THEY HAVE REOPENED AT A NEW LOCATION - 224 E 53rd St. Warm, lovely interior with impeccable service. The owner himself is greeting everyone at all tables and checking everything is well. Food is absolutely delicious! The appetizers (brick oven baked bread, mixed appetizer platter, and spicy cigars) are unfortunately eaten before photos could be taken lol. My partner and I got two Turkish entreees, and the display is beautiful and their flavoring is on point. I am not a connoisseur of Turkish cuisine but it is the best I have eaten in Manhattan. Highly recommend this place. Will be back! read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Spicy citir kebab (AliBaba special) - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

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Went with a friend twice as it was convenient. The first time we had zucchini cakes a cigar rolls for appetizers. Zucchini cakes were a bit overdone but cigar rolls(phyllo dough wrapping feta cheese and parsley) were great. For entree had the combination with choice of 2 things. I had the doner kebab gyro and meatballs. It comes with rice and French fries. Could have done without both. Meatballs had beef and lamb and were good. The next time I had the Turkish dumplings that came with garlic yogurt sauce. Dumplings had lamb and onions. Had to start with cigar rolls again. There are 2 floors and we ate on each. Upstairs seemed more spread out. It was an okay place and food was good. Meals were about $25. Portions were a good size. read more

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The food is great ..! The owner is og and cool..!! Pizza was awesome and the hummus too..!! read more

Delicious Turkish food, and rooftop seating area, but horrible service and management! We went there on the Fourth of July, and there was one server and two bus boys running around. Service was extremely slow! I honestly felt really bad for our server as he was running around like crazy trying to get to every table. Surprisingly food was delicious but the management of this place seriously needs to make some changes and hire more staff. They have such a nice rooftop area but it's a pity that they will be losing customers due to their slow service. Overall very disappointing experience! read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Adana Kebab - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

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I'm sure I've reviewed this spot... no!? Hard to believe. This is an easy 4 stars based purely on the positive experiences. Good price, good food, good service, good location. Dig the terrace Everything about the place is good. Good Good Good Great lahmacun! Slightly thin and dry gyro meat but still a good gyro sandwich Awesome grape leave. Good bread Good good good read more

Great find! The food is authentic the vibe is very old Turkish, the people and service is kind and attentive. We kinda stumbled upon this find and were pleasantly surprised. Can't go wrong with their kebab selection, and comes in a very generous portion. read more

DO NOT GO HERE! They scam and automatically add a 25% "house charge" which is not told by the staff or written in the menu. They also expect an additional tip on top. The house charge is only written on a small piece of paper in the corner of the window, which does not even say how much the house charge is. See attached screenshot. Obviously it is a scam, and all other tables around us were also shocked by this house charge. If they told their customers about the house charge beforehand, it would not be an issue.... But instead they just give you the bill and hope you don't notice... Also food and service are obviously terrible for this scam restaurant. Is it even legal to add a random house charge without informing customers of what the percentage or amount is beforehand? read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Scam "house charge" notice. Does not say how much the house charge percentage is. Is this even legal? - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

I got a chicken shish sandwich and fries for takeout. I was expecting a pita sandwich but it came in this huge thick fried bread and was really hard to eat. I wish it was clear from the description what kind of bread would be used. The sandwich was mostly bread. The filling was good but it was hard to get to. The fries were also soggy and limp. read more

I've tried this place when they first opened. I thought it was watery then. I could not explain to my friend what I meant by eatery. Today, I could. The rice is over cooked and it isn't the rice I am used to having When in a Turkish restaurant that are super long grained rice with some slices of some type of almonds in it. However, this place use some kind of over cooked rice. My lamb chops feel funny in consistency and in fact one of them tasted rotting. Fortunately they replaced it with a new one. But I did not like it much. The consistency was too soft like it had been sitting in meat tenderizer. You can tell, I did not like it. The one they replaced it with was not as slimy as the original lamb chops I got. read more

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- Four stars for the venue, and great rooftop space in the warm weather. - Subtract one star because prices are a bit high and portions are a bit small. - Add one star back because they left the potatoes out of my recent delivery, but sent a guy back to my apartment with a side order to make up for the gaffe. I ordered the Terrace Sauté (pic: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/kDmGjuRFRX8Wfq5l-RqGSA?select=JpU2zyY4vH_loyIYcCvvRA#JpU2zyY4vH_loyIYcCvvRA) consisting of lamb, fresh onion, and green peppers and mushrooms, all over potatoes & a tasty yogurt sauce. While it was very tasty and literally DOUSED in zesty sauce, I was hungrily dipping my side bread into the sauce shortly after devouring the full entree. I probably could have used another whole animal in there, but I digress. read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Terrace sauté - lamb, fresh onion, green peppers and mushrooms, over potatoes & a tasty yogurt sauce. - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

