Gabriella’s Place Lebanese Cuisine

Based on the other Unilocal reviews I was eager to try Gabriella’s. I love Lebanese food and shawarma especially. I stopped by for lunch at a little before 1pm only to find the restaurant was completely empty. I initially thought they were closed and turned to leave, but a friendly lady emerged from the back and had such a pleasant demeanor I choose to stay. After all, good shawarma is good shawarma, even in an empty restaurant. Sadly, this wasn’t good shawarma. Good shawarma is sliced hot off the spit a maybe given a final sear on the griddle. I got the feeling that this was cooked earlier and reheated. The impression was reinforced by the fact that it took almost 20 minutes to arrive. If the restaurant was crowded I’d give them a pass, but I was still the sole patron. Also, shawarma is street food. It’s supposed to be quick. The fact that the pita wasn’t the freshest made matters worse. Compounding my disappointment was the fact that they forgot to put both onions and tahini on the sandwich. When I asked the waitress for the missing tahini, she disappeared for what seemed like a very long time. It might have only been five minutes, but when your food is getting cold time slows down. All in all, it was a very disappointing experience.

Just went in for the first time and wish I did it sooner. Everything was good. Split some apps and mains with my parents and got to taste a little bit of everything. Every bite was delicious.

Had my birthday dinner there with some family and friends and had the BEST TIME EVER! The atmosphere was fantastic, music was on point, and the food was AMAZING!!! Spoke to Lee, the manager of the restaurant, a couple of days before the event. She was extremely helpful and even offered her cell phone number to discuss anything else I might need. The spread of food was beyond yum. We weren’t rushed, got to see the belly dance show, and left there so full!!! We will definitely be back.

Just finished another fabulous meal at Gabriella’s Place! We love this place! I got the half marinated chicken with.salad. My wife loved the Kofte with rice. The food is always so fresh and delicious! Definitely recommend for a fantastic dinner you won’t find anywhere else!

Excellent place, friendly environment, clean and wonderful food. Would recommend this restaurant for anyone that enjoys good traditional Lebanese food…

A great find! Came for lunch and had the kefte and beef schwarma platters. The kefte were moist and delicious, and they gave us a sampling of rice even though we chose salad as the side (both were great). My schwarma came with hummus and tahini, and I got the house made chips as a side, which were addictive! Portions were huge, we got tons of meat. Will definitely make it back here for dinner sometime. The place looks small and unassuming, but the food is something special!

Love the picked veggies that come with the chicken shawarma. And it comes with hummus. Delivery and service is cool.

Excellent food! Everything we ordered was delicious from the hummus to the mixed grill (enough to share!). Portions are terrific and its BYOB. Nice space and staff is super chill. Haven’t been there for belly dancing on Saturday nights, but I’m sure its fun.

Very nice people who own it and very authentic gourmet food. Definitely coming back soon.

Went to Gabriella’s tonight with a friend. We are Lebanese food lovers so i have a lot to compare it to. Wonderful owners. And Gabriella herself served us with such warm hospitality.
The table was set with some olives, pickles and herb/​olive oil dip za’atar. Before we were seated. Bc we made a reservation. How nice they were waiting for us.
We had the chicken shawarma sandwiches. Meat was nicely spiced. Also had the Fattoush salad. Nice portion and really good. Not your average salad and really compliments the main courses. Loved it.
We ordered the baba ghanoush and labneh. Both were excellent. Labneh was superior. Baba G was smokey and also very good. the only one that even comes close to that of uncle momos in Montclair– which is hands down the best.
Family atmosphere, clean and good vibe. I loved it and will be telling friends and come back for sure. Good date night spot. Super cozy and intimate with candles and lanterns on tables and hanging above. I hope they stay around for a really long time. this area needs places like this. BYOB. Try them out!

Great food!!! Good service… Reasonably priced… looking forward to going again to try something new. Highly recommended!!!

Food was pretty good, staff was friendly and it all came out in a reasonable time. Nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t great and yet they are very expensive. I’d go back, but it’s too pricey to regularly frequent for what it is.

