Sindibad Restaurant

Where do I begin, first it’s so sketchy. It’s all an act. All weird. I went with a friend and we ordered a chicken lemon rice and we got tuna lemon rice. And we told them and they said no we have no tuna here. We changed the order and we got lintel soup and that was really good. Then we got our main meal and it was super bad. I ordered their special and it was so dry. My friend ordered liver and it looked really nice but once he cut it, it was raw, uncooked and disgusting.

After reading some reviews about this restaurant I decided to try their food. I ordered a plate for three people to go. They said it will take 15 to 20 minutes to prepare the food, but it actually took them around 35 minutes. I am not complaining about that though just letting you know if you are in a hurry. My friend pick up the order and she told me that she had a conversation with the owner and he was a very nice guy.
The food that we got cost around 20 dollars, but it probably can feed five to six people instead of three. The plate had 2 shish kafta (chicken and beef), chicken cream chop, beef and chicken shawarma, and rice. They also gave us curry and white bean stew, and a box of pickles, onions and tomatoes. So like I said a lot of food. And 3 or 4 pita breads. The chicken cream chop, shawarma, rice, and curry were great. The other things were not acceptable in my standards since I know what good kafta and shawarma taste like. I would probably just go back to this place for the chicken cream chop and the rice.

Just tried this for the first time. The atmosphere is mix of old and new, but awesomely upbeat. The food is to die for! Highly recommend everything they offer!

First, a few disclosures:
I do not believe I have tried the schwarma here, I’ve been here a fair amount and found some things I like much better… if I did have it at any point, it was probably just OK like most of the ones I’ve had. Schwarma’s are generally boring 99 percent of the places I have had them (more on that later).
I have not dined in. I can’t really speak to the service, it’s all been carry out and everyone has been friendly. I have almost always called ahead, so I also can’t speak to the long wait times for carryout that other people have claimed here. But it’s ready when I arrive.
I do agree the interior is a bit. well, odd. The sofas remind me of lounge, the fish tank reminds me of a Chinese restaurant, and there is part of it the feels like a slightly dated neighborhood bar. I am not sure what to make of it either, and it wouldn’t stop me from dining in there… but this has just been a place for me to get carry out.
What I have gotten here fairly regularly here is the combo platters they serve. A platter for 3 here is 15.99 and could easily feed 4 – 5 people. In fact, I try to limit my visits here because I end up with left overs here that I can eat for several days (it reheats very well) and probably end up eating way more of it than I should. It comes with several meats, a ton of rice, and soup. And I am not just raving about the portion size, the food on this platter is actually really good. I have ordered it several times when I have had guests, and everyone has liked it. Easily on par or better than Bucharest Grill.
I have not really been impressed with the soups, but I think the only I ever get is the option that comes with it the platter. I have found that confusing, because they have said a couple times they have either a lemon rice or bean on the phone and I’ve asked for those, and I always end up getting the same red tomato based soup when I get home, which isn’t bad, but it’s nothing special. I never considered it a big deal since soup isn’t really why I come here, I almost just consider it a freebie.
The hummus salad (confusing name, it’s just hummus) is also above average if not good, and you literally get like a pound of it for 5 bucks. The fattoush salad was decent here as well, although I will say I generally don’t find anything to get all that excited about with those.
My only somewhat negative experience here was supposedly they deliver for free? Not 100% sure on that, I have only seen posted in reviews. But I live about 4 miles away, it was the day before Thanksgiving, and I was not in the mood to deal with traffic in that area. I ordered close to 30 dollars in food (not like I was asking them to deliver a $ 5 item that far) and told them I would take care of the driver, and if they had to charge me a little (with my assumption being is was usually free), I was OK with that. I did not get a receipt, but from what I could tell, they charged me $ 7 bucks, which I thought was a bit steep to take the food 10 minutes down the road. Plus I was already planning on giving the driver 5 bucks (my choice) because I am sure it was a bit out of the range they were comfortable with. But that was partially my fault for not asking questions and the truth is, at that point I would not have worried about a few extra bucks and probably would have still paid it anyway even if I did know it cost me that much in advance. So I am not going to hold that one against them too much and I was grateful they were attempting to accommodate me.
Lastly, here’s a tip for all you Middle Eastern food «experts» out there. For the love of god, try something other than a schwarma. I’m not saying they aren’t decent at some places, but what do you really expect for the middle eastern version of a taco? If you went were in another country where they had places that specialized in American fare, would always get a hamburger and expect to be blown away? I find it a bit silly that people are so concerned with schwarma at these places… do yourself a favor and try some of the other options here.

