Carnival Restaurant

Delicious Lebanese food (humos/shawarma/kababs) and generous portions means this Valley restaurant is busy most nights (expect a wait on weekends). Drawing fans is the food--certainly not the too bright lights or basic decor. Start with a combo appetizer plate ($10.95) of creamy humos and baba ghanoug and mint/parsley tabbouli salad. There's plenty to share. Kabobs are juicy; stick with the french fries as your side--hand cut and perfect. Choose between meat (lamb and beef) or chicken shawarma plates--about as good as it gets. The lentil soup bursts with cumin and other flavors. Service is brisk and efficient--and there's even a kids' menu. If only the beer and wine lists (boring production brews and wines) matched the quality of the food! Pros: Great food and generous portions at a fair price Cons: Boring wine and beer lists; should match food quality more

The babaganoosh(sp?) my favorite, and Kafta kabob, mmm, grape leaves, perfection and lemony!!! Pros: everything is great!! Cons: Dont worry about Service, Americans are always in a hurry. more

""Bruchim Haba'im"" welcomes you into this valley gem and no other words are more appropriate. It's located in a small strip-mall off of Woodman and Moorpark (with a terrible parking lot - more luck on the streets during peak times). The food is beyond description. Smooth hummus, beef and lamb shawarma full of flavor, arabic salad with crisp cucumbers, warm out of the oven pita bread, and pickles that add jut enough ""oomf"" to a pita sandwich. Make the trek from wherever you are in the city. I guarantee it's worth it. Pros: Portions, Price, and Pickles! Cons: Limited Parking more

I have not dined at Carnival in a long time, not because I don't like the food, I just haven't had time to... more

I have not dined at Carnival in a long time, not because I don't like the food, I just haven't had time to return, sigh, if only we have an extra h... more

Okay, if you want great mediteranean food, this is the place to go. If you are in a rush, avoid this place like the plague. If you would like to cozy up to your server, head for the hills because it won't happen here! Pros: Food quality and quantity Cons: Waitstaff more

Great food; especially the foul, lebneh, and babagonush (the lamb was quite tasty as well) but the service was terrible! Having to track down waiters to get water at the table...and as the frizzy haired blond Lebanese waitress was bringing the food to our over crowded table, she yelled, ""come on people--help me out here!"" as our guests scrambled to make room in an impossibly small eating area. There was live entertainment of a transsexual belly dancer and woman whose stomach was quite large and folded several times as she danced. The entire staff stopped attending to the guests in the restaurant to watch. The show was more comical than cultural. Next time I'd get take out. Pros: the food taste, parking Cons: slow service, rude service, and FILTHY bathrooms more

Most of the other reviewers of Carnival have been spot on. The place is always crowded, (even midweek), but the food is so good, and the portions are so gigantic that its worth the wait. The beef and chicken shiskabab are incredible - perfectly grilled, moist and flavorful, and more than enough for dinner and the next days lunch. The Kefta kabobs and falaffal are also very good, and as for appetizers, they make a killer Babaganoush and Hummus with mushroom. The owners are very warm and friendly, but the wait staff can be a bit surly. The last time we ate there, we were seated relatively quickly (after a 20 minute wait), our waitress took our order, but when delivering our orders, kind of put the plates on the table without asking who had ordered what and walked away. She didn't come back to ask how the food was, if we needed refills on drinks, etc. In fact, we ended up tipping the busboy because he was much more helpful than our waitress was. However, at other times that were just as busy, the service has been great and very friendly - so your dining experience can definitely be somewhat erratic at Carnival. We have been eating at Carnival once every few months for the last 10 years or so, so they must be doing something right!! Pros: Food, portions, value, parking Cons: Long wait, service may be bad, (or may be good), depending on mood of waitress more

Carnival is so wildly good I eat there almost every week; the chicken kabob, rice, green salad, yogurt salad, hummus, falafel.. It is all so good. The real draw for me, though, is the unbelievable tabouleh. It's the best I have ever had. Lemony, lots of parsley, so goooood. It can get super crowded but it's worth the wait. The waitstaff treat me like family (maybe because I go so much) and it's always kind of like going to a party at some distant relative's house. They also have diet peach iced tea from Snapple, which I appreciate a lot. more

People come from far away to have this outstanding Lebanese fare. Everything on the menu is fantastic! Huge portions make for great leftovers the next day. Usually crowded and busy, yet the service remains friendly and gracious. Highly recommended! Pros: great food more

This place is just what it is. A neighborhood restaurant that offers the best Middle Eastern food around. You can't go wrong, if you want a casual lunch/dinner. The Chicken Kabob is the best. The hummus and falafel is great as well. Be patient, service can be slow! Pros: Food, Prices Cons: Service, Parking more

nice little neighborhood restaurant if you're in the mood for some hummus, tabouleh or babaganoush. the kebobs are really good, but the quails are even better. the arabic salad is really fresh and delicious. the arabic coffee and baklava can't be beat! the only downside to this place is the service, ALWAYS slow. Pros: fresh food, reasonable prices, great baklava Cons: slow service, crowded more

We ate here for the first time last night, and we literally had to wait 20 minutes for our check after asking for it! The food was pretty good, nothing amazing but good. The french fries were great, and my falafel sandwich was good too, although falafel's a little hard to screw up! However, we had to ask about 5 times to get anything we wanted, from water, to ordering, to our check! I think they maybe only had 2 waitresses working the whole place, but it wasn't even THAT busy, and we saw our waitress standing around chatting with the other waitress while we were waiting for things. And once they finally would bring the food, there were no smiles, no asking if we wanted anything else, they'd just drop it there and walk off. We definitely won't go back. Pros: Good fries, Easy parking Cons: Horrible service! more

I've been here several times now, and everything I've tried has been very tasty. The hummus is a must, the lentil soup is excellent, and the kabobs have been moist and flavorful. Even the salad is something special. And then wait, there's no room for their amazing baklava (if they're not already sold out for the day)! The problem is getting too full, but then you have leftovers to enjoy for another couple of meals! The service is hit or miss, depending on the crowd, and the ambience... well, it looks like a place you'd find in a strip mall, which this is. It doesn't matter, though. Lots of excellent food for quite reasonable prices. Pros: Portions, Delicious food more

I have eaten in and taken out and both are terrific. I ordered food from here when I was having a dinner party recently, and the very friendly and helpful staff did a great job making sure I had everything I needed, from enough pita to suggesting I get dessert (delicious baklava!), etc. They even helped me get the food into my car! The hummus is amazing, the chicken kebabs are juicy and tasty and the grape leaves are heavenly. If you like Middle Eastern food, or you're hankering for something that tastes like your Lebanese mom cooked it, go to Carnival. more