Byblos Restaurant

Sometime last year, I tried Byblos on Metairie Road and truly enjoyed it. So I have been wanting to try the magazine location to see if everything was consistent between the two locations. Living in Lakeview, I don't tend to go uptown very often. However, Magazine Street is flooded with dining options, so I think I'll start venturing out here a little more often.

To be honest, I actually had a coupon for a free entree here. With the stock market tanking and my wages being frozen for two years, I don't mind admitting that I'm always looking for a good bargain, especially when it comes to dining.

The restaurant has limited seating outside (al fresco) on the sidewalk, but it's way too hot right now for that. The restaurant has an open floor plan and a really good looking decor. The huge full service bar is off to the left and is separated from the main dining room by a small partition. Although the table are not on top of one another, this place has the potential to be tremendously loud. The restaurant was only half full and the niose was already pretty bad. I think a lot of the noise can be attributed to the high ceilings, which are actually made of ornate metal panels. In my opinion, it's worth it, beacuse the ceilings are totally cool.

For an appetizer, we had the drunken halloumi, which is a Cypriot halloumi cheese that has been lightly sauteed in ouzo and olive oil, and is served atop sliced tomatoes. This app has a great flavor, but it's a small portion, even for an appetizer.

For dinner, we had the large salad with grilled shrimp. It was a very big salad and the greens were all fresh and crisp. The shrimp on top were almost big enough to be considered prawns, and they were awesome.

We also had the beef kabob (shish kabob) plate. These certified Angus beef tenderloins literally melted in your mouth. However, the only skewered veggies that came with them were onions & bell peppers. I would have liked to see some mushrooms or tomatoes here too. At least some red, yellow or orange bell peppers to add some color to the plate.

For dessert, we opted for the ashta. This huge crispy phyllo dough was filled with custard and topped with a rosewater syrup with chopped pieces of pistachios. Even if you're not hungry or have already eaten, I'd recommend coming here and sitting at the bar to have this dessert and a nightcap.

The only negatives here, aside from the noise, is the parking situation. Uptown dining on Magazine Street is sometimes tough because parking is at a premium. However, this wouldn't stop me from coming back.

Just a girl always on a quest to find the perfect mojito in the summer. I can't complain - the playboyesque server made a mad mojito.. in fact, all the server girls are rather playboyesque..hummmm

Great place to enjoy the weather outside and great Mediterranean food but unfortunate rating here we geaux.. I would never go back for dessert. The cake taste like brick and looked like doogie poop. Luckily, we did not have to pay for it...

Wish I woulda yelped it first...

I'm a little hesitant about giving this place four stars. It's more like three and a half stars, but anyway, you win this one Byblos!
This is slightly more formal-feeling that Lebanon's and Mona's but still casual. Possibly a nice semi-romantic destination with the low-lighting and full service bar. Or just a place to grab a meal with some buddies. Yanno, whatever floats your boat!
Byblos being Mediterranean food is VERY vegetarian and vegan friendly - rejoice! They even have a Vegetarian Platter, which is what I always get, your choice of four of their vegetarian dishes for $13. The hummus and baba Ghanuj are pretty great, but again, I have a sneaking suspicion, that I prefer my faithful Lebanon's versions. The falafel is thankfully not gritty and mealy like Mona's, much better here. I think I might actually like the grape leaves here more than Lebanon's, but it's been awhile so I can't say for certain.
The fattoush is lovely, but it's hard to screw up such a simple salad, I would think? The lentil and spinach soup is kind of tasteless, to be honest, but I've had worse, so I am not raising hell about it.
Wednesdays here are awesome, although very crowded due to $1 martini nights and belly dancers. It tends to get quite rambunctious, so Wednesday is not the day to bring your significant other here to have a "serious talk." Just saying! Service is also not as prompt on Wednesday, but hey for $1 martinis, what do you expect?
It's a little pricier here than Mona's and Lebanaon's, but those extra dollars go towards the ambiance and the full bar, I guess? Anyway, Byblos is good, no real complaints here!

I've eaten at Byblos on Magazine for many years and it is usually good with some consistent patches of less than good incidents. My first experience eating here was terrible as I got the lamb sampler platter and everything came out burned black and crispy. Fortunately that was the low point and things have generally been better since then. Byblos does some things better than other Middle Eastern places but not as good as others in the area. I generally find their beef kabobs are consistently outstanding while the quality and taste of the lamb is very inconsistent.

Byblos used to offer some very consistently clean bathrooms but, for at least the past year, the men's toilet has been constantly clogged up and emanating a very unpleasant smell. I've also seen some inconsistency with management where sometimes you are "allowed" to order some combination of things and other times you are not. They also have been a bit confused on the menu with having gyros on both the dinner and lunch menus but then only on the lunch and then going back so I've seen several people get frustrated with that.

