Mezze moved to the old Le Jardin. Pera's Mediterranean Bistro moved to the old Mezze. It's not hard to keep track of the dining changes in Williamstown. We decided to give Pera's a go last week when visiting my parents in upstate New York. My uncle and aunt and dad and husband all went to check it out. Apps: --There was an odd event where the falafel was served with what tasted like a basket of tortillas. --Then we ordered the Pera's flatbread with cranberries and brie. What? Entrees: --I ordered the mushroom ravioli, which I would have thought of more as being in an Italian restaurant, which, I know, can also be Mediterranean. But it was all sort of confusing: the brie and then the falafel, and the tortilla, and then the ravioli. Say what? Like a world music love-a-thon. Setting: --It's a small place. Make reservations. --It also does not seem to be too noisy, despite the crowds. What else? --The owner seems to be there every single night, checking on things. So that's a good sign. In the end, I would go back here for lunch only. For those dinner prices, it's better to dine at home. Note: if I did go to lunch here again, I would try the lamb burger. All in all, Williamstown has a long way to go, so cheers to trying, Pera's. read more

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We ordered takeout lunch from Pera's online menu, and also paid online. My wife went to pick up our food only to find the restaurant closed. It turns out that their actual hours of operation differ from those listed on their website. I called and left a message asking for a refund and the call was never returned. I called several more times and no one ever answered. I want my $40 back! This is totally unacceptable. I plan to contact the Better Business Bureau to let them know about this. read more

I will say, we enjoyed the food and the young man who served us was delightful (great service in that sense). However, the owner is extremely unprofessional. He was rude, crabby, and completely ruined our experience here. We will not be coming back, as it is not worth the disrespect that came from the owner. I should think he would be more considerate as it is horrible for his business acting as he did, yet, it seems as though he does not care about respect. read more

Amazing! Our server, Emma, was astounding! I know we took up a 2 top for a couple hours and I appreciate you being cool with us. We are on vacation - something we don't get to take very often as we both work in academia. Food and drinks were delish. We were slightly disappointed that your Turkish coffee machine was on the fritz, but Emma was so nice about it, we couldn't be annoyed for long. Thank you so much for the great service, clean food and fun corner table. We will make sure to let our friends who travel to the Berkshires are aware of this little gem! read more

To spend $100 on a highly disappointing meal is irksome. Such was the case at Pera over the weekend. We opted to sit outside, even though the chairs were none too comfortable, because it was a lovely evening. Maybe that had something to do with service being painfully slow. A glass of prosecco was not nearly cold enough. My husband had the watermelon salad which looked appetizing, and was a good portion size. This was definitely the highlight of the meal. I had soggy spanakopita. I wonder if it had been nuked instead of oven-warmed. There was very little filo on top of it, and it was way too salty. Feta is a salty cheese granted, but I believe additional salt was added. I took most of it home and reheated it in the oven to crisp up the little amount of filo (see photo). My husband had the veggie strudel, which looked good - the filo was crisp, though smothered with fresh-looking argula ......but he said that there was no flavor in the veggie filling. I made a huge mistake ordering the $28.000 special of whole Branzino. Our server was instructed tableside by another server how to filet the fish...well, she (the instructor) butchered the fish! I had bones in nearly every bite AND the fish did not taste fresh. HUGE disaster. Our server had mentioned that this special came with green beans and potatoes. There were no potatoes and when I later asked, she apologized for making a mistake. So, on the plate was something like a timbale and I bit into it. OMG, the entire 3/4 bottom portion of it was solid, congealed FAT! When I questioned what on earth it was, our server said that she thought it was parsley garlic to go with the fish. HORRIBLE. Culdnt' they have warned me not to eat the yellow part? Why serve it at all??? Our server did not even ask us if we wanted dessert or coffee - we didn't. We waited a long time for the check. We had mentioned to her that the fish was full of bones and she apologized, but I think she was afraid to mention it to the chef or owner. There was no comp or further apology. We will not be back. P.S. The highlight of the evening was the home made ice cream down the street! read more

Plates Mediterranean Bistro - Soggy Spanakopita...oven reheated at home where it was slightly crisped. - Mediterranean Near Me - Williamstown, Massachusetts

