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    Samira's Cafe

    4.5 (73 reviews)
    Open 9:00 am - 8:00 pm

    Order Samira's Cafe Takeout or Delivery

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    SAMIRA'S CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Happy hour specials
    Outdoor seating
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Samira's Cafe

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    Beef. Shawarma delicious
    Wendy B.

    We came here at 1pm on a Saturday. We weren't sure where we wanted to go or what kind of food we got so we saw all the good reviews here and we stopped in. You walk in and walk up to the counter where they have a menu for you to look at the order the food and sit down and the same lady that took our order cooked our food and delivered our food. We got a lamb Gyro and a beef Shawarma hot sandwich and we split them. The beef Shawarma sandwich was a perfect amount of beef and spiced nicely. And I had crisp vegetables would definitely get that again. The lamb gyro was delicious. It definitely tasted like it was more lamb than beef. It had a bit more lamb flavor than most of the gyros I've had in the past. The gyro had tzatziki sauce on it, not too much, but it was enough , the sauce that was on the stage, was similar, but I'm not sure if it would be exact I was not crazy about the type of rap that it was in. It wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't a dealbreaker either. They do charge more for credit cards so bring cash

    Beef shawrama is full of fatty inedible pieces.
    Christine D.

    We had a large order for delivery. The PRO: it arrived quickly, the rice tasted good. The CONS: 1) my 6 y/o nephew unfortunately took a bite of his chicken fingers and the chicken was completely RAW. Thankfully we noticed immediately. 2) beef shawrama was full of fatty pieces, and inedible. 3) chicken shawrama had a weird citrus aftertaste and was tough/overcooked. 4) the dolmas (Grape leave) was disgusting- very dry and no flavor. I threw it out after one bite... it tasted like it was very old. 5) the tabouleh was full of long stems that got caught in the back of my brother's throat. 6) the baba ganoush had a bitter aftertaste, perhaps this was old too? We called and was passed around on the phone, there's a communication barrier... they didn't seem to understand the gravity of my nephew eating raw chicken. We drove there to get a refund. I was only refunded the chicken strips and the beef shawrama.

    Beef Shawarma platter.
    Jay B.

    Samira Cafe left me full of regret and still kind of hungry. I ordered a beef shawarma platter for eighteen dollars and expected a proper meal. What I got looked like it was assembled during a fire drill. The portion was so small I honestly thought they handed me someone else's leftovers. The salad cost ten dollars. Let that sink in. They made it smaller and charged more. That takes a special kind of creativity. The lentil soup was eight dollars and barely filled half the cup. At this point I was just impressed by how confidently underwhelming everything was. And no utensils. Just tied plastic bags and a silent dare to figure it out on my own. The food did taste good, but the value was nowhere to be found. I paid thirty-six dollars and left with a light snack and a heavy sense of betrayal.

    Beef shawarma platter with rice and tabbouleh salad and chicken Shawarma Chicken Platter with hummus and babaganoush.
    Greg And Angela P.

    Amazing food and amazing service! Hidden jam in this area. Recommend: chicken shawarma platter and babaganoush!

    Chicken shish tawook
    Joshua J.

    An unassuming, little joint that serves up some excellent platters and sandwhiches. I've been here a handful of times and the chicken shish tawook is my go-to item on the menu. It's got the perfect balance of chicken, pickled turnips, lettuce and garlic sauce. So good. The falafel is a good finger food or starter as well. The couple that works this restaurant are always very friendly which goes a long way. Prices are definitely fair and the portions are perfect. Please stop buy here if Mediterranean and Lebanese food is your jam because its well worth it. Supporting local business like this is a no brainer.

    Samira's in Bartram Walk, Fruit Cove, Saint Johns, FL
    Donna L.

    If you haven't been here.... What are you waiting for!! Fantastic!! If you aren't familiar with Lebanese food, start with the Gyro (chicken or Lamb). I would recommend the Lamb. My husband loves the Black Bean Salad, I have to agree, it's very tasty!! And don't forget to get some dessert, it's all incredible! No alcoholic beverages but they do have to go and looks like Uber Eats, Door Dash, Grubhub and something w/Google. Can't get any easier than that. Service is great, people are super friendly and the place is very clean! Dining in is nice too. Keep our small businesses going... this place is awesome!

    Shawarma ($8) ~ I requested a mixed beef & chicken ~

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    10 months ago

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    5 months ago

    Food was amazing! Fresh and Delicious. Best Falafel I've had so far. Lentil with rice was excellent too

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    4 months ago

    Food has been really good at two times I have gone there. You only give him five is there too much dressing on the salad?

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    9 months ago

    Great food and family owned business. Definitely worth a try if you like Arabic food and are in the fruit cove area.

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    11 months ago

    Very good and large portion! I enjoyed the chicken more than the beef. Very good sides and warm bread. Will be back!

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    8 months ago

    They have really clean and delicious food they are the best Mediterranean restaurants in jacksonville

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    2 years ago

    Best baba ghanoush I ever had, falafel pretty good also! Friendly, clean, and they also have a selection of mideast grocery items.

