Petra Mediterranean Bistro — Restaurant in Seattle

If you’re a person of color, save yourself the embarrassment and discrimination. I am new to town and decided to try this place out for lunch. It’s 5:30 pm and there’s barely anybody in the restaurant. The host tells me he has to sit me on the outside of the restaurant and not in the main dining area because they have a lot of reservations. I was a little uncomfortable and it didn’t seem right. But I agreed, after all I didn’t have a reservation. A few minutes after I sat, a Caucasian male walked in as asked for a table. He also didn’t have a reservation. The host proceeds to take him inside the main dining room, no questions, no hesistation. I was seated right next to the register so, I heard the whole exchange. But to confirm, I asked the man while he was being led in, “excuse me, do you have a reservation” he responded no. the host then jumped in to say yes. Realizing that they didn’t want me sitting in the main dining area, I said thank you, stood up and left. He waved goodbye to me on the way out. It’s actually sad that a restaurant that claims to cater to diverse audience is actually discriminatory and practicing segregation in the 21st century. Save yourself the...

I chose this restaurant based upon their vegetarian options, and I had an amazing meal. Plenty of open tables on a Tuesday at 6:30pm, and I was seated within a few minutes. My server took my order and the first dishes were served within 5 minutes, super fast. I'm familiar with dolmathes but never tried them before, so took the opportunity to do so here. They were good, but didn't have a ton of flavor - most of the flavor came from the sauce and garnish. The salad accompanying my entree was served with the appetizer, and it was leaf lettuce and other dark greens, no iceberg, with a light viniagrette. The main course I ordered was Vegetarian Shawarma, and it took a while to come out but was super hot and fresh when it did and looked amazing. It also tasted fantastic, and was exactly the type of dish I was looking for. Rice was great texture, the mixed variety of veggies was cooked perfectly, and tahini sauce added excellent flavor. I tried a specialty beverage, 'coconut lemonade' but it just tasted like watered down soda fountain lemonade and I didn't get any coconut flavor from it. My dinner was fantastic and the service was great. I highly recommend...

I liked Petra. I put off ordering take out from this restaurant,a couple steps from our apartment, because the reviews weren’t glowing, and we know Middle Eastern food well. Between trips to North Africa, friends from Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon, we have dined on some great food. I don’t include Israeli cuisine because I feel that still has some Eastern European influence.

Petra certainly caters to western palates, and tones down the spices. This was disappointing. Everything was a bit dry, but tasted good. I yearned for some sauce to mitigate the puckering dryness. My favorite was the Ouzi, a Jordanian dish packed with meat, peas, rice, and flavorful spices that helped me to recall the warmth and welcome of a Middle Eastern meal. I wanted more flavor, but the dish was good. Falafel was okay, again a bit too dry.

I think Petra Bistro may try to be too much, the kitchen putting out food representative of several countries: Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon etc. Perhaps if Petra focused on Jordan and the Levantine, their culinary skills would shine. However, I will return for more of...