09/17/08

THEY DIDN'T WAIT ON US WHEN THEY WERE OPEN, RACISTS ALERT

by vt737sp

We are from NE Atlanta, and takes us 50 minutes from this restaurant. We were heading to this restaurant for the first time. We got there with a mapquest map in our hand and arrived this place 10 minutes before the closing time. There was a bright neon sign says "OPEN", and the door wasn't locked either. But a manger looking person shows up and told us they were closed already. without any sign of 'close". If you can take customers in, why they keep the 'ope"n sign? They must be racists.

01/29/08

Authentic and Fantastic!!!

by peetsypa

Being part Lebanese myself, I am always on the lookout for authentic food. This place was absolutely awesome! But the best part about it has to be Nicola himself. You feel like you are in his home and he's cooking for you personally. If you can, go on a night with belly dancing. It's a must-do experience. I will return often! :)

• Pros: the food and Nicola himself
• Cons: this is not the place for a quiet dinner out.

07/28/07

TERRIBLE for groups!

by groupdinnerguru

I organize a monthly dinner for about 20-25 people each month and we recently visited Nicola's. We were very disappointed that we had chosen this place as soon as we arrived. The first thing I was told was that they had forgotten about our reservation completely. We explained that we had a reservation for 20 people, and they proceeded to give us a table that was actually two tables pushed together and a table beside it that wasn't connected to our table. When we asked about pushing the tables together, we were told that we couldn't do this. Between all of the tables we were given, this only allowed us 12 chairs for 20 people. The staff seemed annoyed that we added more and more chairs to both of our tables as more members of our party arrived. I'm not sure why they took our reservation if they didn't plan to honor it.

In addition to the seating problems, the noise level went up drastically once the lackluster belly dancers came out. The music was so loud that two members of our party (who are in their 20s!!) went to the car and returned wearing earplugs. We couldn't talk at all and ordering food was very difficult. Perhaps that explained why an appetizer we ordered upon arrival had to be ordered 3 times, and finally arrived after our food was brought to us. The music was never turned down even after the show ended. At one point almost all of the other customers in the building had gone, and we requested that the music be turned down, but our request was ignored. We had to stand outside the restaurant to talk.

In addition to these problems, there is a $10 minimum charge for all people at your table. This is charged even if your party orders individual meals. One member of our party ended up paying $10 for Turkish coffee only. This seems unfair.

The food? It was good, actually. Not one person disliked what they received, but all of the other annoyances ruined the food for us.

My advice is to get take out. The decor is really shabby here, anyway.

• Pros: decent food
• Cons: service, extremely loud noise, did not honor reservation