Black Sea Restaurant

If you blink, you will miss this place. For several years I drove past Black Sea, not realizing that I had this amazing, casual restaurant near me with authentic Med food. The prices are so reasonable and the flavor is amazing. I’m pretty boring and like to just order the kebabs… but they never get old to me. It is easy to see why so many Unilocalers love Black Sea!

I’ve had a gyro craving for about a month and Black Sea has been on my hit list. I was home sick and after 48 hours in bed with no fiancé around during lunch time to cater to me, it was about to go down.
I dragged my weak body out of bed and took the 8 minute drive to retrieve my meat filled pita. I arrived at 12:07pm, and left at 12:09pm, with my gyro and fries. It took me longer to drive there then to place my order and pay for my lunch.
Walking in was slightly awkward. It felt like I was walking into someone’s home. Everyone eating stopped to look up. Well hello there folks…
Don’t expect anything fancy. The place is outdated and could use a facelift, but whatever. There’s an order counter/​small open kitchen across the entrance. I felt like I was making a walk of shame to it. I was most likely self conscious from literally going from bed to car, looking extra busted.
The menu’s pretty big on top of the order counter so I just told the guy what I was looking for. He asked if I wanted lamb and beef or chicken gyro. I didn’t even know chicken gyros existed. No thanks.
There was another guy literally closing the lid on a to go container before I reached for my wallet. Lucky for me there was another call in order that was exactly the same as mine so they gave me his. Score.
$ 5.99, and 2 minutes later I’m on my way home to enjoy my delicious lunch.
At home. There was ample gyro meat piled perfectly into my pita with lettuce, tomato, and onion. I dosed it in cucumber sauce and devoured every last bite.
The fries could have been a bit crispier, and I like my cucumber sauce a bit thicker. However, for less than 6 bucks, fast and friendly service, and a yummy gyro, I’ll certainly see you again Black Sea.

The Black Sea offers delicious food, good service, and a reasonable price. It’s the trifecta for a foodie. My favorite items include the lamb/​beef gyro meat and the ground beef with garlic kofte. The sampler plates are also a nice way to taste it all. This place is best in class!

In the middle of nowhere WBL is this small joint that serves up decent Mediterranean food. We ordered fried eggplant (YUM) and spinach pie (nothing special just typical spinach pie) and the combo platter for 2 — even though there were 4 of us. But it was the perfect amount of food all for $ 30 total!
What I truly like about this place is non of the food I’ve tried tastes or looks greasy. It isn’t sitting in grease nor does it taste fried even when it is — which I’m a big fan of. I find that refreshing.

I love this spot because it’s affordable and is the only spot to get Middle Eastern food in the East Metro. Their Turkish coffee is delicous and so is the house made Turkish lemonade. Their Kafka is just ok, kind of bland. The falafels are small, kind of greasy and not as tastey as some other places inside the Twin Cities proper. There donner plates (shawarma) is the same quality you would expect from a chain gyro spot. That being said it’s all still pretty tastey and it’s close so I find myself here a few times a mind :(sometimes week) getting my mid east food fix. A bit Americanized but decent food and GREAT staff. Give it a shot if you haven’t already

Went in on a Monday at 4:30pm not a soul in the place. Ordered the meal for 3. Maybe 10 minute wait. Smelled awesome got home and wow. Huge salad, tons of meat all very flavorful. Only complaint, hard to get into the pita bread but once I did yummy! This place has a weird location but the food is fabulous and now I’m in a food coma!

Amazing flavor and fantastic service. Turkish coffee is my favorite way to end a meal here. If you are there for lunch, the donor is a simple and inexpensive choice. For dinner, my wife and I like to share some of the platters. The variety is so good! Great owners too.

Enjoyed our food tremendously. The outside doesn’t look fancy, but it’s locally owned and the service and food is excellent. Highly recommended. Priced well too. I had the chicken and my friend had the beef tips. Both excellent!

A neighborhood gem. My personal favorite is #25 (Tavuk Kebab) spicy. Dolmas with warm pita bread are a great start to the meal. Their homemade yogurt sauce is particularly good.
Great hospitality and quality food every visit. A+ and 5 stars in my book.

I had the #5 appetizer. It was fresh and delicious. Service was prompt. The price was very reasonable. Looking forward to coming back to try something else.

