Service has gotten better than before, and we've always had great food when we went. Great prices too. We normally go with the appetizer platter comes with like 10 different things, and then split an either al basha platter for 2 or the junior platter. Servings are great also read more

Delicioussss food. My friends and i ordered everything; appetizer, salad and platters. The service is good and we were seated quickly. Their courtesy lentil soup tasted weird but the thought counts. read more

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This Arabian Restaurant has a must taste menu. The quantity was so much we eat the single portion for 3 days. Talk about taste? Every bite calls for more. The freshness and multiple sources is to die for. Good job guys! We need such a restaurant in South Jersey read more

Favorite place for authentic middle eastern food hands down! Fresh and amazing. Trust me when I say u must try the stuffed falafels! You must! read more

Food is always hot and delicious, it never disappoints. But as far as service, its always horrible weather there busy or slow. Also, there's free lentil soup for guests to enjoy in the second dinning room. read more

Al Basha - Al Basha Jr. Platter - Middle Eastern Near Me - Paterson, New Jersey

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I was really excited to come here, but my excitement did not last. I came with about 6 other people and we started off by ordering the mezzah platter, in which a bunch of small plates are served. Very delicious, 5 stars there. The hummus was to die for... I love hummus. Half of us ordered chicken shawarma plates, and the other half had the falafel sandwiches. The chicken was no shawarma, but more of a fajita style chicken and flavorless fajitas at that. NO!!!! The falafel was one of the worst I've ever had, and I've had a lot of falafel. We ordered more hummus to take home since it was so good. Service is friendly and very fast. The place overall does not seem very clean. Prices are fair... read more

My friend introduced me to this place along time ago, he is Jordanian and knows his Middle Eastern food! The whole area is filled with Middle Eastern restaurants, and this is one of the best! Numerous recommends, and the people that I recommend keep going to This place, as do I. The soups are fantastic, the falafel, the hummus, spicy falafel, did I mention falafel? All of the meets are very good here too, you cannot go wrong here!!! And, most importantly, in addition to the food been great the service is incredible in the waiting staff is super friendly read more

I've been here plenty of times, driving from Randolph. Their whole chicken is amazing, very tender. They have messed up twice though and we had to drive back 50 minutes so I wish they were more careful. Meat with hummus is also a good choice. The rice there is delicious. But once I've gotten a burnt/ overly salted chicken but I would still go back. read more

Had a great dinner here last night. Homemade kind of food with generous portions. Arabic bread,hummus, shish kebab.... Just delicious!!! Also had traditional tea in a little kettle... You won't be disappointed if you're looking to eat quality food for reasonable price. read more

Pros: food is great,very colorful and tasty. In addition, the prices are reasonable and very affordable!!!! The Hummus is awesome and they give U more than enough pita bread... Nice, small place with cute decor. Cons: In my opinion, They honestly cater more to middle eastern people. No offensive, but our waiter barely came by our table (( which was the only Hispanic table)), we literally had to flag him down and that's if he didn't pretend not to see us. We didn't even order dessert, not because we didn't want to but because the waiter never came back. As far as our check we had to get up and personally ask for it. If I give this place another try, it may be for take out only!!! read more

I am deducting a star; they offer delivery but it is always late, by 45-69 minutes. If it's going to be that late, might as well just discontinue delivery read more

Some of the most amazing middle eastern food I've ever had. Their hummus and eggplant salad are especially outstanding. The staff is so nice and helpful too! read more

They are cool ass people working here! I used the Yelp offer they give when you check in here. The food was all affordable and the guy behind the counter helped me with the order since I was getting food for non-Arabs and wanted to get stuff that they would enjoy as well. We had the meat platter, some of the meat patties, and the hummus. Wow! Everything was great! The food was plenty and the staff was very nice. The food fed 3 people for dinner and we had enough left overs for lunch the next day! Everything was about $40!! So I'm telling you I paid about $40 for 3 people to eat two days in a row!! Winner!! The non-Arabs that ate the food both said that this was the best Arabic food they have ever had before!! read more

Had to wait 2 hours for a plate of mixed grill .. We had plans to go to NY I had guests with me and I was really annoyed .. Finally after one hour the rice and salad come in .. And by the time the meat came in the rice was cold as ice .. Yuck and it didn't even Taste that nice .. Horrible service incompetent waiters and ridiculous pricing .. Guys try levie for a better deal and genuinely good service .. Don't go here unless your a newly married couple and wouldn't mind all the extra time staring into each other eyes Oh I havent told you the best part the restaurant was empty and we were one of two unfortunate soul families trapped in there .. The other guy was still waiting for his food when we left .. May his food rest in peace ! read more

Honestly I haven't been here in forever because of my distance from the restaurant but I dream about the hummus on a weekly basis. The chicken shish-kebabs are also to die for. Can't wait to go back and order a whole quart to go, you'll be seeing me soon! read more

It's so good I just wish they toast the bread for the shawarma and falafel sandwich!!!!

