aida's mediterranean bistro

great place!. i tried aida's for the first time yesterday after hearinggoodthings about it for a while. it did not disappoint. the food was fresh and high quality. i had the falafel as well as the chicken tawook sandwich with fattoush and potatoes. huge portions and it was all delicious & service wasgoodtoo. it was nice to see someone making a traditional fattoush salad and they got it right. i will be back, but if going for dinner, i suggest a reservation as it isn' t that big of a space.

so so so yummy. i would fly back to calgary just to have the mouhammara......
i have since left calgary and moved out east. i can't find a restaurant asgoodas this one for similar cuisine.

i used to order takeout from here a lot when i lived in calgary as well as dine in.

miss you aida's

greatgoodand service. i am been to aida's a few times for lunch and service was always quick and very good. had the veggie mezza and the falafel and both were great.

aida's is one of our favorite places to go with friends. the dishes aregoodfor sharing, even though it's not a tapas style restaurant. there are so many things to choose from and the portions are fairly generous. we went with another couple on a friday evening and had reservations for 8, the restaurant was still packed. we decided to share the seafood mezza, chicken couscous, mahamoura, and the shish kabob platter. the food was very verygoodand we were full and even had small amounts leftover of each dish. i would recommend this restaurant.

***see my mar 2017 update at bottom of review***

april 2016: mixed feelings - i have been to this restaurant around a dozen times over the past 18 months.
the food has always been fresh and tasty while the service has been friendly and more than adequate.

however, i was recently disappointed when i came with a group of girlfriends. there were 9 of us in total and we had a waitress who i did not recognize. i'm not sure is she was new. however, she was dry, unhelpful and curt. she definitely did not add to the dining experience. one of the ladies thought she was served the incorrect plate and when she questioned it, the waitress was quite curt. she barely looked at my friend and she did not stop walking. she quickly said 'yes that is the xyz dish'. there was absolutely no concern for why my friend thought she received the incorrect dish. as i was the one that organized the dinner, i felt responsible for how my friend was treated so i called the waitress over and asked about the garlic purée that is mentioned in the description on the menu. she gave me a funny look like she did not know what i was taking about. i kept on explaining until she finally said 'so you want some garlic purée' to which i replied 'yes'.

well, she literally brought us puréed garlic. we thought it would be garlic mixed with tahini or humus. on top of that, she charged us for it. we did not bring this up, but we were not impressed.

added to this she would not do individual bills, but added an 18% tip. i have no issue with a higher tip for groups, but at least give us individual bills. otherwise, where is the extra work that warrants a higher gratuity?

one of the ladies asked for her bill earlier as she was not sure if she could wait until the end. she was given a bill that she had to return as it was incorrect. once she paid her bill, we were told that even though she paid, her items would still be on the one master bill.

the final thing that disturbed me was that the waitress came back to our table after we all paid and said very dryly that she was missing $33. i found that odd because every one was adding about a $1 more to their tab to ensure that all was covered. i asked for a reprint of the bill and she said she could not do it! the bill that i had was now grease stained with a lot of markings on it so i was hoping for a fresh copy. at this point, we asked her for a copy of the receipts/money she had collected. a few had paid cash so we suspected she was missing something, and we were wondering if she forgot to add what our one friend paid earlier. at that point, she came back and said that she found a missing payment so we now only owed her $3. she did not apologize. we quickly gave it to her, but we were not impressed and i am quite certain that she miscounted and we over paid.

it is too bad as the ladies agreed that the food and drinks were brought out in a timely manner and all was tasty and reasonably priced. however, they found they were not impressed with other aspects of the service. as such, i can only recommend this restaurant for groups of up to 4 people. i hope that when i return again with my husband that we receive the service that we are used to receiving at this establishment. i am giving a rating of 4/5 for the food, but only a 2.5/5 for the service.

march 2017 - update

i went back to aida's last night with 6 girlfriends and the waitress was willing to do individual bills for us. she explained that their computer system does not make this easy, but they will be getting a new one which will simplify this task. she said for now she could split the bills as long as people did not share items. as we all had individual platters, it was not an issue and she said with the new system they will be able to split shared plates. all of us enjoyed our food and our waitress provided excellent service this time for our group. i've also gone back many times with my husband and have always receivedgoodservice with him.

i'm now upgrading my rating to a 4.

great restaurant and have enjoyed the food here many times.  the falafel plate was tasty and very well done.  appetizer platter was verygoodas well.