We went in during lunch time and was surprisingly empty. I liked the ambience. It was neat and clean if not a bit too overly done interiors for an average priced restaurant. Seating was open and we sat at a booth. I forgot to mention we were a group of three. We were attended to immediately and was quite surprised by the smiling face of the wait staff. Not being stereotypical, its very difficult to get a smile from a wait staff specially during lunch hours.
Now the food part. We ordered a platter for two and that was sufficient for three people. Food had good flavour and quality was really good. Since it was the platter we got to try lot of variety and they were all good. I really recommend this place for lunch and for those who are craving for a Mediterranean feast during lunch time.
Reason for 4 stars and not 5: Me and my wife are big fans of middle eastern cuisine. We drive from Troy to Dearborn for good middle eastern food. I think this place still needs to catch up to the authenticity of the Dearborn restaurants.
But still I would go there again for lunch. And highly recommended!

Lots of options and huge portions. Very clean, and friendly staff :) I love the lentil soup, but the chicken shawarma salad is definitely my favourite. Lots of vegetarian options, too!

This is my first review ever, and this restaurant has made me do it. Personal prompt service. Hot and moist food. I’m a former d 1 athlete and really can eat. I shy away from places that don’t feed you thoroughly. This place didn’t have that problem lol. One of the owners named Dave personally took my order and shared great conversation with me. I ordered the chicken shawarma and boy was I blown away. In metro detroit it’s tough finding middle eastern spots who slow cook the shawarma on the rotating tower. They do!!! Give it a shot and I bet you ll be returning. O yea… Their garlic sauce is on point.

This could quite possibly be the best Mediterranean restaurant in Detroit. The service was great, the staff is responsive but not overbearing. The food is absolutely amazing and very inexpensive for the quality. I tried it for my first time one month ago and just completed my 5^th visit, each time as impressive as the last.

If not for the food, come for the service alone. I’ve never had a better experience with a wait staff. Albeit we were almost the only ones there, they were very attentive. The amount of food you got was MASSIVE. I mean we filled up and our carry out bag with leftovers weighed a couple pounds. All with a top of free tea after your meal.

This place is great! Girlfriend and I always drove past, so we decided to try them out last Friday night. Everything was cooked and spiced perfectly. They give you soo much food! Nice décor and friendly staff, def will be back.

OH MY!!! This place has the best Chicken Tikka. Homemade bread and lentil soup EVER!!! Service was awesome and attentive, very clean inside and incredible food. I came here for lunch and service was prompt. I have never had chicken so moist before. Simply AMAZING. Great music and ambience. Next time ombré going my hubby and some friends. Better than 5 stars!!! This place is a new favorite for sure.

Where to start. Get the guy holding the sign on the corner back in the kitchen. The service time is ridiculous. I work down the street decided to try this place. Went in for a carryout, it took 30 minutes for one chicken shawarma.
Got it back to my desk and it was leaking everywhere. I had ordered a side fatoosh salad. How can people screw this up? Thats what was leaking. Dressing was just weird, watery mess.
The chicken shawarma was just a side with a chicken kibbie and side of hummus. I couldn’t even eat the hummus or kibbie both were just nasty. Pita was old. And the bill was around $ 14. Trust me go elsewhere. I haven’t even mentioned the weird décor.

