Mezze — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Ordered a Kibbeh Bowl and a Tahini Shake.

There was a short wait (10 mins) because everything is made fresh to-order. Not a bad wait time at all!

The Kibbeh was some of the best I've ever had. 3 came with the bowl along with a garlic dipping sauce and some tzatziki. The kibbeh were really big, crispy on the outside, juicy and savoury on the inside with good flavour. (They don't photograph well and I'm sorry for it, but wanted yinz to see how big they are.)

The bowl came separately. It's a base of rice and vermicelli. It has a soft but not mushy texture, honestly a delight to eat. It came with pickles, pickled red onion, cabbage, tomatoes and persian cucumber. Every ingredient was generously portioned. They gave me so much in my bowl that I've had two meals of it and there's at least that much left. (I eat fairly small portions, but still, extremely generous.) There are enough toppings that it's not all rice the the bowl. Very good ratio. The bowl was $15 but very much a good value.

The shake I felt a little guilty about at $8, but they use a lot of tahini in it, so you can see the cost is justified. I got the original Tahini (they have quite a few other options, too!). They didn't skimp on the tahini so it had robust flavour. I've never had a tahini shake but I feel hooked now. It was the perfect consistency and a nice portion size. Not huge, but completely filled. The density of the shake meant I was able to share it and not feel like I was missing out, making this also a really good portion and value.

It's rare I go into a restaurant and don't find some small thing I dislike (all those years working in restaurants does that to your brain) but honestly Mezze was great. 10/10. The interior was spotless, everything tidy and organized. Friendly service. Best part of my day was discovering one of my new...

I was out for an afternoon run about a week ago and saw this place out of the corner of my eye, I actually did a double take! I read that it was a Lebanese restaurant and knew I had to give it a shot. Today, I tried it.

I ordered the kibbeh platter, falafel sandwich, and hummus. While I was waiting for my food I talked to the guy in there for a bit. Seems super nice, found out he was a part owner. They've only been open for around 2 months now. He tossed in a free labneh (sweet!).

When I got the food home I was very pleased with everything. The falafel sandwich is much better than a certain other middle eastern restaurant in the strip district, without naming names. The labneh ended up being one of my favorite things I ate there! I've never had a sweet labneh before, and this made me wonder why! The sweet orange blossom syrup with dukkah was awesome! The hummus was very smooth, but the flavor profile needed a punch up, if you ask me. Maybe more lemon or garlic, but that's my preference. The rice with (yogurt?) sauce was really tasty. Their pickles were pickley. Aaand...

By far, their kibbeh was the big winner here!! I took a bite and was immediately blown away by how juicy the meat inside was. The outside was perfectly crispy, not greasy, how perfectly fried food should be. And all the flavors and textures were killer. If and when I go back it will be for the kibbeh.

If they're looking for suggestions for menu items, take that meat from the kibbeh, turn it into a meatball, and make platters/sandwiches out of it. If they can preserve the juiciness when it gets to the end customer, I think it would be...

Where do I start! We learned about this place from a friend who lives nearby. They have a soft opening with the grand opening due in couple of weeks. Had time to chat with one of the owners. They're two friends who are passionate about good food. One of the owners is the chef. They make everything in house from scratch. We're talking hummus, falafel, kibbeh even the pickles. Waleed, the owner we spoke with told us they only use avocado oil for frying and olive oil for everything else. The kibbeh is made by a Syrian lady who works at the restaurant. This makes kibbeh truly authentic. What about taste? We ordered kibbeh, falafel and the cauliflower salad. We ate the kibbeh and falafel in the car, they were so good. We were pleasantly surprised that we found extra goodies in the bag. The owner gave us a plate of orange blosson labaneh with dukkah (a sweet labaneh) and few samples of their own Tahini and bag of fried pita pieces. Excellent place for those looking for a healthy and delicious food. Vegetarian options are almost all of the menu -...