Ordered the hummus plate excepting to get all of the vegetables listed, and I got only 4 vegetable sticks. Called to complain and the hostess was incredibly rude and told me that's what was on the menu, the menu clearly states it comes with peppers and cucumbers. Will never eat here again. read more

Plates Mediterranean Bistro - Menu listing - Mediterranean Near Me - Williamstown, Massachusetts

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The Pera Trio Dip appetizer was very tasty which made the entrees that much more disappointing by comparison. The salmon dish and lamb burger were both dry, overcooked and flavorless. Waste of money. Go elsewhere or cook at home. read more

This place is alright, the food can be rather bland but decent, but in a town so small its easy to impress with lower quality/standards. As far as the drink list, its decent but nothing too impressive. The staff are friendly, but sometimes messy or inattentive (I got water spilled on me by accident, honest mistake, but it is a big turn off, another time I was left waiting for my pick up order for 40 minutes). The price of the food exceeds any benefits you'll get from eating here. Also long waits if you want to sit outside, which can be enjoyable. read more

AVOID!!! We made on line reservations and were turned away. Go anywhere else in this town and there are lots of good places.

Adequate middle eastern spot that we had hoped would be much more in the way of quality and flavor. The food is standard middle eastern and good. It just isn't as wonderful as favorites from the city. read more

This place should have five stars, though I've only been coming here recently and I know since I've been here they have a new chef. The food is amazing and they have plenty of vegetarian options. We love the Pera Sampler. The food is fresh and they have nice drinks. The owner is a very nice man and you can tell he really loves what he does and cares about his customer's experience. read more

Plates Mediterranean Bistro - Pera Sampler: hummus, spanakopita, stuffed grape leaves, falafel, pita bread (not in photo) - Mediterranean Near Me - Williamstown, Massachusetts

The food here was AMAZING. I got the Braised Lamb Shank. It fell off the bone, and I will say - I've never had anything like it. The Chef came over and told us how he made it, which made the experience even better. I don't know if we'll ever be in the area again, but if so - I CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK read more

Went here for the first time, but can't wait to go back. The food was amazing and the presentation was really well done. The server was friendly and made great suggestions. If you need a memorable lunch, definitely give this place a try. read more

Service was good but food was the blandest Med food I've ever eaten. Falafel was awful: sticky and tasteless. Chicken kebab dry and tasteless. Rice was dry too. Quite overpriced for such mediocre faire. read more

I wish I had read the reviews before deciding to eat here. The three stars above (closer to two and a half in reality) are for the acceptable if unenthusiastic service and the generally pleasant environment. (The food and drink alone barely merited one star, if that.) This dining experience got off to an inauspicious start before I arrived at the restaurant. Perhaps I should have taken that as an omen. As several other posters have indicated, Pera's online booking system leaves a lot to be desired. I made a reservation online and immediately received email telling me that I should expect to receive confirmation of the reservation asap. This never came. When I got to Pera, they had no record of my having reserved. Awkward. But there were many empty tables so I was seated immediately. The cocktail menu looked interesting and, to be fair, cocktails were reasonably priced. I ordered the blood orange martini. (I was a bit surprised to see my waitress making the drink.) Supposedly, it contains blood orange purée. I'm not sure what actually went into that glass, but it had a horrible medicinal flavor and an unpleasant aftertaste. Though I left it less than half finished - even when I asked for the check - I was never asked why. For my main course, I ordered the wild mushroom ravioli. The ravioli arrived drowning in a deep pool of cream sauce. The ravioli themselves were not too bad but the sauce was unappetizing. I notice that some posters recommend avoiding the pasta dishes. I'd have to second that advice. Perhaps if I'd stuck to the Turkish offerings I'd have had a better dining experience. Finally, I just have to add that I observed one of my pet peeves, a couple of the wait staff hanging around the bar and texting. At a corner coffee shop that might not be so bad, but not at a place with table service and not at these prices. Though those servers had time to attend to personal business while working, I wasn't offered a single refill of my water glass until AFTER I asked for the check, and when I noticed other diners waving their hands to try to attract the attention of two servers who were standing around by the bar just chatting and not noticing they were needed, it just made for an underwhelming dining experience. Considering that I spent $36 for just one drink and one dish and I didn't enjoy either, I can't say I'd return. YMMV. read more

