Ali Baba’s Middle Eastern Cuisine

Lovely! they made it easy for me to start eating meat again after 6 years of being vegan! Their food is amazing, not gross bits which make you barf, the meat is soo good and doesn’t taste like blood. Thank you for feeding me! :) Also in Canberra (Dickson Alibaba) once the man making it got oil in his eye, he continued to make it and then ran to wash his eye, I can’t think of another company so dedicated. I felt bad though because he was so strong, took it like such a man and got oil in his eye making my lamb kebab. I hope your feeling better now sweet pea :) xo

The ppl that run this place are pretty efficient and fairly nice. The food is okay but the portions are small… at least the wraps are. I ate in but the place is pretty grimey. Would probably not do so again.

Garbage and the guy behind the counter wasnt friendly

This place seems to have reopened with new management; management which is a lot better than before IMHO. The vegetables now seem fresher, and the guy behind the counter seems keen on offering good customer service.
Right now there is a «happy hour» $ 3 chicken/​falafel wrap special between 3pm-​6pm; super cheap!
I used to avoid this place until recently, particularly when the two older men were running the place (and the lettuce and most veges were old). Much better experience now!

I am eating a wonderful chicken shawarma as we speak at this location. Service was friendly, and my food is amazing!

Do yourself a favor and don’t go there. The food is really bad and nasty. The beef shawarma is thick slices of steak grilled in front of you and wrapped in a pita bread. Falafel was cold and hard and I just couldn’t get to half or he sandwich. It was a terrible experience and I would never go back there again. The place looks dirty and not maintained AT ALL! I would be very concerned about the hygienic status of the restaurant. The food didn’t taste fresh and just had a weird taste.

First of all, the food and the price here is pretty good, especially those daily specials. Tues is $ 5 for 2 falafels! I normally HATE falafels but for some reason, the ones here are really good. They know how to make their food.
Customer service here sucks though. Maybe it’s a language barrier but they’re pretty rude sometimes. Everytime I come, I make my order and he always ends it with «go pay now». Geez, I’m obviously going to pay.
The only reason I come back is because it makes for a cheap and delicious lunch. If they didn’t have that kind of food, I wouldn’t come at all.

OK, I am totally biased here. No lie. The guy behind the counter totally has a crush on me, so I might be getting a premium size when I order. And who doesn’t like a side of compliment with their lunch? Guilty. Horrible guilty.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this place. The food is crazy good. The portions are healthy, as in big guy healthy. And the deals of the day? Tuesday is like 2 falafel wraps for $ 5!!! $ 5!!! That’s like subsidized cafeteria pricing…
The only downside is that I find cleanliness a hit or miss. Their storefront door is open so they occasionally have flies around… That can’t be sanitary but still… Who knows what happens at the back of bigger restaurants?
I’m just going with it!
And totally going tomorrow… It think it’s Chicken shwarma plate — 2 for $ 15… Bazinga.

Since my review a year ago (see below), I have encountered nothing but poor service from this establishment. Firstly, we once waited an hour and a ½ for our delivery, believing we called the Peter St location which is only 3 blocks away from us. Tonight I called the number for Peter St that comes up when you google it and ordered for pick up (I had learned my lesson). I arrived at 6:30pm to find the door locked. Thinking maybe they went to the washroom, I knocked as the lights were still on. A young man in the back came to the door while putting his shirt on! and said he just closed because it was too slow. At 6:30pm? And how gross to be walking thru a resto with your shirt off! The number on the door matched the one I called and turns out its for the Dundas and Church location, clear across town! Never again. Too bad.
Previous review:
I never thought I’d feel compelled to comment on a fast food joint but the sandwich I had was amazing! I have been searching for good Lebanese since Montréal.
I ordered delivery thru Just Eat and was able to select all my toppings, which was so great. Fresh, yummy deliciousness delivered promptly.

Agree with some others RE: the service. It’s spotty.
Sometimes you go in and the guy behind the counter is your best friend, very complimentary (if sometimes a little too friendly with the ladies). Today however I went in for a little snack, the falafel appetizer. It came to $ 1.50 and I realized I had no change, took out my debit card and he says «No way, it’s a $ 5 minimum», «I don’t have any cash» I responded, to which he said «not my problem — get out».
Nice to know he’d smothered them in tahini already for me — good luck reselling that.
The food is decent, there is way better in the city. The falafel especially can be disappointing as they fry a bunch at a time and serve them up cold very often. The sandwiches do get pressed briefly to warm them up but it certainly takes away from the warm/​crisp of a freshly fried falafel ball.
Go elsewhere. Liberty Shawarma (Spadina or in Liberty Village) is the best.

Awesome and cheap! I always order the Falafal pitas.

Went there on thursday at 6pm and the place was closed. Please update the hours. It was quite a walk from my hotel :-(

Been there a couple of times during the lunchtime. Not bad, neither something to dream about. Keeping in mind that Norah Shawarma went quite down lately, Ali Baba was a reasonable replacement.
I don’t really enjoy those loud «AAAHH HOW ARE YOU MY VERY BEST FRIEND!!!» yells at the entrance, but looks like as soon as you softly downplay them once, you get remembered and next time things go smoothly and quiet.
Food is ok. I like the salads, but meat is generally on the over-​fried side. That’s not bad, as it looks and feels like a desired effect — just different from many other places where there’s more meat and less carbon and oil in the shawarma. Again — that’s just my taste, and as a lunchtime meal it was ok!
Price is very cheap for the zone, which makes the place additionally attractive. It doesn’t look big, but there is enough space to seat a couple of friends. It is rather dark and «cozy» inside sort of like a cave, but when in those places one don’t want to pay attention to details anyways…
So honest 3 stars, nothing particularly wrong (or particularly inviting) about Ali Baba as a lunch place. Not recommended for anything beyond that.

Frigging awesome food.
I’ve been eating felafel here every day for the past 2 weeks, and I have no plans on stopping in the near future.
My only complaint is that the hot sauce isn’t that hot.

Cheap, huge portions, but the service is hit or miss.
If you like great middle eastern at a good price, this is the place to go.
The staff is ‘hit or miss’ at this place and can be rude.

Cheap, delicious, healthy, and friendly.
Love the falafel plate, the vegetables are quite fresh, the hummus and hot sauce is just right. For a big lunch under $ 8, you can’t go wrong.

I like ali baba and would like to have given it more stars.
The issue here is the guy who works there most of the time.
the first time I came in, he was on his cell phone and DIDNT GET OFF while i was ordering. He was having a conversation and TRYING to take my order, needless to say he messed up.
every other time I have gone he is hanging out with his friends on on his phone.
He is very unaware of daily specials too.
I hope with time this place gets better