Gili's Kitchen Ormond Beach — Restaurant in Ormond Beach

As a life long NY’er there a certain foods that can’t be duplicated…Jewish deli,specifically pastrami on rye is one of them. There is another N.Y. style restaurant in Ormond Beach with a “Jewish NY” flavor but not Kosher. We opted to try Gili’s. I called in a phone order and immediately ran into issues. The gentleman who answered and worked the counter,Israel ,was patient and very apologetic but unable to satisfy my basic requests….asked for 1st cut pastrami,they couldn’t accommodate,which is ludicrous. I worked 23 years in the business and this is restaurant basics, attempted to order a knish…not only wasn’t on the menu they never heard of it, same with potato latkes? Upon arrival I was informed that this two person operation has a non English speaking non kosher “chef”who does not know the menu,can’t communicate and doesn’t actually cook…all food is prepared and shipped from the Jacksonville restaurant. Needless to say the pastrami was not fresh and the bread was a whole grain not classic rye…they could have used Levy’s rye bread from a supermarket…finally they had a decent but very small matzo ball soup but no chicken noodle…sacrilegious. However, I’ve been told their Mediterranean /Israeli food is quite good and will give it a try….happy Rosh...

My husband and I are locals in Ormond and we were so looking forward to eating here! But we were disappointed from start to finish. I don't usually write reviews after a bad restaurant experience, I'd put it down to a staffing problem or even a bad day, because that happens in life. But here was different. There was no welcoming smile. No guidance on where we should sit, and when we were approached hurriedly by I assume the owner, we were asked "are you staying?" in such a manner that it basically said "we will be inconvenienced if you stay". Well, yes we had planned on eating in the restaurant. We were sat immediately but no menus were provided and no one approached us to let us know we should order from the counter. We got our own menus, and ordered for take out instead because we prefer to eat in a friendly environment. I ordered the roast beef sandwich. It was adequate. My husband ordered the chicken schnitzel, it was fried beyond recognition of food and went in the trash after a couple of bites. We won't be going back and I'm certain...

I LOVE ordering food here! I've tried almost everything on the menu and there's nothing I didn't like. It actually tastes FRESH! Plus a lot of their dishes are pretty healthy. They deliver quick and it's free! Their customer service is SPECTACULAR. I order lunch to my office often and they always surprise me with little desserts and treats because I'm a frequent customer. When they ran out of the special, they sent me a message and said that my next order will be on them. I ordered 1 thing (the special that day) and then the delivery guy came with a smoothie, sparkling mineral water, chocolate chip squares, and of course my special - all for FREE just because they ran out. I mean I don't know many places around here that offer that kind of hospitality and customer service. I highly recommend the avocado egg salad sandwich (even if you arent a fan of egg salad in general) and the salmon bulgur salad! Definitely worth checking this...