cleopatra's restaurant

i went to lunch today and my waitress robin was the best

thank you robin. my daughter and i went to cleopatra's tuesday for lunch, was the best experience i have encountered in a while. robin, was very well acquainted with the menu and suggested a lot of things and i ended up getting the chicken shawerma which was very very good. looking forward to coming and visit again. thank you robin, you did an amazing job.

terrible service, great food. this place will be out of business in less than a year, so if you want to taste some good food, and you have lots of time and patience for lousy service, you should go in and try it.

i'm from the middle east, i regularly dine in middle eastern restaurants all over the us (lebanese, palestinian, egyptian, iranian, even north african arab cuisine) and i'm confident that if you try any one of twenty dishes here you'll enjoy it. but you might walk out before you get your food or even place an order. it's that bad.

i've eaten here four times since february (they opened right around the new year), and every time the service has been abysmal. i waited tables for five years in college and after, and i make great allowances for unavoidable wait-staff problems, but this place is ridiculous.

yesterday i took a party of seven for lunch, and had called the previous day to make reservations for 1:30. we showed up at 1:30, and waited until 1:50 to be seated. then we waited until 2:05 for the waiter to take our order. then we waited until 2: 50 for our food to arrive. we left around 3:30, two hours after arriving for a meal.

despite the fact that we were eating lunch, the waiter informed us that we would pay dinner prices (twice as much) for all entrees. no explanation.

but that's nothing compared to the miserable service. the menu states that entrees over $15 get pita bread with zaatar and olive oil. yet the waited brought nothing to the table for ten minutes. he didn't refill our waters, didn't stop to reassure us our food was coming (it wasn't) and in fact was busy eating while waiting on other tables. i can't remember the last time i saw a waiter chewing food while carrying plates out to customers.

so when i asked him for the pita with zaatar and oil, he said in a surly tone that he only did what the management told him to do, he knew that the menu promised these things, but he didn't normally bring them out. bizarre.

so then we waited 45 minutes for our dinner. while waiting we observed a family of three come in and stand by the door for about six minutes before deciding none was going to greet or seat them, so they left. the restaurant was about two-thirds full, yet the three waiters on duty seemed to be overwhelmed or absent, in turns.

when our food arrived, it was excellent. the beef kebob was tender and tasty, the grilled vegetables were seared nicely and crisp, and the two types of rice (white with vermicelli, or white with nuts and raisins) were both delicious.

the vegetarian entree we ordered was koshari (rice, lentil, pasta, tomato sauce, fried onion). it was nice, but the koshari i've eaten before always had chick peas and a light chili or pepper sauce, not to mention much more garlic, which would have made this dish more interesting and traditional.

i ordered the okra side (bamya) in tomato sauce and beef broth, and that came out with big chunks of boiled beef and far too little okra. lots of beef. i would have traded the beef for okra. the description in their menu doesn't even mention chunks of beef.

two of us ordered the chicken kabob, and it was very tasty. the chef had neglected to put one order on a bed of rice (the other had it) and the waiter (or course) hadn't noticed it, so that had to be brought out after.

i ordered the chicken shawarma on rice, and it was served with shredded chicken pieces in a mild tahini sauce, which i enjoyed thoroughly. the grilled vegetables that came with all the kabob entrees were perhaps the best part of each dish, which is wonderful if, like us, you like grilled veggies.

last, the beef kabob was incredibly tender and flavorful, melted in your mouth, and again came with the grilled veggies.

our waiter didn't check back with us for ten minutes after dropping the entrees, and never asked us if we wanted coffee or dessert. not that we were interested in waiting another half-hour for coffee.

the service was so abysmal that we won't go back. i've been there several times and the miserable service is not a fluke, it's the norm. the owner is a devout muslim and therefore doesn't offer wine, which most of our table would have enjoyed with the meal (we're used to lebanese restaurants or secular muslim places). the prices are relatively high for the decor and menu ($14-$26 entrees, $5-7 sides, $5desserts) with the biggest surprise being $10 for the lentil soup.

