Lavash Cafe - Columbus, OH - Restaurant Reviews

Lavash is a highly regarded Mediterranean cafe in Clintonville. They serve a typical array of Greek, Lebanese, and other Middle Eastern specialties like hummus,Baba Ghanoush, kibbeh, falafel, salads, sandwiches , and grilled meat entrees. Sandwiches and salads are in the $6-8 range, while entrees are $10-20.

The grilled meats are the real deal. They cook them on real skewers - more like swords - and then over charcoal. Of course all of the meats are pre-marinated, so the result is is butter smooth meat, tender and moist on the inside, and crispy and charbroiled on the outside. They include vegetables like green and red peppers and onions on the skewers too, so their entrees are big, and delicious.

They also have the big rotating upside-down cones of chicken, lamb, and beef for sandwiches. As you can imagine, the place smells heavenly. You have your choice of your sandwich prepared using lavash or pita, with a wide variety of stuffings (shawarma, gyro, shrimp kabob, kefta, etc.). They are known for spicy shawarma, which is well seasoned and very affordable. The food tends to be delicious, fresh, tasty, and with good presentation.

Lavash is clean and cheerful, with lots of color and a friendly staff. It is a special challenge to sit through a meal and have to oggle all of those lucious looking desserts on display. To make it even more difficult, pattycake bakery is just two doors down...

Lavash is owned by the founder of Firdous and Firdous Express. It is compeitive with Alladins, but cheaper, and of course its not a big chain like Alladins. Also, Lavash has invested more in creating a theatre effect for their food preparation - they clearly get the power of food color, texture, and presentation, whereas Alladins is more of a Middle Eastern conventional cafe.

I am not a huge Mediterranean food lover, but Lavash could change all of that. It's the best I've had in Columbus.

There have been several recent reports of inconsistency in food quality and service. If you experience this, please let us know.

No alcohol.