Busy busy for weekday lunch, so plan on getting there early, as the tables go fast. I had a chicken Shwarma wrap: a super long, tightly rolled wrap with tender chicken, diced pickles and a savory sauce. Way too big for one person! My dining partner enjoyed his massive pita sandwich with with beef shwarma. He's picky, so skipped everything but the beef. read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - Chicken shwarma wrap - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Petra is a truly underrated gem in Madison, WI. Their Saj wraps and garlic sauce are the meal of my dreams. Their mint and sage tea is such a nostalgic treat for me. Then suddenly you want a sweet finish to your meal and you have an entire case of desserts to pick. All of my foodie needs are met. The staff is incredibly polite, thoughtful, and effective. Especially the ladies I've spoken to. They help me decide when I'm having a hard time picking the desserts to get. They ask effective questions and are very knowledgeable. Plus everyone seems to know what true joy can be derived from great food. I've never had a bad meal there. I've had take out and dine in and both have been amazing! read more

I stopped by for lunch on a Saturday. The place was almost full. French fries here is really crispy. I went for a chicken shawarma bowl. It was flavorfull. I also took a turkish delight with almond. That was a sweet treat. read more

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Lovely meal had at Petra around 6pm on a Wednesday Night. In such a low seating joint you would be surprised that almost every seat was full! Additionally, people were in and out for bakery items and takeout orders. Super impressed by the flavors and quantities of dishes. Started off with the stuffed falafel - a must try. At $1.50 a piece, it seems pricey but it is 100% worth it. The Fattoush Salad, while I did like the freshly made pita chips, overall could be a skip for me as it was a bit too sour/vinegary. Want to try the fried halloumi next time! For main course, we ordered the Chicken Shish Tawook and Chicken Shawarma Saj Wrap to share. Both came in large portions and we ended up having leftovers to bring back home. The Saj wrap was phenomenal!! Fantastic flavors and love that it is cut into bite size pieces. I'm a big fan of garlic sauce always so excited to see it as a side with the fries! The Chicken Shish Tawook was just okay in my opinion. Lastly, I had the pomegranate juice which was yummy. It tasted almost freshly squeezed and we were about to ask them if they made in house but ended up forgetting to. Definitely recommend as a way to round out the meal! Service is pretty attentive although food came out a bit slow. Since it was all hot and well done though the timing was beat out for the overall ratings. read more

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Visited Petra for the first time for lunch. The venue is really cozy and there's a cute bakery that faces you when you walk in. I had heard that Petra's Mediterranean food was really good and was excited to try the chicken Shawarma bowl. The bowl was priced at $16 which I thought was very reasonable considering the flavor, the quality of the food, and the quantity was insane (so much rice and chicken, definitely could've fed 2 people). We also tried the baba ghanouj which was really delicious. To end our lunch, we had a variety of their baklavas which were flavorful. The staff were friendly and accommodating. Overall, had a great experience, would recommend! read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

A MUST try in the Madison area! The best chicken shawarma wrap I've ever had. Their fries are also some of the best I've ever had! Really nice people and great, quality food! read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - Saj Wrap Chicken Shawarma Sandwich - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Did takeout today, called ahead and Sarah is such a great hard worker. She is the only waitress in the restaurant. Wait time was about 20min for a Saturday evening and food was ready when I arrived. Baba Ghanouj was a little watery for my liking, would like it creamier. Comes with a generous side of 2 pitas, the same they use for the shawarma sandwich so they are quite thin, I prefer a thicker pita for dipping/appetizer purposes Overall another great dinner! Chicken shawarma stuffed pita is a new go-to it is just sooo satisfying! read more

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Best shawarma in Madison! The saj was just slightly better than the pita, but you can't go wrong with either. The atmosphere was quiet and relaxed. Our food came fast and was served by 2 friendly gentleman. read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - Saj Wrap Chicken Shawarma Sandwich Chicken Shawarma Pita Bread Chicken Shawarma Sandwich Fries - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Kicking myself for not coming here sooner. Its a shame that the owners of Petra took over the profile for the defunct (and poorly rated Nile) and as a result, impacting their overall rating. While the dining room is rather sparse, the same can't be said about their food. Loved the Arabic tea that is served along side fresh mint, dried sage, and sugar. I opted for the saj bread wrap-a thin pita wrapped around beef shawarma as well as the flat bread with Arabic cheese and zaatar. Both tasted amazing and a great value given the amount of food. Service wad attentive. Pay at the front when you finish. I ate at lunch on a rainy day so it was relatively quiet. Hopefully, they have more foot traffic as it is a gem of a restaurant. Location is not ideal-tucked in a strip mall but well worth the travel. read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - Saj Wrap Beef Shawarma Sandwich with Combo - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Absolutely delicious!!! Falafel, hummus, lentil soup, Arabic salad, and fries are all excellent! I'm sure everything else is super tasty, too! It will be on our list of places to return to often. I'd recommend this place to those who are new to middle eastern food, and definitely to those who have a middle eastern background who are looking for the food reminiscent to your family's home cooking. Enjoy! read more

