Byblos Cafe

There are two Byblos on campus. Palmer I think isn't as good as the one on cass. I can't evaluate the food too well because I've only had a couple things on the menu. Each time the food took a while, busy or not it made no difference, food was cold. Cleanliness and quality were lacking. I got a ketchup bottom and the ketchup was either bad or old or just not ketchup at all. I asked for another bottle, same result. I've seen them busy and they're certainly short staffed when I went in during lunch. Literally one waitress and a cashier up front when every table was full. The one on Cass Ave on the other hand is the exact opposite. Very clean, good staff great food. I'll be heading there from now on even though its an extra 4 blocks away where as the Palmer on is only 1.

A combined casual Middle-Eastern Halal restaurant and American-style diner with Arabic food aswell as fries and burgers. This has been one of my favorite Midtown spots since I went to college here 10 years ago. I live in the neighborhood and stop by once in a while for the best fattoush salad available anywhere and the best fries in the Cass Corridor. The chili (which is really more like a tomato-based soup) is also great. There isn't really any easy parking in the area, just a few spots, but that isn't their fault. They definitely get 5 stars from me. A great place to study or chill. The service is great and the food comes with free hummus and pita. Many many vegan options.

I'm describing the one on Cass. I have not been to the one on Palmer. I came towards the end of the day, though the cafe was not to close for another 1.5 hours. The waiting staff did their part well. However the meat was almost burned. (There were no other customers to cook for at the time, though a couple came in later.) The amount of mezze served with one of the dishes would bring shame on a cafe owner in the actual Middle East. The rice was good. I won't be going back there.

Food is decent, drive to Bucharest if you can - what really got me was that they don't let you eat in the store if you've ordered to go, and went so far as to make a sign at the register saying that you're not welcome to eat there if you didn't "order in." What difference does it make if you get it in a bag or on a plate? Nice ladies behind the counter, just doing their job, but they enforced this rule on me and it made me feel very unwelcome. Not going back.

The title really says it all. The hummus was completely flavorless, it took forever to get our food and then it was cold when it arrived. This wasn't at the lunch rush, we're talking 2pm here. Then it took forever to get the bill as well. I'd recommend looking for another middle eastern place, there's a few more of them around.