Recently had dinner here with three other individuals. We went pre theater and place was not crowded. Server cam to our table immediately. Told us special for the night. Very polite. Took our orders and brought back a small plate of bean salad to share. I had the Pera salad and a hummus platter. Two has a kebab platter and one cod dinner. Everyone enjoyed their meals. My only disappointment was the hummus platter. I really enjoy hummus and have had the best in Israel. It lacked creamy texture. Worst it was loaded with cumin. I guess that is why I gave it 4 Stars. Overall I would recommend this restaurant. By the time we left it was very busy. Also the servers were very nice, but as soon as one was done with meal they were trying to take plates away while others were still eating. Also never asked about dessert or coffee until we asked. read more

Disappointing. The Lamb Kebab was chewy, almost inedible. Probably they buy the cheapest meat. The rice was dry, tasteless. Service was just okay, we never got water refills. Would not go back there. read more

I had the lamb burger with a side salad. It was really good. No complaints with the service and I like the lemons and cucumbers in the water. The falafel wrap seems to be really popular. I'd definitely go again. read more

Plates Mediterranean Bistro - Mediterranean Near Me - Williamstown, Massachusetts

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The customer service here is beyond rude and insulting, and the food certainly doesn't justify subjecting yourself to the owner's gaslighting. read more

We ate in Pera last Saturday night. We were already seated with our appetizers when a couple was escorted to the table next to us. I was quite surprised to notice that the woman seated right next to me had a medium sized sweet dog in a large fabric sling on her lap. The restaurant was crowded, and I didn't want to create an uncomfortable scene although was unsettling to have someone else's dog's face right near me on the banquette. I called the restaurant today. I was told by the owner that they cannot turn away or question a service dog's entry to the restaurant. I was advised that if I posted this narrative online that would be their response to any critique on my part. From the MASS.gov website pertaining to the claim made by the restaurant owner that she cannot question a customer to ascertain that this is in fact a service dog: Q: How can I tell if an animal is really a service animal and not just a pet? A: Some, but not all, service animals wear special collars and harnesses. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you are allowed to ask (1) if it is a service animal required because of a disability, or (2) what tasks the animal performs. You cannot ask for documentation or certification that it is a service animal. Currently, there is no state or national certification available for service animals so businesses are not permitted to inquire if the animal is licensed or certified or whether the animal has identification papers Pero's owner should be aware of this nuance in the American with Disabilities Act law, as she is juggling many customers at a time, and must try her best to provide for the comfort of all of them. PS The food is uneventful. A discerning diner would find their offerings overated and oddly seasoned. read more

Everything was incredibly delicious. We had the app sampler and an order of muhammara, and shared the chicken tagine. It was easily enough food for four people! The muhammara in particular was so yummy but everything was awesome. read more

We visiting here from NJ. Watermelon/Feta Cheese Salad, on point. Food and service was very good as well. read more

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If I could give this place zero stars I would. The service is horrible. We made a reservation and were told we were confirmed and even went in person day of to re-confirm since we are a group of 10. They also took my credit card number. We just showed up and the manager was furious that I claimed we had a reservation. He yelled at me for no reason other than showing up for my reservation in front of other guests who then also left. Horrible. Don't waste your time or money. Many better places in town! read more

I am taking the time to write review because this restaurant is not following any of the government regulated Covid safety rules. Tables are packed close together and reservation with request to sit outside was granted on phone -and then told when we arrived we had to sit inside packed in next to large table. No masks are worn and there are no interior windows. Beside that the food was pretty bad and such small portions/ it's just unsafe and should be closed until they can fix problems. read more

Worst. Service. Ever. The food (eventually) was fine. But you don't expect to come to a half-empty restaurant for Sunday lunch and not get your food until an hour after you walked in. It was twenty minutes before we even saw a server (after telling the hostess that we hadn't seen anyone). That could have been a coordination issue, if we had gotten tolerable service thereafter. Then everything took forever. Want some olive oil for your bread? Wait fifteen minutes. No server coming by to see if we needed anything. When the sampler plate came without falafel, I didn't bother waiting to flag a waiter; nobody had walked by us in ages. I just went up to the staff hanging out by the kitchen and asked them to send the falafel already. We were so close to throwing down money for the soup and walking out. The people next to us had already left. Even if the kitchen was somehow hopelessly backed up, they could have come talk to us! We come back for the falafel, despite usually getting so-so service, but this is the final straw. Do they have a manager??? read more

