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Al Shallal Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Middle Eastern Middle Eastern [Edit]
24402 W Warren StDearborn Heights, MI 48127
(313) 563-4242
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 10 am - 11 pm
Fri-Sat 10 am - 12 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
8 reviews for Al Shallal Restaurant
8 reviews in English
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Review from Mandy D.
Portland, OR
3/27/2012
My favourite Middle Eastern restaurant in the Dearborn/Detroit area. Their vegetarian grape leaves sandwich with garlic paste & hummus is so amazing. Reasonably priced. I've brought many friends here & they've loved it too. Yum.
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Review from Ruben L.
4/5/2012
4.5- Mike the manager/owner/guy who greeted us at the door truly made this a memorable experience. My quest for the best Middle Eastern in Dearborn brought my friends and I here. Based on the recommendations of the yelp reviewers, we figured we'd check this place out.
AMBIENCE- this place used to be a KFC. You can tell by the shape of the building, and they still have the display counter (though it is filled with desserts and sandwiches in lieu of extra crispy and original recipe chicken). All booths- if you're dining with more than 5, it may be an issue. Besides that, not much decor to speak of.
SERVICE- as I mentioned, we were greeted by Mike when we first got there. Mike offered us the best table in the house (as the place was not too busy), and said "this is your usual table, right?" We informed him this was our first time. He was shocked, but took that as a challenge to really knock our socks off. He, and the rest of the staff most certainly did as they were attentive and engaging the whole meal.
MENU- the menu was like most middle eastern restaurants in the Dearborn area. Nothing really stood out, but my group and I are seasoned vets, so we pretty much knew what we wanted to get. They had a number of lunch specials, although we were there for dinner, so that didn't really affect us. They do have coupons online for some pretty decent deals ($8.95 for stuffed lamb, $20.95 combo for two with two drinks).
FOOD- after we were seated, we were presented with pita bread and some garlic sauce. LOVE garlic sauce! The garlic sauce had a bit more lemon than I would've liked, but still tasty. We then tried some spinach pie. The piece I got was a little burnt, but the rest of my group seemed to enjoy their pieces. Guess that is what I get for getting the last one. We also got a Fattoush salad for the table, as well as some hummus. The dressing on the Fattoush was a bit overpowering, but the hummus was ON POINT. I tried some of my friend's lentil soup, and it had a nice zing to it.
Two of my friends ordered mango smoothies, and I gotta say, they were more mango slushies than they were smoothies (that you might have at La Pita, or most other Middle Eastern joints). They claimed they liked it, but I didn't think it was good as other places.
As for the main course, my friend and I split the combo for two (which is really enough for 3), which was a good cross section of the food they served. The chicken and meat shwarma were very tasty, and did not have a sour after taste. The kafta was a bit dry, but still good. The beef kabob was dry as well, and though the chicken looked dry, it was juicy and delicious.
The real stars of the meal for me were the grape leaves, kibbie, and falafel. The grape leaves did not have a sour after taste, and were excellent. The kibbie and falafel were moist and delicious. My friend got a falafel plate and proclaimed it was the best falafel he has ever had.
To finish the meal, Mike gave us some free baklava. Again, I ended up with a less desirable piece (read small), but it was the perfect end to the meal. 2 of the people in my party claimed it to be the best baklava they have ever had. I too enjoyed it, though am still thinking of where it may rank.
OVERALL- this may have been our first time there, but it won't be our last. Huge portions, low prices, and great service made this an enjoyable outing. While some dishes weren't the best I have ever had, the dishes they did do well, were some of the best my party has ever had. Check this place out!
Celebrity Rating- Aziz Ansari -
Review from Scott K.
Rochester, MI
3/22/2012
Just finished my first meat shwarma. One word...fantastic..and the garlic sauce is divine. Very friendly staff and the owner made sure to stop by every table to say hello.
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Review from Annette J.
Dearborn Heights, MI
If you were to look up "bang for your buck" in the non existent dictionary of popular phrases it's likely you'd see a photo of Al Shallal front and center. Why? Because you get a ton of food here for not a lot of dough.
The other night I was rushing home late after a long day and I wanted something to eat that wasn't your run of the mill fast food (thank goodness Al Shallal is open until 11pm during the week because it saved me from a meal of a crappy burger from Micky D's). Chicken shawarama sounded heavenly so I popped in here for a bit of carry out. I got a chicken shawarama sandwich (a ridiculously awesome $2.95), a side of rice, a hummus appetizer, and a fountain Pepsi for about $12. That's crazy! In a good way, I mean. What a deal!
The food is very good as well. The chicken in my shawarama was a bit dry (but it was the end of the day right before close so it might not have been as juicy as it started out in the day) but the garlic sauce had a great zing to it and the pickles were nice and crunchy (also they throw in tomatoes which not all places do so be advised if your anti-tomato). The hummus was creamy and delicious and the rice was tasty and had plenty of toasted almonds mixed in which I love. The portions were plentiful, especially considering the price. I had a ton of rice and hummus leftover which made me a happy gal the next day.
The service was speedy. I was in and out in about 10 minutes which, despite the fact I was avoiding fast food, qualifies this place as fast food in my book. Ha! But it is so much better than your standard burger and fries fare. If you're ever in the area have have a late night hankering, I highly recommend a stop here at Al Shallal (or during the day! They have a great $6.95 lunch special as well). -
Review from Debbie Z.
7/11/2011
When BF and I go to this restaurant we usually order one entree due to receiving sooooo much food! The Arabic food that I have tasted in this restaurant is scrumptuous! I have even ordered carry-out and was not disappointed. The inside looks like an old Kentucky Fried Restaurant converted into an Arabic Restaurant. They also have added an additional room, I don't know what this is used for, but maybe after-hours for a coffee-shop. But, anyway, I would highly recommend this restaurant due to the food being fresh and delicious!
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Review from Antonio C.
Ypsilanti, MI
9/25/2011
I went around lunch for carry out, ordered a chicken schwarma(sp) and a fattoush salad. Fantastic, I'd recommend adding some hoummus and lettuce to the shwarma to reduce dryness but the garlic paste and chicken inside were fantastic, not dry but tasty and savory. Delicious. The people were also very friendly. I highly recommend it.
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Review from Shannon W.
Taylor, MI
7/11/2009
Great, cheap, and always very busy! Their chicken with garlic and cilantro is absolutely fantastic, but very, very messy when I get it to go. (My advice: open over the sink and pour the contents of the box into a bowl and mix with the included rice!) Their take-away pita is disappointing (standard Kroger fare), but can be overlooked because everything else I've had has been fantastic.
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Review from Carol M.
Dearborn, MI
4/16/2010
This restaurant has extremely fresh foods. Home-made lebni, shawarma made the traditional way, on the vertical skewer. The Al Shallal salad was really good. There are American foods such as cheese burgers for the kids less willing to experiment. My son was even stealing my fried kibbe and lebni. Small Mom/Pop diner type decor. Also really nice was Arabic pastry complementary with each Adult entree. Nice to have a good choice in Arabic food in West Dearborn.
