Al-basha

Food and customer service are excellent!
Place is clean. Ambiance is nice
People are friendly.

Since coming back from Egypt a week ago I have been on the hunt for a spot in Charlotte that offered some Egyptian cuisines and my friend told me about this hidden gem . It's all the way on the other side of town for me but was worth the drive ! The owner here is actually from Egypt so that made it even better .

I ordered the ginger chamomile tea , lentil soup and their speciality salad . My friend ordered the chicken shawarma . Neither of us had any complaints about the food it was pretty much everything I expected . For those that are hookah lovers they have a built on closed section on the side where you can go and enjoy shish-a . I'll definitely come back and explore the menu more .

Food is not bad, but not great. Went for a weekday lunch after shopping the halal market next door which I've frequented for years. The hummus and tabbouleh with pita were the best things we tried. I would order those two items again but I'm not going back because the vibe was sooo off in here. It seemed like a restaurant that only served family and friends. Can't imagine feeling more awkward. We felt like we were interrupting their lives by eating in their restaurant haha. Maybe we caught them on a weird day or time? It also needs a major update aesthetically. It's super outdated and feels neglected everywhere you look. I'm thinking it's mainly a hookah lounge that happens to have a restaurant attached.

This is my new takeout spot! I had the Kurdish wrap which is a combo of chicken and lamb shawarma and it slapped. The spicy sauce it comes with reminds me of Taco Bell sauce (in a good way)! The pickles are a nice touch as well.

This place is great! The service was great the food was amazing and the drinks where really good. I had a lemon mint smoothie it was very refreshing and tasteful i also had the grilled charcoal chicken over rice with salad and it was chefs kiss, they seriously need to bottle up that garlic sauce i could swim in it that's how good it was.. We sat on the patio and it was just such a vibe we order hookah which was not expensive compared to other places and i honestly loved it i will definitely be back and they close at 1am so you guys have plenty of time to try too !

It's really hard to find a good hookah place with good food service and hookah. I was searching for a spot in the CLT area that felt laid back and cozy. Al-basha stood out.

The service was excellent and the hookah very well packed and smooth. We order a paan kiwi mint.

I would certainly like to be back try their amazing food and drinks. Overall was a good vibe.

One of my favorite places in Charlotte. Amazing food and hookah. Daniel is a true pro, never disappoints and demonstrates expertise with food, drink, and hookah recommendations every time.

The lamb shawarma was awful- soooo over seasoned and I love seasoning. I'm also Egyptian so I know how shawarma is supposed to taste. It was as if someone accidentally dropped their seasoning mix bottle on the meat, then shrugged it off and cooked it anyway. The chicken shawarma was okay, but it didn't seem like they added any sauce. I would have expected tahini or garlic sauce in there. The pickle was good though!
The fries were not fresh or crispy. Either they didn't fry it long enough or didn't bother to double fry. The baba ganoush was good, but the bread it came with was not freshly baked by them. It was generic pita you get at the Arabic store. Lines up with the fact that when I looked into their dessert stand, it looked like they just cut up the Costco chocolate mousse cake and repackaged it. I mean it's a delicious cake, but it's telling of the fact that they buy as much as they can ready made.
I'd definitely look elsewhere- I'm baffled by the current ratings.

I was a little worried about ordering lamb chops when I saw that the sanitation score was 93. However My chops came out cooked perfect, flavorful and tender. The rice was also great. The decor was a little outdated and the seating area could have been cleaner. The service was good and a 15% tip was automatically added. A sign in the bathroom said there was 2.5% charge for credit card transactions. I tried calling before coming but the number on the website went straight to voicemail which said it was not set up yet.
I'll be back.

Our experience was nothing short of awesome. Starting with our call to the restaurant before heading there! Our waitress Leila was very attentive, recommended good options, and friendly.

Also the Hookah mixologist Marley made great conversation and definitely made us want to come back again.

Highly recommend, family owned , authentic Mediterranean !