Zaitoon Kitchen — Restaurant in Town of Colonie

Small, fast-casual halal spot.

Things I liked: First and foremost, it's hard to find a good halal spot so points for serving halal, grass fed meat. Very clean, modern environment, easy to understand menu. We went during iftar time so the place was packed, but the woman taking orders up front didn't miss a beat; she didn't stop working from the moment we got in until they were closed. Very friendly, very accommodating even when some other customers were (frankly) being annoying. She broke her fast but kept the line short and got people their orders quickly. Because it was crowded there was a 15-20 minute wait, but she went around with a plate of dates for those of us waiting to break our fasts, which gave the place a warm, back home feel. The baklava and mint tea we had at the end were great.

Things I didn't like: Food quality was average, taste was a bit of a let down. I had the garden salad with beef kabab, wasn't particularly memorable. Seasoning was heavy on the sumac and meat was a little dry. Also, my friend had the rice plate with beef kabab, which had significantly more food than my salad despite the very small price difference (I think $1.) We also ordered a side of Baba ghanoush which was very bland.

Overall, I would go to this place again if I was in the area, but I wouldn't go out if my way to specifically go here until the food...

I feel so bad writing this review like I haven't felt other times. This restaurant was rated so high that I was so eager to make it.

The restaurant is centrally located and I discovered this restaurant while I was at another restaurant across the street. I googled it, and found to be better highly rated. I wonder why people don't market it.

It's more like a self service restaurant, where you order at the counter and wait for the food. They have ample seating and while I was there, they did receive a lot of take out orders.

The food arrived in a timely fashion, but my issue was with my main dishes that I ordered...a spicy sandwich for my son....the chicken was either old as it was way to fibery almost like a gum. Bolagni, had a weird smell, usually smells that way when oil is a lil old. Shawarma on a nan roll combo, I ordered fries as a side and the fries was stuffed into the shawarma, which was odd.

The grape leaves was good. Overalls based on the reviews my expectations were high and that definitely were not met. I will probably go in again, giving them the benefit of doubt and leave the review neutral.

The value for money is pretty well as the pricing...

Walking in, first impression: small place with simple interior designs and decorations, which were simple chair and table set ups. The lighting was slightly dimmer than I would like for such settings in my opinion. The way to order was to go up to the counter to order in exchange of the buzzer, and when the buzzer went off, you would just go bring the food yourself back to your table. It kind of seems like "fast food" style, but they were not particular fast, which hopefully translate to things were cooked and made fresh per order.

I really enjoyed their kabobs, they are very juice and packed with tremendous amount of flavors, definitely one of the better ones I had ever had. You gotta try the kabobs, which was the whole point of this place. The rice platter came in a good size, with rice and vegetables as sides. However, I did have one complain, which was their white sauce. It was not as special as some other white sauce I encountered that the white sauce could potentially wake the dish up. The presence of the sauce here did not do a whole long in terms of tightening the...