Samaa's Kitchen — Restaurant in Warrenton

TONS OF FAKE FIVE STAR REVIEWS. A few with variations of the same name, many with only ONE review and this is the only place they've reviewed.

Don't ignore the bad reviews, the prices are exorbitant and the food is awful.

We were super excited for a new local restaurant to open in Warrenton that wasn't a chain and wasn't just basic American food. All of our excitement ended with the first phone call to place an order.

Someone picked up the phone, didn't say anything but you could hear background noise. We said hello, and the person said hello back to us. No greeting? That's weird. How about "Samaa's Kitchen of Warrenton, how may I help you"? Grunting into the phone like a caveman is a turnoff. Ordering a few items, the girl on the other end just grunted. Nothing else was said. Seriously, nothing. We asked if they were still there and they said yes. It sounded like a very young girl, which it turns out it was. She didn't offer to repeat the order or give us an idea of when it would be ready.

Arriving to pick up the food, it wasn't ready even after 20+ minutes. The establishment itself wasn't super clean even though it had opened relatively recently. The girl behind the counter was maybe 14 years old and hadn't received any training nor was she very friendly.

Our food wasn't great at all. You can't just call a dish shawarma by throwing basic, unseasoned grilled chicken on a piece of bread with vegetables and drizzle a comically small portion of garlic sauce on it. That's like calling something a taco just because you put it on a tortilla, doesn't work. The beef on the beef shawarma we ordered didn't have one iota of seasoning on it and was a bit bitter. Sadly, the french fries were really undercooked.

Portion sizes were disappointing and the baklava tasted like it was pre-packaged.

Doubt we will return since our initial experience was so incredibly...

We were heading to the area and wanted to grab a quick lunch. The restaurant was on our radar from a previous visit to the shopping center.

When you go in, it's a no-frills place. I'd say their location is a bit tough since it's in the back corner of a shopping center away from the street, so it's not getting a view as you drive by. We hadn't seen many (any?) Mediterranean restaurants in the area and wanted to give it a go.

We went very classic: I had the chicken shawarma and my wife had the gyro. Both came with fries and some pickled veggie on the side. We dined in and orders came out quickly. Flatbread was pretty well filled with chicken, lettuce, tomato, and onion, plus some kind of sauce. Same for the gyro except it had 3 long, flat pieces of gyro meat. Fries were fresh, hot, and crisp. The garlic sauce on the side was quite good... Not something I'd usually go for, but I used it and my wife used all of hers plus what I had left.

The location was quiet, prices weren't bad. There's not an extensive menu, so I'd be interested in trying some more of the Mediterranean options. I saw they also have burgers, steak & cheese, etc., but that didn't appeal to me. I wouldn't say it's a go-out-of-the-way place, but considering I haven't seen anything comparable, I'd go back if I was craving some...

Not good, not recommended. We ordered two gyros sandwiches, a side order of onion rings and the chicken quesadilla appetizer. All disappointed.

Called back to make sure they would put the tzatziki sauce on the side, talked to the woman who took my order and she said she'd take care of it. Tzatziki sauce was not on the side when we opened the order at home.

Picked up the order promptly (have to give them that, they were timely) and took it home.

Issues: Onion rings batter still wet inside Fries that came with gyros were pale and floppy, not close to properly cooked Quesadilla (I didn't try it) was ok, but person who ate it said they would not order it again Gyro was the least palatable I've ever eaten. Two sad, extremely thin pieces of meat, a couple small tomato slices, a bit of lettuce, and some very average tzatziki sauce, all wrapped in a bulky pita that seemed chosen to make up for the lack of the other ingredients.

This for $50 including a $5 tip.

Not going back, would not send anyone there based on...