Taste Of Lebanon — Restaurant in St. Louis

I am giving one star but am willing to delete if I receive a response from management. We ate dinner here last night. We arrived at 5:45 and when we arrived, we were the only customers. We greeted the young man working behind the counter but he did not greet us. We placed our order: hummus, a sandwich, kibbeh, fries, potatoes, coffee and a hookah. The hookah came out fairly quickly but without coals and no explanation. He literally said absolutely nothing to us when he set the hookah down. 20 minutes later we still had no coals. I went in to ask about the coals and he simply said “they’re on the fire” with no further explanation. Five minute later, our food came out, but no pita bread with the hummus, no coffee, still no coals. The food was again dropped off with no communication. The fries were room temperature- not remotely hot and my sandwich was cold- as if it had recently come out of the refrigerator. I dealt with the fries, but took the cold sandwich inside. I asked if it was supposed to be cold and he said no and took the sandwich from me and walked to the back (again no apology for the cold sandwich or explanation) when he came back out he was carrying coals and walked right past me with no explanation. I stayed inside to wait for him to come back but while he was delivering the coals to our table he told my husband it took so long because they were so busy (again we were the only customers when we arrived and there were now maybe 2-3 other groups and it was 6:15). The coals he delivered were already quite white and ashy as though they’d been on the fire a while. When he came back in, I asked about my sandwich and was told it was being heated up. I reminded him about the pita and the coffee. He told me the coffee takes a while (more than 30 minutes to make a cup of coffee?). A few minutes later he brought out my slightly warmer sandwich and some super dry pita bread. Another 5 or so minutes later (at this point about 45 minutes after ordering it) the coffee was brought out. In all, the food was subpar and the service was horrible. This used to be a favorite date night spot, but it has clearly...

This is a great little restaurant situated on a lovely street. They have indoor and patio dining, as well as a small hookah lounge in the back. There isn't any particularly special decor, but it's well laid out and inviting.

The staff were young but kind. It's run by a Syrian family, so you get a Middle Eastern style service. Compared to many places, it's a pretty good blend of good customer service with an edge of that blunt, practical interaction.

To my dismay, I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures food! We had the flat bread both with cheese and zatar. It was perfectly cooked and delicious. We also had hummus and baba ganoush, both of which were spot on with authentic flavors. Nice and flavorful mixes. We also had some fried potatoes that were exceptional with a strong spicy kick - wonderful!

Our main reason to visit was hookah. We had a party of 4, so when we saw the small hookah lounge we passed and headed for the patio. Seating was nice and since it was later in the afternoon, we soon had building shade. They have umbrellas, so those helped at the start.

All sheesha is Al Fahker, and they use coconut coals. Hookahs are mostly Maamoon with a few of another brand. The bowl was packed well, but after that, it was rough. We received the coals half lit, so I went and ask asked for tongs so I could get them fully lit. We also never were checked on for coals, so I was minding them and asked for a second batch to be lit. They just brought coals and did not have an oven and tray for tending bowls. This was okay, but it did cause us some burn moments that hurt the overall flavor. I chalk this up to a day with teen/college age kids running the place, and they didn't know how to properly handle a hookah.

Despite this, I have to go 5 stars. It was well worth the visit. Food was excellent, staff were nice, the space was inviting, and the hookah was fine, just a bit of a tough day with the coals. Give it a go, you'll have...

I had such a wonderful experience here!!! I found it on google while my car was getting repaired & spent the whole day here, and then even came back again once it was fixed and spent the rest of the night getting work done until they closed. They have quality authentic hookahs, a great selection of shisha with lots of excellent mixes, and use both the quick light & coconut cube charcoal (ask for the coconut).

I very much enjoyed my sides of falafel, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, spicy fries (with yummy sauce dips), and a really delicious treat for dessert I don’t remember the name of, but it was nutty and sweet like baklava without the pastry. I also had a large glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, rose tea, and Turkish coffee, all of which was wonderful!

There is a little patio area out front, a little restaurant area inside, and a little back room lounge with comfy cushioned bench seating and wooden chairs and pillows for the hookahs. There is one tv there where the customers can play whatever music or videos they want on YouTube. During the day, there was some really cool middle eastern music playing in the restaurant area, and at night they played some chill popular mainstream music, and all of it was at a nice volume level conducive to working & engaging in quality conversation!

The owner was super sweet and the rest of the staff was also really cheerful and accommodating. The clientele is also really sociable and upbeat. There were at least 5 of us sharing tables & working on our computers on the free WiFi with lots of available outlets.

I have been to a wide variety of hookah lounges, cafes, and bars around the world and I will definitely go out of my way to route my next cross country trip to visit...