Hot mess doesn't begin to describe my experience here a couple nights ago. I have to imagine that the 3+ star reviewers either got lucky or ordered on DoorDash and didn't get to "see how the sausage is made." Because believe me, if you saw what I saw, you would avoid this place like the plague. I was visiting town and wanted to get dinner for my parents, so I took my dad here to place a takeout order. He's the type of guy who refuses to complain about anything, so when the employee told us they were all out of grilled chicken (at 5pm), we still pressed forward with placing an order even though none of the other options looked appetizing. This employee was the type of person who's in a bad mood from the moment they start a conversation with you. We all know the type. People in the service industry who loathe customers and have no interest in being subtle about it. She kicked things off by complaining that they were short staffed. We were empathetic, having both worked in the service industry before and knowing how hard that can be. But her attitude only got worse from there. Yalla has a Chipotle style assembly line. She kept rolling her eyes and acting impatient while we tried very hard to be efficient with our ordering. It was this bizarre feedback loop where we'd tell her what we wanted and then she'd act like she didn't hear us and was aggressively frustrated that we were taking so long to tell her what we wanted. It was a trip. So at this point in our Yalla adventure we were dealing with (1) unappetizing food and (2) absurdly rude service. Then the employee nonchalantly used her hand to wipe the counter clean... without changing gloves from the one she was using to plate our food! Three strikes. I knew we had to pull the ripcord before we got to the checkout. An incredibly awkward position to be in and something I've done maybe only one other time in my entire life. Nobody wants to make a scene or appear unreasonable to bystanders. My dad still felt bad for the employee and wanted to see it through. Our compromise was to at least leave a cash tip. We told the employee that we had something urgent come up and had to leave, but made it clear that we were leaving a tip for her at the counter. She said, "Seriously?!?", creating exactly the scene we were worried about. We left the tip at the counter and made our way for the exit. But she wasn't done: "Thanks for wasting my time!!!"
Corey C.
Rip off. Their website doesn't take orders, so use the app. But the app accepts orders when they are closed. You get a confirmation and pick up time. And they charge your card. But they are closed. Classy establishment. AVOID.
Amanda Mazzei
We absolutely love this place! The staff is phenomenal!!! Food is delicious. The portions are great! I can't believe there aren't more of these. But we cherish this gem..
Lynn S.
I ordered a bowl with vegetables, humus and gyro meat. The meat was like eating meat chips . It was thin slices that were cooked till icrispy. The vegis were over cooked and the flat bread was stale/ hard. For almost $20 I expected mediterranian freshness and flavors. The only edible part of the meal was the scoop of hummus. I used the meat chips as a scoop to eat the hummus. Don't bother!!!!
Eva J.
5/5 for delicious vegan options: impossible meat and falafel. The salad is fresh, and their rice, pita, hummus and baba ghanoush are all pretty good. They never seem to have their lemonade/tea working the last few times I went there so just an FYI for you lemonade/iced tea lovers.
Ruby D.
$50 for 3 small plates of food with 5 strips of gyro meat. The pita was a small dried disc of bread. Very disappointed And won't be back.
Timur P.
Ordered online, came in the store 40 mins later, the order is not ready and not even started. The explanation was that they do not receive notifications that order is placed and they have to manually look up from time to time. While I was waiting for the order to be completed, seemed they work on it with lower priority than orders of new customers streaming into the store.
Romeo S.
Quality of the food and service has deteriorated. It's not the same place as it used to be. They need to shut down if management can't run the place.....
Samantha R.
So I am sitting in this location and the staff is so unprofessional. One of the girls is cussing up a storm while customers are being helped and sitting in the dinning room. Talking so loud about drama with other coworkers. Extremely disrespectful. I love the food and this place is usually amazing with some amazing staff members but it's sad that a few people can drag the service down. I've worked in restaurants and understand things happen but not when customers can hear all the drama. Just so unprofessional!
Babak Momenzadeh
Yalla used to be one of my favorite places to eat several months ago. I ordered a grilled chicken bowl tonight and I got to say it was very disappointing. The quality of food has drastically worsen over the past months. The food was cold, the food portion was small and it didn't taste very good and the quality wasn't good either. The only reason I'm giving a 3 star instead of 1 is because of the tasty food I used to eat here. I don't think I will go here in near future again.
Wow where should I start. The rice was barely cooked all the way The chicken shawarma is literally a cat meat. The salads so so bad the seasoning is just not connected As a Middle Eastern this is far from the authentic food in the Middle East and far from the taste
Carolina C.
. Food was bad. All the tables were dirty so there was no place to eat. Service was horrible. The girl that was helping me and my husband seem like she didnt want to be there, just plain rude. We decided to take the food home and eat it there, when we got home which is only 5m away from the restaurant We tried to eat it but the meat was too dry and was just bad. We ended up throwing it all away. We paid $34 for two bowls with gyro. Dont waste your money at this place.
Van G.
What I liked about this place is the variety and choices of sides and sauces that you can choose to go with the meat, rice and beans. The meat is freshly cooked, but very little amount, rice and beans are warm and all the sides are cold. Pretty good sides would be the beets, hummus, babaghanoush and spicy cheese.
Ariana Penate
Such HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!! Called so many times to try and place an order to go but they did not answer. Then showed up to the restaurant where I had an employee wave me in and welcome me. They did NOT ask for my vaccine card upon entry. I asked them what type of food they had. They proceeded to talk to me about the menu. They did not have what I want so I told I would think about it. Then as I was walking away they asked me for proof of vaccine. As I was pulling it out I realized I left it in the car. Then the woman started HARASSING me for forgetting my vaccine card. When it was there fault for not asking me upon entry! I told them I could go back for it but did not want to give my money to a restaurant that seems to discriminate and blame customers for their wrongdoing.
