Damascus

Beyond awesome food, great service, mom and pop restaurant I love to support. You won’t be disappointed with flavors or portion size. Super friendly people! Running back as soon as possible!

The food was so amazing! I live an hour away and I will be sending an Uber to pick up my takeout. Would give 100 stars if I could! Tastes like you're in Syria!

Service was exceptionable! Friendly and warm, Sabrina helps us all the time understanding the menu. Everything we order rates a 10! Every time we go, each food item is the most delicious!

Excellent Syrian restaurant. Loved their fried Cauliflower. The decor was inviting. The atmosphere was cool. 😎 The owners were friendly. Will definitely go again to eat the Cauliflower. Very unique dish.

If I lived in Allen town I would go here often amazing garlic shrimp And I had my with the falafel sandwich And a peach tea good food and quality service Definitely check them out and enjoy

Phenomenal Syrian food in Allentown! The restaurant has been here like 40 years and all the dishes we tried were fantastic. Portion size is generous and prices are very fair. Great service too! What an awesome find in Allentown

First time trying this place and we enjoyed our food. Great flavor! I would definitely go back.

First time to try Syrian food and it’s good experience.The in-house yogurt spread and cheese are outstanding. The beef kabob is good but the lamb is better.

The food is ALWAYS excellent here and the hummus especially is delicious. The only issue is the location- the parking around the restaurant is terrible and the street is slummy. The food IS worth making a sacrifice for, now and then..

8/29/2017 Brought friend here for birthday. We had kofte kebab made of beef. Rice and salad were very good.

The best middle east in the Lehigh Valley...great menu...100% fresh...outstanding service...and lovely family ambiance for young to old...thought you died and came to heaven...besides, it's family owned & operated! And, desserts to die for! All around, outstanding!!!

So good! And the recommendations provided by the staff were spot on. Staff was excellent and loved the vibe. Hoping to come back next time we're in town.

The food is excellent. Nice people. The decor is dated. I tried their beef kebab sandwich - it was fantastic. I also tried the hummus and it was very good. This place is much better than Ayat. Here you get much tastier food without the Palestinian propaganda. I highly recommend the place

Great food, awesome service! Do order the fried cauliflowers. They're the best. It's at the end of the street , in the corner building. I would go back at least once a month for sure.

Crazy good!!! I'm picky when it comes to middle eastern food and so we decided to try this place based on the reviews. This place is small, loud and kind of crowded but soo worth it! The chicken kebab was free sh, tender, juicy, and tasty. The shrimp kebab was fresh and juicy as well. The salad was amazing! Like when salad is this dang good, you know the restaurant is legit! The hummus was freshly made and creamy. I love this place!!! Sabrina was an awesome waitress

AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!!!! Eat EVERYTHING on this menu, vegan options for myself. Raneem is so sweet and kind. She is beautiful and the restaurant is clean, quaint and quite. Please come, you won't regret anything!!! Garlic chips! OMFG! Warm pitas and perfect hummus! Perfect Falafel sandwich.

Great little hole in the wall. Would never have found it nor walked in had it not been recommended. We ordered a bunch of appetizers in lieu of a main course. You've got to order the fried cauliflower- delish! Skip the stuffed grape leaves - way too many on the plate, and nothing special. Attentive, home-like service. Very glad we went. Expect *very* casual.

This is a very "hole in the wall" kind of place. We expected great things based on reviews, but it was only average. The service was very good, though. The place smells like it's smoked in often, so if you're sensitive, avoid. The garlic pita chips were pretty good... lots of garlic! The hummus was a great texture, but kind of bland and tasteless. The falafel was very dry. The spinach pie was great, and the seafood supreme was awesome, but ridiculously priced for what I got. The rice pudding, baklava, and Turkish coffee were great. So, somewhat inconsistent and a bit disappointing.

The food is amazing. My wife, daughter, and I just moved to Allentown. We will be back to this restaurant many times. Love it.

Great people great food!! Go today!! You will be happy and well fed. Been going here for ages

Amazing absolutely delicious! This place has huge portions and huge flavor! Service was very personable and pleasant! And the ambiance was lovely and very comfortable. I highly recommend!

Still one of the best restaurants in the Valley. I love the quality and flavors of the food here. Damascus has the best of everything and I always crave their dishes.

I've been going to Damascus for over 20 years. Always the best!! The food is sooo good! The chef and his wife are really nice people and their staff is so attentive to your dining needs. You can't go wrong!

Love this place! It is the best Middle Eastern Food in the Lehigh Valley. Try all the appetizers! Go early. Great food.