Local gem! Circumstances put us at Pera 50 minutes prior to our reservation. This warm and gracious man agreed to seat us early and showed us to a quiet table for two. Then we had the good fortune to be served by Tabatha. She clearly loves what she does! We had the Pera salad, which they were nice enough to split in the kitchen, a warm crusty baguette and Salmon with artichokes and fresh cut sautéed vegs. Everything was perfectly cooked. A decadent chocolate cake for dessert put us into a bit of a coma, and was worth every bite! We have been to several restaurants in this area, but this is the first one I've felt compelled to Yelp about. Please go, and enjoy! read more

While Pera did provide the ambiance we expected of a moderately upscale restaurant, everything else about our meal was disappointing. What was worst was that our food was uninspired and bland. My salmon was passable but lacking that combination of crispy exterior and luscious interior I had hoped for. My partner's lamb kebab was unseasoned and seemed not to have been salted or marinated. Our meals were served with completely flavorless starches: couscous without flavor accompanied the salmon and flavorless rice came with the lamb. Both dishes came with lots of mediocre salad. The salad did not get much mention on the menu, but we wished our waitress had told us how much salad we would be getting with the main dish when we ordered additional side salads. If we had known that salad was coming with the main dish, we would not have ordered more. We blame the waitress for letting us spend that money needlessly. Another big disappointment was the minuscule serving sizes for the protein, particularly the salmon. My salmon filet was about 4 inches by 2 inches (10x5 cm). Because I couldn't stomach the dry, flavorless couscous, I finished my meal hungry. Then we received our check and paid far more than we should have for such meager and unsatisfying fare. After the meal, to calm our hunger pangs, we headed elsewhere for dessert to avoid the risk of another overpriced, undersized, and generally disappointing experience. read more

Pera is the finest restaurant on college grounds. Delicious Mediterranean freshly made food. Attentive waiter. 4 of us had outdoor dinner there last week and everyone was happy. Will return read more

Went after a trip to the Clark. It was good, if not stellar. The falafel was good, the tabouleh was terrible, the salad was okay. The waitress couldn't manage to provide service because she was a Big Chatterer with kitchen staff. That was annoying. Especially since we were only one of two tables. It was okay; not eager to return. Unless of course I'm hungry after the Clark. read more

We enjoyed our dinner here. The lamb kabobs were great though more sauce would have been appreciated. The lamb burger as well. Service was a bit slow. read more

Extremely friendly staff but the food holy moly fantastic. We started off with a sampler platter to share, it was all so yummy. The naan was still warm. I had a mushroom ravioli with a creamy Marsala sauce so much couldn't finish. Two of us had NY strip steak cooked to perfection and we also had a lamb burger off the charts good. A bit of a drive but we can't wait to go back. read more

Wonderful place in the heart of Williamstown. The staff are extremely sweet. We waited out a couple rainstorms under the awning outside during this year's Solid Sound festival. The staff got us more comfortable chairs and made sure we had plenty of coffee after we had already paid for brunch. The veggie sampler is the way to go. Very tasty!!! read more

We had A wonderful late lunch on Memorial Day we shared the muscles which were great I had to beat salad with chicken in my dining companion had the lamb Burger. Service was attentive and friendly and the food was perfectly prepared we read more

I have to admit the dishes sounded great. So I placed an order online and upon arriving at the restaurant hoping to quickly pick up my $60 order (to feed my husband and hungry kids waiting in the car!) I was given a rather unapologetic "oh, we don't do Grubhub" even though I had already paid, and my order had been marked as "received." I was left pacing in front of the restaurant trying to get my money back, which I eventually did but you'd think the restaurant would do something like offer to place my order directly? Or apologize and confirm that they will take their active takeout listing off Yelp? read more

We love this place and can't understand why more people don't know about it! Delicious Mediterranean food, lovely atmosphere, perfect place to go before a movie at Images Cinema. Highly recommend. read more

Great dinner. Our hostess was Tabitha, who was attentive. We started off with humus as an appetizer. My daughter had the flatbread with arugula basil and goat cheese. I had the arugula salad and added shrimp. Everything was delicious. Definitely recommend. read more