This place was not a memorably bad experience, but certainly not a memorably good one either. We didn’t have anything I would be excited to have again. The spinach appetizer could have used a lot more feta cheese. The eggplant appetizer was pretty good. I ordered the doner and it was mediocre. The meat was bland, though there was a decent portion of it. My cousin ordered the combination plate and was equally unimpressed. The tzatziki sauce was really watery and was so strong (garlic, I think?) that I can still taste an aftertaste 2 hours later. The service was good and the prices reasonable, I wouldn’t eat here again based on the lackluster food.

This is an outstanding Turkish restaurant. The service is outstanding and the food, while inexpensive, is delicious. I recommend the kebab combo. It provides great variety and is always fresh and tasty.

This is a great little gem. The doner (gyro meat for those unfamiliar with the Turkish term) is delicious. I also love the lentil soup. Nicely seasoned, and especially wonderful if you ask for a little lemon. I am not a fan of the falafel, but my friends are. It is pretty «bready». and I prefer the kind you find in Jerusalem with lots and lots of herbs and little to no bread filling. The Turkish coffee is a great pick-​me-​up.
It’s a totally laid back place. The people who work there are down to earth and friendly. Ethan, the head chef, is Cordon Bleu trained and just an all around nice guy.
The place is clean, and the service is fast. Great place.

Nice owners, helpful suggestions, and great food. Will definitely be going back and bringing more people!

This is the satellite restaurant to the original in Minneapolis, and is conveniently situated nearby me. I was delighted to find there was a Turkish restaurant so close!
When we arrived, I realized I’d driven past it without noticing it. The signage was unfortunately inconspicuous and more reminiscent of an auto shop than a restaurant. However, once inside we were treated warmly and seated. The atmosphere was somewhat Spartan (get it? I slay me!) and while the tables and floor were very clean it was the only real detractor to our dining experience. We ate the Iskender kebab and another kebab plate after dolmas and spinach borek, all of which were delicious. The leftovers were just as good!
I will definitely return.

Food is decent. We’ve been hunting for good Mediterranean since moving here. This place comes closest. Not fabulous but good. Friendly service, super casual atmosphere. Prices aren’t cheap but comparable to other middle eastern joints & the Portions are huge! We’d go back.

My wife and I had dinner here tonight as we have been lapsed to try this new restaurant in White Bear Lake. We had the borek-​spinach for an appetizer, the combination Kebab with rice for our entrée (which serves two but really four) and baklava for dessert. The food was excellent for a very really reasonable price. It is not a fancy restaurant, rather they focus on great food and great service. We will definitely return after we finish your leftovers!

Wanted something different for lunch and found the Black Sea. Very simple, inexpensive, but quite good. The fried eggplant appetizer was delicious: four slices of fried eggplant with a little yogurt sauce and hot sauce, and no breading. It was soft, slightly sweet with nice chewy skin.
Cathie got the cold cacik soup: yogurt, cucumber, mint etc. Refreshing, but not my cup of tea.
Cathie got a doner pita sandwich (a gyro). It was excellent. Meaty and tender. They roast the meat there and it is so much better than the frozen reheated meat you get most places.
I had the Kofte dinner: little beef patties, nicely seasoned with grilled onion, peppers and tomato over rice. Initially, I thought
I’d have some leftovers, but couldn’t stop!
The pita accompanying everything was soft and delicious.
We will be back!

Black Sea is my favorite «fast food» place and one of the only places I frequent for takeout.
Hole in the wall. Tiny kitchen. Very capable cooks. I didn’t know rice could be so tender and flavorful. Exquisite. The Black Sea combo plate for a single easily feeds 2. The donner and kofta are wonderful. Would get five stars if the chicken kebab wasn’t a little dry. The combination of grilled peppers, onions, and tomatoes along with the fresh tomato, onions, and lettuce really adds a nice level of crunch and acidity.
Their falafel isn’t the best in the Cities, but they are better than average… and not greasy.
So glad this place is in my neighborhood. When I am hungry and don’t feel like cooking, I feel well cared for and happy that I have options to junky fast food places.

Food is just as delicious as the original location, see my review here:
My recommendation: tavuk doner.
We tried the spinach borek (baklava-​style pastry dough stuffed with spinach and feta). This was also the best I’ve had (the flaky dough was thinner, less overwhelming allow the flavor of the filling to stand out).
And good news: This location is much less cramped than the old one and offers more seating.
This spot emphasizes solid, authentic food over atmosphere (which is plenty clean, but not trendy nor trying to impress) at a very reasonable price.