Al Zaytouna

Mediterranean restaurant · Bella Vista

Al Zaytouna

Mediterranean restaurant · Bella Vista

906 Christian St, Philadelphia, PA 19147

Highlights

Storefront halal eatery offering falafel & other Eastern Mediterranean classics in casual digs.

906 Christian St, Philadelphia, PA 19147 Get directions

alzaytounas.com

@al_zaytouna

$$ · Menu

Reserve

@infatuation

"Although we wish this Knightsbridge takeaway spot had somewhere other than four stools and a window-facing counter to sit, we’d still go out of our way for one of their excellent sandwiches. It’s an offshoot of Beit El Zaytoun, one of our favourite Lebanese restaurants, and the menu has some classic Lebanese wraps—our go-to are the tahini-heavy beef shawarma or the cheesy taouk number. There are also some less traditional, but arguably more tasty, subs like the Philly cheesesteak-inspired ‘Philadelphia’. The sandwich spot is located right by Hyde Park so if the weather is looking good, it’s the ideal grab and go picnic. The cupboard-sized space gets busy on weekends, so you might have to fight your way through people waiting for their takeaway sandwiches to the self-ordering kiosk, but it’s worth the short wait. photo credit: Koray Firat photo credit: Koray Firat" - Rianne Shlebak

Beit El Zaytoun - On The Go Review - Knightsbridge - London - The Infatuation

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@eater

"Fans of the tart yogurt dip labneh will be happy to find it on the appetizer menu at Al Zaytouna, served with warm pita for under $6. The warm stuffed grape leaves are another good choice. Other hits at this low-key spot also include the chicken kebab, shawarma, and hummus. Bring a bottle of wine or some beer if you plan to dine in." - Sarah Maiellano

Where to Eat Middle Eastern Food in Philadelphia - Eater Philly

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Tuncay “TY” Yilmaz

Google

Al Zaytouna is one of the rare Tunisian restaurant in Philadelphia. It’s a small restaurant and their location is just perfect. I was expecting to get really good food but unfortunately I didn’t. I ordered appetizer falafel which was very tasteless and very dry. Falafel had almost no flavor. Main course I had mixed kabob that came with grilled chicken, lamb and kofta. The main course served with grilled vegetables, hummus, rice and mixed greens salad. Chicken and lamb were very average but kofta was good. Rice was cold and it was very dry. Salad was fresh and hummus was just delicious. Their food quality wasn’t good but their portions were very generous. The restaurant’s atmosphere was below the average and it wasn’t clean at all. I was the only one at restaurant and I saw three tables were dirty and this is not acceptable at all. The manager or maybe the owner was very nice man but he wasn’t very good server. They should hire some professional servers which can make really good difference for their business. Their menu was pretty rich and their prices were very reasonable. It’s a BYOB restaurant also.

Caitlin McDonough

Google

Our server was very kind and overall attentive. The falafel and hummus were amazing appetizers. The chicken shawarma platter- the chicken, hummus and salad were good the rice was a little disappointing. The restaurant itself was HOT temperature wise, the lighting wasn’t great either.

Google

I was excited to go here - the food looked delicious online & I love Mediterranean cuisine. Upon walking in and ordering my meal, however, the owner, who was taking my order, made repeated and increasingly malicious sexist remarks. I playfully challenged his language after the first several comments, hoping he would see that it was clearly offensive, but he continued to say derogatory things about me as a woman and women in general. The more he spoke (and he spoke a LOT), the worse it got. He even made a comment about “Asian food,” playing into the racist stereotype that Chinese restaurants are dirty. The food was edible, but not good or fresh. As far as customer service goes though, it was one of the worst experiences I’ve had at a restaurant in Philly ever, and I’ve been here for 10 years.

Susie Staub

Google

I order delivery occasionally (always the same thing-- chicken kebob salad and hummus) and the food is always so fresh. You can tell the lettuce is chopped fresh (and not from a bag) and the grilled chicken on the salad is still warm when it arrives. The hummus is so creamy, my favorite in the city

sultana abdurraheem

Google

No stars from me I ordered food and the owner told me I could substitute and get mixed vegetables instead of rice, but never informed me that it was an additional charge. Therefore, I asked why didn’t you inform me , and he blatantly lied to my face and told me he did and had an attitude and got rude with me for calling him out on this . I then said if it was an extra charge I wouldve kept the rice sir , so then he offered to cancel my order so I took him up on this . At this point he is in my face being rude and lying so I don’t want to buy food from this establishment. He doesn’t cancel my order and I didn’t get my food 🤦🏽‍♀️ . This place is horrible.

Julie Miller

Google

I’m usually a huge fan of this restaurant but today I had a terrible experience and won’t be going back again. I asked for dressing on the side but it was mixed in my salad & the salad was completely warm and wilted. The cucumbers in my salad were inedible. We also ordered wings which are usually our favorite but half of them were just bones with meat on one part of them and very dry and over cooked. Our fries were also very soggy and covered in oil and were inedible. I’m very disappointed considering I have had positive experiences before. We spent $45 on food and could barely eat it.

Ess Cee

Google

We ordered through door dash so cannot comment on atmosphere. Food was prepared promptly. Hummus was average to below average and we only received one of the two we ordered. Falafel was also average, decent texture. Greek salad was disappointing with lack of flavor, cucumber tasted overly refrigerated/not fresh, 3 olives in the entire salad, and the salmon was very overcooked. On the bright side they did not skimp with the pita as we received a package of 6! Overall, would not return.

Kyle V

Google

I’ve been eating from here for over 15 years (the food is delicious) but just had an experience that will stop me from coming back. I usually dine in or order pick up over the phone but this time decided to use Uber Eats. I asked for no vegetables in my rice since they use way too many peas. The owner calls me and says they can’t do it, the rice is premade. I just placed the same order with them less than two weeks ago and had this special request honored with no trouble. He probably didn’t know I have eaten from there a million times so he just treated me like any other Uber Eats customer and didn’t feel like making fresh rice. I understand it’s annoying to make fresh rice, but when I’m paying $50 for two chicken kabob’s seems like the least a restaurant can do. Don’t want to come off entitled or anything, if somewhere doesn’t want to make fresh rice it’s absolutely their choice. The owner is a great guy and this place has been around a while for a reason but they just lost a longtime customer.