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Aladdin Cafe
Categories: Restaurants Mediterranean Restaurants Middle Eastern Nightlife Bars Hookah Bars Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Hookah Bars
4135 Alexandria PikeCold Spring, KY 41076
(859) 781-8000
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Late Night, Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
11 reviews for Aladdin Cafe
11 reviews in English
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Review from Howard M.
5/1/2012
A Turkish restaurant in Cold Spring, Kentucky? What'll they have next?
The wife and I dropped in on a Saturday at 2 and the place was almost empty but there was a stready stream of customer's getting take away.
We ordered their gyros which were AOK and since we get a gyro craving and there's no place close to get one we like this place very much. This is a Turkish restaurant (I believe) so when I asked if they had a gyro with Tzatzki sauce I felt as if I might have picked at the scab of the centuries old wound in Turkish-Greek relations. I went with what they had.
They were good. Rice was good. It was cheap. We'll be back.Listed in: The Yelp 100 Challenge
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Review from Reem B.
4/25/2012 4 photos
I'm glad we finally went there. I'm from the Middle East and I was raised with a hookah in my hand loll no actually hookah in the middle east countries is a big thing for night life outings for young and old males and females. so having this place around Cincinnati was like finding a treasure.
first of all this's a hookah cafe so if you're annoyed by smoke all around then it's not the place for you. even best ventilated places can't take away all the smoke!
also you should expect the atmosphere of typical hookah cafe/bar of loud young people with loud music and muted TV showing some soccer game.
Aladdin cafe is so similar to those hookah cafes we used to go to in Syria and in the states I only found such places in Chicago and the good thing here is that they actually put hookah on the floor (which is the right way to do it) rather than on tables.
here they have a long list of hookah flavors ranging from regular to premium to special. for me I prefer the regular (alfakher tobacco) flavors and it's only for 10$ and can be shared for up to 3 ppl.
they also give you the option of ordering tea with the tea pot just the way I like it coz I like to keep pouring tea to my cup while having shisha.
the food in Aladdin is good quality for a cafe food. the meals are limited to sandwiches which you can add a side of fries or rice to it. along with the appetizers and salads. we tried falafel, cheese sticks and cheese pie as appetizers and were all good and I ordered the chicken shawerma combo with fries. and OMG I can't believe how delicious the shawerma here is! it's actually the best shawerma I had in Cincinnati.
the service was good even though it looked like there was only one waitress serving all tables on a busy busy night but she was really fast, friendly and efficient that we didn't feel any delay in our orders.
the only thing I didn't like about this place is the decor it's actually lame and as most reviewers said, they didn't change any thing from the previous restaurant even the chairs which were old and not comfi.
also reading other reviews about the loud soda machine made me hear it all the time which was a little bit annoying!
the bottom line is that if you like hookah and good simple middle eastern food then you should definitely come to Aladdin and you'll probably find me there from now on. -
Review from Ss S.
Alexandria, KY
3/2/2012
Aladdin's only opened a few months ago. It is located in the old Jalapenos tex-mex restaurant that was there before. It is apparent as they still have the chairs that say jalapenos on them. If your looking to get your smoke on, this is the only place I know of on the KY side to do it. They have a large list of Hookah flavors available and at reasonable prices. Only 3 people per hookah allowed. Kind of annoying, but whatever. The crowd is usually high school and college students. By now I would assume you know this place is smoky. They do have poor ventilation and it gets hazy on a heavy night.
Unfortunately they don't have a liquor license. I believe this place would be uber-packed if they did. There is a lot to be desired still from this place. It's all just thrown together. Mix and match make up. If the owners took some time and put in in some high top tables and stools or large lounging couches it would be so much better.
But, it's time to talk about food. They actually do serve food at this place and its good. I would suggest only ordering at lunch. They offer basic Mediterranean food. The gyros and salads are reasonably priced and tasty. Honestly, a lot better than I had expected. This is a good thing considering there really isn't any place in Campbell county that offers this type of food. You usually have to track down Mythos or a Greek to Me to scratch that Gyro itch.
I don't think I will be back for the hookahs. They just don't seem to be well ventilated enough there. Also, I like to have a drink if I am investing in a hour smoke. -
Review from Steven H.
Independence, KY
4/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
Very satisfied. Went here for my birthday, and we had great food, great service, and great hookah. I will definitely be a regular here.
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Review from Allison B.
