First, I can't believe this place only has one review. My best guess is that people are happily eating something from Grape Leaves and cannot be bothered right now. It's this tiny little place, right? And so you walk in, it doesn't look special and they have plastic table covers. Whatev! The salads are so fresh that I would swear someone walked out back and picked the vegetables by hand. The tomatoes have much flavor - they aren't like some kind of nasty laboratory tomatoes. Nothing is drowning in vinaigrette, either. The dressing compliments the dish, instead of bathing it like at other restaurants. The mint was outstanding - not too much, not too little.\r
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I had a vegetarian combo and ordered extra falafels on the side. It came with a salad bigger than my head and what tasted like homemade pita bread. Everything comes out on a bed of picture perfect greenery, sprinkled with slivered almonds. My combo had hummus, tabouleh, grape leaves and babaghannough (that is how they spelled it). I bet I could eat 50 of their warm stuffed grape leaves. Fresh, not over cooked, sweet and salty and perfectly seasoned. The falafels were warm and moist in the middle, crunchy on the outside but not too hard at all. My dining companion had the chicken shawarma, which also came with a ginormus fresh salad. Her dish was juicy and stewed, with plenty of veggies to compliment the meat and rice. We both had mango juice and enough leftovers for lunch the next day (the salads held up, even though they were in the fridge all night). \r
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The waitress was highly professional and efficient, which I wasn't expecting from such a casual place. Our total bill was around $18! Hello! We tipped the waitress 25% or more because she was so good, and because we would have felt like cheapskates otherwise. I'm going back for some Turkish coffee, too. It's far better than anything Starbucks has. Great value, highly unpretentious, amazing flavorful entrees, and perfect service.
Pros: The food that tastes as good as it looks (outstanding), and it's super cheap.
Cons: The tables are kind of so-so.
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