Service was very friendly and good.
Food was about average. We ordered the salad, chicken shawarma sandwich, chicken kebab sandwich, and their potato chips. The sandwiches were dry and lacked flavor. One of the sandwiches was supposed to have a garlic spread, which did not taste like Lebanese Garlic toum AT ALL. There was such little flavor and the sandwiches for me were a little disappointing. The salad had too much dressing with a strong vinegar taste to the point where we could not eat more than 2 bites of it. The chips were the only delicious item from what we ordered.
I have had better Lebanese food elsewhere, so I will most probably not be back. Maybe their platters are better? I can’t speak for the platters.

Good food. Great service! Everything was tasty but the kofta was the best i’ve had, and i am from the middle east! The kunafeh was delicious and freshly made! You can tell everything is homemade and authentic. One of my favorite things about nutley is the family owned feeling and this place definitely has that. Highly recommend!!!

This is the real deal for Mediterranean food. Everything is super fresh and authentic. A complimentary dish of pickled veggies and olives and a bowl of pita chips with a Thyme and extra virgin olive oil dip. So good and perfect to set the setting for the main coarse. We have gotten the Kibbe as an app which we loved but the portions are so generous it is just too much food for us. I love the Kofta. Ground beef with spices which I get with the most delicious rice pilaf and slivered almonds. Hubby gets the roasted chicken with a side salad and hot peppers. Fot dessert we have also gotten the middle eastern rice pudding as well as the Baklava, outstanding. Saturday night you will be treated to a most talented belly dancer. Lots of fun! Not only is the food fantastic but Gabriella and her mom Lee and her sister Chrissa make you feel like you are in their home. Just so nice and warm and accommodating it makes your meal so special. We highly recommend Gabriella’s Place especially for a nice alternative to Italian and Chinese.

Delicious food! We have eaten a lot of Lebanese food. I thought it was the best I had ever had! Not fancy, but nice inside all the same.
Very kind staff.
Wish I lived in Nutley! We will definitely return, if we are ever in town again!

When we got there we were the only people there. I felt like I was in a home of a european/​Mediterranean family. It was very clean. I thought the chairs were very comfortable. We started with the Lebneh signature and Hummus. It was served freshly made. We enjoyed it with veggies and pita. The pita was served warm. The portions are generous. The food is made to order. For dinner I ordered the chicken kabob and the presentation was very nice. They serve it with a rice pilaf similar to vermicelli. The dip served with this was a plain yogurt dip but I preferred the Lebneh dip. We also had the Gabriella’s salad which also was served fresh. The lettuce was crunchy and the chopped veggies, feta and dressing was tasteful. The service was great. She gave us enough time to enjoy our meal and assisted us in making good choices for dinner. I’ve never eaten Lebanese food so I appreciated her educating us on the menu selections. It cost us about $ 25 pp. and I have leftovers today. I asked her to give me the Lebneh dip and she generously did. She also gave the table tasty baklava. Overall the experience was good. We were the only table there that night so I hope more people give it a try. It’s nice to see these different ethic restaurants open up around Nutley. She said they have belly dancing every other weekend and a male dancer too once a month. Sounds like a fun girls night out. BYOB.

Came here for lunch and the service and food were incredible. The service was warm and welcoming. The server provided hummus and labneh signature on the house. Both were rich and delicious. For lunch I had a chicken shawarma sandwich and my dad had the chicken kebab sandwich which were moist and seasoned well. As a side we shared the homemade chips which were out of this world – crispy, fresh, and warm. I recommend the Lebanese tea with mint which I had with ice – very refreshing!

Had dinner here on a Friday with my troupe sisters to celebrate our dance teacher’s birthday and we had a wonderful time! The restaurant is family-​owned and operated and when you come in here they treat you like family.
The food was fresh and delicious. We had a variety of appetizers; hummus, babaganoush, lebneh, kibbeh, spinach pies, then salad along with mixed platters. I had the chicken kebab and I must say it was some of the best I’ve ever had! It was well seasoned and chargrilled. Delicious! I’m usually not a fan of the rice at these places, but their rice is sooo good. We finished off the evening with some baklava and dancing of course!
What a wonderful little place. This is a gem.
Will return for sure!

We went to Gabriella’s on Saturday night with six friends and were blown away with the food. We ordered almost all of the appetizers and passed them around and everyone ravied about how good the food was. The staff is so friendly and the owners are super nice too. The place got a little loud but I’m afraid that was our fault. We all agreed we’d be back, many times I think.