Plates Mediterranean Bistro - Arugula salad goat cheese and shrimp. - Mediterranean Near Me - Williamstown, Massachusetts

I'm in love with this place. More importantly - the owner is in love with this place and it shows in ever corner. The menu is diverse and every plate I saw looked beautiful. I ordered a steak (a lunch special) that came with a salad. When it came out, there was just a bit of lettuce on the side. I sighed... that's not a salad. Oh - then the salad came out a minute later. And it was an awesome salad. The steak was really good - but I nabbed a bit of my fiance's mushroom ravioli served in a marsala sauce. I hate marsala - I think it never looks good and always has a strange taste to it. Here.. oh wow... talk about pulling a 180. Of course, I can't imagine having marsala that is even half as good again. The ambience of this place is brick walled, modern post-industrial vibe meets a homey Mediterranean kitchen. It works. It works well. As we paid our tab, and headed for the door (I had an appointment to make), we noticed the owner sitting at a table with his family. Somehow it came up that we were celebrating two birthdays, and he seemed genuinely disappointed we didn't mention this when we came in. He tried to get us to stay for desert - but between being incredibly full and pressed for time, we had to decline. I whole heatedly endorse Pera Mediterranean Bistro! This could be equally enjoyable for a medium sized group (we had 7) for lunch as it would be for a romantic dinner for two. I look forward to finding my way back here in the near future. read more

The food here is about 3-3.5 stars. Nothing is GREAT and nothing is TERRIBLE, it's about what you would expect at a Mediterranean restaurant in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Unfortunately the vibe and service are ATROCIOUS. We went in for lunch, it wasn't particularly busy but it was mostly full, a sort of normal lunch situation. It took 15 minutes to get our menus. Then it took 15 more minutes to be able to order. Then it took over ONE HOUR to get our food. In the midst of all this, we were politely asking about our food's whereabouts, and clearly other patrons were also asking. All of a sudden, in a situation reminiscent of a scene from a movie, the sort of casual din of the conversation is interrupted by INSANE SCREAMING from the owner in the kitchen yelling at kitchen staff and waitstaff just out of the view of the dining room, echoing throughout the entire restaurant. The entire restaurant went silent in shock. We were horribly embarrassed for the owner and felt terribly for the waitstaff. read more

THIS PLACE WAS INCREDIBLE!!! Not only is the decor and ambiance just?? So peaceful and modern, the food was absolutely amazing. Our server was so nice, and the chef himself stopped by our table. I had a pork dish that was cooked perfectly! The meat fell right off the bone, and was juicy as heck. The flavors of the sauce and seasoning could be tasted throughout. Another dish, some ravioli?? Was absolutely amazing. The sauce was creamy and sweet, and the raviloli were perfectly cooked and homemade! The lamb burger was amazing as well, the feta cheese an amazing compliment to the lamb meat of the perfectly cooked burger. Thank you for an incredible meal! If we visit Vermont again, I definitely will be coming back!! read more

Pera adds some decent middle eastern menu options to Williamstown. I was satisfied with the food but frustrated by the service. People were sitting at tables outside, which seemed a pleasant way to eat dinner. We were shown to a table for two in a busy area near the kitchen, but since we'd walked in, I was happy to get seated. The restaurant was initially pretty full but by the time we decided to skip dessert and get our check, there were very few people left. Since they were out of spanikopita our server thoughtfully recommended we save money by choosing a combination plate of hummus and grilled eggplant salad rather than ordering each separately. My lamburger was perfectly cooked, medium rare, but was piled high with feta. A little feta goes a long way. When it was time for dessert, our server told us about two options and disappeared into the back. We quickly decided we wouldn't order dessert, so we waited for our check, which took way too long. We were profoundly ignored by the manager who was having an intense discussion with another server until both disappeared into the back. The manager seems like a friendly guy but during my dinner he stood just behind my chair talking loudly at length with a couple sitting at a corner table, and then he talked across me with the party of six on my right. It was annoying and hard to have a conversation with my dining partner. By the time we needed our check the staff seemed to have moved onto their own tasks back in the kitchen. We flagged down a friendly busser who took my credit card and helped us settle up. read more