THE AWFUL LIST:
Seems like there's a new trend in LA. Middle eastern joints have hiked their prices to filthy greedy territory. Who would have thought that going to a run down, noisy, dirty and mediocre tasting middle eastern diner could cost as much as going out to an expensive high class steak house in Beverly Hills.
I made the decision to avoid going to these places. I believe that only if people avoid them will they either have to lower their prices or eventually close- making the point that Hummus joints cannot treat their clients like total suckers!
AWFUL Aroma: THE WINNER OF THE DISGUSTING LIST
Aroma cafe,the awful Israeli diner was one of the first to realize they could over charge for Israeli food. They realized some Israeli's are suckers and they'll pay extra to be able to sit among other Israeli's in an Israeli hangout in the Valley.
But now there are a lot of additional places that have replicated this model.
AWFUL NANA: RUNNER UP TO MOST DISGUSTING LIST TOPPER
NANA in the PICO ROBERTSON area, is another one of the places I strongly recommend to avoid. It's simply awful.
I hated the food.
I hated the service.
I hated everything about this place.
and the price ... OUCH.
It's for suckers.
Or as Israeli's call them: FRYARS.
But for some reason, it seems that there are a lot in the Pico Robertson area and it's a shame!
AWFUL ITZIK HAGADOL: ANOTHER WINNER IN THE TOP FIVE DISGUSTING LIST
Then there's Itzik Hagadol.
Gadol means large in Hebrew.
The only thing that's large in this restaurant is the bill you'll get for extremely mediocre food and Hummus that's just as bland.
CAYENNE AND ZAHLE: ET TU BRUTUS?
The sad thing is that our Lebanese friends have learned from Israeli restaurants and immitating them. Take two restaurants I used to love : CAYENNE on Beverly Blvd and Zahle in North Hollywood. Their pricing is disgusting. For now, my recommendation is AVOID!
Perhaps the hardest for me is to write a negative review about Zahle. Even thought they've hiked their prices- their Hummus is still superb.
That said: sadly, I am joining those who won't return there in the near future.
Yesterday I went to Zahle craving a Falafel plate, a small Hummus and a salad.
Very basic plate? Right?
Wrong.
They stopped having these plates and each one must be ordered separately.
They have a new super expensive menu.
A plate with 4 Falafel balls now cost $7.00
I paid for my very basic Falafel meal $25 (Without drinking anything, without desert, cofee, sides, etc...)
For a basic falafel meal with only 4 Falafels.
I left feeling angry, cheated and ripped of.(Not to mention hungry)
So for now my recommendation is avoid even this worthy place. Hopefully their prices will come down .
I looked at the menu and realized that a meat dish and some sides would bring the price of a meal easily to $50 per person.
Why would anyone waste 30 minutes driving to this place that's not in most people's way - just to sit in a cheap restaurant and eat super expensive basic food and pay so much is beyond me.
Sad that the recession has caused both Israeli's and Arabs in Los Angeles to become super greedy.
But as so many restaurants are closing all over the city- I'm sure new ones will soon open and hopefully some of them will be middle eastern with normal pricing.
