Maira Mediterranean Grill — Restaurant in St. Matthews

came here because I was craving falafel and this restaurant is right down the road from me. I'm pretty sure this falafel was literally just chickpeas and nothing else. it tasted exactly like a hushpuppy and was plain, light brown inside, rather than the green color that falafel is supposed to have because it's mixed with herbs and spices. it had no flavor besides the flavor of grease. the "pita" bread was just a really thin bread that you would wrap a gyro in, rather than a nice, soft, fluffy pita bread. not a huge problem, but just kind of a bummer. finally, the tabbouleh salad was way too oily and tart. there was a pool of liquid at the bottom. and it was almost entirely parsley. very few vegetables or bulgur.

however the hummus was good and the owner seemed nice, and he suggested a type of rice to me that was very tasty that i probably wouldn't have tried on my own. the food was reasonably priced so it wasn't a huge deal that it was subpar, but it was still...

Just left from there, first and last trip. I ordered my food to go, sat down and waited on my order (chicken kabobs). While sitting there another guest notified me there was something on the bench beside me, I looked down to find a half-dead roach! The man from the back came out grabbed it with a napkin & threw it outside, came back in & went straight to the counter to ring up the next guest, grabbed my to go order and brought it to me. Did not even wash his hands before resuming serving food. As stated I ordered Kabobs, which I would assume means kabobs but I got 1 Kabob and some random chopped up chicken. The “kabobs” come with a house salad, when I ordered I asked what dressing comes on the house salad, the lady ringing me up said “regular” whatever that means… The lettuce is wilted, service is bad, and, for atmosphere: well I don’t particularly want to dine with a roach, half-dead or not. How’s the food? Not a clue, and will never know as I am not...

So I saw the owner of the Resturant and thought to myself that I have seen him in a Resturant in Louisville downtown. But anyway.

In the picture you see is the ‘Kafta Kebob dish’, grilled marinated ground beef with Fragranced rice and salad. Also hummus, red sauce (has some heat to it) and one of my fav garlic sauce (toum) and some thin bread. To be very precise, the food was amazing. Very fresh, normally some places would have the rice or the bread a little stale, but surprisingly it was very fresh. The salad was not cold, or floppy, very fresh and at a good temperature to accommodate the hot food. The rice were steamy and they were all separated, not lumpy, not to mention they had a nice aroma of cardamum. You might also see some chicken shawarma shreds, that was complementary for me to try, and that was a good bate as I will be getting that next. In all, great food. Could improve the ambience of the...