Everything was PERFECT. The ambiance was cozy, the service was highly professional, warm and welcoming. The food was incredibly delicious, freshly made , superbly served with eye-catching and mouth-watering presentation. I just loved the place and will definitely be there again many times.

Great food- maybe the best Syrian out there in the valley. It's worth the drive. Get the Turkish coffee!

The food was fantastic. The garlic pita chips with the hummus were the best we have ever had. My wife loved her large fattoush salad and my lamb kebab. We will be back and back and back. Cant wait to try other foods.

Little nice spot in an area where you least expect it. I've been coming here in the last 15-20 years and I haven't been disappointed. The whole restaurant felt very personable and the staff comes and talks to you like they've known you for years. As for the food, well it's really really good! I recommend trying the foul (fava bean salad) and the fried cauliflower. Definitely coming back...as much as I have been already.

Absolutely loved this place! Everything is homemade from scratch and just delicious; easy to see how they have been there for several decades. Sabrina was our friendly and capable server. We enjoyed the hummus, baba ganoush, stuffed cabbage, falafel, their special salad, and for dessert baklava and bird's nest. Definitely worth going out of your way for!

The best Syrian food in the Lehigh Valley. Whenever I'm in Allentown I always make sure to stop at Damascus

Amazing place! Everything was so good. Real middle eastern food! The real deal. Must haves include the labne, babaganosh. Everything was fabulous

My second time eating here. The garlic chips, fattoush salad and the fried cauliflower with rice(not pictured too hungry hahaha) was amaze balls !!!

Amazing!! First time here and it did not disappoint! Service was great and the food is fantastic! Little tip: We didn't have a reservation so if you're planning on going on a Saturday night it's best to make one. We were seated immediately because we got there before the dinner rush but it got busy right after showed up.

The best example of Syrian home cooking I have found this side of the Atlantic!!! This was my second visit in about 6 months. I confirm my original feelings that this one of the best and most authentic "home cooking" restaurants serving Middle Eastern food. Simple in terms of décor, with photos of Syria on the walls, the place clearly has its regulars. One meal tells you why! In addition to the very friendly service, many of the food options are unlike what other Middle Eastern restaurants offer. "Shangleesh", for example, is a type of cheese one finds in Syria and Lebanon. Here you can order it alone, or as I did, in a dish called "Surkey", in which it becomes a salad mixed with chopped tomatoes, garlic, parsley. It was delicious at $5.99. One can also find pickled vegetables, like the pickled eggplant at $4.75. For main courses, there is much too choose from and far more than their wonderful kababs, which are beef, chicken and vegetable kabobs. I found their "Fried cauliflower over rice" at $11.50 to be excellent. All in all, speaking as one who travels regularly throughout the Middle East, this is the best example of Syrian home cooking I have found this side of the Atlantic. It makes the trip to Allentown worthwhile just to enjoy a dinner at Damascus. It is a BYO and reservations on Saturday nights as recommended. I'm looking forward to returning soon!

An unassuming location with Middle Eastern food that is sooooo delicious. My personal favorite is the chicken schwarma. The baba ganoosh and hummus are the best anywhere. And my personal favorite and not to be missed is the fried cauliflower. It'll leave you wanting for more. The owner/ staff all super friendly and service is great. In our case, worth the 45 minute drive and we've been going there many years.

We stopped in while passing through from out of town and I'm glad we did! Friendly service and Everything was delicious. The Surkey was so good we ordered more to take home. And of course some baklava for the road.

Amazing food and service, Can't wait to go back!!! We tried something from every section of the menu with recommendations from our phenomenal server. Nothing disappointing, we even had 4 different baklava's to go. Definitely worth the trip off the interstate!!!

We ordered take out for a night we were in town from NYC spending time with family. I can only reinforce what so many others have said: yes, it is a bit of a "hole-in-the-wall"; yes, everything is beyond delicious; yes, you receive warm and attentive service (they carried my order to the car and gave me some complimentary cookies for the kids). We wanted to try everything on the menu and ordered too much, and we will be hard-pressed to decide-- next time we order (and there will be a next time) -- what to cut. Must orders: fried zucchini, pickled eggplant, tabbouli, spiced labneh, shrimp kebabs, keftah kebabs...a real gem in Allentown.

The food was fresh, seasoned perfectly, and of course delicious. The people were extremely polite, helpful and gracious. Came for the second time and enjoyed it even more. Explored the menu and the lamb was excellent.

