Byblos Deli — Restaurant in Washington

As I handed over the $100 bill to the man over the counter after being handed over the sandwich, he looked at it disdainfully, looked at it against light and asked me, "Printed in India" ? I have to admit, not having gone through Middle School and High School in the US, I am perennially ill-prepared to deal with such verbal blows. And of course, my subcontinental identity is written all over me and the way I speak. So it was bull's eye for the man ! However, I mustered the courage and said, "No". He was not to be taken down. He tried next, "Printed in China?" By that time, I had collected all my grit from suffering twenty years of on and off racial abuse in the US and responded, "What makes you think it is printed in China?" He was probably not used to a response hurled back at him from brown people. Taken slightly aback, he asked " Do you want to hear a joke ?" And then proceeded to share some joke about how in Armenia (or wherever ) they had mass printed counterfeit bills. From the reviews that I see here, it seems that he is selective in choosing his target. Good for him and his business.

Sandwich was good, 4 stars; sadly I can take away only 3...

Update: I am giving this place an additional star. The spinach pie is amazing. I came by 2 more times since my primary review to eat this. I cant really recommend this place for much else -- but definitely try the spinach pie!

Old Review: I hate to give this place a 3-star rating because those working the desk were extremely nice and the food came out quickly, but I was not entirely happy with the quality of the food I got.

The shawarma I ate was a bit heavy on the humus and garlic and light on the meat. That being said, I am used to lamb Shawarmas with cucumber/and pickled turnips. I saw the spit but it didnt seem like this restaurant made lamb shawarma -- I will ask next time. As a side I got fries which were all around average -- nothing special there.

Prices were fair at around 6-7 dollars a plate -- my entire meal cost less than 11 dollars. There is a 10 dollar min here for credit cards.

I heard a lot of talk about the spinach pie -- which I look forward to trying. They have a decent offering on the menu so I hate to only leave a review for one bad plate -- I will update this review once I have tried...

t he was talking to the other people. I said no big deal and moved on, then he asked for here or to go, I said for here and need a table for 2, he then got frustrated and said that this is a self service place which is not a big deal, a clear sign or pleasant communication would suffice but there is none so we were confused that do we just sit down or order and then sit, all the owner has to do was communicate this pleasantly and professionally but clearly he was having a bad day and started talking loud and saying on how was being respectful all while being a complete jerk. I am not even sure how this place is rated 4.3 as it is a complete dump and the owner looked just so unclean that I wouldn’t want him even touching my food. We obviously left and went next door. I have been in customer service and retail all my life and this exactly what I preach on how not to treat your customers. It’s truly a shame that this even occurred. Please avoid this place there are multiple other nice places on the same block. I hope the owner here can go take some classes on how to be respectful in a business setting because clearly he...