Taboonette — Restaurant in New York

I love middle eastern and Mediterranean food ever since my ex introduced me to his mom’s cooking.

I’ve walked by here so many times and never went in but it was always on my list of places to eat at. Yesterday I finally stopped by for a dinner alone.

Atmosphere: casual and cozy. It’s communal seating and people are friendly. The music is perfect volume and good selection of songs. The interior is not pretentious, I feel at home.

Service: it’s a casual restaurant that has two amazing women leading the counter. They are so efficient. I ate at the bar watching them work with customers, organize the front, clean the tables, pick up garbage and deal with their own life’s problems, one of them had a bad-news-text and she was so professional about it.

Food: This is the best part. So good. The menu isn’t overwhelming. It’s simple has great variety. Caters to all picky eaters. The sides look so good. I’m in heaven. The cookies are teasing you at the glass display, they’re not vegan. 😂 I ordered the Kruveet plate. It came out with hummus overflowing which my eyes were in heaven. The vegetables are delicious and that arugula + salad is something special. The brown rice has garlic in it I think. All the plates look appetizing. I want to eat here all the time. I left so smiley. I just want to roll around in that hummus tahini. It’s so dreamy.

Only one suggestion: I’d love to know the nutritional facts of the food or at least the measurements for my meal planner blog.

I want to try their za’atar next time because I’m a za’atar fiend. I have 3 types of za’atar in my cabinet. I live in the neighborhood and I can’t wait to...

A seat yourself, order at the counter, wait for your number to be called, pick up the food and eat sort of place.

Various low and high-brow soft drinks + cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon, and bottles of beer reside in the self-serve cooler, plus homemade mint lemonade, coffee, espresso, and teas also available.

My wife and I sat at the counter and chose breakfast pocket pitas for lunch (they're available all the time) -- they were served quick, on fresh pitas imported from Israel with homemade potato chips. We know the chips are homemade because I asked, and Karina, a very warm and charismatic counter attendant confirmed it. She also told us about the imported pitas, and her love of the place where she works and the happy clientele. The cook in back prepared the pitas to perfection, and stuffed them to overflowing, and shared a big smile when we gave him a thumbs up.

Chatting with Karina at the counter made the meal a lot more appealing for a couple of weary out-of-towners, and she was glad to oblige (between taking, filling, and shouting out orders). She also brews an espresso to set your soul at ease and your energy level into overdrive.

I'm willing to bet real money the other reasonably priced items on the menu bring happiness, too.

Karina, and the people like her who staff Taboonette are key ingredients to their success. Cheerful, engaging, outgoing personalities, endemic to the Big Apple, are in no short supply here and make your visit a blast. Bravo. (Hope I spelled/heard Karina's name right, if not,...

Love this place!!!! I've been eating here for a decade. I used to work near by so I frequented here more. I used to have the lamb kebab with some green sauce too which was very good but lamb frequently for lunch became pricy. But since relocating I try to make it back monthly. The salmon & egg pita is sooooo good 😋 I can eat it for any meal of the day. The combo of flavors are unexpected but they fit so well. I like it best with the spicy mayo instead of the tzaiki & I pair it with their mint lemonade every time. The chips are good too especially with a side of the spicy mayo. I have gotten friends & fam hooked in it too. They used to have these amazing olive cookies, I know what you're thinking but they were soooooooo good. I still need to try a few more dishes I see the people ordering when I go. But for now I'll stick with my yummy pita combo 😋. Maybe next time I'll get a combo...