Wow. What a fantastic meal before our concert at PPL Center. This place is in an old neighborhood close to the PPL and has delicious food and great service. My daughter and her friend are Vegan and no proble here. We stuffed ourselves ordering a bunch of appetizers and the same review for all (believe me), all great and you can't go wrong. Hummus Babaganoush Vegetarian Kibbe Falaffel Cabbage Salad fava beans in tahini Tabbouleh Also tried the stuffed cabbage, the only non vegan item. Huge portion that melts in your mouth. Pita very good but only took a bite. Family run with lots of pride!

Updating my review, four years later, to say: Yes, it's STILL amazing food! As a very passionate and viscerally responsive person, Damascus' food is, please excuse the analogy, orgasmic. Damascus was introduced to me by an ex, and I'm forever thankful. The deserts are great. The dishes are great. The baba ganoush is second only to Soumaya and Sons Bakery (that means Damascus makes great baba ganoush). They also cater to vegetarians (so happy!). They're nice people who seem sincerely interested in your enjoyment of their hard work. i highly recommend Damascus. Don't let the unimpressive appearance fool you. Appearances don't matter when the food is this good! 5+ stars!

Great food! What even made it better was our server, Sabrina. She was funny and helpful. Definitely is a warm place run by family. As for the food, Falafel was moist and flavorful and the moussaka was the best I have had. We ordered a bunch of apps that were all tasty. Frankly I don't think you can go wrong with any dish here. Place, including the bathroom was neat and clean. Worth a visit for sure.

Just went for lunch when in the area. Now as we know, this is not the nicest parts of A-Town, but I don't scare too easy. Parked my scooter right in front & ambled up the the stairs. Place is small & decor is low, but food is very good. I was solo, so I ordered apps only. Had the Baba, very good, Falafel balls & a meat pie, also good. They were a bit busy & I waited a bit, but waitress kept me informed, so no worries. Next time I'll bring some beer or wine to go along w/ my meal. Its BYOB! Salaam

First let's get into the customer service. Sabrina, Nabila, and Nabokov were amazing!!! As soon as we walked in we felt extremely welcomed and almost like family. It was our first time and Sabrina made great recommendations. We had the lamb kabob platter, fried cauliflower, grilled shrimp (perfect!!), Hummus, babaganoush (amazing and smoked), fried kibbee. I had to write a review because I had such a nice time and I'm extremely picky. And this place checked every box. Enjoy!

My family has been coming here for years... incredible Syrian restaurant in Allentown. The hummus is out of this world as well as their lamb kabob platter. Incredible food! If you're looking to try something new this would be the spot, only downfall is the parking , but it is well worth it!

We ate amazing, easy, fun food at the Damascus! Made to Mediterranean perfection with their spices, seasonings and techniques, served in a thoughtful, kind, most pleasant way. Everyone here is warm, welcoming, thoughtful and talented. All in this area should experience this gem of a restaurant.

We were looking for a new place for lunch and husband was on board for an adventurous meal after our Syrian food truck find in Baltimore. Based on reviews here on Yelp we gave it a try. Very plan Jane decor but that all melts away with the fab food! They have a list on the table of recommendations and customer favorites which was nice. I wanted to give them 5 stars because the food and service were great but the sauces were too heavy handed. We started with fried eggplant but too much balsamic. The Fatoush salad was so worth the extra $1.50 but again too much dressing. We shared a combo platter with lamb and chicken. Next time we are just getting lamb; really tender and tasty! My husband ordered the cheese dessert and I had a few bites but it was swimming in a sugar syrup. Our total was $32 and we were full! Defiantly makes the rotation for us.

LOVE THIS PLACE! The best food, Even after change of ownership. The Greek salad is the best (add pita chips!) and the grilled lamb is delicious.

Pros: -lots of choices -great prices. Like you can load up on apps and still get an entree. You will go home with leftovers and EAT them. -good hummus -plentiful pita -pretty much anything is good there! -service is super attentive and their coffee is great Cons: -parking. Ya might have to walk. -seating. Can be hard to get -it has changed owners but that really isn't a con. It's not the exact SAME, but it's pretty close and still pretty good. I've been here both before and after the ownership change. Yeah it was outstanding with the old owners, but it's still delicious with the new. Go off the main eating hours so you are sure to get a seat. Go before dinner hour to get better parking. A really great hidden gem!

Wonderful food served by friendly people, excellent service. My sons and I have come twice and loved it! You wouldn't think fried cauliflower could be so good! Tabbouleh was a hit, as well as the Shawarma and good portion sizes. Lots to choose from, too.

