Kareem's Restaurant

The food is extremely delicious. It was prepared right in front of us as we enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere. The food is a bit over priced, but is totally worth it. Make sure you have cash or check as they don't accept cards! Oops! Oh, and walk ins are welcome but it's better to set an appointment. Seems like their menus change over the week, so calling in advance would be a good idea anyway.

I went to Kareem's with my wife and we had the pita & hummus, a salad, and some grilled chicken and some vegetarian dish (wife ordered, but don't remember the name of). Everything was fantastic. Fresh, simple and healthy. Would definitely recommend!

Amazing food from a syrian chef.

OMG I am so glad to learn that Ahmad is back because he and his cuisine have been sorely missed for the past 10 years or so since he closed Kareems on Mt. Auburn St! My family and I had many fabulous dinners there, and my Armenian friend Joe (who searched the world for the best Falafel), declared Kareems to be the best he ever had. I remember the baby eggplants that he would pickle for 6 months - they weren't cheap - but they were always worth the price. So - I have not been to the New Kareems - but I will go soon!!! Ahmad does not (did not) compromise on quality...

We took a wonderful cooking class with Ahmad in October 2016. Ahmad walked us through the steps for making Lahmahjun and Zatar bread, tabouleh, and Fattet Hummus. The cooking class was fun and interactive. We strained the chick peas, learned how to cut parsley properly, rolled out the dough, and taste tested items as they were completed. Ahmed's class was also interspersed with short lessons on Syria's rich history. At the end of class, we dined on the Fattet Hummus and tabouleh and were treated to some delicious pomegranate juice and Kannafa for dessert. Overall, the cooking class was very enjoyable for the 11 participants. We walked away with a great appreciation for Syrian cuisine and will be sure to return.

I loved the experience here! The food definitely comes through in flavor and homeliness. I'm not sure there are any dishes I would not recommend. Definitely have a chat with the chef!

I love coming back to this place again and again. The menu is always slightly different. The food is always delicious. The kanafeh is to die for.

Awesome arabic food, extraordinary deserts, familial atmosphere, very suitable for dating but a little expensive though.

I went with three other people and we were looking forward to learning some cooking techniques that were pertinent to Syrian cuisine. Really? The class was advertised as a three hour class that where you would get "hands-on cooking techniques (like knife skills)". please. that took less than 5 minutes to observe, since only 2 people got to use a knife. I was not as surprised as the others were, since I read the reviews just before we left. The reviews are as people have said. "Buyer Beware!" The biggest issue I have is the misrepresentation of this class. The class was about an 1 1/2 hours and most of it was filled with rhetoric, as poetic as it was, in lieu of hands on experience. The food was tasty, however, the meal should have been more comprehensive along with the instruction.

I took Mr. Yasin's "class" last summer after purchasing it from groupon. Although it was quite some time ago, i feel compelled to post this now as I see he has listed his classes with living social. Buyer beware. Following are excerpts from the email I sent Mr. Yasin on 7/13/11 after taking his class: "My two friends and I were incredibly disappointed with your class we attended last evening. It was nothing like the description on groupon nor your website and, frankly, we feel scammed and ripped off. As the others went outside, I specifically asked you if there wasn't supposed to be more to this class than a recipe for a marinade and hummus. You said the classes varied and we were getting "an incredible value" and sometimes the classes included salads and sometimes it was hummus. Please correct me if I am mistaken, but I think the only reason you even served the salad was because of my comment as it was not mentioned before. It seemed as though you had intended it for your later dinner with your wife and company you told us about. And, when asked about the recipe for the salad dressing, we were told "that is another class." (along with the recipe for the pomegranate item that another student asked about three times) According to your website, this is the evening (3-4 hours) we thought we would experience: "We'll prepare and feast on colorful and nutritious salads, appetizers, an exotic dinner and desserts. Ahmad will discuss Arab food history and how to use the wonderful spices and herbs in Arab and Syrian dishes." The class we attended fell FAR short. Hummus and a marinade for salmon does not match that description. And when I came home and realized that you had sold more than 500 of these classes on groupon, I was appalled. Is there a reason this was at your home instead of the professional kitchen described on your website? Both groupon and your website say your classes are 3-4 hours. Tonight we were brought inside to your kitchen at 6:25 p.m. and were finished (after the garden "Tour" and getting in our car by 7:45 p.m. I think we spent more time talking to the other attendees outside on the porch than learning anything in a "cooking class." Perhaps you were trying to rush us through so you could have your dinner after, perhaps not. I expected the promise of learning new cooking methods, sampling a delicious array of foods and spices. A marinade of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, cummin and pepper is not anything special. The fish was nicely cooked, however you did that separately and we were not included. I recognize that you have groupons commission to consider when deciding to promote through them, but no matter the deal you make for the advertising, you should fulfill the promise of the class for the people who purchased. And, you did not. Not only did I not think this was anywhere near the $85 value promised, based on what was provided I don't think it was even worth the $42 I paid for it. I (and my friends) will be contacting groupon for a refund with a full explanation of why we are doing that. Perhaps you could let me know if for some reason you were "off your game" last night. We expected a professional class in a professional kitchen and instead had a quick demo in a private house. Is there a reason we did not "prepare and feast on colorful and nutritious salads, appetizers, an exotic dinner and desserts?" Otherwise, I think I just consider this deceptive and false advertising." AND, this is the response I received: "The description you have read is for classes that cost $85.00/person and last 4 hours with four meals. I have conducted 300-400 groupon classes and sincerely got back very positive comments and emails. However yours is the first one! For $22/class you can't expect much to be offered. Pomegranate was not on the agenda and I (sic) will not give out information irrelevant to the class. No one should expect to learn so much about a cuisine in one session and paying so little. Cooking classes with so much information and dinning afterward may cost hundreds of $$. I do not know how much you cook but it takes hours to prepare a class such as the other night from the time you shop to finish cleaning up etc etc. I have gone to Sushi classes and others. The conductors who taught were not professionals, the food was not edible, the place is filthy..... " Obviously, although he advertises his classes as "an $85 value," he has no intention of providing and $85 value. For the record, we did contact groupon with our complaint and received a refund.

