La Shish-Greek & Lebanese Cafe

***edit: just got our credit card statement: they added an additional $9 to the tip!!!! BEWARE... I never give a bad review unless it's deserved. The one star is for great food, the minus 4 stars is for HORRIBLE service by the owner. I let the first couple RUDE things go, but once she got the people in an uproar next to us it was hard to enjoy myself. Then as we were signing the bill she asked if he had a reservation. When I said confused: ""no"" she responded sternly: ""Well you *should* have!"". Uh ok, freak! I couldn't believe it. She seemed so frazzled all night. Hire a REAL waitress because you are driving the customers away. WORST experience I've ever had dining out. Will NEVER return. more

I ate at La Shish with friends and was treated very rudely. We only had a few pieces of bread for our hummus, and when we asked for more, we were given only a few dried up pieces, and they charged us for them!!! I will never go back. more

My son and I ate lunch at La Shish today. Our hummus tasted really strange (didn more

I went to this place a few times last year and it was awesome! The owner was delightful and the food was wonderful. My only complaint then was that it was a little expensive for the amount of food that you get. It was worth it though because of the service and atmosphere. Sadly, the last three times I have been there this year the owner was rude. She was telling someone at a table near me that her husband left her so that might be why but she is allowing her personal life to interfere with her business. What was once a great restaurant with great food and atmosphere, is now a place to go if you want to get snapped at. The food is great so I would recommend take out. more

Great atmosphere, food and service. A great place for friends or a working lunch meeting. more

Food is ok but the service was terrible. The server was very rude and was kind of yelling at us. The Greeting was terrible. Even if they had the best food there, I would never ever go there again because of the woman behavior and rudeness. more

We go to La Shish whenever we get a opportunity! I always get the Lentil Soup w/ Spinach as my App. and follow it up with the fruit salad that is so sweet and refreshing. The soup is light w/ lemon and not heavy which is wonderful on the waist as I do not feel bloated as most lentil soups. The fruit salad (make sure you get the small...because they give you A LOT!) There is pineapple, kiwi, strawberries, melon,grapes with a homeade greek yogurt, walnuts and drizzled with honey. It makes a wonderful ending to the meal as it is sweet and refreshing! I would recommend this cafe to everyone. Also, the prices are very reasonable. You cannot miss on anything you order at this wonderful place. Pros: Wonderful Food Cons: What draw backs? more

La Shish has been my favorite restaurant in Cary for about three years. It is run by a very vivacious couple, whom I have enjoyed getting to know, and sometimes I go there for conversation as much as for food. Negative remarks about service in some of the reviews probably relate to the owner's getting involved in conversations with other customers, or, more rarely, just getting distracted, but she nevertheless manages to serve all meals, when I am there, within five to ten minutes. I am amazed at her efficiency, and, if you do feel neglected, it is all right to interrupt her. It is a small restaurant and one may feel almost as though eating in a home. Sometimes the owner is not there and others may be serving, in which case service is good, just not as exciting. Then there is the food. There are a number of original salads that are freshly prepared and delicious. The usual Mediterranean food is excellent - my favorites are shawarma lavash and spanakopita. But there are also original creations that I highly recommend - the linguini from fresh extrusions, spinach, garlic, basil, or black pepper flavored. The pasta is served with Lebanese, not Italian, toppings, and is a unique experience. My favorite is Mediterranean chicken with black pepper pasta, but the pasta also can be served with steak kabob, or vegetarian with basil and pine nuts. I do not care a lot for sweets and usually do not eat dessert. But once I tried the home-made tiramisu, which I like with the excellent Turkish coffee, I became a fan. Sometimes I go just for tiramisu and coffee. A couple times when there was no tiramisu - it has to be made fresh every day, and some days there is not time - I have been so frustrated that I have gone to other high class restaurants to get some tiramisu. But it has not been the same. I do not know whether I can ever leave Cary, and not be able to have tiramisu at La Shish. Pros: freshly prepared, flavorful food, best Tiramisu ever Cons: Tiramisu not always available more

I can't say enough good things about La Shish, the food is amazing. The owner is friendly and inviting, you will feel right at home in this cozy little restaurant. Pros: Great Menu, Friendly Staff more

I have eaten at this restaurant on many occasions. I have never received bad food nor bad service and usually get a pretty good conversation and a good glass of wine. I have always enjoyed myself and truly to believe it to be the best Mediterranean in the Triangle. Pros: Excellent Food, Special Orders, Amazing Staff Cons: Some would say Price (you get what you pay for in this case) more

On the great reviews written here I decided to try La Shish for lunch. I had a small bowl of lentil soup, tiny spinach salad and average sized Gyro. The Soup was just lentals, water and curry powder, the spinch salad did not have bacon in, instead sort of over-ripe avacados and a f ew mushrooms and a dressing that didn't seem to fit the salad. then the gyro has about 2 OZ of meat in it, it tasted fresh but the pita was simple a store bought wheat pita. this meal would have been worth $7 many $8, instead it cost $15! I left hungry and will not return. the owner is quite pleasant but she didn't even offer me a little humus and some pita. prior to the dinner. Save your money and go to Bab ghanoui in Durham corner of 55 and 54. Their buffet only cost $9 and has 10 times the authentic flavor. Pros: fresh, hand made enviornmentaly contentious Cons: Price more

The gyros meat had very little flavor, very small order of french fries, the only waitress carried on a long conversation on the phone, they charge $1.75 for each small glass of coke Cons: very average food, below average service, more