Visited 10/29/16 for dinner Just far enough from home (after a road trip down South) my wife found this place in Allentown. We got here right about 5pm, which is about when we like to eat... It was empty. After a warm greeting, we got to sit anywhere we wanted. Not crazy hungry... we opted for some hummus, tabouli, grilled and fried Kibbee appetizers and their lamb supreme entree that we shared. The hummus was good (we make a pretty decent hummus at home since it is pretty easy to make) the tabouli was very good and the Kibbees were something neither my wife or I have ever had. One of the waitresses liked the fried kibbee and the other liked the grilled kibbee. Obviously so as to not offend anyone, we ordered both. Both were excellent (crushed wheat and ground beef stuffed with sauteed onions and pine nuts) but I preferred the grilled. (and it was a bit healthier than the fried) The lamb chunks were done perfectly and very tasty. Served with rice and grilled onion and green pepper. I would have preferred some spicy peppers like I usually get in the Middle Eastern restaurants I like to frequent at home... but then I wasn't home and the entree was delicious, so no complaints. The service was excellent also and I guess our waitress liked us because she brought us a complimentary piece of baklava even though we didn't order dessert. Like everything else in this restaurant it was delicious. As we left, several large parties started swarming in for an evening of great Syrian food. I don't know if we'll be back this way anytime soon, but if you're in the area and are in the mood for Middle Eastern cuisine, this is a 'must stop.'

I traveled all the way from Brooklyn to get here on time before they closed to taste their food and oh boy was it worth it. The place is simple & small but the dishes are bursting with flavor. It's one of those mom and pop shops that guarantee a very satisfying home cooked meal. My extended family own and operate restaurants that serve middle eastern food for decades so I'm very critical when consuming middle eastern food at restaurants but I can tell you this is the absolute best. Here's what we ordered: Fried kibbee: ground beaf w/cracked wheat stuffed with pine nuts, onions, and more ground meat fried and in a ball shape----absolutely heavenly and not greasy (which is really hard to achieve since it's fried) Veggie fried kibbee: same as above but instead of the meat it's made of potato----absolutely delicious and a perfect vegetarian dish. Kibbee Kras: also ground beef w/cracked wheat with the pine nuts,onion, meat filling but this one is GRILLED-and NOOO it's not the same the fried one it has a more smokey taste to it and it's A M A Z I N G. Hummus: pureed chickpeas with tahini sauce (sesame based) and the perfect balance of garlic and lemon juice---- A MUST HAVE DISH-as simple as it is, so many places get this dish wrong either with it's content ratio or consistency. DAMASCUS NAILED IT. Babaghanouj: grilled eggplant with tahini sauce, some garlic, lemon juice --PERFECT and delicious Fattoush: romaine lettuce base, cucumbers, green onions, tomatoes, toasted pita bread, sumac herb (red herb that has a sour taste) salt, vinegar--where I'm from we usually make this potent pomegranate sauce but this was a new twist for me and I LOVED IT. Tabbouleh: finely chopped parsley, onions, tomatoes, cracked wheat, lemon juice & oil oil---PERFECT because so many places don't chop the parsley this fine. Moussaka: eggplant topped with chick peas and onions, baked in tomato sauce--this was absolutely delicious Falafel :Ground chick peas,spices, deep fried & topped with tahini sauce, tomatoes, parsley and lettuce---so many places get this wrong and make it dry but Damascus were on point with this dish Shish Kabob, Lamb Kabob, Kefta Kabob were all tender and juicy and grilled to perfection. Bottomline, if you're looking for crème de la crème middle eastern food, DAMASCUS is where you need to be.

The kibbee is spot on. The fattoush salad had a dressing that is beyond belief. The baba is the best in the world. Really- I cannot find any reason to not go through the menu and try everything. This place brings me to tears. It is worth the 140 mile round trip to eat here.

OMG! Talk about authentic Serian Food! The most fabulous Everrrr! It's a small little restaurant if you never had the REAL Serian Go try!!

not a fan of the food a bit tasteless for me, the chips were very very garlicky and had soo much seasoning on it that they were not editable

Stopped in on a rainy day. As soon as you open the door, you are hit with the most amazing smells. The food is incredible and the family that owns it are so kind. They have a special Syrian loaf of bread that you have to order in advance, but it's SO worth it.

This place has yet to disappoint me at all. Every time I eat here it's consistent with flavorful food and taste. My favorite is the chicken shawarma sandwich hands down. I highly suggest Damascus to anyone looking for great middle eastern cuisine I give them