Newport, KY
5/10/2012
Food was good, overall experience and customer service were not.
Upon walking in, I just saw a couple seated in the corner. No workers at the counter, in the kitchen, anywhere to be found. As there wasn't a "seat yourself" sign, my friend and I wandered around a bit until a worker finally came in and told us to sit anywhere. We were excited to try the lunch special which is a sandwich, side, and drink for $6.95. I ordered a salad as my side and enjoyed a few bites when it arrived before noticing a dead fly in it. I understand that flies are a fact of life and didn't cause a fuss but made a point to tell the server when he came back (which wasn't until our gyros were ready). He said he wouldn't make me pay for it which I was okay with at the time. He didn't offer to bring me another salad or a different side or apologize.
The gyros were delicious! After finishing our meal, we went up to pay - the same employee told my friend his total was $7.54 and then told me mine was the same - I mentioned to him that he'd told me he wouldn't make me pay for the salad. After fiddling with the register for a moment he said that if he charged me separately for the gyro and the drink it would come to the same amount. I do not find this to be acceptable customer service but it wasn't a battle I was willing to fight at the time over a dollar or two. However, although the cost of the side may have been deferred by the special lunchtime deal, I did still PAY for it. I was not given an option at the time to receive the side I paid for and accepted his offer to not have to pay for the salad. I felt that his argument wasn't valid as regardless of the prices when the special is not running, I did not receive what I paid for. I think it would've been appropriate to apologize or give me a coupon of some sort.
Overall, saddened by the fact that I doubt I'll be going back because of the customer service - gyros were quite good. -
Review from Julie B.
1/1/2012 1 Check-in Here
Went at lunch which meant no hookah smoke. The food was excellent even if I found out I didn't like the coffee.
Atmosphere is as most have described it here - could use some help and the soda machine is extremely loud. Also the music was loud for lunch and horrendous at best.
Prices are good - if you can go for lunch I'd recommend it. -
Review from Margo M.
Fort Thomas, KY
4/29/2012
Stopped in for lunch and I don't plan on coming back. Place was empty except for one guy sitting in the corner smoking a hookah. Even so we had empty drinks and had to wait on refills. Hubby ordered the Mediterranean Gyro, and it was skimpy on the meat and overloaded with feta, bleh. I had the chicken schwarma and it was awful. The chicken was dry, the fillings were scarce, and it was drowning in a not so tasty sauce. Hoping for something to take the yucky tastes from our mouths, we ordered the baklava, which was just okay, very dry, but better than our meals. The server, when he was around, was friendly enough.
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Review from Sarah F.
10/29/2011
A new Mediterranean restaurant in my neighborhood? Yes, please! This place is located where the altogether too short-lived Jalepenos used to be in a mini-strip mall off 27. The interior hasn't changed at all, down to the Jalepenos-stamped leather chairs.
The biggest thing you notice when fist walking in is the thick cloud of smoke coming from the hookahs at almost every table. I was almost ready to opt for take-out, when they told me there was another room in the back where no one was smoking (not a "non-smoking" room officially though). We headed back and while all of the tables were empty, none of them had been bussed. After a while, a server came back and explained that they had just opened and were under-staffed so everything would take a while.
We both ordered the spinach pie to start after confirming with our waitress that it was like spanikopita (despite her never actually having heard of that): spinach, feta, puff pastry, etc. I got the chicken schwarma platter for my main and my husband got the gyro platter. They were out of rice (!) so our side options were salad or fries.
After a long wait, our spinach pies come out at the same time as our meals. They were nothing like what we expected--looked kind of like a triangular hot pocket and once my husband bit into his, they were almost empty--no visible spinach, etc. I didn't bother even unwrapping mine and after telling the waitress, she was nice enough to take them away and off our bill.
My chicken schwarma came in a pita-like wrap with some sad-looking tomatoes and crisp pickles tucked in too. The sandwich was actually pretty good, a little dry, but even better when I tried a little tzakiki from my husband's gyro on top. The fries were pretty standard--a bit of a breading on them, but tasty enough while they were hot.
The waitress was apologetic throughout and they have just opened, so I'm inclined to cut them a break, but I didn't see anything to suggest that this was just a rocky start food-wise and would get better. If you want a hookah experience, this is the only place I know of in the area; otherwise, if you're craving a gyro, get it to go. And by all means, avoid the spinach pie! -
Review from Ryan P.
The food deserves 4.5 stars, the atmosphere deserves only 2.
