NAYA — Restaurant in Philadelphia

If I could give zero stars I would. Stopped in to grab a quick bite. First thing, no one spoke English and they were conversing really loud, I had to like interrupt their conversation in order to get help. Second thing, there was some rice spilled on the lid of the warmer, the lady picked it up with her hand, put it in the other rice and started stirring it together. I told her several times that was unsanitary, she didn't understand. I asked if there was someone who spoke English, a guy came over, as I explained to him, he said, "Oh" and walked away. Third thing, I then just decided to get toppings to make a salad, I asked for the Tzatziki, however, before she put it on the veggies, I noticed there was a piece of hair in it. I was trying to point it out to one of the workers, she looked at me as if she didn't know what I was saying. Another worker came over, she understood. She said "Oh, okay" she then took the container the Tzatziki was in, got a spoon, scooped the hair out and put the container right back in the serving area. I told them never mind and I walked out.... NEVER AGAIN!! I went to this place a few years ago, however, it was under another name and boy has it changed. I never give bad reviews but this experience grossed me out. MANAGER: Retrain your employees ASAP. Let them know the importance of being sanitary, attend to customers when they walk in and stop have those extremely...

I was craving some middle eastern food for lunch and wanted to skip the usual Cava or Honeygrow so I decided to give Naya a try. I'm so glad that I did. My order was about $30 (including all fees but tip) and it was a LOT of food for $30. The delivery fees kill you with UberEats but the food seemed very reasonably priced.

I ordered a Naya Salad with EXTRA Chicken Shwarma - you could barely call it salad. The extra protein made it more of a chicken bowl. It was very good and a great mix of ingredients.

I also got one Kibbe (deep fried beef ball) that was tiny but delicious. I opted for a side of Cucumber Yogurt dip and some house-made Baked Zaatar Pita Chips (that were very fresh despite their professional packaging).

As I said, the meal was delicious and travelled really well. The packaging was great and generally I was blown away by this place that I had never even heard of before. If you live in Center City (or elsewhere - I live in Fairmount), definitely give this place a try. It was a nice change of place and the perfect...

This is the third iteration of fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant to occupy this space in about three years. Honestly, its not as good as the previous one, Noon Mediterranean. The food itself is pretty good and service is very fast, but options are fewer. They only have two bases for bowls - freekeh and rice with vermicelli, neither of which are gluten-free. This eliminates the bowl as an option for those who cannot eat gluten. (I asked about plain rice and was told they didn't have it). This is very frustrating and doesn't seem to make much business sense since plain rice is simpler and would meet a larger number of customers' dietary needs. I don't think anyone's dying to have vermicelli in their rice. I would only return if they offered plain rice as a base. Otherwise a decent lunch spot and worthy of 4 stars instead of 3.

Update: went back and tried the salad again. Although it was pretty good, the chicken shish taouk I got was undercooked and had the rubbery texture typical of undercooked chicken. I won't be going back...