My husband and I purchased the Groupon for this authentic Arabic cooking class for $42 per person. We were both very excited to attend since we've been to cooking classes before and had a blast, as well as learned a lot of things. We had a hard time finding this place because we thought it'd be an establishment, turns out, it was just a house, which is fine. When we approached the house, Ahmad was sitting on his porch with another couple waiting for other students. He was a very pleasant man to talk with, and had a lot of knowledge about cooking. When everyone had arrived, we went inside his home, and stood in his dining room area (chairs and tables were removed), we stood there for a good hour and a half. I was surprised that there were no chairs or something. There wasn't much participation involved, since there wasn't much to really do. He had someone pit olives which seemed to be a pain in the ass, blend some lemon juice and garlic in a blender, and chop parsley and pick thyme. The students all looked around at each other sharing similar thoughts it seemed. In total, there were about 8 students. A few questions were asked, but we felt like the answers weren't well answered. One student asked "where do you buy your salmon?", he answered with "Whole foods", not that I have a problem with Whole Foods, but as a Chef and having been in the restaurant industry for 16 years, shouldn't you know of fresh, quality fish markets or places where people in that industry purchase their ingredients? Anyway, it was a dull class, everyone was yawning and someone was feeling light headed from standing up the entire class, she had asked for a chair from outside on the porch, he insisted no chairs because he didn't want people to fall asleep (wonder why, it must've happened before?). The dishes that he made were salmon in a marinade (great flavors), roasted red pepper hummous (very delicious!), and a chick pea salad with the olives, roasted red peppers, thyme, and other spices (it was ok, chick peas needed to be soaked longer), as well as his own blend of lemonade. A student asked how he made the lemonade, his answer was, "just some fruits and lemon"...not impressed. I think if he taught his classes a bit differently, and had the students make their own dishes, it'd be much more exciting and enjoyable! He usually charges $85/person, this class was definetly not worth $85, nor the $42 Groupon we had purchased. We really wanted to love this cooking class, but it was a big disappointment as the other Yelper experienced.

I went to one of his cooking classes, and it was an amazing experience. He's friendly, engaging and very knowledgeable. I'm no stranger to cooking, and even so came away with new tips. We learned how to make a couple of dishes, and while we were eating he brought out a few more. There was so much to eat that everyone was stuffed, but didn't feel heavy because a lot of the food for our group was vegetarian. He makes you feel as though you are in his kitchen at home and you're one of his favorite guests. The food will knock your socks off too.

We took a class with 4 other couples Sunday afternoon Learned to make great lentil soup, wonderfully spiced grilled Chiken and baked salmon Then enjoyed a group meal with and pomegranate juice thrown in Ahmad is passionate about food and the history of it as well as the origins and use of spices It's a great social and culinary experience for very reasonable cost. We received it as a gift. What could be better!

