Zaya Mediterranean Restaurant

Jan 31 birthday dinner. Not too hungry. Ordered lental soup-bland-just lentils and water. Then lamb taratour-so dry and overcooked that it turned to dust-apparently left over or kept heated for hours.Lahem-bi-ajeen also uninteresting. Calamari was ok but cold. Staff not interested in service. Bad stomach for 2 days afterwards. Unforgettable-but not in good way. Pros: well decorated Cons: Food prep- both of us sick afterwards more

This is one of my favorite places to dine with friends. It's just good food with a laid-back atmosphere. Pros: hummus, outdoor seating, featured wine list more

Extensive collection of unique wines and food make this place truly great experience. Pros: Food more

My boyfriend and I ate at Zaya in September and the food was great! They have a very nice selection of wine by the glass. We had soujouk as an appetizer and it was wonderful. The portion was huge and it tasted fantastic. For an entree, we split the lamb chops with baba ganouj and yogurt salad. The lamb chops were a bit on the small side, but they were nicely seasoned and cooked exactly as requested. The baba ganouj had a nice smokey flavor and the yogurt salad was a cool compliment to the heartiness of the lamb chops. We ordered their specialty dessert, ashta. Wow! I was dreaming about it for the rest of the night. A delicate phyllo dough pocket filled with a delicious custard and a slight hint of rose. Amazing!\r \r The decor is modern and chic, although the lighting was a bit bright. The service was prompt and courteous. The complimentary valet is a nice touch. We'll be back! Pros: dessert was awesome!!, good service, good food, nice decor more

Several years ago I had a chance to go to Egypt. I fell in love with the food, especially the Baba Ghannouge. Ever since then, I have tried to find a good place to get it in Atlanta, Zaya has the best I have found in the U.S. Since I was introduced to Zaya, I have gone there with a number of people from my office. They have all loved enough to bring their spouses back. In fact I think the food is every bit as good as Zaytinya in Washington D.C. which has received great reviews, and a heck of a lot less expensive. I love it! Pros: Best Baba Ghannouge since Egypt Cons: None I can think of more

Do you want to go to a place that degrades former employees like this? Thursday nights at Zaya used to feature live belly dancers. Since the restaurant no longer offers belly dancing nights, the dancers now entertain patrons at other Atlanta establishments including: * Banks * Hospital emergency rooms * Dojos * Laboratory clean rooms * Inside old caves more

THEY HAVE SPECIAL PRICING ON WINE BOTTLES, MARTINIS AND APPETIZERS. YOU HAVE TO ASK THEM FOR THE SPECIAL MENU PRICING. EVEN THE BARTENDER SAID WE DON'T LIKE TO GIVE THESE OUT BECAUSE WE ARE USUALLY OUT OF THE SPECIALLY PRICED WINE BOTTLES. THEIR WEBSITE STATES ALL OF THE SPECIALS BUT THE OWNER MUST TELL HIS EMPLOYEES TO KEEP IT A SECRET UNLESS THEY ASK. FOOD WAS EXTREMELY SALTY AND YES IT SEEMED NOT FRESH BUT FROM FREEZER LIKE OTHERS SAID. IF YOU MUST GO TO THIS PLACE, CHECK YOUR BILL. EVERYTHING IS WRONG. THE SEATING IS OLD SO YOU SINK IN YOUR CHAIR, EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE. BARTENDER WAS SLAMMING DRAFT BEER AT THE BAR FOR HIMSELF. THE CHEF WAS STARING DOWN GIRLS AS THEY WALKED BY LIKE A PERVERT, NO WONDER OUR FOOD TOOK FOREVER. MY LAMB WAS EXTREMELY TOUGH. I HAD A BITE AND TOOK HOME THE REST FOR MY DOG WHO DIDN'T LIKE IT EITHER. KIND OF SCARY AS HE LOVES MEAT. I SURE HOPE IT WAS REALLY LAMB. I WON'T GO INTO ANY MORE DETAIL, TRUST ME THEIR WAS A LOT MORE BUT I'LL STOP AT THAT. Pros: CHEAP DRINKS BUT YOU HAVE TO ASK Cons: FRAUDULENT BILLING - CHECK YOUR BILL!!! more

We walked into the restaurant to the hostess talking with the manager. We received no greeting from either of them. The manager walked away quickly and the hostess chimed, ""I guess I'll seat you,"" as if we were imposing on her time at work. Then was not happy that we didn't want to sit next to the kitchen door and requested we move to the window or wall. \r \r We ordered 4 dishes to share. 1 was bland and had too much lemon juice. The falafel was burnt and looked as if it came from the freezer. The spinach appetizer was also burnt and reminded me of the frozen flaky spinach pocket appetizers you find in the grocery store. The lamb pizza had over reduced pomegranite sauce with way too much vinegar. The wine was old and had a film to it. \r \r Overall a terrible experience. If this was my first time trying mediterranean food, I would never try it again. Pros: In a great neighborhood Cons: Service, Food [possibly frozen, not fresh], Decor more

It's hard to believe that this place isn't hopping every night on a consistent basis! Now, I don't want to shoot myself in the foot here, because I enjoy being able to walk in and get a seat almost anytime I want, BUT in my mind, this place has the perfect formula. The atmosphere is great... good lighting, nice finishes, patio, friendly bar area, etc. You can eat really healthy, delicious food if you want to (or not if you don't want to...) My favorite are the lamb kabobs with the yogurt ""salad"" on the side for dipping (it's not really a salad, it's a cucumber sauce), and the rotisserie chicken is really good too. PLUS, the best part is they have a nightly wine list where you can choose from several $3-6 glasses of wine AND sit on the patio to sip away. It's a great date place, and it's in lovely Inman Park. Pros: great food & atmosphere, easy on the middle & the wallet Cons: sometimes inconsistent on how much the chicken is cooked more

