Riyadh's Lebanese Restaurant

12/03/08

bla

by untoherselfalone

so yea if you need lebanese food just go to ya hala on stark near 82nd. infinitely better than anything you will find here. if you have no car and live near by it might be worth a shot since a few things are probably worth while. best of luck though. really nothing special.

• Pros: location
• Cons: you can do better

09/14/08

Great food at a reasonable price

by Chacha121

Everytime I've been here service has been great. Food has been good and I've never ordered anything I didn't like. The food arrives fast and hot. The hummus is tangy and creamy smooth. Yum! My favorite is the falafel sandwich with a green salad. The falafel is a bit spicy and the salad has just the right amount of garlic and lemon. If you want great Lebanese without all the pretense try Riyadh. You won't be disappointed.

• Pros: The food
• Cons: Street parking

04/19/08

Best Lebanese for your money in PDX

by cymagen

This restaurant is amazing for the value. Probably the best Lebanese for the money in town. The hummus is awesome and so are the falafel. Pretty much everything on the menu.

I wish they made their flatbreads from scratch, they get the same ones you can get at the grocery store in the bag. And I wish they had a soda fountain; when you order they bring you a can and a glass of ice. So no free refills.

But those complaints are pretty minor, i've never really been disappointed with this place, its great.

• Pros: Great Food, Great Atmosphere, Outdoor Seating, Friendly Staff
• Cons: Store Bought Flatbread, No Soda Fountain, No Free Refills

03/27/08

tasty inexpensive eats

by richandkelly

We had a great mezza platter here tonight at a very reasonable price. The server was pleasant and seemed genuinely concerned with taking care of us and did a pretty good job even with a quite a few tables to tend to. I can't wait to go back here and try out the other items on the menu.

03/22/08

Rude Service; okay food

by senonhipster

I love Middle Eastern food, but there are better options in Portland. The food is decent (however, unlike other ME restaurants, they do not make their own bread- who wants to eat microwaved pita bread with their hummus?). However, I found it a very unpleasant place to eat. The floors are white, which shows all the dirt and made the place feel dirty. The owner and the wait staff were very unwelcoming. Although the food was okay (although overpriced for the quanity), I left not wanting to return. I am not sure why all the positive reviews.

• Pros: Don't need to wait for a table
• Cons: See written information.

11/12/07

Pretty Average Food

by srkkreddy

After having eaten at several other middle easter places (like Ya Hala, Nicholas, Karams), I feel that the food is pretty average... and the portions that they serve is less.

I expected that atleast I can't go wrong with Baklava... that wasn't the case either.

• Pros: Parking, Service
• Cons: Average food, smaller portions.

07/22/07

Best Lebanese Food around, beats Ya Halla hands down!

by pdxplm

We've been meaning to try this place every time we have gone by it. Well, we made a great choice! We typically go to Ya Halla, and the food is ok, the wait to get in is ridiculous!!! My Partner is vegetarian and really isn't all that impressed with what they have to offer at Ya Halla. Riyadh's has a TON of non-eggplant and vegetarian dishes. After going to Riyadh's we will definitely make this a regular spot! The food was outstanding, the lamb the best I've had and the other accompanying dishes were some of the best. Falafel can be hard to master and they've done a great job, spicy, moist and very good! There was no waiting, they had great beer on tap and you left full and very satisfied at the portions and unbelievably low prices. A definitely MUST to try!

• Pros: Food, prices, beer on tap
• Cons: None

04/06/07

Best Midde Eastern

by kimjp

This is by far the best middle eastern food in the Portland area. It is high quality and authentic and YUMMY! The lentil soup is especially good. It is smoky, rich, complex and even at 3 times the price it would be a bargain. The people who run it are also very nice. I have never had any dish at Riyadh's that was not wonderful.

As many people have mentioned, the prices are amazingly low, however, the price is somewhat irrelevant in relation to the quality of the food. Even if the prices were much higher, I would still give it the same rating.

I have been to many other middle eastern places, and specifically Lebanese places, around the western United States and have found none better than Riyadh's. I have also been to virtually every other place in town and while some are pretty good, I am dumbfounded at the raves Hoda's and Ya Hala both receive. Especially Ya Hala as I find their meat very low quality tasting and the food to have very simplistic seasonings.

For my first visit to Ya Hala, I took 2 out of town guests who also have lots of dining experience. They also thought it was not good and was shocked I took them there. I explained that I had not eaten there before, but it had good reviews and they were surprised. I have been back twice since. Once, because I thought my original experience must have been an aberration and again for a friend's birthday. It seemed to get worse with each visit.

So, while Riyadh's seems to have mostly great reviews here on Citysearch, I just can't understand why it is so ignored in the local press. It is hard to believe that other much lower quality places get such frequent good reviews and Riyadh's does not even show up in WWeek's cheap eats guide. But, I guess it is good for me because I can always get a seat.

The only improvement would be a fresh squeezed rose water lemonade like a former Lebanese restaurant in the Phoenix area named Ali Baba.

• Pros: Fantastic Food
• Cons: I wish it was closer to home or work?

A lower Hawthorne mainstay, this family-run Lebanese cafe serves authentic Middle Eastern lunches and dinners with a side of Mediterranean hospitality.

by Contributor

In Short
The dining area channels a Mediterranean villa, with painted columns, ochre-washed walls, and waves of blue-green chiffon rolling across an azure ceiling. SE locals and longtime regulars drop in for pan-Mediterranean delights, from shawarmas and gyros to grilled seafood dinners. Classic mezza samplers include hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, falafel, pita and specialties like stuffed grape leaves or fatayer, a savory ground beef turnover. Honey-drenched baklava and cardamom-scented rice pudding are made on-site.

01/20/07

My new eastside hangout...really good Lebanese food

by salsarasta

This is only my second review. I have been trying to find a place that I could have a group of my friends come to and it would not break the bank. I think I have found it. I have eaten here several times. The food is consistantly good and the owner and the waiters that I have run across really care that you have a good experience. Most of the other middle eastern or Lebanese restaurants in town will not take reservations for large groups...like more than 8 people. They don't seem to be set up for it. This place has a room in the back that they will set up for your group. They are really good with helping you plan if you take a little time. I do recommend that you do it on a week day like I did. I don't know how hard it would be for them to do it well on a weekend. They told me that they could do catering, but I wanted to do it there. The bottom line is the food was great, they treated us well and I recommend it to anyone else who wants to have a birthday or whatever. We were noisy and they didn't care...we had our own space. Good time was had by all.

• Pros: Good food good service.
• Cons: Parking is a crunch