Disclaimer: This review is for a cooking class voucher I purchased through Groupon. It may not be typical of the usual Yasin Culinary classes. I was really really excited for the arabic cooking class groupon I bought for Yasin culinary, and I was very disappointed by the actual class. The class was advertised 6-9 and it actually lasted from 6 to 7:40ish. Furthermore, he only showed us how to make two recipes (hummus and salmon marinade). He didn't even show us how to cook the salmon, he just showed us how to make the marinade and then went off to grill it while we ate hummus. When we asked about the recipes of the two other dishes we were served but did not prepare (salad and macaroons) or the other recipes he was talking about, he kept saying that there was another class for that. I can understand not wanting to give away all of your secrets in one class, but I really expected more than 2 recipes. The class description made it sound like it would be a big afffair wtih lots of recipes and all kinds of food to taste and it was really quite disappointing. His class description says says "We'll prepare and feast on colorful and nutritious salads, appetizers, an exotic dinner and desserts. Ahmad will discuss Arab food history and how to use the wonderful spices and herbs in Arab and Syrian dishes." I really wouldn't call two recipes learning how to prepare a feast. We probably spent only 45 minutes in the kitchen. Most of the time was spent hanging out on his porch. Did he share some cooking philosophy and information about spices? Yes. Did it make up for only learning two recipes? Definitely not. If he wanted to offer an abbreviated class for groupons then he should have described it as such. Maybe he was having a bad day, maybe most of his classes are utterly fantastic. The one I went to was a dud and definitely not worth the $40 some odd dollars that I spent on it. For all I know, his classes for non-Groupon customers are mind blowingly awesome. Am I willing to chance $80 to risk getting another similar class? Nope. I don't like giving bad reviews because I know they can do damage to peoples business that they have spent years building, but this class was a big disappointment.

Chef Ahmad takes pride in his food and culture. Think of his class as a performance full of love and knowledge for food, literature, and country, and you will enjoy it. His ingredients are fresh and the food is delicious. The pomegranate juice is amazing, so is the kanaffeh! He is generous and genuinely wants customers to have a good time.

We went in with low expectations after reading all the bad reviews. This was a very pleasant experience. We made 3 delicious vegetarian dishes, many of the ingredients came from the garden. One person played sous chef. We all sat down to eat a nice fillin meal together and talk about food and gardens. Things that could be improved- it was not the whole time listed and yes we could have all helped to prep with more time, a copy of the recipes as I would love to re-create. Mr. Yasin was very knowledgeable, has years of cooking and restaurant experience and was quite pleasant and we did all learn a few new cooking tips. I am looking forward to his restaurant opening soon at the same location.

BUYER BEWARE!!! I had a Living Social coupon that I paid $42. for ($85.00 value). We booked the class June 14th (almost a month ago.) We drove over an hour in rush hour traffic to make the 4 pm class. We arrived early with four other students only to see a sign on the door saying class was cancelled because not enough people signed up as per his contract. This was very unprofessional. He had all our emails since we signed up online. He should have contacted us. The voucher says we have to give 5 days cancellation notice or we forfeit the voucher. Should Ahmin Yasin be held to the same standards? BUYER BEWARE!!!!!

We've taken two classes here, they've been great! Ahmad is knowledgable, passionate, and full of gusto. Both classes I went to were small, so everyone got to do a little bit but no one had to spend so much time working that they missed chunks of the instruction. Good balance between learning and fun, and great food. My one piece of advice: bring a pen and be ready to take notes! He gives out recipes but some of them don't capture all the steps. That said we've tried some of them at home and really liked how they turned out.

My husband and i just returned home from a cooking class with Ahmad Yasin at Kareem's Restaurant that our son bought for us. What a wonderful experience. Six other students, and Ahmad was in fine form telling stories and showing techniques in the kitchen. We met in his restaurant which is beautiful and he described fresh ingredients and how to prepare them. Students chopped and marinated and stirred if they wanted to. We had recipes for four dishes, Tabouli, Pepper Hummous, Pomegranite Chicken (really flavorful with a sauce of pomegranite, jalapenos, garlic, Aleppo pepper, and tomatoes), and Marinated spicy salmon. All interesting and delicious. We felt that we could follow the recipes at home, if not Ahmad's free form measuring skills. Cumin and Aleppo pepper for flavor and also color in presentation are lessons that will be remembered. We doubt that we'll be able to eat store bought tabouli again, once we saw how easy it is to make and how delicious with fresh veggies. That's Ahmad's message: fresh and flavorful and do it yourself. He's a passionate teacher and promoter of real foods. If he can't grow it, he searches for the best. Class was definitely a great gift and delightful evening of nearly three hours. We all sat down to a pleasant meal together. We look forward to eating at the restaurant again soon.