I like Ali Baba because to me they have one of the best Lahmajun's in the city! Let me explain why, first of all they must really have a good brick oven because the dough is always perfect. The flavors and spices of the meat on top are exactly like in Turkey, not like some other places that try to tailor the spiciness to the American audience. And most importantly they add chopped parsley, tomatoes and lemon to your order, which is exactly how you eat Lahmajun. I've seen other places offer romaine lettuce- no, that's not right! I always come to Ali Baba whether for a perfect turkish breakfast, lunch or a business dinner with groups (pre pandemic). They are always eager to work with you on setting a pre fix dinner plan that works for your group. They have really good management. They offer variety of turkish wines and beer, as they have a full bar. They also have a nice rooftop all glass with good views. Food- besides Lahmajun really anything tastes great at Ali Baba. Lentil soup is also a big hit for me as it is real authentic. Their kababs are very good, gyros, salads, everything there is a big journey to your taste buds! I love this place. read more

Decent Mediterranean food and service. Nothing to sing praises about, but I would drop by and have food if I was in the area and did not have the patience/ energy to look a place up. Edit: This review is based on my last visit in 2019. read more

I believe this place just reopened for dining. They have a very cute upstairs deck that can be covered, with windows on all sides. There's nice lighting, plants, all around cozy atmosphere. We ordered baba ganoush, the lahmacun appetizers, sautéed chicken & Adana kebab plate. All were fantastic! The baba was smoky and creamy, great with their house pita. Lahmacun was new to us. It's a little pita with ground meat, peppers and spices on top. You can add tomato, onion and parsley. It looks like a little meat pizza and tastes pretty similar to meat pies, albeit fresher and a stronger flavor. The Adana is ground meat (in this case lamb) mixed with spices and pepper, then molded around a skewer and grilled. The result is amazing flavor from seasoned ground meat that also has the signature caramelization that comes from grilling on a skewer. I came with two Lebanese people who think it's fantastic. Definitely go here to try something outside of your comfort zone! I Think delivery is available right now too! A note about the house charge -- apparently this place gets a lot of foreigners from the UN building being so close by who don't understand American courtesy with tipping. The house charge is a built in tip, same thing some restaurants do with large parties. It's just to ensure tips are paid! read more

Ordered the mixed pide via Grubhub. It was thoroughly burned, as you can see, but this was not discovered until it was too late. $20 down the drain. I would be ashamed of serving something like this to a customer. read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

I was there last night everything Was delicious Adana kebab was Delicious and all of the rest of Appetizers was also right amount and and very authentic thank-you Ali baba I ll be back very soon read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

Stay away at all costs! The owner of this establishment is a thief. He stole $200 from me. I had a gift card for $200 (that someone already paid them for) from this place but the owner refused to honor it because he claimed it was "too old". It was dated 1/1/2019. Today is 8/14/2019. He got his $200 in January but refused to render me the services today. That is called stealing. There is no expiration date on the gift card. He was completely unprofessional about it and knew he was wrong. Even his employees agreed with me. I've been here before and the food is bland and does not have much flavor. Completely overpriced. There are tons of better Turkish places in the area. The only reason I went again was because I had the gift card. Now that I know the owner is a thief, I'd like to share my experiences and let the world know. Please learn from my experience and STAY AWAY. read more

I love Ali Baba's they always deliver! The owner is super friendly as are the rest of the staff. Even the rice is addicting!! I'm sure it's cooked in butter or drippings. The only thing I wish is that they would add more veggies to the plates rather than just one pepper and quarter of a tomato-- but this seems to be pretty typical for most middle eastern cuisine. My quarantine pick up meal came with free Krem Sokola!! read more

The food is decent but the service is horrid. Came here for a business lunch. Appetizers: Grilled calamari Stuffed grape leaves Assorted dips These were all great! But again service was horrible. They only brought out 1 of of orders, took the bread away when our dip came, and did not apologize for the delay. We ended getting our last appetizer during entrees Entrees: Shrimp shish Grilled octopus salad Pide All great dishes. But we received our entrees at different times. I had time to eat my whole entree before the salad came out. The owner was very nice though- the staff should learn from him!! But honestly, would not come back. read more

