Al Qimma Halal Grill & Butchery ملحمة و مشاوي القمة — Restaurant in Town of Cheektowaga

This treasure is in the corner of an unassuming strip mall.

The friendly cook behind the counter (in pic) explained a few menu options to us, then excitedly offered to make my parents and me a mixed grilled platter with a couple salads and a mixed pickles plate. "A bit of everything!"

We snacked on the pickles while the chef worked- an interesting and different selection than what we're used to! All very crunchy and fresh as well, which helped whet our appetites.

Our shared entree came dramatically piled on a large silver platter, which I thought was an elegant presentation for an otherwise casual restaurant. On one side of the platter was a big mound of perfectly-cooked yellow rice mixed with pieces of deliciously-charred onion, and on the other side were freshly-cooked, hand-cut French fries that we'd watched been tossed in light spices right out of the fryer, to serve. On top were a mix of three grilled meats: Succulent chunks of chicken (possibly marinated in yogurt), lean chunks of grilled lamb (not gamey at all, just tender and flavorful) and these long "strips" of beef with spices that had been pressed around skewers and grilled (the taste of these was most similar to what I think of as shawarma, so must have spices in common). All meats had a tasty crust from the grill and were surprisingly juicy inside.

Chef also handed over some Iranian Salad and cucumber salad. I don't think I can overstate the pure FRESHNESS of this place's salad ingredients. You and I know good salads exist in Buffalo, but they can be hard to find- and it's much more common to find the veg on offer cooked. Sometimes all you really want is to bite into some crunchy, crispy full-of-water raw vegetables. This place DELIVERS. Both salads are very simple (tomato, cucumber / cucumber in herbed yogurt dressing) but perfectly executed.

After some feasting, three crispy balls of hot falafel also arrived. These were the real thing- hard brown crust outside, full of soft chickpea, green savory herbs and a nice sweet note (fenugreek?) inside.

Everything we ate was of the highest quality and clearly made small-batch with great care. We ordered "for 3" and took home enough for one other person's dinner, which came to $93 aka $31 each. Very reasonable for such a delectable dinner spread- and there was a guy behind us happily chowing down on a shawarma wrap with a cup of coleslaw for just $15, so there's a range to fit all budgets.

And we were all stuffed, but I did see some baklava near the register I'll be sampling next time!

Finally, a tip: You walk past several pans of different prepped marinated skewered meats to get to the order counter, and we saw on the menu it's possible to order shawarma by the pound, and probably the same of these other meats also. Great idea to simplify a BBQ or help cater...

We travel so much and always look for halal. We had to make a quick trip to Buffalo and did our search. The images for Al Qimma made everything look great. Reviews weren't horrible so it was our decision to stop here. The falafel was on point and after that I don't even know where to start with explaining how bad the rest of the items were. The lamb shawarma was nothing that tasted like lamb or shawarma.... at all! The hummus, if I had to bet, I'd say came from a can. The next item on the list was a chicken shawarma sandwich. It was a bite taken and then spit out. The horrible taste was not because of the seasoning, not that the seasoning wasn't bad though. The smell of the chicken was like that of chicken that had been left outside the refrigerator too long and soaked in lemon and zest to try to mask the smell of rotten chicken. We find amazing restaurants during our travels that we get excited to go back to, Al Qimma will not be one of them. After reading the establishment's reply. I placed the order for pickup and 'the man' that picked it up is my husband. I was sitting out front in the car with our child. I am not sure what that has to do with the quality of the food however. Being homemade daily is fine, my review of the hummus was about the taste, it can be made fresh daily and still taste as though it was not. It is not an aggressive review, it is an honest review. If any restaurant cannot accept an honest review and in return becomes defensive and attacking, that is an elevated concern. I, as a consumer gave an honest opinion of the items I purchased. There are months I am in a different city every single day with travel and as I said, when we travel as a family, we are always looking for halal. With the amount of restaurants we have specifically sought out for specific items, including shawarma, we are extremely familiar with the flavor and this just was not it. I also mentioned the chicken and that there may be a health concern with it and you had zero acknowledgement of that. I hope that as an establishment working with the public and serving food you are able to take the reviews and use them as guidance, not to...

I don’t even know if I can properly express my experience today. My husband and I visited today after seeing the video by @StepOutBuffalo. We knew we had to take the 1 hour 40 minute trip out from Olean. I’m a Lebanese woman and other than my own cooking or my Mother’s, I have no one else to make me authentic dishes that bring me back to my Siti’s table again. We were welcomed in and a beautiful young lady walked us through the entire menu. We ordered a wonderful array of dishes to enjoy as well as some delicious sodas to try too. My first bite of the Fattoush sent me immediately into my Siti’s kitchen in 1997. I sat at the table and cried. The salad was absolutely delicious but more so sent me down memory lane and just brought back wonderful memories of holiday meals surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles, Siti and Ghidi. My husband had to console me 3 times during the meal. The fried Kibbeh was delicious and even more so when we added the fresh hummus to it!!!! This was the absolute best hummus I’ve ever had!!!! We had the chicken shawarma plate and it was wonderful!!!! So flavorful! The rice was fantastic, the chicken was tender and juicy, and the sauce was full of flavor! I personally could have used a little less sauce but it was still fantastic! Next time we will get it in the wrap so my husband can get it spicy and I will get it original ♥️ This time we got it as the platter and got the spice on the side 😊 We tried the Arayes and it was DELICIOUS!!!! That was something I’ve never had and loved!!!!! The falafel was wonderful and full of flavor. Not dry like other places. Can’t wait to go back! So thankful for a place that stirs up beautiful memories in my heart and also with my tastebuds! Can’t wait to bring my Mom next!!! ♥️♥️♥️ Thank you for the kindness shown today. The customer service was outstanding and I wish you were closer! We would be daily...