I had lunch at Petra today and loved. Had Arabian tea, hummus, falafel, and a chicken Schwarma wrap. All of it was delicious. The staff were friendly and the dining area is simple, but clean and warm. Easy parking. I will definitely be back. read more

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Came here for dinner with a friend, and both of us loved the food! I ordered a Turkish coffee to start off (wanted to try it once but likely wouldn't order again - tasted good but I just prefer it sweeter). I also ordered the falafel saj wrap w/fries and was very pleasantly surprised with the huge portion size. The falafel wrap was great (and so were the fries)! Again, quite a decent portion size for ~$15 (definitely think it could be shared). Overall, loved the food, atmosphere, and service. You can also buy boxes of baklava there. read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - Turkish Coffee - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Food is always amazing. Even takeout. Hummus is fresh and creamy. Baba ganoush is right blend of smoky and not too eggplant -y. Shwarma bowls are excellent. Flatbread is fun option. read more

New rebranding from The Nile to Petra and somehow the food is even better! Tons of vegetarian options. Friendly service. East parking. Delicious food. What's not to love? read more

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Previous post was for the Nile restaurant: Update: is this a rebranding? Well, they did it right! It's a light Cafe style eatery with salads, dips, appetizers, shawarmas, kebobs, and the like. We LOVE: They are vegan and vegetarian friendly! Their salads..... all of them are simple yet tasty. They use fresh ingredients, even in the winter! They put on these pita "croutons" and oh my! When they nail it, its like crunchy, gooey, warm pita bites that are so addictive. The dressing is tangy which goes great with the hummus appetizer. 5/5 Hummus -great, homemade, great size for the price. 4.5/5 Makdous!!! Oh my heaven..... I had never had this. It's got to be the most delightful thing I've found in Madison. For lack of culinary wording, these are like a vegans deviled eggs! It's this ting pickled eggplant,cut in half, stuffed with walnuts and red pepper paste. If you're not afraid of eggplants or vinegar, try these! So tangy and fulfilling, they are quite a bite! 5/5 Lentil soup - so good, warm and seasoned-well 5/5 Flat breads and rolls are small but pack a flavor punch. For the price, just try the Zatar roll or Muhammara (mild spicy pizza sauce) flatbread. 5/5 Tea - comes with sage leaves, sugar, and mint leaves. So light and goes perfectly with their anise cookies (not too heavy with licorice flavor) but SO good and more unique than the sesame. You can get the cookies by the piece or by the pound. 5/5 Babaganoush is a little oily and heavy. 3.5/5 Overall, great! Fair pricing. Plenty of delightful choices! read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - Front: pita, zatar saj (twist), falafel, lentil soup, fattoush salad, babaganoush (middle) - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Best hummus and pita in town. The shwarma bowls were big and delicious. If Petra were closer to downtown Madison, I'd get it too often. read more

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They have the best chicken shawarma bowls I've ever tried in my life!! Their fries are perfect too. I dream about this place and crave it often. I highly recommend you get the chicken shawarma bowl with a side of fries read more

This is a Madison hidden gem that I hope gets more business, I've only gotten takeout but the food is always fresh, delicious and beautiful. All of their breads but especially the cheese pie with zataar are great! I highly recommend the chicken schwarma and tabouleh salad. They are the best I've had in Madison. read more

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Their food has been consistently great, and take out is just as good! We love the gyro plate, however, anything we have tried is fantastic! The coffee is perfectly spiced and hot tea comes with a side of fresh mint. Petra makes my favorite lentil soup! Ambiance is usually quiet and the owner and servers are always warm and welcoming. read more

This restaurant is a great find! We love how fresh everything looks and tastes. Hummus is smooth and homemade. We have left the area but always return when we visit my son in college. My husband always get a shawarma bowl. This time is was chicken. My son and I got a fresh salad; Arabic and Greek respectively. I also ordered the falafel in a pita. The portions are really generous. The restaurant was formerly called Nile but don't be fooled, no matter what name The food is great!!! read more

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Absolutely love this place. It's hard to find good Middle Eastern food in the upper midwest, but this place is great. The bowls are the way to go. I do wish they could be more gluten-sensitive like Banzo (my wife has celiac disease), but we still go whenever we are near that side of town. read more

So good! Great portions, great prices. Make sure to ask for the garlic sauce over the tahini.