I try not to let things like guys waving big old «$ 6.99 LUNCH SPECIAL!!!» signs keep me from trying places, but in this case, I really should have listened to that particular instinct of mine.
Truly: the best part of my lunch was the Coke. The Coke was fine. All food items were lackluster at best, and crappy at worst. *Nothing* got me sick. It wasn’t rotten/​spoiled food, it was just lousy and unsatisfying. I had the staple of chicken shawarma, and it was dried out and tasteless, with the addition of the semi-​weird garlic sauce adding nothing. The rice that came with it was also nothing special, and very dry as well. In fact, the whole thing was very dry, and I ended up getting several refills of Coke just for that reason.
They also served me a white bean stew with it that was, I kid you not, at *room temperature*. It was pretty stinking gross. Full disclosure: I’m not much of a bean guy. Even so: this was really not good, at all.
It was the kind of very rare food that warranted a «No.» answer from me when asked if I wanted a to-​go box. I’m a single guy, and if I’m turning down food to go, it’s pretty much a loss. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The room itself is pretty poor, too. It used to be 14^th Street Saloon, and it shows in many different, poorly-​tended-​to ways. It’s not that I care that much about such things, but I fully acquiesce to the idea that such things are magnified when the food is as bad as it is. Which it is.
And no, I didn’t spell their name incorrectly. At least they got the «bad» part of it correct. What I truly don’t get is why they’d give it a go at all in such a poor, lackluster fashion when this is an area *teeming* with respectable, if not terrific, Middle Eastern fare, all over the place, in most every community. This may be the worst I’ve had. That’s saying something.
Save your money, kids. This place isn’t worth a penny of it, and I honestly wouldn’t eat there again even if it was on someone else’s dime. That should tell you all you need right there.

I had a great time in this restaurant!!! The food is delicious and the service is very fast, people are kind ;-)

I’ll give this place 3 stars, the service is great the staff is very friendly and nice however the food wasn’t the greatest and this is me being fair, I have eaten in almost every single restaurant within 50 mile radius from this place and take my word their food is NOT the greatest they need to improve their cooking.

I am giving Sindibad 5-​stars. Do you want to know why? The Christians of Iraq are suffering and we must pray for them. This place is at the south end of metro-Detroit’s Baghdad community. Iraqi Catholics, aka Chaldeans! They are the ethnic lifeblood of our community, especially here on the East side.
On to the restaurant. Eat here if you want a lot of good value Chaldean food in a sit down. It is not Lebanese. Tastes more homecooked and low key, a modest place to eat excellent Chaldo-​style food for a low low price. I like this place because their take out platters offer a lot of meat and rice for the price. It does not taste like the typical Middle Eastern place in metro Detroit, because it is true to its Chaldean roots. This spot right here sets itself apart from most MidEast spots in the Detroit area, in the sense that they do it their style for a fair price. I liked it a lot. Hoping to try their fish later. They are located in an area where 20+ other places are competing with them. In my opinion, they deserve a chance.
Two thumbs up!

The best of the best place and food and Service ever I recommend this place for everyone to try it it’s ran healthy and fresh they have the best shawarma in town it’s just great restaurant

We were the only ones in this very strange restaurant. They have tvs, and leatjer sofas and a dance floor.
The soup was very good, but lukewarm. The greek salad wasn’t very good and didn’t come with many toppings. The Shwarma was decent. They didn’t have many vegetarian options.
With so many options in the area, we probably won’t be back.

I ordered a fatoosh salad and a watermelon smoothie to go. it took them 10 – 15 mins just to start making the juice and the girl did it even know how to use the blender. then she made a smoothie and gave me a small glass and had lot of it left over she passed on to other people working there in the restaurant and they started drinking it right in front of me!!! Weird! Then they took another 10 mins to get my salad after I asked about it:/ then after I got home I opened my salad which had big pieces of lettuces (they didn’t even bother to chop them), had no onions, hardly any tomatoes or dressing and they had some gross green pepper in my salad.
I do not recommend this place coz their service is lousy, the food is tasteless and they lack professionalism

This was by far the best middle eastern food I have had — and it is a favorite so we try a lot of middle eastern restaurants. The thing that sets it apart — all of the meats in our combo plater were cooked to perfection! Normally meats at middle eastern restaurants tend to be on the dry side — even when covered with sauce. Not here. Everything was juicy and perfectly seasoned.
Since someone else commented on the building/​atmosphere I will too. It is a building that used to be several different dive bars and the renovations have not changed very much. However it was clean and the food was so good I barely noticed the atmosphere. The infomercials were a little weird– but I wasn’t there to watch tv so I didn’t care. The place is causal. The service was very friendly even though I think not all staff spoke English. The couches are different than you see in other restaurants but I can imaging this would be nice with a group of friends hanging out. They also have normal tables and chairs.
This place is a must try in my book. So much so that I am getting carry out for a family dinner because I can’t wait to share it.