Mama Mezze — Restaurant in New York

This place was hyped up and we were excited to try. The food was honestly pretty good- like the Adana burger pita thing was amazing and dips too. HOWEVER, and big however - this was kinda crazy interesting service. The waitresses felt pretty rude the entire time kept saying weird comments every time. The AC in the room was broken and they said that and we kept telling them it’s insanely hot inside. We were sweating through our clothes like extremely unacceptable. We were supposed to have a cute dinner celebrating our friend. I went to go complain to the manager multiple times, and we were offered free dessert and given water. I felt like that was the bare minimum they could have done for us, I did ask to see if they can compensate us more and to no avail. The waiters didn’t seem to care that we were struggling and we wanted to just get reseated to somewhere better and they kept also saying it’s reserved. It felt really uncomfortable and for the amount of times I went over to the manager to say something they should have comped our whole meal or at least offered more than just dessert. I got offered a reservation here if I wanna come back, like THANKS- but honestly no thanks. It’s quite interesting to see customer service like that. They should have closed that whole area and not made people feel like they have no choice but to sit there. It was raining so not many options to just leave and get out of there. One of the waitresses actually hit me accidentally with the door from the kitchen that flung open near the bathroom. And INSTEAD OF SAYING SORRY- I got a “BE MORE CAREFUL next time”. Like excuse me? That was definitely not my fault. !!! Anyways quite disappointing and thought they should have a serious training on how to HANDLE these situations more professionally as a business. I was really debating writing this but it was super frustrating and we felt quite gas lit the whole time. I’m sure everyone else was also not happy there...

Went from a favorite to a hard no. I came back to Mama Medze after a great first visit: food was solid, service was smooth. I always like to give places 2–3 chances to check for consistency, and wow… this time was a complete disaster.

Our server Lisette was the only redeeming part of the night — warm, polite, and doing her best. But when my friend asked if he could get the bread a little less toasted (like what we had last time), she said "absolutely".then comes Jordan, the host and apparently “manager with the most Condescending. Defensive. Dismissive attitude. He basically said: the bread is made in batches, and “that’s how the owner wants it.” So I asked if anyone had complained before, maybe enough for the owner to reconsider and give new instructions to the kitchen — or even if the kitchen could simply pull a piece out earlier. He cut me off and said, “It’s the owner’s restaurant, he does what he wants.” So… the customer just has to deal with it? He even threw Nisette under the bus and said, “She doesn’t know, she’s new.” Completely uncalled for. The whole interaction killed the mood. I was so turned off by the attitude that I lost my appetite. Literally. I didn’t even finish two of the dishes we ordered — and yeah, we still paid for them. It’s wild how fast a vibe can go from “promising new spot” to “never again,” just because someone in a power trip role doesn’t know how to talk to guests. Not everything is about food — hospitality matters. And on that front, this place...

Review of Mama Mezze

If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to eat sunshine and sea breeze—book a table at Mama Mezze.

This place nails the sweet spot between comfort and craftsmanship. It’s like an Eastern Mediterranean daydream: the smell of za’atar in the air, plates of whipped feta and smoky eggplant floating to tables like edible poetry, and somewhere between the spiced beef hummus and the wood-fired skewers, you forget what stress ever was.

But the real chef’s kiss? The actual chef. Or rather, the window into the kitchen where you get to witness the culinary wizard at work. Watching him craft dishes through that little glass pane felt like peeking into the control room of flavor itself—equal parts mesmerizing and hunger-inducing. Like Mr. Rogers, if Mr. Rogers wore a bandana and seared the hell out of a skirt steak.

And the hummus? Smooth doesn’t do it justice. It was so smooth, it could’ve written breakup texts for you, brokered peace deals, or convinced your landlord to lower rent. Silk wishes it was this smooth. Babies wish they were born onto a bed of it.

From the za’atar fries to the lamb tagine, everything had this deeply personal touch—like your cool aunt came back from a beach in the Mediterranean with a wood-fired oven and something to prove.

Mama Mezze isn’t just a restaurant—it’s a well-seasoned love letter to the Mediterranean, with a window into the soul of the kitchen, and a menu that makes you want to cancel your dinner plans...