sahara restaurant & hookah lounge

good food - nothing fancy. a small and simple restaurant in a shopping center with an adjacent hookah bar (same owner). i chose the non-smoking section. food was good quality with ample portions. home made bread was delicious! i chose shawarma platter with lamb and beef, plus an order of falafel. both were well-plated and tasty. my service was very attentive, but they were not busy on a tuesday night. glass of lebanese chardonnay was quite good and a bit overpriced - but not enough to prevent a second glass. i definitely will return. please go here, or any other locally-owned establishment, before handing your money to a chain restaurant.

really amazing authentic middle eastern cuisine! i went there twice by myself and once with friends and it was great! very nice and open, not cramped like lots of other small cafes. great tea and turkish coffee too! great place to hang out and relax. keep small business alive!! go to sahara!

great food with great prices!. i went there with my husband and we tried it out for the first time two weeks ago, and since then we've been back 3 times already!!!
the food is great, the prices are very reasonable and every sat they have live music with a belly dancer show!
the owners were so friendly, they came out and asked us how everything was, and made us feel welcomed every time we went there…
then we had shisha at their patio seating, with a pot of hot tea and a cheese dessert called kunafa, which was made in lebanon!
and when we were done we shopped at their market side, and got some pita bread, cheese and other lebanese products which prices where very cheap in comparison to other middle eastern and persian places i've been to!
take my word and check it out, i know i will be there again this sat :-)

the sahara is still the best. i revisited this restaurant on sunday the 23rd of may 2010. i was there on jan. 2010. this time i ordered the mixed grill. the food was served piping hot. the servers, both of them were courteous. they asked me at different times if i needed anything. i did not. the food was plentiful. go to their website for the full description of the mixed grill. you wont be disappointed. the hummus was delicious. the salad fresh and the rice pilaf exquisite. the rice was cooked to perfection.

i once more was not disappointed. i strongly recommend the restaurant to those who want to enjoy a genuine lebanese dish or two.

please do not bring your rowdy children. it is not fair to the other guests. take your children to a fast food restaurant that offer a playground. or get a baby sitter.
while i was there two little girls were playing nicely without disturbing others.

they have a full menu on line.

succulent food and excellent service. their lamb kabob pomegranate literally melts in your mouth. delicious!!! their bread is home made and right out of the oven. they also have a full bar and excellent lebanese wine which is a must try!!!


-----20 sep, 2009-----

simply the best. my wife and i dine out at least 3 times a week. we are glad to have found sahara lebanese cafe. we visited sahara at least 7 times and never had a bad meal. it is amazing how fresh and tasty the food is at sahara. you have to go there to believe it. their food is simply the best.

poor takeout service and manager doesn't care. we've gotten takeout here three times. i won't be going back. on 4/21, we had a takeout order of about $75 and they failed to give us three things we'd ordered. i called to order the missing items plus an additional item and made a second trip to the restaurant, but they again left out one of the items! i asked the manager not to charge for the second order totaling $20, because of the inconvenience of making a second trip to correct their mistakes. her reply was first to deny they'd made any mistakes, and then to blame me for not discovering their mistake before leaving the restaurant. i expressed my disappointment and agreed to pay the $20, but told her that i would not be coming back. instead of expressing any regret over losing a customer, she reacted with obvious amusement. there are lots of good restaurants in nova--too many to waste money on one that doesn't value service or customers.

very bad customer service, the owner claims it's a lebanese restaurant while he's palestinian and his food is not even close to lebanese taste, the worst middle eastern place i have ever been to

from the moment we entered, we were treated like kings. this is why i prefer to dine local. chain restaurants are detached from their clientele. they do not connect with their customer because they do not feel that they have to. suffice it to say, i felt more than welcome. hubby and i both ordered an appetizer. i went straight for the stuffed grape leaves, while he went for the fatayer b’jibne (cheese pastries filled with a blend of cheeses). both were phenomenal. the grape leaves were definitely the real deal. i have become quite the connoisseur of this particular dish. i have tried

so rude owner, i used to go there in cold and warm weather but never ever go back there. worst customer service and worst behavior of owner.

wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!!. sahara has been opened for 2 years and ever since they've opened my husband and i have been frequent customers. whenever i have company in town i take them to sahara where the food and service always make me proud of my choice in front of friends ;-)
sahara never fails to continue to impress me, and i will never fail them by always staying a loyal customer and a huge fan!!!


-----25 jul, 2009-----

this is for anybody who appreciates a good lebanese meal!. this place was recommended to us by our friends and i love them for that! the food was great; we went there with friends and ordered 2 sahara platters, and 2 mix grill platters.
the tabouleh was as fresh as fresh can be, and i swear the hummus was the best hummus i have ever had; ever!!! but my favorites were two: the baba ghannouge, which was so good you can taste the smoked egg plants between your teeth; and the kibbeh which the owners told us later is made by a house wife, who comes in and makes all their kibbeh and fatayer as well…
the mix grill was great, there were so many things on there; it came with rice, hummus and fattoush; and we ordered a side of garlic puree, which had all the goodness of garlic without the aftermath!
the meat was tender and juicy, and what i found interesting was that they asked us how we liked our meat temperature, and i have never been asked that before in a lebanese or middle eastern restaurant.
our server was very friendly and attentive; and the owners came by and asked us how everything was and if we needed anything; the couple were very nice and funny; and i have to say that i can not see the wife yelling at nobody especially kids for that matter!
we personally will be back, and i highly recommend this place to anybody who enjoys and appreciates a good lebanese meal :o)

the best in sterling. the food is outstanding!!! they just started serving homemade bread and it is soooooooo delicious. both lunch buffet and dinner menu are wonderful. everything is made from scratch no canned or frozen food. service is great and it is family friendly. desserts are yummy too. it is not a chain :) how can you beat the owner cooking for you and the other owner his wife waiting on you.

awesome!. the food is amazing. what can i say...it's like sex on a plate.

we love this place.. my family loves sahara. the food is delicious and fresh. and the folks at sahara take great care and pride in their service.

true authentic lebanese cuisine. i also had the shawarma and it exceeded my expectations. i'm surprised at the comment describing the shawarma as street food!! there is no street foods at sahara. the shwarma price was very reasonable considering it comes with an appetizer (hummus) and a fattoush salad and above all the high quality meat they use is 100 percent fat free. check it out for yourselves.

excellent food!!!. the restaurant was virtually deserted and there were works busy relocating two large reach-in refrigerators when we arrived. however, the service and kitchen staff were quite attentive.

the waitress brought us some pita bread and an excellent dip - quite tasty and certainly not "run-of-the-mill". the lamb/beef sausage appetizer was excellent - surprisingly sweet tomato "dressing" and incredibly tender sausage. the portion sizes are quite generous and the platters arrive very artfully plated with a small salad and hummus. the kufta was excellent - flavorful and very well cooked. the hummus was also quite excellent, served with a well of olive oil and chick peas in the centre.

while the menu isn't incredibly expansive, that's not necessarily a bad thing. the menu items listed were all excellent - no need to add more if they're not within the kitchen's realm of expertise.

we'll be back again!!