Chip J.
Very grateful they require vaccination of all customers. Makes the place feel safe in this time, and great food.
Hot mess doesn't begin to describe my experience here a couple nights ago. I have to imagine that the 3+ star reviewers either got lucky or ordered on DoorDash and didn't get to "see how the sausage is made." Because believe me, if you saw what I saw, you would avoid this place like the plague. I was visiting town and wanted to get dinner for my parents, so I took my dad here to place a takeout order. He's the type of guy who refuses to complain about anything, so when the employee told us they were all out of grilled chicken (at 5pm), we still pressed forward with placing an order even though none of the other options looked appetizing. This employee was the type of person who's in a bad mood from the moment they start a conversation with you. We all know the type. People in the service industry who loathe customers and have no interest in being subtle about it. She kicked things off by complaining that they were short staffed. We were empathetic, having both worked in the service industry before and knowing how hard that can be. But her attitude only got worse from there. Yalla has a Chipotle style assembly line. She kept rolling her eyes and acting impatient while we tried very hard to be efficient with our ordering. It was this bizarre feedback loop where we'd tell her what we wanted and then she'd act like she didn't hear us and was aggressively frustrated that we were taking so long to tell her what we wanted. It was a trip. So at this point in our Yalla adventure we were dealing with (1) unappetizing food and (2) absurdly rude service. Then the employee nonchalantly used her hand to wipe the counter clean... without changing gloves from the one she was using to plate our food! Three strikes. I knew we had to pull the ripcord before we got to the checkout. An incredibly awkward position to be in and something I've done maybe only one other time in my entire life. Nobody wants to make a scene or appear unreasonable to bystanders. My dad still felt bad for the employee and wanted to see it through. Our compromise was to at least leave a cash tip. We told the employee that we had something urgent come up and had to leave, but made it clear that we were leaving a tip for her at the counter. She said, "Seriously?!?", creating exactly the scene we were worried about. We left the tip at the counter and made our way for the exit. But she wasn't done: "Thanks for wasting my time!!!"
Rip off. Their website doesn't take orders, so use the app. But the app accepts orders when they are closed. You get a confirmation and pick up time. And they charge your card. But they are closed. Classy establishment. AVOID.
We absolutely love this place! The staff is phenomenal!!! Food is delicious. The portions are great! I can't believe there aren't more of these. But we cherish this gem..
I ordered a bowl with vegetables, humus and gyro meat. The meat was like eating meat chips . It was thin slices that were cooked till icrispy. The vegis were over cooked and the flat bread was stale/ hard. For almost $20 I expected mediterranian freshness and flavors. The only edible part of the meal was the scoop of hummus. I used the meat chips as a scoop to eat the hummus. Don't bother!!!!
5/5 for delicious vegan options: impossible meat and falafel. The salad is fresh, and their rice, pita, hummus and baba ghanoush are all pretty good. They never seem to have their lemonade/tea working the last few times I went there so just an FYI for you lemonade/iced tea lovers.
$50 for 3 small plates of food with 5 strips of gyro meat. The pita was a small dried disc of bread. Very disappointed And won't be back.
Ordered online, came in the store 40 mins later, the order is not ready and not even started. The explanation was that they do not receive notifications that order is placed and they have to manually look up from time to time. While I was waiting for the order to be completed, seemed they work on it with lower priority than orders of new customers streaming into the store.
Quality of the food and service has deteriorated. It's not the same place as it used to be. They need to shut down if management can't run the place.....
So I am sitting in this location and the staff is so unprofessional. One of the girls is cussing up a storm while customers are being helped and sitting in the dinning room. Talking so loud about drama with other coworkers. Extremely disrespectful. I love the food and this place is usually amazing with some amazing staff members but it's sad that a few people can drag the service down. I've worked in restaurants and understand things happen but not when customers can hear all the drama. Just so unprofessional!
Yalla used to be one of my favorite places to eat several months ago. I ordered a grilled chicken bowl tonight and I got to say it was very disappointing. The quality of food has drastically worsen over the past months. The food was cold, the food portion was small and it didn't taste very good and the quality wasn't good either. The only reason I'm giving a 3 star instead of 1 is because of the tasty food I used to eat here. I don't think I will go here in near future again.
Restaurantji Recommends
Wow where should I start. The rice was barely cooked all the way The chicken shawarma is literally a cat meat. The salads so so bad the seasoning is just not connected As a Middle Eastern this is far from the authentic food in the Middle East and far from the taste
. Food was bad. All the tables were dirty so there was no place to eat. Service was horrible. The girl that was helping me and my husband seem like she didnt want to be there, just plain rude. We decided to take the food home and eat it there, when we got home which is only 5m away from the restaurant We tried to eat it but the meat was too dry and was just bad. We ended up throwing it all away. We paid $34 for two bowls with gyro. Dont waste your money at this place.
What I liked about this place is the variety and choices of sides and sauces that you can choose to go with the meat, rice and beans. The meat is freshly cooked, but very little amount, rice and beans are warm and all the sides are cold. Pretty good sides would be the beets, hummus, babaghanoush and spicy cheese.
Such HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!! Called so many times to try and place an order to go but they did not answer. Then showed up to the restaurant where I had an employee wave me in and welcome me. They did NOT ask for my vaccine card upon entry. I asked them what type of food they had. They proceeded to talk to me about the menu. They did not have what I want so I told I would think about it. Then as I was walking away they asked me for proof of vaccine. As I was pulling it out I realized I left it in the car. Then the woman started HARASSING me for forgetting my vaccine card. When it was there fault for not asking me upon entry! I told them I could go back for it but did not want to give my money to a restaurant that seems to discriminate and blame customers for their wrongdoing.
Very grateful they require vaccination of all customers. Makes the place feel safe in this time, and great food.