Golden Restaurant & Bakery — Restaurant in Tempe

11/9/24 Short version: wow, what a plethora of meal, drinks, and dessert options. So many choices it was difficult to choose. Friendly staff, clean restaurant. Very happy with the experience.

Longer version: there is plenty of parking, patio seating, and it's pretty large inside. While looking at the menu, I noticed a small alcove further inside -- and saw a few more dessert choices. Yummy! The gentleman back there was super nice, explaining what was in "his" counter.

The guy at the menu register was also very polite, and was happy to explain about the Jamaica juice in their fridge. We ordered two different flavors of the Freez carbonated drinks (I regret not buying more to sample at home); the pineapple & coconut was very tasty. The Jamaica juice does not have sugar and even so, it was still pretty good, although I may add some Sprite, or even OJ to the rest.

We ordered the beef shawarma plate and hummus beef shawarma. My sister said the rice was not as flavorful as she has had elsewhere, I thoroughly enjoyed my hummus. And the pita? Oh man, it came out hot and was so good. The one guy behind the counter probably thought I was rude for staring but I was watching him brush off the flour (?) from the oven and start forming what I assume would become pita. It seriously looked so good, I told my sister, "I wonder if they'd sell us raw dough." :-)

The rice pudding with pistachio was so thick and creamy, I devoured it. The cheese dessert was also delicious, very mild flavor, but I only had a couple bites. I was saving it for a midnight snack.

Golden Restaurant is well worth a visit, and return visit, and more...

Just a bad vibe the moment we walked in. Felt unwelcomed immediately after stepping in the door. They were in the middle of preparing the buffet for Iftar (breaking of fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.) My family and I are not practicers of the Muslim faith and as such we do not look like it from how we dress and our appearance. No hello or greetings or anything from the staff. Just blank unfriendly stares as we walked in. We were planning to dine in but after seeing that most tables were "reserved", we decided to do take out. Ordered the sandwiches and were asked to sit at a corner table while we waited for like 15 minutes. After about 10 minutes I heard an older gentleman who seemed to be the manager in charge asking our server are they planning to eat here or leaving soon? To which she answered no we are just waiting for our take out order. As other people obviously looking to iftar (break fast) walked in, they were warmly greeted and shown to their tables. All this just gave me the feeling that we were not welcomed to dine in on that day if we wanted to. The food may be tasty as described by others in the reviews but we left with a bitter taste in our mouths. I will not be returning here or reccommending this...

So I came here with my husband after having Opa and loved Opa's cuisine. I'm not a huge Mediterranean/Greek food lover but some of their menu items are absolutely incredible. We wanted to venture more into this food with trying a new place. Honestly, there were so many options here between appetizers, combo plates, and desserts that I was extremely overwhelmed making a choice. We over ordered and spent so much for just two people but at least we know now what we like and dislike. The pita bread is delicious, the grape leaves are so so (I like Opa's better) the pizza was good, and the garlic sauce is very good. I'm not a huge fan of gyro meat or falafels but my husband said his was pretty good and their desserts are worth a try. Honestly, coming back I would order the pizza and pita bread with the tzatziki and garlic sauces and probably pay a 1/3 of what or bill came to. Overall, I much prefer Opa! but if you are a fan of this food then I would recommend...