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| - Have you ever had a moment when you were standing in line and instantly regretted going to a takeout food court vendor, but still had to commit to it anyway?
My experience at Villa Madina was like that.
Let me start with the obvious. The staff needs to work on cleanliness. Yes, I understand that the unruly Lebanese family with five people showed up demanding all sorts of extras to their food. Fine, nature of the beast. When the father is sliding his five-year-old daughter along the counter and letting her touch trays - the same trays people are picking up and taking with them, mind you - you need to wipe that down with Lysol or something.
Were I not under the clock and on my way to another destination, I would have easily walked then and there. Unfortunately, I had to commit and once again found myself overpaying for something that underdelivered.
I went for the beef-and-chicken shawarma plate ($10). You can't really screw a dish like that up, and the quality was suitably decent. Like others have said, I seem to recall their portion sizes being bigger in the past, but maybe it was because I was ordering to go. They just ladled some beef and chicken on top and called it a day. The place was a zoo with a lineup quickly forming behind me, so I just told them to put "everything" on it. Perhaps that wasn't the right idea, because they seemed to skimp on half the extras.
I would almost contend that there's a bit of favoritism going on, because the aforementioned family in front of me were asking for extra salad, vegetables, everything.
The spicy rice I ordered did have a suitable kick, which was a nice surprise for a chain restaurant. The rest of the food was a bit dry, and I wished they'd thrown in more tzatziki or something to balance it out.
For the price I paid (almost $15 after taxes for the dish and a drink), I doubt I'll be back to Villa Madina again. Lackluster quality, possible sanitary issues and dry food add up to a frustrating and underwhelming experience.
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