Even after 20 years the best food and nice atmosphere The best service and food saad has great taste and hasn't lost his touch

In my opinion this place is the best around for Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Arabic food! This style of Mediterranean food is a little different than what you will find at most other places like LaMarsa Lebanese Grill (Formally La Shish), and the Arabic restaurants in Dearborn. This style is sourced from Iraq and the dishes here are delicious! I would recommend starting with one of the fresh squeezed juices (I liked the carrot juice here), Turshi (a complementary appetizer consisting of pickled cabbage and turnips) then a Fattoush Salad, a main course consisting of Chicken Cream Chop, Beef Shawarma, Rice, and Cotti (a curry potato stew that you put on top of your rice and meat), and finally a Arabic chai tea when you are done with your meal. As with all ethnic restaurants, ordering the 'right stuff' is key and can be a little tricky but this should help! read more

I have eaten at other Sahara locations but never this one, until last night. We used a Groupon. The food was AWESOME as I expected from Sahara. The restaurant is huge inside, clean, and nicely decorated. The staff is friendly. The prices are a bit on the high side but this is because you get huge portions of delicious food -- so it is well worth it. The only negative for us was the service -- VERY slow at every possible step. Our dinner experience took probably twice as long because of this. I think we just had a poor server as others seemed to be more attentive to their tables. I would definitely go back in the future, but if the service is bad again I would just get take-out from that point forward. read more

Great food! I not very familiar with Mediterranean cuisine, so the staff at restaurant gave me suggestions. I found the staff there to be very friendly. The restaurant was very nice looking on the inside, which was a pleasant surprise! Since I am not a Mediterranean expert they recommended the chicken kabob and rice on the side! Generous serving size for dinner and pack with lots of excellent flavor. I have plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow . I will definitely be returning for more !! read more

Sahara Restaurant - Mediterranean Near Me - Oak Park, Michigan

The food is very goid just over priced and service needs to improve in the day and night.

So disappointed. When I entered the restaurant no other customers were there. The wait staff was eating and it seemed as if they were drawing straws to see who would tend to me! It was 12 noon. I ordered the chicken shawarma. The chicken was brown and dry as if I was given the previous day's leftovers. I couldn't eat the tasteless, dried out food. Will never go back read more

Service was horrible! There on a Saturday night at 9:30pm and not one waitress acknowledged us for 10 minutes because we look American! You don't like it when people are prejudice against middle east yet you discriminate if someone doesn't look like you! I will write a review reflecting the treatment we were given and we shall see how many others were treated the same! We walked out and we will not patronize a prejudice, poor service establishment! read more

Was curious about how this restaurant was sitting in the middle of the plaza so I thought I would give it a try. Just by walking in you can tell it's a family based restaurant because of the huge tables in the center of the place. From there it goes downhill. The service was terrible. There were multiple staff sitting down while I waited to place my order at the counter and there were a few staff that looked at me and at other customers before returning to their work or talking on their phones. I eventually got to place my order and I ordered a simple beef shawarma sandwich. I asked how long it would take and was told 5 minutes. I waited about 15 minutes standing at the counter(no type of waiting area for pickups or Togo orders) before I got my food. Once home I began eating and I have a few problems with the food. First problem is that the beef was pretty fatty. Not only that but there were many pieces that were beyond edible. Then eventually I ran into a few pieces that felt like shattered bone. The beef was extremely dry and all I was given was ranch which was awfully sour as if they had too much lemon juice in it. The only decent thing about this place were the prices because all I paid for it was 5 dollars and some change, but I still would never recommend this place to anyone. read more

I went in on a saturday night and it was completely dead (that should tell you something). The service was not that great, and the woman that cashed me out was a bit rude. Ordered the chicken lemon rice to go and a side of garlic with bread. The only up side was how fast out carryout was done(again it was not busy at all). The soup was...decent at best. If you're looking for good chicken lemon rice well I hate to say but even leos coney island's recipe is tastier than this one. The garlic was good..not too overpowering like some places. We asked for double bread and unfortunately did not recieve it. The place is outdated and not in an appealing way. Don't think I will go out of my way to come back here again. read more

Great restaurant great people the staff is trying their best with COVID. Happy to support such a great group

This is the BEST midde eastern food, in my humble opinion. I have been eating Chaldean food of the homemade kind, for many years, and this is as close as it gets. Potato chops, yum. Chicken cream chop, OMG. Chicken tikka, great. The ranch here is drinkable. The house salad, basic as it is, is amazing. Let me tell you how to do this... You get bread, stuff it with turchi (pickled cabbage and veggies), salad and meat, cover it in ranch, and indulge. Amazing, fresh and home cooked in effect. Have some hot chai and enjoy! read more

