Cafe Petra — Restaurant in St. Francisville

This was our first time eating here. We walked in shortly after they were open and were not immediately greeted. There was no music on and it was a little awkward initially. We had grace given that it was about 15 minutes after open but it would have been better had they been ready to go after their opening time. Immediately after walking in, we smelled a sewer smell that was strong. We almost considered leaving but we weren’t sure what the smell was initially. The restaurant didn’t have signs about the smell or mention it to us. I eventually asked the waitress who disclosed to me that there was a plumbing issue that has been going on for a while and the restaurant hasn’t been able to resolve it. The smell was bad enough that I would not return to this restaurant unless I knew the issue was fixed. The service was okay. Given how slow the restaurant was, I would have expected a little more attentiveness when we walked in and in our first 20 minutes. When the waitress did come by she was sweet and polite. The food was fresh and tasted delicious; however, we didn’t feel great after eating it which I thought was odd given that it is Mediterranean food. They had markers for our kids which entertained them but also made a mess. I would have loved for them to have the option of crayons instead. The restaurant looked clean including...

Edited to add: Wow, what an amazingly quick and unexpected response! No worries, I will be back to give your schwarma another shot. The flavor was awesome!

On a recent trip to explore around St. Francisville my wife found this restaurant and we checked it out. The atmosphere was good, staff was extremely friendly, and the food was......

Great! At first I was hesitant to eat mediteranian, I mean come on, were in Louisiana. The home of gumbo, etoufee, and French inspired Cajun delights. You might be thinking like me, there is NO WAY this place will have good mediteranian food. Was I shocked. The gyro meat was fresh, the grape leaves were some of the best I've ever had, and the hummus....wow, that was amazing. I'd venture to say that the hummus was the best I have ever had from a restaurant. The only reason why I didn't give Al Aqaba 5 stars was because of the chicken schwarma. The flavor was terrific, but it was very dry.

In all, if we find ourselves back in St. Francisville we will be stopping by to enjoy their food, and I'll even give the schwarma...

Update 3/17/2024 Today's experience was different and special. The food was great as usual and reasonably priced. Our server, though, was the best one we've ever had at this location or at any other restaurant for that matter. Cora turned our lunch into a beautiful experience. Service is always good here, but she went above and beyond. She is the most kindhearted and helpful server we had the pleasure to meet today. She deserves to be kept in high regard by her employer. I'm including pictures of the menu. Totally recommend the lentil soup, the vegetarian plate, the lamb shank, and whatever you choose from the menu. It will be good for sure!

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Food is really good here with generous portions and reasonable prices. Staff is friendly and kind. This is definitely my favorite place for this type of food, and Saint Francisville is a lovely town, so the location is nice too. Totally...