Ali Baba Grill Cafe

Some food was great!, some food tasted less flavor or missing something... Food came out fresh though. Just their service made me feel awkward. We got there few minutes after they open for lunch. We were the first customer and no other customer were there yet. When we sat at the table, the server dropped off menu and started setting up each table entire the restaurant which they could have finished before they open, so he took a while to come our table for taking our drink or food order. AC was not quite working, so it was very warm in there. Food took a bit long time to come out. Paying system was quite strange. They won't bring us check to the table, so we needed to go at the front. He showed me the tablet super quick so at that point I did not know they charged us 18% of "Service Charge" for party of 2. I did not realize that till I paid tips, received the receipt, and went back to the parking lot. I felt this place kind of shady.

Food: I had the musakka guvec with white rice, bulgur, pickled red cabbage, pita bread, and tzatziki sauce. I also got falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, and walnut baklava. Disappointed they didn’t have the kanafeh or kazandibi desserts available! Will come back next time for them. Extraordinarily delicious, extremely well seasoned, and by far one of the best moussaka variants I’ve ever eaten. Loved the pita, was warm and well balanced with crunchy and soft parts. Falafel was pleasantly surprisingly tangy and very fresh made. Hummus is very thick but true to the chickpeas. Baklava was astoundingly good and was the lightest baklava I’ve ever had; most baklava tend to be very thick and too heavy with the syrup sauce, but this was very balanced and rounded. Portions for the musakka was huge and are very reasonable for the price. Service: This isn’t the kind of place you should expect the server to baby you. They’re busy and do not hawk your table fishing for a good tip, so you must flag them if you want/need something. This is very common for places with people who grew up culturally very different than here in the states, so expect to call for service. Aside from that, they’re very fast to prepare food and are more than willing to make exceptions for what you want. I asked to try small portions of falafel, baba ganoush, and hummus, none of which are available on their own on the menu normally, hence why they’re served on small plates and the hummus in a sauce cup hahah. Overall: Expect to spend some money for food here, but the food is very very worth it. I wish I could eat here more often. Definitely a place I will return to and try more things in the menu. Their menu says “if your [sic] a food lover, you have come to the right address.” Indeed, any foodie will like this place, especially if you are wanting hella good Turkish food.

Do not let the exterior of this place fool you. This is a lovely restaurant for Turkish and Mediterranean fair. Apparently, it went under new ownership two years ago but was never announced online. The new owner did a complete renovation inside, brought in new group seating, comfortable chairs and tables, and even a lounge area. I had a Mediterranean salad with gyro meat and tzatziki, and it was refreshing. They even gifted me a small dessert of baklava because I was having a bad day, and they wanted to be nice. The server was incredibly sweet and friendly, and we enjoyed a nice conversation about when I lived in turkey years before.

Everything was phenomenal. Service was over the top. Kofta & Chicken Adana were grilled perfectly! Beyti Kabob was a savory mix of multiple flavors, hard to explain other than delicious! Sekerpare "a heavy, rich & sweet sugar cookie" was a nice ending to a great dinner!

Husband and I came for lunch. We shared a two person combo meal and a kanafeh for desert, both had waters. Food was good but shocked when the price was $77.