I won't be ordering any more food from these rude people!!! I really don't appreciate my wife being given a hard time when all she did was ask the employee to not tie the bag for the carryout order! The employee rudely responded with "it's a simple order you don't need to check it". My wife responded with "if the order is wrong I'm not driving 5 miles back to the restaurant". What does the employee do, he ties the bag in a knot! What a jerk!!! read more

Never again. A friend and I were in the area and both love the Sahara Mediterranean place in Shelby Twp so we thought this place would be good. Wrong. The waitress (Talia) seemed to have little knowledge of waitressing, although she was friendly. The lebnah had very little garlic so we asked her to fix it. Both meals were flavorless. When she asked how everything was we said it was "ok" and we left full plated meals on table. She said ok and brought bill. She never asked what the issue was or if she could swap the meals; nothing. Neither of us ate the meal. Awful. read more

I always like to stop here when in town. You can sit and dine, but I usually do take out. The shawarma is always tasty, but the falafel and other vegetarian options really shine. Worth stopping for a quick lunch or dinner if you are in the area. read more

Was craving Mediterranean food and since I was already at the SOS office around the corner I decided to go here. They only had one lunch special. Sandwich and salad. I ordered the Chicken Shawarma and the tossed salad. You could upgrade to a specialty salad for $3 more. The salad was just a tossed salad with their special Ranch dressing that was ok. The Chicken Shawarma Sandwiches I'm used to are Chicken, plenty of garlic sauce, and pickles. This one had chicken, lettuce (weird), tomato (weird), very little garlic sauce and pickled cabbage (weird). If you are coming here for a quick carry out..don't. Took me about 20 minutes to get my lunch that wasn't even good. Sorry, some people may like this place but not for me. The guy who took my order was very nice. I wish I would have taken the time to go to a place I know. read more

I haven't been there since they open this location, i went there the other day, and it was very disappointing and over priced, seems like everything was microwaved and not fresh. Our waitress was very good and did her part. read more

For the people coming here expecting Lebanese food, this is an Iraqi/Chaldean restaurant, and some of the menu items are the same (hummus, tabouli, fattoush) and other menu items are not (cream chop, potato chop, turshi, maraqa). Also, in my experience, Iraqis generally prepare meat far better than Lebanese do. The Lebanese restaurants in Detoit are overrated. I've had home cooked Iraqi food (Quzy, Dolma, Biryani, all the different stews, Gurgur, Paqota, MASGOUF!!!), and I have to say, if your taste is for bland dry meat over uncle Ben's rice, go to a Lebanese restaurant. If you want flavor, a variety of meats and stews over basmati rice, go to Sahara. It's not as good as home cooking Iraqi food because they don't prepare some of the more difficult dishes (such as Dolma--takes too long), but it comes closest. And to the complainers who want the standard Lebanese food, stick to Warren Ave. read more

One of the worst restaurants I tried. I went to Detroit from Chicago and tried to find a decent middle eastern restaurant, and I randomly picked this one. I wish I ordered McDonalds and not eat this food. First of all the style of decoration is very bad and it looks like you are in a banquet hall. You don't feel the privacy in your table. I was willing to ignore the decoration if the food was good. But the food was the worst part. It is not appealing to the eye or the taste buds. Besides the service is not that good. I am from the middle east and I would like to advise anyone who would like to try a high quality middle eastern food is to go to Lebanese restaurants. This restaurant is not Lebanese and owned by people with limited experience in the Lebanese cusine. If you would like to have some real good middle eastern food, go to Warren Ave in Dearborn and the surrounding areas. read more

I've been coming here since I was a child and they never disappoint. Great authentic middle eastern food!

This place is okay. Not bad, but not so good either. The space was big and fun for my son and my friend's kids to run around. We ordered a lot of food, and to be honest the food I ordered was just okay. The falafel was pretty good, and the garlic toum was good. I ordered a chicken shawarma plate, and the chicken had a funny taste. I couldn't eat it because it tasted funny. The servers were nice, and helpful, but I do not think I will be back here because there is much better middle eastern food elsewhere. read more

Overpriced for mediocre food. I got a carrout for 3 people that cost approx $50. I've gotten the same type of food from a food truck that costs 1/2 the proce and the quality and flavor were way better than Sahara. Sahara tries to be high end and fancy but the food is garbage, no flavor, bland and doesnt even look good read more

Would be one star..but good service gave it two! I ordered the chicken sharwama dinner, which looked like chicken from a can. It did not have any strong flavors..very bland. The lamb kabobs were dry! Best thing was the steamed veggies and the garlic paste. Which were frozen vegetables cooked in broth. The lentil soup was decent. The curry soup was okay. Would I go back? No. read more

This is my favorite Chaldean restaurant in Detroit metro area. Even though i am not crazy about the decor and the size of the place it look more like a wedding hall then a restaurant, i definitely love the food there. Raw juices are great, i love the homemade salad dressing and i highly suggest ordering a combo plate to try everything on the menu. Some of my favorite things include kafta, chicken cream chop, and potato chop. I am never dissapointed with how consistent their quality of food is. A big plus is that their open late night. read more