I've been making and eating med food for 20 years. The food quality and prepartion at La Shish is great. I ate there with my eight year old and my girlfriend, we go the spanikopita, gyro, shwarma, an appetizer sampler and baklava for dessert. I'm typically able to pick something out that was sub-par or inauthentic but I am not able to do that for LaShish. The only thing that I would say, and I discussed this with the staff there, is that the kids menu is chicken nuggets and french fries or a grill cheese pita. While I understand this approach, I wish there were better selections (authentic) for kids to provide a better introduction to med food. My eight year old ordered the nuggets, of course, fearing the med selections, but ended up eating my schwarma and gryo meat. All in all its a great place, and when I want med, its where I want to go, even though I live in north Raleigh, at least a good 30 minutes away. Pros: excellent service Cons: i wish it wasn't in Cary more

I visited La Shish with a friend of mine after I met the owners of La Shish. I loved the humus and my friend, who is a vegetarian, loved La Shish also. It is a great place to celebrate or to just get together with old friends. By the way, the owners care about their customers and love people. Pros: Great food, great service, great owners more

I've been to this restaurant several times because it's close to my office and I truly enjoy the food (though you don't receive very much of it for the prices you pay), however I'm not sure if I plan on going back. I'm not sure if the owner (I think she's the owner) was in a bad mood during my last visit, however she provided extremely substandard service to my party. We were very nice and kind, yet she never came to check on us, when we went up to the counter (after being left alone for thirty plus minutes), she seemed annoyed (even though I was nice) and when I ordered tiramisu she looked put out and came back saying ""sorry, it's not thawed yet."" We were nice about it, but she acted as though we did something to offend her. Perhaps she was having an off day (because she was nicer the time before), but I wasn't pleased with her level of service at all. And, the prices are too high for what you receive in return. Pros: great Tiramisu and hummus Cons: not very good service and too pricey for amount of food more

The new menu at LaShiSh tops the old one, and I didn't think that was possible! The owner is putting her personal flair and knowledge of fine Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine into all her dishes. Often she personally serves you. Savor the delicious kofta kebabs -- they have just the right amount of fresh parsley. Tzaziki makes an excellent side. \r Everything is fresh. Try the freshly-squeezed, iced orange juice. The salads are perfect. You can order anything and be delighted. The prices are reasonable, and the decor is tasteful and artistic. Enjoy! Pros: Authentic menu, exquisitely prepared more

Oustanding. Certainly you could spend more. But no matter how much you pay, you cannot take the decor home with you. Everything at Lashish is nicely prepared. The offerings always have appealing flavor with an attractive presentation. The hummus is the best I've ever had. Ditto for the spanakopita?and the soups are excellent.\r \r The cook has great skill: she's rather an artist. Lashish's owner is usually there, a very good thing in this age of remote, unconcerned management. There's good variety on the menu, so almost everyone can leave happy and fulfilled. The place is small, but I've never had a long wait for seating or service.\r \r If all the corporate-controlled food warehouse restaurants were replaced with small, locally-owned, conscientiously operated places like Lashish, we'd enjoy a much higher standard eating out as well as a more sound economy with more fulfilling opportunities for employment. Pros: location, excellent food & service, easy parking, wonderful staff Cons: I can't walk to it. more

My husband and I have become regulars in the year since we first discovered this small, casual, cozy restaurant that is hidden away in the Reedy Creek shopping center in Cary. We tend to go on weeknights or Saturdays for lunch when it is not quite so busy, which gives us the opportunity to visit with the lovely owner who is generally the waitress - this is the type of place where it is like a visit with friends.\r \r We have enjoyed everything we have tried on the menu. Favorite lunch is a Chicken Pesto Wrap combo with hummus. The hummus is the creamiest and the bright, fresh taste of the basil comes through in the wrap. Favorite dinner is the Spanikopita which perfectly balances the cheese and spinach. Portion sizes are filling but might leave you room for dessert ? which given the Tiramisu is a very good thing. The rice pudding and baklava are tasty too.\r \r All in all, La Shish is a friendly restaurant, with fresh, well prepared food.\r Pros: friendly service and good food Cons: busy on weekend nights more

This is one of our absolute favorite places. We've only been for supper, but I think I've tried everything on the menu at least once. The owner has always served as our waitress as well, and she is incredibly sweet and helpful. They don't advertise it anywhere, but once when we were talking with her she mentioned that a lot of their groceries are organic. It's a nice little independently-run place and the food is prepared fresh in the store by their chef.\r The menu has a good variety and offers some great combination platters. You'll get a full meal no matter what you order.\r It's funny because even though the entire rest of the menu is Greek/Lebanese, the tiramisu is absolutely amazing. It seems so random and out of place on the menu but it's better than any Italian-restaurant/bakery tiramisu I've ever had. Pros: Fresh and authentic, good variety of food, personal service, gorgeous decor Cons: Should definitely expand to a larger location outside of a strip mall more

I've had a hankerin' for a good gyro lately. I had one last week that was merely OK, so I was hoping this would be better - and it was. A little pricey, but worth it. We got a 2 person sampler and I got the gyro added on . We liked everything on the sampler, especially the beef and chicken shawarma. Neither my wife nor I were particularly thrilled with the orange blossom flavor in the iced tea and lemonade. It's different, I'll give it that, but we found it distracting and slightly off-putting. My gyro was big and loaded with moist lamb, had nice red onion and a good tzatziki sauce. We split a piece of baklava for dessert after reading good reviews, but I found it way too dry. Service was pleasant. Total came to about $45 pre-tip, which isn't too bad given the amount of food. more