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 wasgoodquality 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 quitegoodand 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.

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 ofgoodrestaurants in nova--too many to waste money on one that doesn't value service or customers.

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 agoodlebanese 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 sogoodyou 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 agoodlebanese meal :o)

what a treat!. the first thing we noticed was how fresh all the food was! then the taste! we went back two nights in a row and then back again a week later (and this was an hour drive for us) and it was worth it. we also shopped in the grocery part which had verygoodprices on olive oil and my mother has developed a love affair with the cheeses.

we have had almost all the mazza, taboulah and fattoush, and we are busy making our way through the sandwiches and entrees. the portions are generous enough to satisfy teenagers and a couple of mazza make agoodmeal too. the desserts are (heavy delighted sigh) worth every calorie.

we will definately be back!