Me and my buddy came here during lunch time and we had a platter for 3 and also added a order of Tikka which was amazing. My favorite was the chicken kabob(some call it Kafta) also the ranch is just to die for here. It is has a great taste and just makes all the food taste that amazing. The rice was also amazing and the staff was super friendly . We will back read more

My review still stands. I catered from here for one of the many events during my wedding weekend and they really put their foot into it! They definitely brought more than enough food for the 200 guests we had. I ordered the biryani, chicken kafta, chicken cream chop, falafel, hummus, garlic dip, fatoush salad and plenty of bread. Everything was fresh and excellent! All of the guests enjoyed the food and I received many compliments on the menu. Thank you Rudy for taking care of our event so well, it was pleasure doing business with you! read more

My husband and I stopped in to get lunch. We both ordered chicken shwarmma sandwiches and fries. The wait for our food was longer than expected however they had a few larger groups there so I could understand the delay. Once we got home we were very disappointed with our food. The meat was very greasy and didn't even have pickles! After two bites I threw it away. I'm formerly from the Dearborn area so I know what a shwarmma should taste like and this wasn't it! read more

This location is fucking trash. They don't even deserve a single star. The service? Nonexistent. I ordered a pitcher of pop and it took 56 mins to be exact to receive it. What is thissss read more

Just went here for the first time and I'm extremely disappointed because the service was terrible. We sat down and didn't get approached by a server for a good 10 minutes. After our food arrived, which was very good by the way, we didn't get checked up on and it took forever for anyone to even realize we had finished eating and wanted to cash out. I'd definitely suggest getting a carry out vs dining in until they figure out how to run the place a little better. read more

Went in, sat for almost 10 minutes, left. No waiter/waitress acknowledged us. Was very excited to try because this seemed right down my alley. However extremely annoyed when no one even came to set down waters. Took my money elsewhere... also: they weren't even slammed.. I work in restaurants and know for sure they had some time to at least try and greet us. read more

This has to be one of my favorite restaurants. The beef kebab is always on point. Chicken cream chop is tender and never overcooked and the beef Gus is amazing. Gotta ask for the house dressing with Greek Salad and even use the house ranch on your sandwich. read more

This place is horrible. Do yourself a favor and avoid this poor excuse of a restaurant. If middle eastern food was served on airplane flights, this would be what it tastes like. I consider this type of ethnic food as my favorite but Sahara just might scare me off from reputable places for a few weeks. The atmosphere is that of a Buffet / banquette center yet their prices are on the upper range for what you get. Looked like it'd be depressing to eat in there. We ordered a fatoosh salad with chicken and a few Tawook sandwiches. Simple enough, right? Wrong! The salad was primarily iceberg lettuce with a runny, timid dressing that barely contained any zest that one associates with fatoosh. The chicken on the salad appeared as if it was reconstituted and shaved off of a rotisserie spit that dried out hours before and should've to be discarded. My wife initially thought it was bacon. Actually that could've helped this meal because bacon makes everything better. The Tawook sandwiches were bereft of flavor and dry as the Saharan desert. Maybe thats where they got their inspiration and name. On the upside, the pita was fresh but cold. Personally, I like when the pita is warm on the sandwich. After reading a few other reviews I've discovered that perhaps the reason Sahara is not a good choice is because it is not Lebanese. I've yet to find middle eastern food (non-Lebanese) that is worthy of a return visit. If you must go there ( I don't know why you would after reading this ) make sure you order take out and insist that they add some flavor. Yuck! You're better off traveling a few miles to LaFeast in Royal Oak to experience some real flavor. read more

I really, really, really love this place! The portions are HUGE two people can easily spilt a dinner and still bring food home. My favorite is their chicken thighs, so frickin good!!! Dinner comes with a salad, rice, curry and pickled vegetables that are kind of the best things EVER. I have never had anything except great and very friendly service here. In fact our sever today gave us a huge container of pickled veg to take home because we raved about it so much. If you want a break from the regular Lebanese food try Sahara, it's a nice change of pace. read more

First time ordering here. Ordered small hummus, small taboli, small jajeek and small garlic sauce. Came to $20.00. Was charged an extra $4.00 for 6 pieces of rock hard 5 day old pita bread. No joke. It was reached out of a wire basket by the door and it wasn't hot when I added it to my carry out order but it was the end of the night and seemed acceptable...still I thought I would get at least fresh bread. Nope. Taboli had a weird old fridge taste I can't describe, maybe mold or a lysol type cleaner I picked up. I've never had bad taboli. Sure they add too much olive oil sometimes but this was so off and gross. Pita cafe in oak park or mr kabob in Berkley hands down are all a mile away and much better in my opinion. read more

