Au Za'atar - Midtown East — Restaurant in New York

REVIEW FOR CELIAC DINERS ESPECIALLY. (TLDR: Don’t eat here whatsoever if you have a gluten sensitivity).

I came with friends here for an early dinner because they had great experiences in the past and said the food was amazing. I’m severely gluten intolerant, but they told me they’d looked at the menu and several dishes were marked gluten free or “can be made gluten free” so I felt comfortable eating with them.

Upon arriving, I noticed it was a nice enough place, with a large menu of shared plates. However, none of the appetizers were inherently GF or appetizing without pita bread (ex. I’m not gonna eat hummus on its own), so I decided to just get the steak kebab entree. On the menu, this is marked “can be made GF” and I assumed this was mainly because of the fries, since the description of the dish was, “Beef filet mignon cubes cooked table side on a hot stone. Served with hand cut frites.” I know from experience that fries at restaurants aren’t GF because the oil can be cross contaminated, so I asked my server to substitute it for mashed potatoes. He was extremely reluctant to substitute it, and initially wanted to charge me extra for the mashed potatoes (which are listed as a side on the menu for $12), and I had to get him to ask the manager to approve the substitution, which they eventually did.

At this point, we’ve put in several appetizers, and service at this restaurant is naturally paced slow for everyone to share plates. If you go here as a GF person, however, this means you won’t get your food until 90 minutes into your dinner. I didn’t realize this when we ordered, so I didn’t ask them to rush it (which I’m not sure they would’ve done anyways). I was finally so hungry I asked a passing server to confirm the cauliflower was GF, and he let me know he was legally obligated to tell me that even though the cauliflower is marked as GF, it is fried in the same oil and therefore can be cross contaminated (aka not GF).

So at this point, I’m realizing that this restaurant does not take gluten intolerance seriously, and that would only get worse when I finally got my dish (again, 90 minutes into the dinner), and I’m initially so confused that I don’t think it’s mine. But then I see the mashed potatoes and realize that my filet mignon kebabs are completely hidden inside of two 10-inch pita breads. This isn’t listed on the menu, and again, when I told my waiter I was GF EXPLICITLY, he did not inform for me that it came wrapped in pita bread and did not notify the kitchen to make it without bread. At this point, I will admit I was so angry I called down a manager, and I demanded that they refire the entire entree (I mean, I hadn’t even seen the meat yet, because at this point it’s folded like a calzone into the pita bread, so I figured this was an obvious mistake). She instead asked me if I had notified my server that I’m GF (I clearly had, because of the substituted mashed potatoes), and said the pita bread was just “how they served the dish, and not meant to be eaten,” and recommended that I eat around the bread. (Brief aside, and I know this is editorializing, but that is a completely insane thing to tell someone with a severe allergy.) I told her I would not eat the dish if it had touched gluten whatsoever, and she finally agreed to refire it.

Within a few minutes the dish comes back, which immediately makes me suspicious because again, it’s nice pieces of filet mignon and the restaurant is packed. I look at it, and my “medium rare” steak is cooked more than well-done. (I have no proof of this, but you can do the math and assume they just reheated the same pieces of steak). I flag the manager down and tell her to take the entire entree of our tab immediately, which she made an ordeal out of doing. My waiter had already come back to apologize profusely about not notifying the kitchen, but at this point I was beyond caring and so offended by the experience that I was a bit beyond caring. Truly would give them zero stars if I could, the most disrespected I’ve ever been about my gluten intolerance at...

