Au Za'atar — Restaurant in New York

Update 11.16.22 - Au Zaatar continues to impress me. I would like to start off being saying WOW. I doubt any other restaurant can pull off what Au Zaatar staff did for us last night. I held a corporate event for over 20 guests last night at Au Zaatar. A huge shoutout to Sherif for making it flawless. Sherif put together a very nice table and made sure we were taken care of the whole night. There was even Arab music which made it fun and entertaining, loved the ambiance. Our server Karla was super attentive and accommodating the entire night. Another server, Ali, was very kind and helped take photos. He was very patient!! You would think with 20 guests the level of service would go down but it was the complete opposite, the service was the best I’ve received in NYC. The food was on point as usual, super flavorful and delicious. I had Hummus, Tabouli, and lamb shawarma. All the dishes were amazing and my guests were beyond impressed. I thought that when the bill would come it would be a nightmare but Karla handled it super professionally and made it a seamless experience. There was no issue with the bill and we were all able to efficiently check out. For those who haven’t visited Au Zaatar yet I don’t know what you’re waiting for! This is truly the best restaurant in NYC right now hands down. This place just keeps getting better and better every time.

March 2022 - Where do I start with this 5 star exceptional experience? First of all it was super easy to make a reservation for two on a Friday night. As soon as we arrived we checked in with one of the hostesses, Anne. Anne was extremely welcoming, kind, and friendly. You can definitely feel the good vibes from the get go, and Anne's hospitality and welcomeness is unmatched. Sherif was our waiter for the night and he was also very attentive, friendly, and helpful. We told him we just moved from Chicago and this was the first spot we were eager to try out. He wanted to do anything and everything to make sure we would have the best dining experience at Au Za'tar. There are SO many incredible options on the menu. I actually called in ahead of time and pre-requested Kibbeh Nayi (raw meat dish) because it's my favorite Lebanese delicacy that I cannot get in Chicago and have not had the pleasure of eating since visiting Lebanon many years ago. Along with the Kibbeh Nayi Sherfi helped us order Muhammara, Arnaabeet Bi Tarator, and the Lamb shawarma. Let me tell you I already had high expectations based off social media and reviews but when I actually tried the food it was MIND BLOWING. The flavors, the texture, the consistency were on point. The lamb was cooked at a perfect temperature and was succulent and juicy. The fries were also so good and perfectly seasoned. No words can describe the joy I felt because it literally tasted the same as the food I used to enjoy in Lebanon if not BETTER. This experience brought back a lot of memories I had in Lebanon, it felt super nostalgic. The entire time Sherif kept checking in to make sure we liked the food and was very patient. Just when we thought we were done and super full he brought us a dessert to the table, Mouhallabie which was rich, creamy, and had sliced bananas on top of it (my fave). This was soooooo delicious, how did he know puddings are my favorite?! Impeccable service and it was beyond thoughtful of him to do that and felt like such a warm welcome to NYC.

To everyone out there if you want a REAL and AUTHENTIC Lebanese experience look nowhere else, Au Za'atar is the best spot. I doubt you will find a better Lebanese restaurant when it comes to food, service, and cleanliness in the NYC area (FYI I'm a huge germaphobe so cleanliness is super important to me).

The very next morning after visiting I started scrolling through their IG looking at the dishes I want to try out in my next visit. That's when you know the experience has stayed in your heart forever! I can't wait to bring my coworkers and customers to Au Za'tar to experience the authentic flavors of the Lebanese cuisine you cannot get anywhere...

A tale of two experiences. I went to this location for the first time on March 12th. One of my friends reserved this place to meet up for dinner after sorting through food options nearby for us to meet up at. I was the first to show up after finding parking for some time and came to the front to at least check in. I was told by a blonde woman at the front, the head hostess, that I can’t sit down until the entire party (my two friends and myself) are present. I asked “Not even [in the open and unused makeshift outdoor seating area]?” and commented on how it is cold. She said no and that id have to wait outside, so I waited right in front of the door. She then proceeded to close the door in my face while I was standing there. The interaction was quite rude and at one point she opened the door to have two others come through and spoke to a coworker. I was on the phone and explained what happened to my friends who were at this point about five minutes away, and was calm and collected the entire time. It was only when I was focused on the call and said because of her behavior that I won’t tip and mentioned that I tend to write reviews for experiences like this that she then kept hovering around where I was and watched to wait for when I’d finish. She then said that she has somewhere for me to sit so that I can wait and suddenly became much “nicer”. She said where she has in mind is very nice and it’s the only seat she had available. Meanwhile, I asked if that is the only seat she had available, and when she said yes, I turned to my left where there were empty and unused tables where I could have sat in the first place.

