G I N.
Yelp
2019-10-08 Bucharest Grill. Detroit, MI.
With four Detroit locations, I guess I should be more specific about this location. This is their "uptown" location by Milwaukee Junction on PIquette Ave at John R. Just down the street from the Ford Piquette Ave Plant. I was volunteering at Free Bikes 4 Kids whose 2019 headquarters happen to reside on the same complex as the Ford Plant, so I decided to lunch here.
I walked here, but if you drive, they do have parking spaces on the property's boulevard. There's also street parking if the spaces fill up. Bucharest is a Shawarma and Burger joint. When I arrive, the place wasn't exactly packed, but it was busy. There was a steady turnover of diners and a constant stream of take out. An excellent lunch crowd by any standards. Their M.O. is fast food style service. You place your order, pay, wait for your order, then seat yourself. When you're done, you also pick up after yourself.
I wasn't sure which way to go, burgers, or shawarma... ok it was shawarma hands down... but it could have been burgers, not! I looked around for spits of meat but unfortunately found none. I did see an open flamed grill as well as a flat top and a deep frying, so I was a little hopeful. The menu is pretty basic, they serve Shawarmas, Wraps, Burgers, and Sticks. They also have some appetizers and Specialties. I like that each heading only had a few selections. It cuts down on the decision making process and it gives them specialization on the dishes (i.e. a higher chance that whatever dish they make, it will be well made and executed).
I wanted to order a few items, but knew I would not be able to finish them. After evaluating whether or not they could be consumed later, I concluded that eating fresh is always the better way to go. I didn't want to sabotage the ratings based on this so I decided that I would just have to return subsequent times to try the other dishes. Today I went with a Chicken Shawarma Stick, and the Chicken Shawarma Salad.
Chicken Shawarma Stick. Essentially a skinny shawarma, it's shawarma meat, tomatoes, pickles, toum (whipped garlic) rolled into a pita and grilled. While the combination of ingredients was a good one, it wasn't worth the $4 price tag. 3 stars.
Chicken Shawarma Salad. Chicken Shawarma meat atop a bed of greens with tomatoes, onions, and toum. The Shawarma meat was expertly booked on the grill complete with beautiful searing of the meat. The dish was served with a side of mass made pita bread, which I didn't really care for. As good as the dish looked, the proportion was off. There was definitely not enough sauce, and the tomato bled too much. A side of toum or tahini would have been a good complement to this, as would a rice option over the greens. But as the dish stands, 3 stars.
Overall, a decent place. Would I return, sure, to try some of their other offerings (Baba Ganoush (Eggplant Dip) with Beef, Bucharest Shawarma, and possibly their Ribeye Steak Dinner), but I would already have to be in the area. 3 stars overall.
If You would like to experience more, come dine-with-me.yelp.com I'd love to have your company... Bon Appétit!