Drive through Marrakesh — Restaurant in Tulsa

Over the weekend my family and I visited this establishment in an effort to broaden our culinary horizons. It was a Thursday evening and we had arrived with no reservation. We walked through the door and I greet the owner, expecting to be asked “how many?” or “I’ll be with you in a moment” instead we were “greeted” by the owner walking right past us through the front doors and greeting a couple on the street and welcoming them in. This was the first stark difference of treatment my family and I received.

We sat down and the owner was busy taking orders and chatting with other customers. We waited for about 20 minutes and the owner came by to take our order. This was the second difference in treatment. While I can understand how exhausting the food service industry is, our white counterparts in the restaurant were afforded explanations and laughs with their orders. We were a rush job. The owner mentioned that another person would take our drink order.

So we wait for the bartender to take our order, we try and flag him down. However, he says hell be with us in a moment and heads back to the bar. He had taken and given the drink order of a family sitting next to us, who were seated after us. So we wait a little longer and I decided to go up to him and save him the trouble of running through the restaurant to our table. After we place our drink order we wait for another 30-40 minutes. At this point the feeling sets in, that our service is not a priority to staff. This is when we decided to leave.

Everyone in our family did not speak of our treatment until after ordering our drinks. This was not a conspiracy, this was an epiphany, a realization that we are different from all the other customers, from that we could only deduce that our treatment was because of our complexion. There was no communication or action to show that we were going to be taken care of.

May it be inattentiveness, may it be racism. The terminology distracts from the point; that we felt unwelcome and unimportant. We live in an era where empathy and hospitality are rare commodities, I am disheartened by our treatment and hope that the next Indian, Black, White, or Chinese families to visit are greeted by care and enthusiasm.

This review is not a personal attack, this review, I hope, is a way to share experience and let staff know about a...

Yesterday we decided to try out Notes of Marrakech: a Taste of Morocco which is located at 315 Trenton Avenue across from the Church Studio in the Pearl District.

The small dining room was beautifully decorated and perfectly clean and comfortable.

Unknown to us, they had a huge catering order underway and had been closed most of the day. Luckily they had decided to open for a couple of hours mid-afternoon so we got there at the perfect time.

The chef/owner, Sovana, came out to our table immediately and welcomed us warmly. She said things might be a bit slow because they were catering a large wedding that evening, but as it turned out, service actually was fairly quick.

We shared two appetizers. The cream cheese “cigars” were crispy cylindrical shells stuffed with housemade cream cheese that was seasoned with thyme, peppermint, garlic, and Italian peppers. The second appetizer was lamb sausage in blankets, which were pieces of deliciously spiced meat wrapped in crisp layers of phyllo and topped with poppy seeds. Both appetizers were absolutely delicious.

My wife’s entree was the roasted chicken tajine with prunes and apricots. The couple of bites I had were wonderful. The chicken was moist and tender and the fruits were perfectly sweet.

I had the perfectly seasoned boneless lamb tajine which was super tender and studded with slices of preserved lemon and whole Kalamata olives.

We both loved the Moroccan bread which was ideal for soaking up the tajine juices.

We washed down our food with two luscious fresh fruit drinks. The first was made with pineapple, coconut, and lemon and the second was Egyptian mango and strawberry.

We were too full to try the desserts, but they all looked wonderful. Their breakfast menu was also enticing.

Sovana and our server both came by and checked on us several times. Their welcoming friendliness was a big plus to a fabulous meal.

Hours are 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Monday-Saturday. They are closed on Sunday. We were able to park on the street on a Saturday afternoon. There may be off-street parking behind the Church Studio, but I’m not sure about that.

This small eatery is a gem which we highly recommend. I hope a lot of people will help...

I went here with my girlfriend, excited to finally try the place. We waited quite a while before anyone even came to take our order. We were already about to leave. When they finally did, I ordered a main dish and an alcohol drink. That drink never came.

So about 10 minutes later, the waiter came back to tell me my dish wasn’t available. I tried ordering something else — also unavailable. At that point, I asked for a recommendation and went with that. Also, the waitress spilled water on our table twice in a row while refilling our water. I hope they get better employees, as they can’t seem to be able to keep up.

Later, the owner came to say they made my dish incorrectly and that it will be a longer wait. Then, strangely enough, the owner came back over to say that my original dish was suddenly available because another table had left, so they were just going to give us theirs. It felt odd, but I was hungry and figured I’d just go with it.

When the bill came, the owner told us they don’t accept cards — something that was not posted anywhere in the restaurant. She said she’d “make an exception” and let me use my credit card this time, which felt more like an inconvenience than a favor. What kind of restaurant tries to make you feel guilty about using a card? What year is this? Get a different payment processor. Never make your customers feel guilty.

After my girlfriend posted her review, the owner publicly responded claiming that our story “never happened”. I want to be clear — I was there. This is exactly what happened to us. Whether or not the owner remembers it differently, this was our genuine experience, and my review reflects that truthfully.

I had really been looking forward to eating here, but between the long wait, unavailable menu items, spilled water, being told they made the wrong order, missing drink, and awkward payment situation, it was not a good experience. I won’t be returning and can’t...