I really don't know why this place was ""knocked"" by the denizens of Atlanta. Who cares that the room looks fresh from Ikea? It's clean and nice looking, so what more do you want? You should instead focus on the food. The Drunken Halloumi smacks you over the head with it's flavorful sexiness. The baba ghanuj and hummus are stellar sides. The shwarma is quite acceptable as is the kafta. The true winner of the evening though turned out to be the Ashta. The gooey goodness, slight crunch and rose water blended perfectly together. The waitstaff were effecient too. Shoot, all you obsessed Ikea hating snobs stay away from this place. It'll leave more room for me. Pros: Appetizers and Dessert more

My girlfriends & I went to Zaya recently, despite the mixed reviews - we had to check this place out because we're locals. We started out at the bar, which has the cutest bartender around - Lou. He's fantastic! Kept the drinks, apps & laughs coming until we got a table. I was wondering how such a cool, hip place could have any bad reviews, and then we got to our table...\r \r For a slow weekend night, the service was a little too slow for us - we had to wait for a table (although it was fun at the bar!), and wait a LONG time for food. The apps are the best to order at Zaya, but entrees - just so-so. We found scallops to be a little tough. Most of our dinners were just so-so.\r \r We went back up to the bar after dinner and enjoyed the rest of the evening with Cute Lou the Bartender. If we decide to go back, we'll definitely order from the bar - and stick to the grapeleaves and drunken halloumi.\r \r Overall - service at tables ok, food mixed - bar the most fun! Definitely a place to have a few drinks with your friends and a few apps, flirt with the bartender - but not sure about eating an entire meal here.. Pros: Cool bar, fun bartender Cons: Service slow, food just ok more

To cut to the chase - Food: If I'd never been to Mediterranean Grill in Midtown, I might have thought it was pretty great. (Go to Med Grill for better, much cheaper fare). Service: All four of us ordered salads before our main courses...only two appeared. Hmmm. When our entrees arrived, the other two mysteriously showed up. The server didn't even acknowledge it (and we couldn't get anyone to pay attention to us in the meantime). She seemed a bit asleep on the job the whole meal, actually. Decor: Had I only ordered drinks, I could have pretended I was at the Globe. Or Halo. Or Taurus. Or Tap. Or any of the other restaurants that look and feel exactly like this one. When will decorators get as bored with this medium-tech, IKEAish restaurant design as most of the rest of us are? Also...why in the world does a restaurant this large only have ONE, one-seater woman's restroom? Come on. Pros: Pretty decent food Cons: Strange, sleepy-eyed service more

I work in the neighborhood and I have to say that either lunch for pick up or dinner-and even brunch have always been really super! I always get great sevice and I really love the big brunch menu for a Sunday afternoon for sure-really great-extensive menu. And they always seem to be having a really fantastic coctail special! Great patio also-very welcome addition to Inman Park! Thanks! Pros: Great coctail specials! more

The warm and welcoming atmosphere greets you at the door; however, the Ikea decor and disingenuous hospitality is more representative of the Zaya experience. We were entirely underwhelmed. We were told to wait at the ""side bar"" and that the bar tender would serve us drinks and appetizers while we waited for our table. No bar tender ever approached us. Just when we were about to walk out, the hostess told us our table was ready. We ordered many appetizers and salads, and not one person enjoyed what they ordered. The tabbouleh was more of a parsley puree with non-existent ""cracked wheat""; the 'spicy' cabbage rolls had absolutely no flavor OR spice, and were an embarrassing mixture of plain rice and a small amount of bland beef. The lackluster spanakopita 'tasted like seaweed', was oddly flat, and was therefore inedible. The stuffed grape leaves tasted exactly the same as the stuffed cabbage leaves, and were completely uninspired. Overall, Zaya was overpriced, under-spiced, and just plain boring. Pros: Atmosphere Cons: Food more

Worst dining experience in memory. The bar is out of control and has no systems inplace to handle the volume of people dinning at the establishement. Waited in line over 30 minutes to get our first drink then once we were seated we were NEVER able to get an additional coctail with our dinner. Left the table after waiting for more than an hour for our drink order and went to Parish(highly recommended) down the street. Pros: If you like slow service and non-existant bar service this place is for you. Cons: The entire experience. more

Drinks are the best of what there is to offer. Fancy, trendy decor, but food, so, so, so, and not...\r \r Off key food, fish is so off and it just seems trying to be fancy is so not right for this area. Maybe for Buckhead\r or tourists, but locals smell what is wrong.\r \r Way too expensive. Parking, a nightmare. cannot go for lunch, too hard to park Pros: drinks Cons: food, parking more

I didn't have particularly high hopes for Zaya, it was simply a new place I wanted to check out. I was blown away from the moment I walked through the door. The decor is fresh, colorful and upscale. The service was impeccable. Sherry, our server, went above and beyond the entire time. The wine list is literally one of the best in the city. It is diverse, and very elevated. Although I'm not a huge fan of Mediterranean food, the menu was superb. Delightful, perky flavors expertly combined. Great addition to Inman Park dining!! more