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| - Wow, my condolences to the people living in the Phoenix area for having such limited access to great Middle Eastern restaurants. I live in Dallas, Texas, where there's an abundance and highly competitive market for Middle Eastern food, and my in-laws are from Chicago where Middle Eastern, particularly Palestinian, cuisine is on par with the quality from overseas. Also, my family owns a well known restaurant in Dallas so I have been trained and learned the appropriate way to treat customers. Therefore, please keep in mind while reading this review the type of customer service and food quality that I am used to.
We made a reservation blindly; we had no idea what this restaurant looked like (i.e. how small, dark, and old it looked) or even where it was located. Because it's Ramadan, we made the reservation for their iftar buffet, which promptly starts at 7:30 p.m. We get there about 15 minutes late (which in Dallas and anywhere else, I believe, is not an issue) and notify a young man, I'm assuming an assistant manager/manager due to his demeanor, that we had a reservation. We were hoping that he would warmly greet us and then guide us to our reserved table. Instead, we were met with callousness when he proceeded to curtly tell us that because we are late, our table was given away (he didn't even visually scan the seating area to confirm this), we should have been there at exactly 7:30, we have no place to sit, and we were warned about this when making the reservation, which we weren't. He was pretty much telling us that we were shit out of luck and bye! My family and I stood there completely shocked by his answer and demeanor; it was unapologetic, confrontational, and unsympathetic. He seemed stressed out. Maybe their restaurant is not used to having a full house, which in this case is about only 30 people... Luckily, an assertive young lady came to our rescue by bypassing this young man and said, "Hey, table 1 is empty (most likely our reserved table), let them sit there!" The young man looked annoyed that his authority was undermined, rolled his eyes, and, without moving from his place, pointed us to table one. I don't know what his role at this restaurant is, but he utterly failed in the customer relations department. Almost everyone who works here is very young and there didn't seem to be an experienced restauranteur around to guide them. Customer service 1 out 5!
Food was meh. Their selection was incredibly limited. I believe they had about 12 items (which includes fruit and salad) in their buffet? All of the Middle Eastern restaurants in Dallas (Afrah, Sababa, Jasmine, Sultan, and Sanabel's) offers at least 30 items. But hey, that's the largest buffet stand they have so they do what they can. The food was not memorable. As I write this review, I can't even remember what I had from there. I only remember the really bad taste in my mouth from dealing with that young man.
Basically, I understand why locals rate this place 4 stars or higher; they don't have access to better Middle Eastern food! Because Dallas is a highly competitive food market, the managers/owners will treat everyone with respect and tries their hardest to win over customers through their service and quality of food. For example, during Ramadan, Afrah's owner, who was featured on Food Network's Guy Fieri's show, is there every night greeting customers and making sure that everyone is treated well. His restaurant can occupy 250, I believe. You can imagine how hectic the restaurant gets during Ramadan, but one day my husband and I show up without a reservation and the place is completely packed, but he tells us, "Don't worry, I'll look for a table for you and make it happen!" He knows that we are tired and hungry from fasting, and behold, he arranges an empty table for us among a sea of people. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the standard for good customer service and an example of an owner who is dedicated to building a loyal customer base.
So to the people of Arizona, if you ever come to Dallas, Texas, try out one or as many of the Middle Eastern restaurants I mentioned and you will be in awe of their food and at the same time angered by the realization of the subpar service and food you all endure.
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