Zara Forest Grill — Restaurant in New York

The food is excellent. The service sucks. For me a great dining experience means good food and a great wait staff.

The only Albanian waiter (his words I overhead the first time I dined there) there is either indifferent or inexperienced. I got him 3 of the four tim I dined in.

Last time I was there, I ran to the bathroom before being seated. He had selected a table for me; I just didn't see which one. After I can out of the bathroom, I waited to be seated. He was waiting on a table. Ok. No problem. A couple with their child came in. He went immediately to them and ignored me standing there. Only after seating them, he was like, "oh you table is here." I found that rude considering I was there before them.

I was seated. I was waiting for him to come back to take my order. The manager (I guess) ended up taking my order.

Like I said, the food is wonderful.

another gentleman who brought it to me did a lovely little presentation. He informed me long bread they serve free would arrive shortly.

It never came. I watched people who came in after me get this bread. I guess I should see it as a blessing. I really shouldn't be eating that bread but it is so good.

All while I am eating, the waiter never came to my table to see if I needed anything.

After my table is cleared, again I am sitting there waiting. I did want dessert. My waiter ignored my table. I hate when I have to chase down someone whose job is to serve me.

I finally got his attention to get the check. He did not even come back for it. I ended up giving it to the cashier.

I also think it is vile they add an 18% gratuity even on checks for parties of one. The wait staff doesn't deserve 18%.

Each time I was there, I pretty much had the same experience dining in. Even taking out food wasn't a pleasant experience. I called in to pick up an order. Don't quite understand the hostility.

There were other things. I won't be going back or even doing takeout. It's very sad a lovely dining experience is ruined by the people who represent the restaurant. I will spend my...

Tried this Turkish restaurant in Staten Island, NY. The place had a good decor and the seating was nice. Good vibe and atmosphere. Big glass windows were a plus for a dine in atmosphere.

The food was good but I would not call it the best. For appetizers we ordered fried lamb liver cubes which was delicious but could have used a little more salt. Would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes fried livers. Also had a sampler platter that came with assortment of dips like hummus, baba ganoush, different sauces which is highly recommended. I am not a big fan of Baba Ganoush, but I enjoyed it. The best part of appetizers was the hot, freshly baked Balon bread. Definitely the highlight of the visit.

We were a party of eight and ordered mostly different menu items. The food was delicious for the most part… Lamb shank: A huge piece of lam Tender, flavorful and cooked to perfection. It came with a side of mashed potatoes which I would prefer it with a side of rice unless asked for replacement. Chicken mix grill: An assortment of chicken kabobs served with rice, salad and bread. Good item for chicken lovers who want to try out different chicken kabobs. Zara mix grill: An assortment of chicken, lamb and beef kabobs served with rice and piece of bread. Chicken Shish kabob: Served with rice and salad. Flavorful but could be a little more moist. Lamb gyro: Served with rice and salad. Very flavorful but extremely oily which was a little bit of a turn down as one could only eat a little bit before the oil makes you not eat more.

The staff were friendly and treated everyone with respect.

Word of caution, they do charge 3.5% for using credit cart to pay the bill which is unusual for a business that is on the expensive end. They should be making the customer aware of that before running the credit card.

Overall a good experience and a good place to try out especially for the decor, friendly staff and of course the Balon bread (only the first one is free...

It was a wonderful experience with great food, service, and atmosphere.

The atmosphere was very clean and looked like fine dining while not necessarily being a fine dining restaurant. The service was great, too. We asked for a seat by the window, and there were multiple servers serving us.

Now on to the food. For the appetizer, we ordered Cesar salad and a mixed sampler plate. The Cesar salad wasn't anything too special and can feed up to 4 people. But the sampler had a wide arrangement of dips, which went really well with their crispy and fluffy bread. The dips had one, which was spicy, another which was smokey tasting, another being creamy humus, another was a refreshing light yogurt, and another with a bunch of herbs. It's really good.

The main course we had beef and lamb kebab and lamb gyro with some sauce on it. The kebab came with a salad and rice, and those were tasty and refreshing. Especially the rice being aromatic and flavorful. The meats were nice, tender, plump, and juicy. The lamb gyro with sauce was really good. It was savory and had a lot of yogurt to the side, which made it creamy and light. But the dish was large, and continuously eating the whole plate made the taste quite mono tone and boring after a while. So have something else refreshing to go along with it or share it.

For dessert, we ordered baklava. It was very small and expensive for the bite size. But those little pastries were flaky, light, rich, and sweeten with honey. I really liked it.

Overall, the experience was great. Everything was expensive, being more than 20 dollars. But most of the dishes were well portioned and very testy for the cost....