The service here is horrible. My dinner mate and I ordered appetizers which were served separately about 5 minutes apart, ok bad but not horrible. When it came to our entrees they were served a whopping 20 minutes apart. I was done eating by the time the other entree came out and at that point we were so disgusted with the service (without an apology and the manager had a bad disposition and attitude ) we declined the entree asked for the bill and left. Please do yourself a favor and stay away from this establishment! read more

Went for an early dinner today after the Turkish parade and figured there'd be slower service than usual since they were also trying to sell food outside to the parade crowd to make an extra buck, but it was much more disappointing than that. Ordered some appetizers and small salad before the main food. The salad we ordered with the appetizers didn't come. The other apps did and as we dug into those we asked about the salad and our server said, oh of course right away. Again still didn't come. I had ordered a salad with shrimp for my main course and said no onion. My salad was the first to come out of our 4 main course orders. Filled with onions!!! It took a couple mins to get the server's attention, but eventually did and first asked about the appetizer salad for the table that never came. He started to again say yes of course, but we said we don't want it anymore. Don't bring it. Also, my salad is full of onions and I said no onions. He paused for a minute and just stared at me like I had offended him. You're the one not paying attention when you take orders! He took my salad and after a few minutes came back with it, with no visual onions, but upon mixing it up and looking through, I found onions. This means they didn't remake my salad, they dug in with their dirty hands and picked out most of the onions that you could see. DISGUSTING! The rest of the main entrees eventually came and very late at this point. The rest of the table had ordered Iskender, which were very disappointing. Then after all the entrees came and we're eating. He brought the appetizer salad! We said we didn't want it anymore! The bill came and it was an absurd amount for what we ordered. Those prices are ridiculous. We still left an undeserved tip, but as we left. He gave us a sarcastic and exaggerated, "Thanks for coming," obviously upset about his tip. You didn't even deserve that much! We won't be returning ever again! read more

It's horrible, don't even go there. We went there as a group and they informed us that they can't give us a separate check. The service was also slow, we had to call the waiters couple of times until they arrive to bring our orders. The overall taste was not bad. read more

Came here recently with family and friends looking for a halal restaurant for some who eat halal. A friend of ours looked and found this restaurant and i got excited because I enjoy Turkish food. I looked here into yelp and the reviews that have like 1 2 stars are right about some things. The food wasnt that great i did like my dish but didnt love it unfortunately. The concept of cutting a gyro sandwich into bite sized pieces than coating it in tomato sauce and yogurt was a bit much. The rice clearly isn't necessary because you get like spoonful of it and thats it which is stupid. I tried a bit of one of my cousins dish the iskander and didnt seem too fond and neither did they. The server who took our order was such a bore and seemed pissy when what one cousin ordered was no longer available and she needed more time to relook at the menu to choose and nee dish. Seriously this guy has a stick up his butt or something get some help please. I definitely will never ever come back again and refuse to recommend it either because even though they have an upstairs which looks nice good view they leave the windows open for all to freeze and they have one heater above one table or behind it and thats it. You basically will suffer so i closed the window myself. read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Special Beyti Kebab - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

Walked to restaurant & found it out of business! We rushed to make it before it closed only to find we wasted our time. Please make a note on Yelp website. read more

I never thought that I can give one star any Turkish restaurant. I visit there yesterday. To be honest atmosphere was really good when I compare with other Turkish restaurant but who cares with it. When I pay that kind of money there are many fancy restaurant around the city. I saw my waiter just one time while he was taking my order. The iskender was worst iskender I have got until today. It was awful experience! Bus boys took care us excellent. They were really nice but waiter was the worst one. 2. Note: If you check the menu with yelp, It is completely different for dinner. For example you will see lahmacun is 4 dollar on the menu but when you get over there you can not order 1. You need to order 3 for 20$. It is another bullshit! read more

Great service and wonderful food. From the appetizers all the way to the main course. Lamb was flavorful as well as the rice. read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Lamb, potatoes with peppers and onions - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

Beautiful views on the deck and service was good too. They provided delicious fluffy bread and some kind of puffy dough. I tried this place years ago when I first moved into the area and had a bad experience with the calamari so I didn't go back until recently. Food was pretty good, and I would go back read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