Now to when I was sat down, I was put in an outdoor seating area to the left of the front entrance (you would go to the end of the street and make a right, but by standing at the door it is to the far left as a shoot-off on the street). It was actually quite aesthetically pleasing once I went inside (see photos). I was met with one brunette server who spoke to the blonde lady and they both gave me a look which I noticed, and by the time she finally went to serve me she was asking questions that servers normally ask but the tone felt like forced pleasantry. After experiencing the head waitress’ behavior to notice that was a slightly irking experience. However, my friends came, and I then met another server named Andrew. Andrew was much sweeter so I verbally said that he’s been the nicest person here that I’ve interacted with, and from there the other server seemed to have disappeared. Andrew was accommodating enough to ask if anyone has done something to make my experience unpleasant and I gave a synopsis of what happened. My friends also seemed to have experienced the same thing with the blonde server. The rest of the night went very well, and for food that I don’t eat often and with different seasonings, it was quite enjoyable! It was a happy medium for our group’s different dietary preferences and there was something for everyone. The prices were generally reasonable with some higher end prices that I would reserve for special outings, but the portion sizes are great. Food presentation was spectacular and the food was at the perfect temperature. I could also tell what was fresh and the intentionality of the pairings. We spent a little over $40 each from what I remember and Andrew was very pleasant for the entirety of our visit. I’d give him a 5/5 especially once he was telling us that he’s relatively new at this establishment. Even the other workers we saw later that night were pleasant and the person cleaning up was nice enough to help us to take a group photo. We bonded during COVID through a popular audio medium app and have kept in contact since then on other platforms, but this was our first time meeting in person so it was a significant experience. The fact that Andrew is Lebanese and we got to learn a bit about him was great. However, for the lack of tact that the head waitress had, and to function as the face of that restaurant with unruly behavior like that, my final review...

I'm of Middle Eastern descent - the food is sadly nothing to write home about and quite overpriced. The falafel was quite dry, sojouk was very dry and crumbly, and halloumi was plasticky/not very flavorful. Hummus was good as was the mint lemonade.

That said, more than the food, I encountered some other things that also contribute to this rating:

Upon checking in, I was 30 minutes early for our 2-person reservation. I was very upfront in acknowledging that I was early. Across their wide outdoor and indoor seating, at that time there were maybe 2 tables occupied outside and 4 inside. The person who greeted me - while friendly, when I admitted that I was early, immediately soured their face and said 'ohhh where's the rest of the party?!'. I admittedly asked if they were serious, considering I was waiting on only one other person. Then they looked back at the iPad and said, 'ohh, two people?? okay okay, I was looking at another reservation.' Being frank - that's not my problem and you shouldn't be jumping down a customer's throat like that the minute they walk through the door just because you have a policy to uphold. I get that it was an honest mistake but the tone overall is inappropriate.

When that same individual obliged me in being seated outside (which I appreciated), I'd gotten a notification on my phone and pulled it up while I was in the process of sitting down. I'll spare the details (worth noting it was a news item), but the person commented very directly + asked me a question pertaining precisely to what was on my phone. Unless I'm going out of my way to show you what's on my phone, why would you be looking long enough at it and then moving forward to comment on it, no matter what it is? Inappropriate and made me uncomfortable.

I wish I were joking on this one - the same exact song played on a loop for our entire 2.5 hrs at the restaurant. It was an upbeat Arabic song - playing relatively loudly - and was insanely distracting. Not long after I sat down, I very politely flagged this to the waitress, who said she appreciated the flag and said she had no idea (what?!?!?!). The song proceeded to play. Over and over again. I did not flag it again.

Someone other than the waitress who was with us came with an iPad to close out our tab after the table was cleared. About 5 minutes later, the waitress comes over and says "do you want to close out your tab?". We let her know we already had. Lack of internal communication/messy - and she ended up unnecessarily interrupting a conversation (wasn't fair to her to be put in...