Naya Mezze & Grill
“We moved onto entrées of shish taouk (grilled skewered chicken), beef kebab, kafta and kafta saniyé.”
“Service was extremely attentive — our server (I think his name was Henry) came to check on us, but not in a disruptive way.”
“I got the Arayess Lahme, which is the toasted pita filled with minced lamb, complete with onion, parsley and Lebanese spices.”
Naya Mezze & Grill
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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We called and made a reservation… Then went over to the restaurant. Waited.. Waited, and waited some more. Two tables left… But the staff was busy talking to a customer who was picking up some takeout. I finally Walked to the two main staff people; asked when a table would be ready, and was told… "When one is ready, we will let you know." That, as we stood by an empty table.
We walked out. Based on the service and attitude, I would not waste time coming here.
I liked the trendy and modern vibe of this place. It's really narrow but has this awesome Tron-like futuristic lighting, with mostly 2-person tables but also some 4-person ones toward the front and the back (I think).
1. Chips with dip and olives: This was delicious! Wish there were more chips.
2. Chicken shawarma sandwich: Good portions and comes with a scoop of the rice with noodles embedded in it. There was also a bowl of something that my friend got with it, but I didn't get to try it.
3. Ground lamb dish: I actually did not enjoy this dish at all. The ground lamb was compressed into sausage-like pieces that were dry and hard. The tomato-based sauce was great, but I really could not tolerate the meat. Too bad! The rice/noodle scoop was pretty good although a bit strange on the palate. The rice could be a little crunchier instead of soft, but this is probably a personal preference.
Overall, liked the ambience but felt the food was just OK.
I wanted a snack. My usual snack in the city is either something sweet or savory. I ordered the falafel and it was quite pricey. If it's good, price doesn't really bother me but ehh. It came with diced tomatoes on the bottom and slices of thin bread. I didn't like the bread or the diced tomatoes. I love tomatoes but these had a stall taste. The falafel must have been fresh because I waited forever. These crunchy, crispy balls were spot on for texture but lacked in flavor and the sauce didn't save it either. Overall, this was a pricey snack – it's equivalent to the price of an average lunch meal!
It's a kind of cute place for a date… with the long, narrow and dimly lit front section of the restaurant. I was here with a friend and we decided to get a few small dishes and share.
We ordered the babganoush, the halloumi, kibbe and grape leaves. It was pretty good, but I've had better food. I think it was just basic food served in a fancy setting, and I think I'd be happier trying Naya Express than going back to this spot. It was good but just didn't make an impression.
I have been to Naya express many times and finally am checking out the dine-in place Naya grill (with my team). Conveniently located between 55 and 56 street, Naya grill serves many good-value lunch specials, as well as daily specials which rotate during different days of week.
I opted for the chicken shawarma, with eggplant, hummus and grape leaves as complementary appetizers. Priced at 17 dollars, this is probably one of the best deals in this area. Strongly recommend the shawarma – well marinated chicken meat with garlic sauce simply made the perfect combo. Towards the end of the meal, they also brought us the sesame candies.
I would also like to try out some of their dinner dishes, which were not on the lunch special section. Our waiter was extremely attentive during our lunch as well! A solid five-star lunch place in midtown area!
The food here was pretty great, BUT it's actually quite pricey for Mediterranean food standards. Hummus is a whopping $7 here, which is pretty steep considering how much it costs to make hummus. The entrees itself are all $20+ per person – don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the food (the kabobs were very yummy and had a lot of flavor!), but would most likely not visit again because of the steep bill.
Interesting decor – they really made the best of the small size of their restaurant!
Medicore food. The food is just nothing special compared to better options nearby. It was also expensive for what it was. Nothing impressive – the staff has been rude over the phone a few times but never in person.
A friend of mine picked this restaurant and I thought it was decent, but quite a bit overpriced, especially for Mediterranean food. We had changed our reservation to be a little later because I thought I would be late, but actually arrived there sooner than was expected. The hostess said she could not accommodate seating us before the time of our new reservation time. She was polite but firm about it so I appreciated that. She let us know when our table was ready and it wasn't a minute before the reservation time.
The decor of the restaurant was okay. It was sleek and modern, with white walls and lighting and railway style seating. We were seated a little bit towards the back which I think was better because we had more room.
We ordered several appetizers: Fattoush, Hommus Lahme and Rekakat Bi Sujuk. First we were given a complimentary snack trio of crispy pita chips, olives and some sort of sauce with sesame seeds for the chips. The chips were bland and the sauce was not really to my liking.
The Fattoush was a salad that consisted of mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, radish, green pepper, onion, toasted pita and vinaigrette. It was light and the vegetables were fresh, but I wasn't that impressed. It was healthy but not all that flavorful.
I liked the Hommos Lahme better, which was hummus with minced sirloin beef and pine nuts. This came with a ton of pita bread. I enjoyed the hummus mixed with the beef, but the pita was kind of blah.
My favorite appetizer was definitely the Rekakat Bi Sujuk, which looked like adorable little spring rolls. It was phyllo dough filled with Mediterranean cheeses and spicy beef, though the meat wasn't spicy at all. The ingredients came together really beautifully here and it was nicely seasoned and very tasty. I definitely thought 4 pieces were not enough!
For the main course, I ordered the Chicken Shawarma Roll and it came with 2 sides. This was strips of marinated chicken with lettuce and pickles/garlic in a pita. The chicken itself was great with delightful flavor but I really did not like the addition of pickles with it. That actually kind of ruined the dish for me and I wasn't able to taste the garlic at all. For the sides, I selected grilled vegetables and french fries. The sides were wonderful! They were pretty generous with them. The vegetables (red peppers, zucchini, eggplant, onion) were grilled to perfection and the fries were crispy and fluffy.
The service was all right. Our waiter was cheerful and helpful with recommending what to order, but he brought us a fried appetizer that we didn't order and failed to take it off the final bill so it was a good thing we caught it before paying. It was a nice meal, but not special enough for me to come back especially with the prices they are charging.