i regret the fact that i won't dine here again, as the food is well-prepared. but putting up with the unprofessional waiter and (apparently) under-staffed kitchen simply isn't worth it.

amazing food, friendly staff and affordable prices. lots of discounts offered if you check-in on four square. really hope their business picks up because it's a great place.

the location is not convenient for starters. the broke down van in the parking lot is definitely not there to make the impression better. my wife and i both enjoyed the fact that the colors and decorations were interesting but the sound system was not functioning. we usually like to order different dishes and taste each others' food but the waitress advised us after we had dug into the menu that the only meat that they had is chicken. while it was cooked differently it was somewhat disappointing and the sides were flavorless. i would like to give them another chance in the future and hope that they get more food options and some music to make the place seem more inviting.

location is a little awkward for a restaurant which probably explains why i think this place will be closed in 6 months or less. there just can't be much traffic in a business park after hours. 

we were the only patrons in the restaurant, and the service was still exceptionally slow! if it was a real authentic cooked meal i would expect it to take a long time, but what came out could have been made in 15 mins or less. 

the food, could have been much better. much better! my husband and i are very familiar with this type of cuisine as well as middle eastern cuisine and expected something authentic. instead the food came across as though they cut several corners to keep costs down- probably because they are going under. the wait staff was polite, there's a positive. 

we ordered fried eggplant as an appetizer. you could tell it was fried in old oil and gave off a gross flavor. for entrees we both ordered lamb shish kebab, but we were actually served beef- and not a very good cut either. my husband ordered stuffed grape leaves and was served stuffed zucchini instead. they didn't even care that it wasn't what he wanted. the vermicelli was moist and tender but flavorless. the tiropita, or as they call it "cheese in fillo" had good flavor but was obviously made in bulk, frozen for weeks, then pulled out and microwaved then fried on the outside to seem fresh. 
the tahini sauce is so weird, and mostly a substance other than tahini. the garlic sauce would have been good if it wasn't just crushed garlic in a bowl of vegetable oil. 

i believe this restaurant could make better food if they weren't penny pinching, the owners trained their chef and made everything fresh. overall the cost did not constitute the quality of food at all.

ordered here via grub hub and perhaps to no fault of their own the food was ice cold. however, despite the fact the food was cold there were other negatives. i ordered the lamb shawarma dish which came with two sides. the lamb was extremely small and chewy with some pieces that were inedible. it was a very small portion for the price of $16.95. the rice mix was quite good but the carrots and butternut squash in the grilled vegetables were thick pieces that were basically raw. the tahina sauce had an odd taste that i've not tasted with any other tahini and was off-putting. i enjoyed the hummus although it was a bit greasy. i would say my experience would have been better if it wasn't takeout but i will be leery of trying again based on this experience.

inconsistent and disappointing. cleopatra's aspires to be more than your average mediterranean diner, and their prices reflect this. however, their aspirations fall short because they lack consistency and quality control. across two visits, i received mostly unexciting food, with problems ranging from cold food (my girlfriend thought at first the dish was supposed to be served chilled it was so cold,) to inedibly overcooked meat that was almost entirely char (the kafta kabob). that said, not all their offerings were failures. items that were good included the grilled vegetables, the vermicelli rice (on one of the occasions), and the vegetarian musakaa. although i tried several other things, they were generally mediocre and not worth much mention in a short review. i think cleopatra's could be good with some more attention to detail, but they're making such glaring errors that i suspect that they won't be focusing on nuance any time soon. for my money, i'd rather scoot over to mythos. you won't be going to a "nice" restaurant, per se, but i think you can count on the food a lot more.