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Excellent food & service. Small & quaint restaurant near the UN, food was authentic and very tasty. I enjoyed the lamb adana and chicken kabobs, the rice was very good as well. I also tried the octopus salad, very flavorful. read more

*This review is only for happy hour Such a good rooftop spot in Midtown! This place is seriously affordable for happy hour (if you can make it before 6pm). Each happy hour drink comes with a cold appetizer. Wine/draft beer are $5 and mojitos, martinis, sangria, and margaritas are $7. The cold appetizers include a basket of bread and hummus, spicy vegetables, or my personal favorite - the Spinach Tarator ~yogurt dip with sautéed fresh spinach and garlic. There are two bars so you can choose between inside (downstairs) or outdoor seating (on a rooftop) and there is plenty of seating. The service is extremely friendly and timely. I'll be back plenty this summer! read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - Happy hour $5 wine with free appetizer - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

So glad we found this great place during our brief visit to the city. My wife and stepson all ordered different items from the menu so we could sample it as best we could. The multi-lingual waiter was most helpful and offered his suggestions from the menu for us. We had a very enjoyable time at this nice restaurant. read more

Overpriced for the quality of the food, seriously I could compare this restaurant to the corner food trucks, we had Shepherd salad which probably was in a refrigerator for 2-3 days, lamb chops horrible taste , chicken fingers for the kids they took them off the freezer and microwave them i guess? Staff not that bad, usually I don't complain about the food, i just don't go back anymore to that restaurant, so if you want to eat something good in the city the one on 34th street is much better or brooklyn in emmons avenue. 2 lamb chops, 1 chicken fingers, 1 salad, warm tap water =$100 read more

*this review is strictly for the happy hour on the roof patio.* $5 wines & a free app! Great deal, especially when you can also take advantage of their rooftop patio on a warm, spring day. They have a decent selection of wines to choose from as well. I'm not very familiar with mid-town east, but Jaime H. had been wanting to try this place for a while. It's a super great deal! And if you're gluten-free like me, they give you enough apps that you can eat without difficulty. They do serve pita, though, so just don't eat that. I bet this place will be hopping in the summer! read more

Ive just got out this place and will very honest about my experience i went here with my husband to celebrate his birthday, as soon as i entered the waiter made us wait for about 20 minutes to give us the menu, which i thought was not a big thing but, there was a group of people looked like business people dressed very formal the waiter was only prioritizing them. Not a bit of attention to us, he was very harsh. We ask for martini they didnt have and the mojito was really bad. When we finish the main dish we waited for him to offer us desert but after another almost half an hour being ignored we decided to ask for the check.. service was the WORST in my life.. AWFUL..... food was good!! But for me, i prefer good service and enjoying the time in an different place WOULD NOT RECOMMEND giving 2 stars because i liked the food. AWFUL SERVICE read more

I've never had Turkish food before and didn't really know what to expect. I thought I would have a difficult time selecting an entree as I don't like lamb and I knew that lamb is featured alot in Turkish food but I gave it a shot. This place was ok. It was a group lunch with work colleagues so we started with a tray of assorted dips. We had humus, spinach tarator which was spinach with yogurt and garlic, red beans and red caviar spread none of them were horrible and I love humus so I was happy that it was good. The plate was served with warm bread. For my main course I had the Shrimp Casserole. It was large size shrimp sauteed in tomatoes, onions, peppers and mushrooms in a tomato sauce with melted cheese on top - similar to shrimp parmeasan. It was very good and very flavorful. It was served with a mixed salad. For dessert I had the chocolate pudding. It was a little different than what I know pudding to be. The consistency of the pudding was alot thicker than what I usually eat and it was very sweet and very chocolaty (is that a word??). Anyway it wasn't bad but after eating half the cup I was on chocolate overload and I couldn't finish it. Overall I was quite pleased with my food selections and would possibly go back there again. read more

Great location. Nice seating upstairs. Clean food. I liked their okra&chicken. However, I prefer Turkish street food instead.

