Mazadar Mediterranean Kitchen — Restaurant in Town of Colonie

I never felt so unwelcomed in a Muslim owned establishment before. My friend and I two visibly Muslim women\ hijabis walked in at 9:20pm and we were not greeted. We brushed that off. The restaurant owner was engaging in small talk with other customers (mostly white men). We were unsure of what to order, so we bought a cake and sat down and began studying. About 10 minutes later the owner came up to us and told us in a disdainful tone that he was going to clean the dining area for closing and we couldn’t stay in the restaurant. Mind you the website said the restaurant closes at 10pm. We were there 40 minutes before closing and it was my first time there. This man continued having small talks, took orders, and began cleaning the tables at 9:45pm. But he made it seem as if we needed to leave immediately. Later, I asked him why we couldn’t sit there, he said that even though they close at 10, dining closes at 9pm. The restaurant site mentioned no such policy. I wouldn’t have known because I was new to the restaurant. I told him he could explain that better to customers because not everybody is a regular there. He asked me why I didn’t ask him for permission before sitting down in his restaurant and studying. As a paying customer, I never had to ask a restaurant if I could sit in their chairs. The tables and chairs were set, so I knew the restaurant was serving people. In fact, there were people dining in at 9:20pm (white family). Why should we ask for permission to sit in a restaurant, while it was clearly open, and after we paid for something? He eventually admitted that he thought we wouldn’t order any food. He then demanded us to tell him when we were thinking about ordering. This was weird because we were the only hijabis there, I never expected this from another Muslim. My friend and I originally wanted to get something to go but we changed our mind due to the mistreatment. When we voiced our concern he spoke over us, raised his voice at us, and told us have a great day. We were so poorly mistreated that I even began questioning if this was a halal restaurant. I guess hijabis aren’t their...

Ive eaten at many restaurants and diners throughout year and THIS one is a GAURANTEED 5star experience. I'm very thorough when I rate food establishments. I first take in the atmosphere of the place. Mazadar is very clean,uncluttered, and modern. Secondly, I look at the employees. Mazadar had incredibly warm,polite,and informative employees. I had never seen their menu prior to this visit and it was displayed beautifully above the counter. There were videos on the monitors showing their dishes being prepared. I informed the man behind the counter that I had a few restrictions and he ,very kindly,suggested dishes that would work well for me. The third aspect of my rating system is the bathrooms. If the bathroom is nasty,the kitchen will be too. Mazadars bathroom was immaculate. Very clean. The fourth,and most importantly, is the food. Our food was ordered at the counter then delivered to our table on really nice glass plates. The portion sizes were pretty big. The food was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! The greens were very fresh and crisp. An assortment of unique condiments, and dressings were readily available on each table. We had the lamb which was cooked to perfection,medium rare for me. The cost was $40 for two dinners and drinks. I'm DEFINITELY returning to this restaurant. Check out their menu online. It's a great menu. As we sat there contemplating a score over our last few bites, we were sure that this score was going to be a big one. We give this business a solid 9.3 out of 10. You will NOT be disappointed. This place deserves the...

Very dirty tables. And if you want to leave satiated, don't go. If you have the illusion you will be full after leaving this place, don't go. Ordered lamb kabob entrees, and only six pieces of lamb were delivered on each platter, though they were strategically placed on a diagonal to make the platters appear full. The pieces of lamb did taste good, as did the rice. Bread is a joke. Upon receiving such a small quantity of lamb, I approached the guy at the front, who responded it was "too much labor" to provide more, said he charged me the same price as everyone else (a response that had nothing to do with what I was telling him), and I could "order more food" if I felt it wasn't enough. I asked him to provide at least some extra chicken meat if lamb was too much for him, but he refused. Further, he served people who came later, first. We were both very hungry after wolfing down our measly portions. We angrily left, went grocery shopping for lamb, and cooked another meal at home, completely negating the point of going out in the first place. As my companion, more of an optimist than I am, said to sum it up: "It was a...