mezeh — Restaurant in Virginia

The place was mixed review. Should not have high expectations. Thought very highly of Mezeh in Fair Oaks Mall. Drove here to Reston. Probably that was mistake to set expectations. It's in office park type setting off a road, parking lot and office buildings. Did not see any outdoor seating. Not much room from road. About 8 feet? That makes the ambiance very office lunch feel. Industrial! Would suggest more decor inside and maybe some tint on glass, some light music? Did not work for us as a place to go to. If there its fine and perfect. Ie, very office feel. The food tasted stale Friday afternoon at 1. Did not have the fresh zesty taste of the other Mezeh. Tasted a bit old. The falafel was crusty and crispy a bit undercooked almost raw inside. Like they cooked fast! But not through. The staff was mostly ok. The first lady who made the pita. Was a fill in for others on break. She threw 3 pitas as she did not cut correctly. She got the 4th cut correctly and we moved down the line. Poor lady. The seating was ok. Adequate. Ambiance was industrial. Ready to leave after eating. They left the door open with barstool. Not clear. It was 50 degrees. Not too hot. Really made no sense. People had jackets on inside. After 20 minutes you notice the temperature and weird wind flow with door breeze and road sound? Not wanting to hang on. It was ok. Felt very office lunch spot. Again we drove there. That meant we were expecting something fresher. Not bad. Could be better. Won't drive to this location again. If in area...

There are several Mediterranean restaurants around, and they are growing fast, getting more popular. I am not sure in what level they are similar to a real "Mediterranean " cuisine, but I have tried many of those restaurants' foods, and I like most of their food styles. Of course not all are equal, in many aspects, such as management, price, location, customer service, and so on, I can say which one is better .

Mezeh is one of the good ones indeed. If one categorizes them based on the food style, Cava and Roti are on the same page as Mezeh. Mezeh is almost opened recently, and I went there for my dinner. Store is clean, the cashier was nice. Price is reasonable, comparing with other competitors, while Mezeh has more options. Several type of meats and veggies are available. I tried the Shawarma chicken, very good. Also I like their rice. Topping were nice and delicious, for different taste, Tahini, Greek, Hot,.... There are several choices to add, like grill corn, Turkish Salad, Olive salad, ... no limitations for what you want to add, few of them come with extra charge. Parking space is not good, at least of you want to park close by. The only negative point is the inside seating area. I did not like the configuration of the tables and chairs, not a good formation if you go...

As usual, my son and I decided to dine out, and he chose Mezeh. He's never eaten there before and at 6 years old, can be picky.

He loved it! The decor, atmosphere, and especially the food. Green salad with some cabbage, chicken, and falafel. I added more to my bowl. I like that everything is labeled so I dont have to keep asking what it is.

Now, details. The food is fresh. Try the baklava, it's awesome. They have 4 juice mixes, so we mixed equal portions of each in our cups. Very good! The seating has some padded benches and metal, freestanding chairs. Both are adequately comfortable.

Two small dings. One is the dish collection area. I'm not a fan of people trying to stack their own plates. Seems it's always a mess. The other ding is the men's room. Clean, yes. But there's no real good way to shut the door so you can lock it. There's a small coat hanger on it. Pull it with one hand, lock the door with the other hand. The men's room is meant for one person at a time. So if you have small kids, like I do, either stand outside the door or go in with them. Always put your kid's...