THE ABSOLUTE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE AND DINING EXPERIENCE IN MY LIFE. On June 4, My friend and I went to dine at Au Zaatar. We arrived at 6:30 and ordered a bottle of wine and two small appetizers. Clare was our server. We then ordered the Mixed Grill Platter at around 6:45/7 pm. We received our wine and appetizers and then an hour passed and we received nothing. Our waitress never came to check on us besides to take one of our appetizer plates away that still had food on it. Two other people came by to ask if we needed a new light at the table because it was turned off. Our waitress finally came back at about 8 pm (one hour after we ordered our food) and asked if we needed anything. We looked at her a little confused and said, umm we haven't received our food. Clare then goes to the kitchen to check on the food and comes back and says "It got lost but they are working on it right now and it will be out shortly". I figured she forgot to put in the order and was trying to cover up her lie but there were no apologies or any offer of a free drink on the house or free appetizer. We then asked to speak to a manager because it was now 8:15 and we had no food. A manager comes over and acts like she has no idea what's going on and then says the waitress forgot to put our order in and she will make sure our order is being plated now and it should be out in two minutes. Offers no apology or anything comped to make up for the mistake. I ask her if there is anything she can do for us and she is unresponsive. Literally unresponsive. Stares at us not saying anything and then walks away. 5 minutes later a meal gets put on our table that is not the entree that we ordered. It is a beef lamb skewer and my friend is allergic to lamb. The original waitress still does not come over to check on us but can be seen at every other table around us laughing and cutting their meat for them. Purposefully ignoring us. We then request to speak to the head manager. She did not introduce herself or tell us her name but comes over with a security guard next to her. We tell her that we have now been waiting for over an hour and twenty minutes for our food and the dish that was just brought out was not even close to what we ordered. She then proceeds to tell us that we can wait and she can have the original dish made and we will have to wait for that or we should just eat what they gave us. My friend then proceeds to tell the manager that she is allergic to lamb and can not eat it. The manager then tells her that she should eat it anyway because it's "mostly beef". At this point I am absolutely fuming and just want to leave. We have not been offered an apology, have not been offered a drink on the house or an appetizer on the house, to make up for the wait. This manager then offered "free dessert" and refused to comp our wine and appetizers or offer a free drink. I said, with all due respect, we have been here for over two hours with no dinner and barely any food and you want to offer me dessert. She said "Thats all I am willing to do".At this point there was still no apology whatsoever. She literally was staring at us like we were criminals to ask for some sort of small comp because of their mistake. She then walks away and makes the security guard stand at our table to make sure we pay the bill. I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE BEEN TREATED WITH SUCH DISRESPECT. Not only was the mistake 100% theirs, a simple apology and some sort of small comp (besides dessert) would have made us a happy customer. Instead we were treated like criminals, told to eat food we did not order which my friend was allergic to and sat there for 2.5 hours with no food, ALL WITH NO APOLOGY whatsoever. DO NOT EVER EVER GO TO THIS RESTAURANT ! THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE YOU WILL EVER EXPERIENCE. I plan on escalating this to the owner because it was so egregious and...

I had made plans on a beautiful cloudly Saturday lunch out with some conference friends that I had just met and wanted to give a reunion under a less formal and more fun setting and what else would I choose rather than a fine Lebeanse cuisine. I have been to Au Za’attar before but their Lower East Side branch, and I will have to say the two cannot be compared to each other at all. A completely different and very homey experience at this branch in the Upper East Side.

I had made a reservation the night before and was expecting quite a big party, unfortunately it turned out to be a tad bit smaller but Au Za’attar were more than accommodating considering the circumstances. Our waitress really came for our every simple need.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a warm and inviting atmosphere with soothing , warm dark interior that instantly connected with my heart and brought me back to the heart of an Arabian night; friendly and accommodating, making us feel right at home.

We wanted to go a bit more of the traditional homemade style dishes of the levant, rather than sticking to kebabs and grill. After glazing around the menu for a couple of minutes, we ordered:

Hummus bil Lahma Shish bark Kharouf Fittat dajaj Kunafa Mint lemonade

I will have to say though their hummus bal lahma was very soft as hummus should always be when made finely, so it really settled well on our tongues. The lamb had the best texture, very sweet and tender that just hadmelted it’s juices into your mouth, honestly one of the hummus bal lahmeh i’ve had in New york: the taste is still there I remember it to this day. The sweet warm lamb with olive oil and hummus really balanced each other in a world, as always bringing a different and interesting twist to hummus, espousing eating it with the arabic bread.

The fattat dajaj grill kebab was as fine as it got in terms of levantine kabab, the kharouf especially had the most tender and mouthing watering texture that absolutely made your heart melt. And lastly the shish barq was served with rice: usually I’ve been told that shosh barq wasn’t exactly the nicest of dishes in the levantine cuisine but I can assure you it was my favorite dish that day that we ordered. Absolutely mouth watering and kicking to the taste buds in a way I cannot express enough. Au Za’attar has definitely altered my perspective, I definitely look forward to coming back and having their dishes again again.

Overall, I cannot recommend Au’ Zattar enough - the atmosphere, the food, and the service were all top-notch. If you're looking for a taste of the levant in Upper east side, look no further than Au’ Zattar! It’s a must try.

Lastly I’d like to highlight our friendly waitress, truly she was the sweetest: very positive and polite lady, helped with recommendations, personal drinks and meals she enjoyed, and everything! In addition the friendliness of our waiter Isabel, she accommodated us so nicely although we took a long time to order, so patient and respectful. Very talkative and welcoming to Au’ Zattar, I really enjoyed having her as our waitress; would definitely ask for her when I come back again!

I’ve been to Au’Zattar twice now, and I can’t emphasize this enough when I say they never fail to astonish me. Each time they have stunned me with their terrific service and mouthwatering menu. I’m coming back again and...