A hidden gem. Love the tea service and rice. This is fun to bring my friends here for lunch. Really good

So embarrassed bringing my guests here and I had high hopes for it based on the reviews I had read. Hands down the worst restaurant food I have had in a while. We ordered the kebab mix and the appetizer platter. Despite being the only costumer in the store, the service was slow and food was exceptionally dry and lacked taste. Nothing on the appetizer plate tasted normal, like something was off taste or texture wise for each of them. Tabbouleh was made mostly with herb stems and lacked much taste. Bulgur and other components of the salad were sparse. The ambiance was okay and parking was available in front of the restaurant. I really wanted to love this place but not go back again as nothing on the menu that was served to us tasted remotely appealing. read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - Tabouleh Salad - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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The food here was absolutely incredible, and there's a lot to be said about how wonderful the tea is (in my opinion). I would love to go back for a whole pot of it instead of just one cup, as well as the labneh and falafel. The service was a little slow, but nothing that diminished the experience overall. read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - The single cup of tea service - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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One of the best Mediterranean food in town. We had their grilled kabab platter and it tasted amazing. We also liked their dessert baklava and the drink vimto. The service was really great. They had everything ready in the order we wanted and was very friendly and well informed. The ambience was good was some light music in background. Must stop if you're in mood for Mediterranean delights. read more

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So yummy! That saj especially, probably my favorite Mediterranean restaurant in all of Madison!

We went here for dinner last night. For appetizer, we got pita bread with hummus and garlic sauce. The hummus is a bit dense to me. I guess if you diluted it more with olive oil, it would be fine. Their olive oil was good as well. I'm a sucker for good olive oils, and all of these middle Eastern and Mediterranean places always seem to have good olive oils. The pita breads were fine. For entrees, I got mixed grill. The meats Cooke d perfectly and the rice was not too wet or too dried. My boyfriend got a pot of Arabic tea. Their tea set was so pretty. It was a cool experience to have. We were so full from our entree so we didn't get any desserts. We tried to order the zatar flatbreads but they were out. Next time, we will definitely try to get the zatar flatbreads. read more

One visit to Petra was enough. Very nice baklava, but the schwarma was dry and tasteless.

Good food and atmosphere. Must be slightly understaffed as it took a long time to get someone's attention for water. Also, we ordered some pita for the hummus and took long time to get that to come, seems like an easy item. Servers were very kind just too busy for all the tables. read more

Amazing place! Everything was so fresh and flavorful- great ingredients and perfect presentation. The staff was very professional and polite, not overly solicitous. Highly recommended read more

Excellent spot on the west side of Madison! It was recommended to me by my coworker. Food is delicious. I called and ordered take-out. Chicken Schwarma bowl is a very large portion, delicious. Baba ghanoush side was large, recommend ordering an additional 1-2 flat bread to accompany. My boyfriend loved his chicken schwarma pita sandwich. We also had the falafel which was above average. I will definitely be recommending this spot to friends and coworkers, I'm surprised I didn't know about this place until now!! I am planning to order from here regularly moving forward. According to Madison.com restaurant review, the tacos are amazing - I'm looking forward to trying those next time! read more

This place is legit. The service was friendly, it looks to be a family-run establishment (a plus in my book), the prices are reasonable, and most importantly, the food is quite good. read more

Great food, generous portions! We get takeout from Petra somewhat regularly and really like the chicken shawarma bowls, the falafel saj wrap, and the shawarma tacos. The fries are pretty good too - very nicely seasoned. read more

We went there with friends for their Ramadan buffet Sat night. Reservations are required as they only offer 1 sitting for this event. The food was beautiful and delicious. The night we were there they had several flatbread appetizers, hummus, baba gannouj, fattoush, tabouleh, cucumber & yogurt, kufta, Shish Tawook, baked chicken, several rice dishes, fresh fruit, and dessert options. There was more on the buffet but I can't remember everything :) I was plenty full when I left. My favorite was the Kibbe and a dip/salad that I don't know the name of, but among other things, it contained eggplant & crisp pita chips in a white sauce. Would highly recommend going there for their regular menu based on the food on the buffet. Will not hesitate to go back. read more

This was really awesome take out we had delivered via a delivery app. Huge portion sizes and tender meat. I really loved all the sides that came with the meals it added something special. read more

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Petra Bakery's chicken shawarma saj is the best thing I've eaten in a long time. So good! Highly recommend!

Awesome food. I read their review in the Isthmus and had to go. The Zinger is amazing. The appetizers are good, the Arabic coffee was good, and the baklava was very tasty and not too big. While everything here is good, my favorite thing is honestly the garlic sauce. I could put that on anything. I would buy a container of it alone if they sold it. The restaurant itself is tucked away in a little strip mall, but there is plenty of parking. The dining room isn't fancy, so if you want somewhere really bougie to eat it at, this isn't the place for you; but you'd be missing out because the food is awesome. read more

Excellent food. Everything was hot, and so flavorful. We ordered practically everything on the menu and our party of 4 agreed it was delicious! Will return again and again~ read more

I've been to this place a few times now and I like it. We have VERY little Mediterranean food in Madison which is super disappointing, but Nile does a good job. Ordering take out is a great option and they always have it ready incredibly fast. I've eaten in the restaurant once and my service was good. The chicken kabob at lunch is one of my faves. The portion size is perfect for me and the chicken is really flavorful. I can eat there without feeling guilty because it's just right. Their hummus is wonderful too, as is the chicken shwarma. I did not love their grape leaves and found them to be bland and dry. The decor of the place is just ok. I prefer to order takeout than sit down for a meal there. read more

Petra Bakery & Restaurant - Grape leaves - Mediterranean Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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