Alyan's Middle Eastern & Mediterranean Restaurant — Restaurant in Philadelphia

In an ever changing city, Alyan’s holds firm to their ways. I’m not sure how long the restaurant has been around but I know it’s at least been since the 90s. It’s a beautiful restaurant especially the back room filled with natural lighting and gorgeous decor. The ambiance of the restaurant makes you want to stay forever. The staff are kind and helpful. The restaurant is always clean and smells delicious. Sensory wise, this place is very soothing and if you stay in the front room there is less to process visually. The front room also tends to be a bit darker if lights bother you. In my experience, It’s never insanely loud in there even when it’s busy. This restaurant is great for others with sensory issues. Now onto the most important part, the food. The food at Alyan’s is like no other and it’s the main reason I continue to return year after year. Now I am sensitive to certain foods so I usually just get the hummus and pita with the feta and olives on the side. This is enough food for me since it’s a pretty decent portion if you eat it alone. It’s a great appetizer if you’re sharing. I can confidently say the hummus is the best in the city. I’ve tried most hummus in the area but nothing compares to this. The only place that comes close is Dizengoff but they lack consistency. Alyan’s is perfect every time. Always a good texture, never over-salted, always perfectly seasoned and served with simple, delicious, warm pita on the side. If you go to Alyan’s, you shouldn’t skip the hummus. The feta and olives are delicious of course, they are feta and olives, not much to say there. Now I haven’t had their falafel in a while personally, but everyone I bring here always has it and claims it’s the best they’ve ever had. I have a friend who refuses to eat falafel from anywhere BUT Alyan’s. Lastly, if you’re looking for a quick bite to-go, I’d suggest their fries. They are served fried to perfection with onions and jalapeños. Delicious every time. All in all, Alyan’s is a great choice for a family lunch, catch up with a friend, quick stop, first date, important meal, or any moment in between. The perfect catch all third space, and a beautiful hidden...

Me and my family came into this restaurant with high expectations after seeing the 5 star reviews describing this place. Before coming we looked through what people had written about the restaurant and people had SPECIFICALLY mentioned that the food quality was really good. However, after we ordered and started eating, we looked at each other then unanimously came to the disappointing conclusion that the food was terrible…It was genuinely depressing how each of us ordered something different and would one by one see that the food had problems with it. Personally, I was really excited to try their rib-eye steak but as I started to dig in with a slight grin, that smile slowly started to turn upside down when I found it concerningly difficult to cut a piece off. That’s how rubbery and uncooked the meat was, and it wasn’t just the steak, at the end everyone complained about the meat being excessively chewy. Not to mention that for that size of steak it was pretty overpriced considering its quality. That also goes for its other options as well, if you’re looking for something cheap this is NOT the right place to go. To top it all off, there was a cat that walked around and about the restaurant. While I don’t have anything against cats, the fact that it was quite literally next to our feet while we ate made it an uncomfortable experience. I would also like to mention that there were no warnings or signs prior to entering that there were animals in the restaurant, nothing was said from the staff either. At the end of the day, there are dozens of middle eastern restaurants around the area, and trust me this is NOT the one you...

We very much enjoyed visiting Alyan's tonight. We chose to sit in the back room, the entire ceiling back there is a sky light and is filled with a variety of plants. It was so peaceful and pretty. To start my partner and our child shared the Middle Eastern Combo appetizer. Everything was flavorful, and we each had different favorite items on the dish. Our 7 year old loved the feta and the eggplant, my husband the marinated mushrooms and baba ghannouj, my favorites were the Hoummos and pita bread. We shared Lamb dishes for dinner, and ordered their pitcher of Mint tea. The iced mint tea. Wow! I haven't had good mint tea in almost a decade. It wasn't bitter at all. They serve it unsweetened and they took extra care to make simple syrup to sweeten it with instead of just giving sugar packets that wouldn't devolve all the way. One of the Lamb dishes came with "mixed vegetables" which ended up being a tomato soup based vegetable stew that was so full of tastes and textures, it was delicious! For dessert we tried thier Baklava, it's filled with a mix of walnuts and Pistachios. While i don't love the texture of walnuts personally the mixture they use is fine chopped and was delicious. The fillo dough provided a nice crunch to the dessert and the honey was just the right amount of sweet. The staff was kind and helpful in answering questions. The only thing that would make it better is if they used more real dishware instead of the paper plates and plastic cups some of our food came in. We...