Taste of Jerusalem — Restaurant in Pensacola

I think I expected to have more of a cultural experience, but by it being my first time, I'm not really sure what I expected, but I didn't expect to feel tolerated, but not welcome.

It took a really long time for our food to arrive. By the time it did arrive, we were ready to go.

We received bread and 4 paper plates with a dip on it and a bottle of water. One dip was something that was extremely hot. One dip was ranch dressing (it had a piece of hair in it, found after we ate a lot of it). One dip was like a blue cheese dressing. And the last dip was some type of pea or bean dip.

Both my husband and I experienced stomach upset after eating the bread and dip before our food arrived. I believe it was from the spicy dip.

We tasted a little from my tray and ...

I took the food home and cooked the meat a little longer (I had a #1) and added a little more seasoning to the chicken, and it was good. I didn't eat anything else on the tray.

Now I could have easily ordered a gyro, but I wanted to try something I had never eaten before. I did that fully understanding that i might not like what I ordered.

So I don't put that on the restaurant.

By husband's full tray is still in the refrigerator 3 days later. 😏

Instead, I would encourage people to try it.

Now I do want to return, not for the restaurant but for the store that is attached to it.

Also Having had that experience, I do want to return just to try the gyro, a food I'm familiar with.

And instead of eating in, I'll just take it to go.

At that time I will make my final decision on the restaurant.

So for know, I count the first experience as just not knowing...

For those who love this restaurant - love it further. I'm writing about my experience. I've been wanting to get into this restaurant for a long time. I was waiting for a new room to open. I followed the posts and looked forward to delicious food. And so my family and I came here. We went in and saw that some of the tables were occupied, and some were not cleaned after the visitors. We found a small clean table. The waiters were in no hurry to approach. They were in no hurry to do anything at all - not to clean the tables, not to bring food. When the waiter brought bread and sauces to other tables, and we were sitting only with bread, the feeling was unpleasant. I had to beg for sauces. Half an hour later, our order was brought to us. In plastic boxes. Although the prices for dishes are like in a good restaurant. Overcooked fish tails, a sandwich with incomprehensible meat and lamb stew. Everything was cold,. Stew is not what you found on the menu and wanted to get. These are lamb bones with fat and veins, yesterday's potatoes and everything is filled with cold tomato sauce. It's Terrible. We ordered grilled chicken home. It's good that I opened the tray to look. It was not a chicken, but a piece of coal. He even smelled of coal. The waiter says - this is normal, it should be so. I'm shocked. I did't even take a picture. Only hot bread with sauces and salads were edible. We'll never come back. The food is not fresh, it differs from the menu, the prices are too high, the waiters work...

I hate to upload a picture of food that’s already been eaten on, but I do have to say it was so good. I couldn’t wait to take the pic before digging in. I will preface this by saying that we are not from Pensacola. We have never eaten at this restaurant before, so we don’t know how it compares to the previous owners. I say that because we were a little wary going in based on the reviews, comparing them to the previous owners. So not having anything to compare our experience too, I will say that it was excellent! Our server agree and sat at a nice big table. We started with three dips and pita bread. I love the green dip! Spicy! I got the Jerusalem platter. All three of the kebabs were fresh, and the meat on all was tender, juicy, and absolutely delicious. The baba ghanoush was beautifully smoky! The falafel was delicious as was the rice. We enjoyed the chocolate, pistachio, and walnut baklava. Just the right portion sizes! My favorite was the chocolate. It was so good two other members of our family went the next day for lunch on our recommendation. They were not with us the night we went. They loved it as well. I just wanted to put this up because if anyone is reading all this and is intimidated by comparisons, don’t be. I can’t speak to that, but I can say that the next time I’m in Pensacola, I will be going to Taste of Jerusalem. my compliments to the waitress and the chef. Oh, the market was under renovation, so we didn’t get to see that. I can’t wait to shop...