bad service bad managment. 2/22/15 we went out for a girls day lunch we got to the resturant and sat down right away at 1:20. the waiter asked us what we wanted to drink i ordered a sweet tea with extra lemon and asked about the buffet they showed on the website (this was our first and last time there). he said he didn't know it was his first day ( he was the only wait staff there and had had no training at all ). when he came back he said yes they still had the buffett and that what they do is bring you a salad soup and a plate full of everything and when your done they bring you more. that sounded odd but whatever sounds good. by the way still no lemon for my tea. it seemed like an assistant manager type person brought our salads ( no silverwear ) and i asked for the lemon and a fork. he went and sat other people and finally brought silverwear ( still no lemon ). suddenly they turned the music up so load i couldn't here the person next to me and it sounded like a night club. we asked the waiter could they please turn it down (this place is small and we were right under a speaker) and the lemon please. tweanty minutes later my friend went and got me the lemons. we noticed other people leaving and asked them if they were leaving cuz they hadn't got there food since we had been waiting over 40 min for ours they said yes. the main dish came out ( and the music got turned back up to night club standards again) and it was good only 2 peices of grilled zukinie meat and lots of rice. my friend talked to the manager about the riduclas services and it was kinda crazy the new guy had no training or help and the other people that worked there weren't helping at all that well we just weren't happy with our experiance at all. he pretty much dismissed her like she was beneath him and told her i give you little discount but that all. wow we weren't looking for free food but a little curtasy would have been nice. the "bufett" was suppose to be 8.99 what they gave us was 13.00. when i confronted them about it they said that is sunday brunch and it clearly states 2 pages past the lunch specials were we didn't even look (and under the lunch special page it does not state that it is only for certain days) that the "bufett" is not served on sunday and that pretty much prices go up on sudays. i told them that is not clearly stateing anything and that when the new waiter asked them they told him yes this is how it is done. got the bill down to what we were originally told gave the waiter a great tip poor guy had over 10 tables to himself on a first day but kept a good attitude and great smile the whole time he was the highlight. another patron told me she had been there several times but the service and food had gone way down and she would not be back but the place next door saffrons was wonderfull. needless to say we will try that place next.

worst service ever!. i made a reservation online, and still sat there for 15 minutes and didn't even get asked what we wanted to drink. the only 2 waiters there were horrible and not attentive to anyone. the family next to us were upset and annoyed about it as well. my wife and i walked out at the 15 minute mark and went somewhere else. sadly the place wasn't even crowded, it was 1:30pm on a sunday.

excellent food. enjoy the authentic egyptian food with friends. excellent preparation quality and service in a relaxed atmosphere!

some real good here, but always an oops!. we wanted to try something different, so we ordered some items from here that we'd never tried, and threw in an old favorite, as well, when we ordered from here a few months back . the favorite was the al-azhar mix grill ($24.95), a bit pricey, but a nice variety of meats. the new items were the grilled quails ($17.95) and the red sea mixed seafood plate ($25.95), also pricey, but also offers a nice assortment of seafood.

the quail dish consisted of 3 grilled, butterflied birds along with 2 sides. the quail was quite tasty, well seasoned, and like most quail i've tried, a little on the tough side. the mix grill has chicken kabob (simply excellent), kofta kabob (nice, but rather mild), lamb chop (nice), beef shish kabob (also very tasty, though a touch chewy). all in all, a good way to try a number of their meat dishes, all done very well. comes with 3 sides.

the mixed seafood plate was the best, and the most interesting, of the dishes we tried. it is a very nice collection containing (in our dish anyway) grilled squid, 3 sizes of shrimp (each cooked differently), a fried fish filet with a nice red sauce, and mussels. not an inexpensive entree, but the portion was more than ample. i liked this dish a lot. though more expensive than the mix grill, this one comes with only 2 sides.

we tried several sides, with some mixed results. gollash belgebna is layered fillo dough with feta cheese - rather bland, and limp in texture. bamya is okra with tomato sauce cooked in broth, and this is a very good side dish. the mixed rice dish was dry, and also bland. mulukheya is minced jute plant leaves cooked in broth with spices - an interesting dish, but probably an acquired taste.

both the mixed grill and the seafood platter are supposed to come with a free appetizer, but our order did not include them. not at all cool, especially on an order this size. and you have to pay extra for pita bread, even with entrees costing $18 to $25. i never mind paying for what i get, but i damn well want to get what i pay for.

i liked this meal a lot better than any i've had here, but there always seems to a small stone in the shoe on each visit. i'll be back, probably.


