Zaytinya – New York

So many good high end Greek and Mediterranean restaurants in this city but this place is special. It has a fun modern vibe that almost belles it's five star quality food and service. I had the restaurant week menu which came with four courses for $60. My friends also did restaurant week so we shared different dips which were all delicious. The bread is hot and fluffy. The chicken shish was also really excellent but our favorite was the chocolate desert which was sweet and a bit salty. The place has some outdoor tables but I love the indoor vibe and decor. Our waiter was excellent and your water glass is never empty.

Great food, yum yum! I tried restaurant week lunch and the portion is small, but everything taste really good, 3 courses so still enough for lunch. Love the cocktail! All staffs were very chatty pay no attention to customer needed for assistance. It’s ok to casual interacting with colleagues but should eyes on customers or at least do not stand turn back on ur customers the whole team.

Unfortunately, I am absolutely not intending to come back. I came in for dinner with a friend, and we were both SO disappointed. First off— service was terrible. Second of all, I should not be leaving hungry after ordering multiple items. The fattoush serves one person (okay, fine no big deal), and the salmon was literally four bites (no, I’m not exaggerating). The portions are just shameful. Third, I’m pretty sure I just had hummus with taco meat on it. I’m not joking. Taco seasoning. The restaurant itself is beautiful, but not worth the hype.

Delicious? Absolutely. It's Jose Andres, duh! Gorgeous? This restaurant literally lives in the Ritz Carlton, fam. Service? That's where the fail was, folks. No matter how good my Falafel Durum was, how tasty the prix fixe mezze were, I just can't get past the stuck-up hostess or the fact that she stuck us in the very back of the restaurant on a slow Saturday afternoon when 70% of the place was empty. Nor can I forget the nearly 20 min we waited to even get menus or be introduced to our server--again, despite the place not being busy. Try harder, gang.

I was a bit nervous at first seeing such a wide range of Turkish, Lebanese, and Greek staples on one menu. However, after ordering a dish from each region, I realized Zaytinya knew exactly what they were doing. The spreads were seriously fantastic, and the lebne with za’atar brought me back to my childhood while still having a contemporary feel to it. You can either order many small plates or one really big one to share with someone (there’s no middle ground). I really wanted to try the lamb shoulder but the size of the dish made it a bad choice for a single diner. The quality is definitely there in each dish, but it was a bit more pricey than I felt like it needed to be when you factor in the portion sizes and the plethora of other restaurants operating at a similar tier. With all that said, I definitely plan on coming back and trying some of the bigger dishes with a friend and I recommend Zaytinya to any connoisseur of Mediterranean cuisine who doesn’t mind the higher-than-average price point.