mediterranean feel on 4th - start with mouhammara divine. i was treated to aida's for a lunch with a co-worker. i have never been in a mediterranean bistro before. a admit i had no idea what i wanted to eat. my gf ordered for us, as her and her hubby have supper here few times a year. the food was delish!!! fresh, hot,goodportions, and the atmosphere is wonderful. we were sat by the window which seems a bit cooler with the fan blowing but i am sure on a hot summers day, that seat is hard to come by!!! i was pleasantly surprised by the meal. the flavors we wonderful and i am hoping i can convince a friend or hubby to go for dinner one night~ yum
i am hooked ... mouhammara is unbelievable divine and the hummus, ohh it is smooth like butter.... to die foe, best i ever had

to return or not to return, that is the question.goodfood, high prices, poor service. it is such a shame when a restaurant hasgoodfood but the rest of the experience is lacking. i love the dips here, and my shish kabob was delicious but the portion was 2 small skewers; and to be honest, the portion was fine, but the price makes it hard to see the value. my friend loved her dinner but hated her dessert...she respectfully returned it but they kept it on the bill because "there wasn't anything really wrong with it, you just didn't like it"; and stormed off when we insisted it be removed. and when i looked forward to finishing off my dips that i had taken home, i open the box to see the pita bread was not packed with it! ridiculous! that is common sense to include those, they were on my plate and i asked for it to be packed up! sadly, i don't think i will return, no matter howgoodthe dips were.

mediocre lamb skewer platter. this was my first time going to aida's. because of thegoodhype - i stopped by for a to go lunch.

when i called and asked the server if the lamb platter was agoodportion for me - she claimed they were really large skewers of meat. i was planning to share with a friend.

when i went to get my order and opened it up - here were 2 tiny skews you could by for 12.bucks at opa in a food court. the lamb platter is 22 bucks - what am i paying for? a small side of hummus, greasy salad and undercooked rice??!?

mediterranean food fans are better off going to mazay a in mardi where the portions are worth the price. plus the lamb actually has spices on it and are not just thrown on a grill.

the quality of food is not worth it - even sharwarma king in kensington will only charge you 14 bucks max for a platter with all the sides.

on top of that my server was rude to me! brown haired gal and black clothes.

worst experience ever!!!!!

wilhelm b..goodservice, but that's about it. halibut was way overcooked, green beans were like those from a frozen pack of veggies. the lack of flavor and lack of spices was surprising. the atmosphere was cramped (e.g. the waitress kept bumping into us while we ate, while trying to serve others), and very loud; it was hard to carry on a conversation - it was like an echo chamber. because of these factors, it was way overpriced. it was the first, and the last time eating there. big disappointment.

our default lunch spot. i don't know what it is about aida's but it seems like it has been a part of my life forever, as a place to entertain visitors, celebrate family birthdays, and lunch with my friends. i have weathered the rare (very rare) over-dressed tabbouli salad and non-crunchy falafel sandwich, but for the most part, you can count on getting a delicious meal there. the muhammara (red pepper/walnut/pomegranate dip) with pita is to die for, and everything else is asgoodas it should be: salads fresh, meats tender, falafel cooked perfectly. middle eastern desserts are decadent but yummy.

delicious!. my friend and i came to aida's today for lunch. it was my first time there, and had heardgoodthings about it so i had pretty high expectations. my expectations were definitely met!
the inside of the restaurant is really nice. it's a little small, but it gives it a warm energy in there. we made sure to make a reservation to ensure that we could get a table!
we got hummus as an appetizer. it was real, traditional hummus and it was very flavourful!
for my meal i got the grilled chicken and it was amazingly good. i love garlic, and it's very garlicky, so if you don't like garlic i would suggest a different meal.
it all tasted very fresh and authentic. the wait staff was very nice. they were attentive but also made sure to give usgoodspace to just catch up and talk.
i definitely plan to return here sometime soon!

this place is amazing!. not sure why this is listed as $$$ higher priced. most things on the menu are 15 and under. actually, my favourite dish is $13.00.

this is a stand by when i want fresh, affordable, quick.goodservice, great food!

very flavourful meal. the four dip sampler was delicious.goodvariety on the menu & very fair prices. i would certainly return.

2208 4st sw (403) 541-1189 mon: 11am-9pm tue-th: 11am-10pm fri-sat: 11am-11pm i would suggest making reservations, they take walk-ins, but the restaurant is small.  street parking available, plus some paid lots.   of the many restaurants in the restaurant row of mission, this one you cannot skip.  located on the same side as purple perk.  if you're cravinggoodlebanese food, then you need to try aida's.    lamb kabob marinated in a light curry and oregano blend with rice, fattoush and hummus.   this was absolutely delicious.  the lamb was cooked perfectly, not overdone.  the hummus was to die for.  i wasn't a huge fan of the pita bread, but really, the hummus will make you forget about the pita bread.   shish tawook- chicken marinated in a lemon and garlic paste with potatoes and veggies. kibby- cracked wheat and beef shells filled with seasoned beef and almonds- yogurt and mint dip.  great to share, loved the flavour and texture.