I'm not familiar with many places in Paterson but I have been to many different middle eastern restaurants in NJ and I would say everything I've tried here is very good. I've only been for lunch so I'd have to try some dinner entrees before giving 5 stars. If no other reason, go and try the freshly made pita bread, order humus, falafel, and arabic tomato and cucumber salad, and make yourself the best pita sandwich ever. Great place for large groups to share multiple appetizers with as well. read more

*Come here for the iftar buffet!* I came here last weekend from Long Island for iftar and was it packed! This place was booked with reservations but luckily enough there was one table available 10 mins after the adhan went on and the manager let us get a table. Each table consisted of a bottle of water and a date. I had the best hummus in America here, so fresh so good! They had a variety of Arabic food ranging from lamb shanks, chicken kebab, chicken curry with potato, to a kid friendly pasta dish all in the buffet. They give you fresh bread straight out of the oven, once your done they bring more. They had about 3 different types of dessert; halwa, koonafa, and this honey glazed empanada like turnover. Despite the iftar craze, service was great all the waiters were attentive and patient (we didn't know Arabic lol). The manager made sure we had dessert before we left and gave us what I think was complimentary Mint Tea which was the real icing on the cake. The iftar buffet is $25 but well worth it. I highly recommend making reservations here. I'll definitely be back for one more iftar for 2013! read more

Always cater from here. The food is scrumptious. The spicing is perfect. Don't miss the mint lemonade. Heaven !

I have ordered take out from here plenty of times. Their food is delicious and that's an understatement. It's worth every penny

They seriously need to get their customer service up to par. Me and my wife, we both like and enjoy their food but not their service. I give it a 3stars cuz they're service sucked plus when they're busy food comes out not cooked as it should be. read more

This restaurent has a very authentic Arabic food! As an appetizer, hummus with meat is very delicious especially if served with warm in house made pita. I like the complementary lentils soup, add some black pepper to it then you're in heaven! I usually drink either lemon mint which is super refreshing! Or Mango juice. Try their fattoush salad and you won't regret it! Mix grills platter is is enough for 2 person served with rice. Chicken Shawerma sandwich is the best in town. Don't forget to check in on yelp to get your free hummus. read more

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I love going there, food is always delicious and fresh and the service was great one of my favourite restaurants

There is a line out the door during dinner service here for a reason - the food is delicious. We got the falafel platter as appetizer. It came with 6 crispy falafels, creamy hummus and babaganoush and fresh tabbouleh. For entree we got the junior meat platter that came with shawarma, chicken kebabs, lambs kebabs and a beef shish kebab. Everything was delicious but special call out to the shawarma and chicken kebab. The shawarma had a citrusy marinade and spices that made it stand out. The chicken kebab was white meat but so very tender and juicy that it just broke apart in your mouth. There was also a man in traditional Arab dress going around offering small cups of complimentary Turkish coffee. Service is very slow and chaotic but we tend to expect that in restaurants in this area so it didn't bother us. An automatic gratuity is added to your final check so watch out for that. Great place for a date or to spend time over a meal with family. read more

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Every time I go to Al Basha, I am almost squealing with happiness. I have been a patron for several years now, and have brought all of my closest friends and family there for a truly authentic Arabic mezze experience. Over the years I've tried just about everything on the menu, and the words that come to mind are "heavenly," and "consistent." This review comes from an Arab-American with 25 years of experience eating Arabic food at home and in restaurants around the world. I have been to countless Arabic restaurants up and down the East coast and this is the best in my opinion! Trust me when I say it doesn't get much better than Al Basha! read more

One of the best places for Felafel. Generous Portions Inexpensive Open Late 11pm. Awesome Mint Lemonade Must order the GREEN SAUCE Must order Foulle Must order Fattoush If you plan on going here for any other reason...it might not be worth your while. The ambiance is OK... Old furniture, broken chairs, worn out couches, etc. The service is another OK..Not advisable for a date!! read more