-----06 jan, 2012-----

confusion reigned suprer, the food didn't. we called in a takeout order here this evening, with less than good results, with both the food and the ordering process. first of all, the current working menu at the restaurant is more than a little bit different from that posted on the restautant's website. having selected our order from the website, we quickly encountered both procedural and logistical problems.

the website states that all entrees come with your choice of 3 sides, salad or soup and a starch. all included (their wording & emphasis). and if you eat there the sides, etc are said to be bottomless (all you can eat). come to find out - au contraire! the inhouse menu indicates that most entrees are served with grilled vegetables and rice or fries (my emphasis). prices on the two very different menus was virtually identical on comparable dishes. not a small change in the value aspect of these dishes. things would only go further south, and at an accelerated speed.

we settled on the mix sampler (their wording) - a mix of 4 items from the app listing for $9.95, and i'm assured that this is "good for 3-4". we ask for baba ghannoush, hummus, mixed pickled veggies, and ta'miya (which i specifically ask if i had pronounced it correctly, assured i had). the ta'miya was not on the inhouse menu, we did not receive it, nor did we receive something in its place.

the hummus and the mixed pickled veggies were very nice, with the exception of the pickled radish,. this has to be an acquired taste. the baba ghannoush was simply awful, with an undeniable underlying burnt taste - and this is a dish i eat often at a variety of restaurants here, and in the triangle area.. don't know about the ta'miya - didn't get it.

since we learned the sides included with the entrees were much more limited than we gathered from the web site, we added a side of grape leaves, and tabuleh. tabuleh was heavy on parsley, very lite on bulgur - ok, but a very lite version of this dish. the grape leaves were terrible - the rice was dry, no other ingrident seemed present, it was void of flavor.

we wanted to order the stuffed pigeons but were told this was no longer on the menu, and the web site had not been updated.- based on the opening date, this item did not stay on the menu long, or was never offered. so, we settled on the lamb shank, the kofta kabab, and the chicken shawerma..

the lamb shank ($17.90) dish was, again, not the dish i saw on the website, which was a tagine with prunes apricot and fig. this was a dish with onion, tomato sauce, carrots, onions, and spices - not a dish i would order again, simply not my kind of dish - dry with little lamb taste. the kofta kabab ($16.95) was a dense strand of meat, with little flavor, and was difficult to cut or eat. the chicken shawerma ($13.95) was simply ok, no more, no less. the grilled veggies were just charred. the mixed rice had little if any nuts, raisins, or onions that i could find. total cost was just short of $71.

there is little here that i encountered that i would knowingly experience again, and nothing that i would recommend. if you have a website, it should be accurate. if that website purports value, produce it, don't simply tell me the site has not been updated.. what has been done to the interior of the restaurant will in no way enhance the dining experience. taking out the short wall beyond what was the bar, has simply turned the dining area into a rectangular noise machine

yum.. i had such a pleasant experience at cleopatra's. the service was great and the food...delicious! the sale was so fresh! i also had the hummus as an appetizer and the lamb for an entree. both were quite good.

we came for lunch and we went for the buffett option, it was terrible!! we waited for a very long time and finally when the food arrived we were very disappointed, the chicken was so dry and tasteless the kabob was not better, the management don't care,i would stay away from this place it's cleoterrible!!!

i recently had the pleasure of eating here. all of my food was freshly made to order & i could definitely tell. every bite was worth it. my waiter was also amazing. she goes by the name of ty. she welcomed me immediately with a bright smile once i stepped in & served me with such kindness. since it was my first time visiting she helped me choose a dish by explaining the dishes i pointed out & gave suggestions. she was very knowledgeable of the menu & how the dishes were prepared. the entire visit she continuously checked on me made sure everything was to my liking. i definitely recommend having her as a waitress. she made the experience that much more worth it & i actually can't wait to visit again because of her service. overall, i will surely be visiting again & highly recommend this restaurant to others.