This is difficult for me to write as I frequent this restaurant often. The food is amazing. However, the owner and his father treat their staff poorly by yelling at their staff in front of customers and anyone in the restaurant. The last time was so intense, I felt disgusted and had to leave. The tension was horrible. I have come to find out this happens more often than not. Sorry Ali Baba, I no longer will support you and your restaurant for the mere fact of how you treat people who work for you. Remember, we all started from the bottom at some point. read more

Ali Baba's Turkish Cuisine - So Sad ; ( - Turkish Near Me - New York, New York

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Big disappointment. We came ordered food which was not as pictured on menus . Food was cold very small amount not tasty at all . Prices high . It was close to our residence so we came inside . No air conditioning. Hot and not fancy setting. We expect more knowing Turkish food . No wonder restaurant was empty . I really don't recommend to go there at all read more

Alibaba is located in a convenient area for me to have business lunches. Whenever we have meetings with the clients, we usually take them out here for good Turkish food. Perfect place for groups, business meetings and every other occasion. My favorite dish is the Mixed kebab platter. It's way too much food to eat for one person, so two can easily share it. The meat and vegetables are perfectly cooked, soft, juicy and very-well seasoned, the rice tastes just like the ones in Turkey. Their hummus is one the freshest and most delicious one in town. Oh and the warm bread that comes before food is the winner. Note: Don't order dessert here. It isn't even mediocre. read more

Alert: The appetizers are great, the entrees are pretty bad. It may seem strange that I even dined in this terrible location, but please note, I had an event to attend. It was raining, so they enclosed the upstairs terrace with glass. Last time I was in Istanbul, it was raining and similarly dreary but I had a GREAT meal, so I envisioned I was back at Balikci Sabahattin http://www.balikcisabahattin.com/index_eng.asp to block out scenes of the blasé neighborhood. Bad idea. In my experience, catered sit-down, formal, restaurant events are where the chefs/managers try to put their best foot forward. I was able to try various menu items and my conclusion was that this is a 3 star restaurant. No more, no less. THE GOOD (in order): 1) Borek Cigar Rolls: This was the best. Served fresh and warm. The cheese to phyllo ratio was excellent. I could have eaten these all night, but summer is just around the corner. 2) Olive oil with Black Olives served with fresh Turkish Bread: The olive oil was high quality and the bread was fresh, warm and melted in your mouth with the olive oil. Ditto to what I said above regarding eating these all night. 3) From the mixed appetizer plate: Ezme (spicy mashed vegetables), Cacik, Baba Ganoush, Eggplant Salad, Eggplant w/ Tomato sauce, Hummus. 4) Shepherd's Salad - Light but flavorful with olive oil and lemon dressing. 5) Bird's nest with pistachio: This dessert was moist, not too sweet (shocking), not too drenched, not too large, and a great way to end the meal. THE BAD: 1) From the mixed appetizer plate: Red beans, (barely) stuffed grape leaves. 2) Okra/Bamya Entree: This vegetarian entree was dull and lacked the flavor that I know vegetarian Turkish food is capable of. I took two bites and I was over it. 3) Grilled Meat Platter: ANECDOTAL ALERT: I do not eat meat, but this is based on those sitting around me. It was just "ok", according to them. Another guest said, "It was fine". I translate that to mean bad. 4) Tea: I know, I just put the tea on the bad list at a Turkish restaurant... THAT is pretty bad. THE UGLY: 1) Tilapia Entree: I did not realize the fish was Tilapia. I rarely order this fish due to how dirty it is. The potatoes under the fish were stale, old and seriously God awful. I took a few bites. I spit the first one out. Then tried another, and spit that one out. read more

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Good food but not good service and rude servers. Every time I asked for something I got a side eye like I was bothering. Servers also aren't attentive so if u just want the food then it's a good place but don't expect good service. read more

Had lunch at this particular location of Ali Baba on Saturday...but it doesn't measure up (or even come close) to the 34th street location, which unfortunately just closed. Ambiance: Mostly empty on a Saturday at 1:30pm. While we had a nice window-side table, the restaurant had a terrible smell (water leak maybe?), which was difficult to overcome. Additionally, the entire place needed a good clean as it was quite dirty. Service: Servers were nice and food came out relatively quickly. Food: Not nearly as good as Ali Baba on 34th. -- Pilaki was watery and thin. -- Grape leaves were good, not really worth the price though. -- Complimentary bread was dry and stale. -- Mediterranean salad was good...was it worth $13? No way. -- Husband and daughter both ordered chicken shish and enjoyed it. Overall: Maybe we'll order for delivery but I doubt we'll return to the restaurant due to the smell and dirt factor. There are too many better Turkish restaurants in this city. read more