First, the food. I went to Aladdin for lunch with a coworker. We got there a bit early, and were asked to sit wherever we like, since we were the first customers of the day. We looked over the menu, which covers many of the standard Mediterranean staples, and quickly decided. I went with the gyro platter ($8.50), which includes one side (fries in my case) and a drink. The coworker opted for the same thing, but with rice instead of fries. I picked a falafel appetizer ($3.95 for four), which turned out to be a great choice. The falafel came out, piping hot, with a side of tahini sauce. They had great texture and were full of flavor, and the tahini was a perfect accompaniment! I was so pleased with these that I'll be sure to get the falafel sandwich on my next visit. After we polished those off, the gyros came out. They were HUGE, and the side dishes were equally large. There's no way you'll leave this place hungry. The pita is big to begin with, and then it was loaded with tons of shaved lamb loaf, with a good amount of tzatziki, onions, and tomatoes. The flavor was really good, especially the lamb. I was also really pleased that the tzatziki didn't have too strong of a cucumber taste, since I'm not really a cucumber fan. The fries were good, but your standard frozen-then-fried offering. I tried the coworker's rice, which was of the basmati variety, and it was really good. I can't believe I didn't order the rice, but I'll remedy that next time. I was hoping to save room for baklava ($1.50), but I didn't have room at all. Overall, it's really good flavorful food, with big portions for the price.
On to the atmosphere. The decorations haven't changed since the location was a Jalapeno's. The walls, floors, tables, and even the chairs with their Jalapeno's logos are the same. This isn't really a bad thing; the worst problem is the noise. It was pretty quiet when we arrived, with just some soft music playing. Once the coke machine started making buzzing noises, they turned the music up to 11 to drown it out, and you couldn't even hear yourself think. Even though it was a good eclectic mix of music (everything from Bob Marley to Bon Iver), the noise was just too much. They should really do something to fix that coke machine, and then return the music to a soft level. The rest of the atmosphere was ok. I'm sure that changes in the evening, especially since this is a hookah restaurant. I'm not a smoker, so I was glad that nobody was smoking during lunch. I think if I came here for dinner, I would just get it to-go. They have a pretty extensive hookah menu, if that's your bag.
The server was very nice, answering all our questions and refilling drinks quickly. The food came out fast, which is good for a nice quick lunch. One thing that caught me off guard is that they include 10% gratuity on every bill, no matter the party size. It says so right on the bottom of the menu, but of course I missed it until the check comes. It's kind of unconventional, but I don't mind and I can't say that I blame them for wanting to do that. I made sure to include an extra 10%+ when paying. Overall, I really enjoyed the food and love the fact that it's less than a mile from work. Sure, the atmosphere could use some work, but they just opened, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. -
Review from Abdel A.
Cincinnati, OH
11/4/2011
Great place!! My wife and I went there on a Saturday night. We had the Chicken Shawrma Platter. The Shawerma tasted really good! It was wrapped with special peta bread, the chicken was perfectly grilled and seasoned, and the sauce that was put on it gave a very pleasing taste!
We also ordered the Starbuzz Cave hookah. The hookah was very smooth and lasted all night! I also recommend the Strawberry Daiquiri flavor.
The place attracts younger crowd who are mostly students from NKU. No ghetto or trashy people. The place is neatly decorated and have very comfortable chairs. The staff were very helpful and friendly.
The prices were very reasonable. Expect to pay about $7-8 for meal and $10-$13 for hookah which I think is very good in terms of pricing.
Overall, a very pleasant experience. We are definitely coming back! -
Review from Matt J.
Florence, KY
11/11/2011
My boss recently wanted Mediterranean for lunch, so we went to Aladdins. He seemed to enjoy his lunch, but it wasn't my favorite place. Aladdins is a hookah bar, so smoking is definitely ok. I'm not a smoker, so that wasn't my favorite thing, but I did appreciate the fact that the waitress asked a nearby table to refrain from smoking until we left. I ate a cheeseburger (I know, boring) which was loaded with onions in the meat, and I'm not crazy about onions. We did have a delicious pot of Turkish coffee which kept me hopping for the rest of day. One of my major complaints about the restaurant was that it was REALLY loud...the TV was blasting over the sound system to the point where I could barely hear my boss who was sitting right next to me. Basically, I think that Aladdins could be a great place if you're hoping for a hookah bar and Mediterranean food...it's just not the place for me.
