sub-standard, with no check-ins after the food was delivered to refill our empty waters, or see if we needed anything. After finishing an appetizer and shared entree, and despite having room for more food, I left with the feeling that my presence had been an unwelcome burden. I decided to pop into the Korean restaurant next door (HwangDaeGham, which I highly recommend) to satiate the remainder of my appetite, and was pleasantly surprised by both the quality of the food and the warmth of...

After 3:30 PM, $23.76 dine-in total ($19.80 lamb kebab & $2.20 can of Coca Cola plus $1.76 tax) for what you see in the photos. A bit pricey for most, and I was given a salad appetizer too (usually not included) so I bumped up a star. It was okay food and service at best but comparing this meal to their competition the pricing is out of range/question for frequent meals here and definitely on the higher end for quantity. For example, I can get quadruple the quantity at Chipotle as well as high quality. I visited here because Nikko's kitchen is closed today.

I asked for rice and was given French fries not Armanian potatoes (which were the two options on the menu for what I ordered). They gave a good amount of salt which I liked. The rice was initially served lukewarm and had to be microwaved for an extra 2 minutes. Lamb was smaller than I expected from the provided menu. I got 5 pieces of lamb slightly undercooked (hint of red on the inside). Was not asked how I would like the meat cooked. I was just happy it was not burnt. If you have to ask the customer if the food is warm or not, it's probably not. Other than that, it was an okay experience. She did not come out "a hundred times" to serve me. 😆

I was shocked to be the only customer there but there was still a decent wait. Speed could be faster, price adjusted to match quantity, and maybe they will realize or maybe not but the quality and/or amount of food needs improvement to match the cost. To put this bluntly, I did not feel like a "king" waiting on microwaved rice.

Good points: gold utensils, food mostly cooked, and honest owner willing to listen to constructive criticism and hopefully apply it for continued growth. As Ararat is a small business offering Mediterranean cuisine, I decided to eat here vs other places. Wishing you the...