Libanais Restaurant — Restaurant in Niles Township

The 2 stars are for the quick service and couple things we actually liked. We ordered the veggie king plate, tabbouleh, fattoush, cheese borek, kibbeh nayyeh, mixed shawarma platter, and mixed grill platter. The tabbouleh was perfect, the fattoush was flavorless and dry; I highly doubt that it had any dressing. The cheese borek were baked (not the traditional fried cheese rolls.) The dough had a nice texture, but the filling was very dry and seemed like it had been baked hours in advance. The veggie king plate came with hummus, baba ghannouj, 2 grape leaves, 1 falaffel, some tabbouleh, and pickles. Not sure why a shared appetizer plate would have a single piece of falaffel. Hummus was good, the baba ghannouj tasted like it came out of a can, grape leaves were good, and the falaffel was cold but crispy and very well seasoned. The kibbeh nayyeh was bland. It needed salt, pepper, basil, marjoram, maybe even some chili. I had 2 bites of it and both had big pieces of connective tissue. The olive oil drizzled on top, however, was very fragrant and delicious. The mixed shawarma platter was the worst. Both shawarmas were extremely dry, cold, and flavorless. The rice on the platter also had no flavor whatsoever. The mixed grill platter was also badly prepared. Since when does a skewer only have 3 pieces of meat on it? This plate came with 3 pieces of chicken, 3 pieces of meat, 1 skewer of kafta, 2 lamb chops, a half grilled tomato and onion, 1/2 charred bell pepper, bread with pepper paste, garlic sauce and tahini and we opted for fries instead of tabbouleh for $33. That’s outrageous. The chicken and the garlic sauce were the only good thing on that plate. The meat pieces were so dry and overcooked I literally choked on them. The kafta was ok, nothing to write home about. The lamb chops were even worse than the meat pieces. They were flavorless, dry, overcooked, and tasted like they had been cooked using a blowtorch. Do not recommend for anything besides falaffel, grape leaves,...

I do not recommend this restaurant – very disappointed with the service.

I’ve been a loyal customer for a long time: I’ve dined here many times, frequently ordered takeout, and even recommended this place to my friends and guests from abroad. But today’s experience completely changed my opinion.

I drove 40 minutes to enjoy dinner with my child. At the entrance, the hostess told us to wait 20 minutes. We waited 40. During that time, I noticed she was seating people who arrived after us. When I approached her to ask why, she raised her voice at me in front of other guests – she was literally yelling. My child got scared.

Later, a staff member or manager came over and, instead of addressing the situation professionally, simply said, “Don’t pay attention to her, let her do whatever she wants” – again, in front of everyone. Then they started speaking in Arabic, which made me feel even more uncomfortable, as it seemed like they were talking about us.

After 55 minutes, a senior manager finally came. The hostess immediately began to complain about me and falsely accused me of taking her photo. I had only taken a picture of the restaurant at 7:20 PM to leave a review, and no faces were in the photo. I know the law – I would never take a photo of someone’s face without permission. I had to explain and prove this to the manager, who eventually confirmed it.

As an apology, they brought us a small piece of chocolate that was so hard, my child couldn’t even break it. It felt more like mockery than a gesture of goodwill.

I couldn’t enjoy the meal because the hostess kept talking to the waitstaff about us, and they were all looking at me and my child. It was extremely uncomfortable and unprofessional.

It’s very disappointing that a restaurant I respected and recommended treats its loyal customers like this. I truly hope the management takes this seriously and improves the quality of service and...

Updating my review once again but unfortunately from 5-stars to 1-star (wish there was a zero). Had reserved a private dinner in their reserved area and was given a menu/handout of all the details (pic attached). Explicitly shows "minimum of 20," but as the date neared, the manager/owner said it would be a minimum of 40. The night of our event, we had other patrons overflow into our area and after some heated discussion, we spoke with the manager/owner and he claims that it was an extra $500. Just because it was Ramadan, the restaurant was packed and so we figured they needed to seat as many people as possible. Servers are so nice, and they as well as other patrons should leave and find a nicer and more fair place. Had high hopes for this place especially as a frequent patron. Cancelled a future private dinner and would not want to return again, sadly. Updating my review from a year ago and still 5-stars! So glad that this place continues to be successful. Awesome staff all-around and excellent food. I do not recall a menu last year, but definitely nice to see one made. Added photos of their Shish Kabob Main Entree. Not pictured here but ordered their Pistachio Cake as well as Knafeh and opted to get a scoop of Pistachio Ice Cream on top. (02.22.22) First time here - Always wanted to try this spot. Their pita is uniquely thinner than most. Ordered the Kafta Kabob Entree. Beef/Lamb meats were tasty and not dry. Same goes for the Basmati Rice. Portions were perfect with a bit of leftovers. Ordered Lebanese Tea which is reminiscent of Lipton Black Tea. Teapot/tea set are quality made items. Wide selection of desserts on display near the entrance - pastries and baked goodies. Grabbed a dessert that had egg white/cream covered in pistachios, pine nuts, and other nuts - Very good and not super sweet. Lots of people picking up orders. Would like to try something...