Jordan Valley Restaurant — Restaurant in Pensacola

Jorden valley. It is Just down the road a walk down the beaten path of palafox. Loving middle eastern food This is where I decided to stop one night, pretty much giving up, late, and very exhausted. When we walked in it was small, more of a simple place, nothing fancy, but homey. A place that feels less judgefull. But don't let its simplicity fool you.We were greeted right way by our wonderful waitress named Loretta. She was very kind and welcoming, especially for being on such a stressful night being caused by a new system change that they were going through. After we were seated and ordered drinks, while looking through the menus I found I had several I couldn't seem to decide on. She came and explained the difference of the dishes to me in the most professional and detailed of ways! Helping me choose off of the menu, with an extensive list to choose from, I finally deciding to get the kafta platter, grilled boneless lamb and beef marinated in their special blend of seasonings with sauteed onions, tomato,and parsley,delicately served on a bed of steamed seasoned rice drizzled with Tahini sauce. It was served with warm cuts of pita, fresh hummus and a small side salad.First off the smell was wonderful, dizzingley filling my senses with smells of tantalizing spice. You could smell the love that was put into it as it was prepared. Some may say I'm over exaggerating, but from where I stood last night I declare that I am defiantly not. Upon first bite to my surprise was the most flavorful, well seasoned, tender meat that completely shocked my palate in pure delight. The rice perfectly cooked and full of flavor, salad small, clean, refreshingly brightand dressed perfectly. Finishing of with the most flavorful hummus and warm soft chewy pita, I am unsure of whether either was hose made or not but the taste of it, the tang and saltiness and earthness of the hummus, perfectly balanced flavors with the bite of tahini swirled through. Warm fresh scented pita showing just as its self waiting to be accomplimented and appreciated as such just as itended. It was all so wonderful, down to its roots and simple yet so well made and individually brought together in a plate of complete harmony and peacfullness. I also ordered stuffed grape leaves, made of rice, onion and parsley, with a marination of healthy amounts of squeezed lemon and olive oil. They were a simple and light side compliment to start the perfect dinner. Upon receiving my bill, to my shock it was all under twenty dollars! For such a generous variety plus a Turkish coffee and two hot teas? That is a wonderful and breath refreshing difference from the bill I had previously received from pot roast and Pinot! A fourth of the price actually! For such great service, going through such a stressful night and yet still providing such impactful service and quality. This is place that really cares about what they do and make sure that they only serve you the best! Our waitress was so intentive and focused on doing her job, paying attention to her customers and making sure that everyone had an equal quality experience. After the meal I asked her to give my compliments to the chef and in wonderful discovery found out that he was from Egypt. No wonder that the food was so perfectly seasoned in such a proper way! You could taste the culture of seasonings just within the aromas! If you want amazing, fair priced, beautifully prepared authentic dishes without the stress or fuss, full of soul and spirit paired with wonderful people and great service, please stop by Jorden valley. Ask for Loretta as your server if she's in! You will not regret it. I also want to thank our waitress for providing such an amazing experience for us at such a late hour of the night. I hope they prosper here as a business and never stop doing what their doing because I'm defiantly stopping by to see...

Walking in we were greeted by a non-greeting. The dark-haired young woman at the front obnoxiously grumbled "smoking or not?!!" and before we could answer threw down two menus on the counter in front of us. Guessing she expected us to pick them up, we said "not smoking" and we picked up our menus. She grumbled something unintelligible and walked away leaving us standing there. We took that as our cue to decide to sit inside (not air conditioned, warm and humid) or sit outside where it was also humid but cooler due to a breeze. We chose to sit outside and proceeded to seat ourselves. To be honest, I shouldn't have stopped to eat here. It is a Mediterranean restaurant and hookah. I came looking for good Mediterranean food (which I found) and wound up sitting downwind from a table enjoying a hookah. Actually, there were multiple hookahs lit up at various tables but I really didn't realize what that would mean at a restaurant. I could taste it in my throat and it bothered my nose, two things you don't want to happen when enjoying a meal. For me it was the same as sitting downwind from smokers; I couldn't enjoy my meal due to the smoke fragrance from the hookah. I didn't want to be rude and say anything because it is indeed a hookah restaurant. Balance arrived when our server (Kendall) delightfully made great suggestions for our meal and drinks (SeVia fruit drinks). The hummus (which Kendall recommended because it's made fresh daily by an Egyptian chef) was delicious. The grape leaves weren't exactly the most tender but tasted great. The falafel was moist and had a lot of flavor. The Greek salad was standard fare. The shish chicken was cooked to perfection and was a great addition to the hummus which we had topped with a chili sauce. Very, very good meal and service (thank you Kendall!). While I won't go back to dine, I would love to order takeout from Jordan Valley Restaurant. Great food! They could afford to lose the dark-haired waitress that didn't have any customer-friendly greeting skills. She is surely bad...

WORST DINING EXPERIENCE EVER! I knew this was going to be unpleasant. When we walked in from the street, there was a group of people sitting on the patio having a great time. Fine and dandy, BUT - they had brought their own music system on a dolly and had it turned up loud enough to be heard at least 2 blocks away. As we later found out, they had brought their own alcohol and were passing around a large bottle. That was the ambience - just delightful. The food was apparently good, according to my dinner companions. My order was unable to be made because the oven was out of service. We were told this seconds before the meals were brought to the table. So it didn't just happen (the residual heat could have prepared my meal), but had been out of service for at least a couple hours. By now I'm completely disinterested and ready to leave. I ordered the Limon Cello Cake as an afterthought and that was my dinner - it was good. This review is a double first for me - lowest rating with longest commentary. There is nothing that could be done to entice me to return.

RESPONSE TO OWNER So apparently I was too vague. I will now specify the problem with the food service. When I ordered the pizza, THAT was the time to say it was unavailable. NOT after we all had.been waiting for our meal. The "bad news" about the oven, and therefore no pizza, was told to us when they brought out the meals. That is an unforgivable lack of customer service and was over the top after having to compete with the patio in order to have a conversation. The absence of management was obvious and I will not put that on the young staff. Mr Owner, you may disregard this review, but know this: the 4 of us know 4 people, who know 4 people, who know 4 people and so on. I feel my remarks are now...