Chicken shawarma and hummus appetizer is my go to! I also always order the Greek salad cuz you know, balance. Love the authentic flavors! The restaurant is a local favorite so sometimes we do get stuck with a long wait especially during lunch time and dinner time. read more

AlBasha is my go to spot for hummus and Tubule salad. I just can't get enough of their delicious food. The hummus is serve with a deliciously warmed a tasty pita bread. Kudos to AlBasha! read more

This is some of the best falafel I have ever had, and I have eaten at a lot of middle eastern restaurants in the area (one of my favorite cuisines. When I first walked in I though the place would be a hole in the wall, but it is a really nice restaurant, and a lot bigger that it looks. The food is extremely well priced, we got 12 falafel balls, a huge container of hummus, pita, and 4 baklava for 12 bucks, 12 bucks! It was late at night so they did not have any sandwiches left, but next time I will try one. The Falafel was Delicious, fried perfectly, crunchy on the outside yet soft and moist on the inside. I have had many in other spots that are dried out and tasteless, but these were amazing. The hummus was very different, thicker than most, but the flavor was there. read more

Lesson to my readers: Never go to a Muslim restaurant during Ramadan unless you're sharing in the break-fast buffet! We showed up there an hour before the break-fast and I figured I'd take my chances. They were willing to seat us and the waiter, after a few minutes, did come over and take the orders. The meal comes with soup so we got that, followed by the salad, free (very salty) olives and (delicious) pickled turnips, and our appetizer, the baba ghanoush. Except I ordered another appetizer that never came. (First, we had plenty of food already. Second, it never showed up on the bill. So while I can fault them for not getting that order in, I won't complain too much for never following up on it.) The bread is amazing. It's sort of pita but much fluffier. For that reason, it actually seems a little less versatile as a wrapping vessel, but nothing beats the Al Basha pita with baba ghanoush. There were two soups heating in large vessels. My girlfriend really enjoyed the beef? barley, which had cloves and/or nutmeg in the broth and was a unique taste. I favored the yellow lentil soup. Oh. I ordered mint lemonade. I usually don't splurge on house drinks but something told me to go for it. It's telling that later on, a Ramadan table ordered eight of them. That is a five-star drink. I would go back just to get a pitcher of mint lemonade and chug it. If you go here, that will be what you drink. Don't question me. I don't even like mint, but I loved this. The meal - we split a plate of meat combo for two. They were not willing to go 50% fries/50% rice. Is it really that hard to cook both? The meat was a little paltry, and there was far too much rice to go around. The chicken had a very nice flavor, but the kofti was rather underseasoned in my opinion. My gf liked it though - she detected the clove/nutmeg theme there, whereas my palate didn't pick it up. The lamb chop was overdone to ruination, and there was only one tiny shriveled one so we couldn't really split it. By this point, Ramadan had set in and the small place was packed with break-fasters. Service essentially stopped. Our server was talking on his phone for several minutes instead of helping us, which greatly exacerbated the load on everyone else. (Break-fast is done buffet-style, but they were still bringing around dishes and drinks to everyone.) I'm trying not to penalize for the service problems related to Ramadan, since it's special circumstances. But service was not perfect anyway. The food probably came out to about four stars overall. I came away wanting to try the other places in this stretch of Main Street before coming back here. Except the mint lemonade, I would still come back for that. They should bottle it and sell it by the gallon. read more

I grew up in Fair Lawn and have been in Paterson often for decades. I have admired the amazing re-birth of Main Street and it's environs. The mainstay of that area has been Al Basha. The ambiance, food and service, while always very good, has grown to be exceptional. The selections, freshness and authenticity are wonderful. The staff are warm and super friendly and professional. The staff happily provides whatever you might need. The scents and back round music are insouicent. In my book Al Basha is a 6 Star!!! Enjoy!!! read more

Amazing food! My mom has always raved about how good this spot is. I never really paid her any mind cause I usually just stick to the same places in the Paterson/Clifton area. To my surprise, this spot was great. Extremely family friendly environment! You don't have to worry about hooka or anything that here. Staff is extremely friend and the food is great. Tip: get the platter for 2 and don't get too full off the bread. Enjoy! read more

Stuffed lamb which can be ordered on Saturdays is very good. Their small meat platter which a combination of kofta, chicken kabob, shish kabab, and beef shawarma is also very good and it's not small. Indeed, it's huge. Two of us couldn't finish it. I'm not sure why they call it small. Strongly recommend. read more