As every Saturday, i went there last Saturday and took this time my whole family and had one of the best Lamb Shank that i had ever had in my life. Better even than the one my late mother used to make (and she was the best). My kids (born in America do not care for this kind of food-Lamb shank) but after tasting it, were hook and ate all of my food and i end up eating their Kobob. (make sure if you order your Kobob, order it with RED RICE, and if they have it, you will die and go to haven). The owner is my friend since i been going there for ever and ever and knew his father and mother who happen to be one of the best Chaldean food Cooker. I always for some reason get more than anyone (food in my plate) every time i go there and LOVE it!! I give this place one thousand stars. read more

In a metro area nearly supersaturated with incredible Middle Eastern restaurants, Sahara is one of the few that can really offer something special. Apparently Sahara is one of the older restaurants of its kind in Metro Detroit, and the original location burned down some years ago. Their current location in Oak Park is a bit bizarre - it's an enormous round chamber with some fantastically chintzy decorations that looks more like a location for a high school prom than an intimate dining experience. However, the staff is very warm and friendly, and the overall vibe of the place is quite welcoming. Sahara has a wide-ranging menu that includes all of your standard Middle Eastern options (kebab, shawarma, kofta, etc.), along with a few lesser-known Iraqi specialties like chicken cream chop and potato chop. They have affordable pita wrap lunch specials, raw juices, massive combo meals, etc., etc., yadda yadda yadda... basically all of the classics you would expect a Mediterranean restaurant to feature. What I'm here to talk to you about is "pacha." A Chaldean acquaintance recently told me that apart from family gatherings, the only place to find truly authentic Chaldean food is Sahara (I've since found that Sullaf Restaurant in Detroit also has some great authentic offerings as well), and that if you want the real thing, you have to try pacha. Pacha is only served on Saturdays, and it's in the running for the craziest dish I've ever eaten. Variations on the dish are popular for holidays throughout the Middle East and southeast Europe, and all versions seem to feature various sheep parts - the Chaldean version as served at Sahara is basically a sheep's entire digestive system. It's served in two parts - a pile of intestines, kidneys, and the stomach all stuffed with rice, spices, and minced meat, and a bowl of broth with pieces of tripe and chick peas. The whole thing must weigh about four pounds, and I was able to get three substantial meals out of it with quite a bit left over that I eventually had to toss. I asked the waitress if anyone had ever finished the whole thing in one sitting, and she cheekily informed me that even old Chaldean women are able to eat the whole thing. I'm 6'3" and 230 lbs., and I couldn't even come close. It's a very traditional dish, quite similar to Scottish haggis, and those who haven't tried much in the way of organ meats would probably not enjoy it very much. But I've gotta give respect to a restaurant that goes out of their way to offer something with deep cultural roots, and especially one that does it with so much panache. read more

I paid 15 dollars for a salmon salad today that I've ordered before. The salmon was dry and tasted as if it had been refrigerated from a previous day. It was not fresh at all! I will not be ordering another one! read more

This is my new go-to Mediterranean joint! Fabulous food, staff is attentive and friends and it's so huge that you never have to wait.

I give only one star due to food and service. The place looks nice. It could definitely handle a huge crowd but the service, though friendly at first is practically nonexistent. I have eaten at Sahara twice. The first time I had my goddaughter, mother and friend meet me there to try the place out. We had a to wait a little bit to get someone to come over to tell us to sit anywhere. Once seated, our drink orders were taken. Cool, cool. I ordered some hummus and garlic spread. This typically comes with a lot of bread (since that is what you eat it with, am I right?) but ours did not. We ordered our food and asked for more bread. The bread took a long time coming out and there was only enough for two of us. We asked for more. The food finally came and eventually more pieces of bread. Our meals were OK. Nothing too bad. Nothing too good. We waited for fifteen minutes for our waitress to come with a bill. She said she would take it up for us. Fifteen minutes later she hadn't come back. We waved and such with no response. Finally we got up and walked to the register ourselves. The 2nd time I went I took a friend to dinner there. Thinking that the wait staff at my previous visit must have been a fluke. Our waitress was very nice and reasonable attentive. I ordered hummus & garlic. We got minimal bread and had to ask repeatedly for more of it. I swear we got one piece at a time. I ordered chicken schwarma and veggies as a side. The veggies were the most tasteless and over cooked broccoli & cauliflower I have ever had. I didn't even eat them after two bites. My schwarma. OMG. Instead of shaved pieces of seasoned chicken, I think they must have given me bits of chicken looking leather that had been in the sun for three days. I resolved not to go back. read more

Best restraunt in the city matter fact state matter fact country matter fact world matter fact universe

Very expensive but it's worth it. The Chicken Cream chop is fire. Get it with ranch and a side of white rice and you're all good. Service could be better but oh well. read more