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    2 years ago

    Salad was great, flavors on point. The rest of the menu looked very appetizing as well. Fast pickup for takeout. The Will be back.

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    Beirut Restaurant & Spirits

    Beirut Restaurant & Spirits

    4.3
    (294 reviews)
    6.6 mi
    $$

    I really wanted to love Beirut and will give it another chance, but my first impression wasn't…read moregreat. I came in as a solo diner and was seated quickly, although my table was kind of nestled underneath the high outdoor bar. That meant hearing some of the bartender's phone conversations. I ordered a glass of Lebanese rose wine and liked it! But my meal wasn't impressive. The vegetarian grape leaves (one of my favorite dishes, generally) were OK, although several were split up on my plate (but hey, it happens). I thought the flavor was underwhelming; there was a lot of acidity but nothing else. I also ordered a side of "extra crispy seasoned potato fries" which just turned out to be generic crinkle fries with salt. Definitely wouldn't order those again. I thought maybe there would be some sort of twist on them? The big frustration was service. The restaurant was far from full when I went -- I counted maybe a dozen seated tables. After I finished eating, I spent more than 30 minutes trying to get my waiter's attention to get my check even as I sat with my plates pushed away, glasses empty, and credit card out. He walked by multiple times to wait on and check with other tables, and I saw at least five other employees working in the front of house and walking by me. Even when I got his attention for the check, it took quite a few minutes to get it, despite him walking out to other tables. (Although I will note he seemed busier than the other employees!) My check before tip came to $24, which felt on the pricey side for what I got. I hope I'm wrong, but I got the vibe that I wasn't exactly their favorite type of guest -- a solo diner who wasn't smoking hookah. (I noticed another solo non-smoker go similarly unnoticed by staff.) Maybe they heavily favor regulars, too. But they weren't at capacity, and I'd have gotten out quicker had I been able to pay. Maybe it was just an off night. But it's just not a great feeling to be ignored.

    My wife and I tried their lunch buffet for the first time and overall, it was a good experience. At…read more$15.99 including a drink, it's a solid deal. The food was tasty, but we were disappointed with the limited meat and fish options. Roasted chicken was the only choice available. I like protein so I ended up just loading up on chicken. We were hoping for a bit more variety in that protein area.

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    Beirut Restaurant & Spirits
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    Hurricane (light rum, dark rum, OJ, passion fruit, lime, grenadine, sugar syrup) $9.99

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    Ruz Bukhari - Afghan Cuisine

    Ruz Bukhari - Afghan Cuisine

    3.8
    (37 reviews)
    6.5 mi

    I've been wanting to try Ruz Bukhari for forever now and while in the neighborhood some weeks ago,…read moreI finally got the chance. Now I know what I've been missing! I opted for the lunch buffet and it was great. Lots of variety and all the food was delicious. That day they had a beef & potato stew, a chicken & tomato stew, stewed eggplant, a bean dish, spring rolls (??? but they were good), fried fish, kofta kabobs, hummus, tabouli, baba ganoush, coconut cake and baklava among other things. Also, shortly after I was seated, a basket of soft, warm grilled pita was brought out from the kitchen to me. I've seen pix of their food on the 'net and it looked good to me but it actually tasted even better than what I'd imagined after having looked at the pix. The wonderfully spiced kabobs and the smoky baba ganoush were particularly good. I don't even like baba ganoush but I went up for seconds and devoured every last bit! Best I've ever had. I never get rice at a buffet and the owner implored me to but I balked. Now I'm kicking myself for that because after having looked at others' pix of this special preparation, it looks amazing. Next time. What bummed me though was that as incredible as it all was, the place was deserted! I'm a slow eater, was in there for over an hour having arrived at noon and the entire time, I was the only soul in there eating. Please support this place, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor. And please forgive my food pix - the art of attractive plating has never been my strong point. Just trust me - it's all delicious.

    The ladies from my book club all met here for dinner and drinks on a Wednesday evening. We like to…read morepick locations based on the book we are reading so we can explore new restaurants across Jacksonville. The owner/manager was very kind but let us know when we arrived that the bartender was not there and he did not know how to serve mixed drinks. Not a huge issue with us- we opted instead to share a couple bottles of wine to make it easy. We were a little surprised by the price of the bottles ($40 each for a Josh and a Meiomi). It was a very slow night with only a few other tables so service was quick. We started with an order of the Mantoo, hummus, and baba ganouj. The mantoo was definitely the favorite starter of our group. Great flavor and cooked perfectly. Our group chose to order a large mixed kebab family style platter with rice and a variety of meats (ground and sliced chicken, ground and sliced beef, and lamb). The menu said it was portioned for 5 but man was it huge! There were 5 of us and we all ate large portions and still each had a take-home box after. The rice was amazing and so was the lamb. I had a variety of both the beef and chicken and preferred the sliced meat vs ground meat. After dinner, we decided to go back to our college days and order a hookah on the lounge side. We had a fun, relaxed time. I had never had this type of food before but thought it was delicious and would definitely order from there again. The pricing was great except for the bottles of wine

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    Uzbek Palao Special Request!
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    Lamb and Chicken Seekh

    Samira's Cafe - lebanese - Updated July 2026

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