Byblos offers belly dancing on Thursday nights and this location can be a fun place just to hang out and drink as their drink prices are much cheaper than some of the surrounding restaurants (and even some of the bars). Usually a good place for lunch or dinner but sometimes some inconsistencies do pop up.

Chug that coffee and wake the kids, because this is awesome Mediterranean food.

I always get the hummus for an app and I know I'm not the first to tell you that it is awesome! Then I get the chicken or beef schwarma (sp?) and yum! It's fantastic! I know some people wouldn't call it "authentic", but maybe that's why I like it. Look, I'm never going to be able to eat goat. I just can't go there (I'm looking at you, Lebanon Cafe').

The place has a great atmosphere and is a fantastic date place. Belly dancing on Thursdays...I think. That might be worth looking up. I just realized that I am long overdue for a visit back to good 'ol Byblos.

Now I'm hungry. But not for goat.

I had a seriously great experience at Byblos. Mind I'm extremely picky so getting me to eat certain types of food is very hard but every single thing I tried here was amazing. Let me give you a run down of whats awesome (food wise) The cheese fingers probably has to be my favorite appetizer the feta, jack and cream cheese fried has to be one of the most delightful things I ate, cheese makes things all better in the world,, at least in my opinion. The Lahem-Bi-Ajeen was pretty delightful to, very interesting zesty taste, it consisted of ground beef, lamb and onions on a pita bread. This could probably be a meal all by itself. I'm not big on salad but I tried out the Tabbouleh which was actually a good salad I loved the use of olive oil and lemon juice. I tried a few of the kabobs the chicken and steak, and that steak absolutely put me in happy dance mode seriously. Probably one of my favorite items on the menu was the Kafta which was like a sausage blend with beef lamb and onions. I actually also tried lamb chops for the first time and I could only think.... How could I MISSED OUT ON THIS FOR SO LONG. I now love the juicy lamb, the flavor is unforgettable. Not sure of the name of the dessert I had but it was this wonderful baked them with some cream inside and ROSEMARY on top. The cream and rosemary together was probably the best to end any lunch... Note: I couldn't eat for two days after it was just so good and too much!

I tried a blackberry mojito and it was wonderful and STRONG... You have been warned... prepare yourself. The service was great. The waitress was nice and helpful, she explained the thing we didn't understand always had a smile and came around enough to make sure we were properly being serviced. Everything came out timely and didn't really have to do much waiting. I have to say I really didn't expect to have a good experience here but I definitely have a change of heart now.

This expansive setting doesn't conjure images of the typical Mediterranean restaurant: flat-screen TVs, white tablecloths, and a huge bar waiting for patrons to share drinks and appetizers.

Dinner was an early affair, as we were headed to a movie. Our server did a great job with pacing, but had it been more crowded, I doubt we would have been out in time.

I really wanted to try the Drunken Haloumi, but my friend convinced me to try the Greek Nachos instead. I'm sorry I didn't push him; it was rather disappointing: dry pieces of gyro meat, yogurt salad and tomatoes over pita crips. It reminded me of something you make at home when you're trying to make do with the ingredients you have on hand, like during a snowstorm.

We both ordered the Kafta Kabob: ground beef and lamb with spices. Suffice it to say it was a lamb burger without a bun. The sides were great; the tabouleh, labneh, hummus and yogurt salad were all fresh and delicious. They made the otherwise boring kabob.

I haven't experienced their happy hour, but it sounds great.

The gyro nachos are about as good as you can get. The food was really great, though service was a little slow.

Initially, the kitchen made kebabs instead of the schwarma we ordered and the waiter brought out the kebabs to see if we'd changed out mind - nope.

The pita brought out with the schwarma was cut into pieces about the size of a chip, which for the gyro nachos was great, but for schwarma, you really need bigger bread.

The rice was a bit hard in spots, probably sitting around the kitchen too long. The meat was fantastic.

The music started off as middle eastern and then went into more middle eastern rave-ish techno mix, and all I could imagine was a bunch of middle eastern girls in burkas with neon wands, pacifiers, on extacy.

Ugh. I don't even know where to start with the Byblos experience I had tonight.

I called in an order at 7:45. They told me 15 min for pick up. I got there at about 8:05, waited a few minutes, paid (and tipped! wish I could take that back!), took my bag and walked back home. And .... not my food. I ordered two vege plates, and I got two containers of meat and some pita bread.
I walked back. I'd say got there at about 8:15 (I live 3 blocks away). She apologized, said she realized the mistake right as I walked out but couldn't find me. So I wait and wait and wait and wait some more, and 20 minutes later I get my food. Walk 5 min home.
The order is ALMOST right. But not quite. They left one thing out completely, and substituted.... MEAT FILLED grape leaves on my vegetarian plate! Thanks for serving me food I can't even eat!
Also: all the hot stuff: cold. Like 20 minutes cold. Which is amazing to me, considering I waited 20 freaking minutes for it to be redone.

Also, why on earth did I have to wait so long? They should have moved my order to the front. AND.... when she finally brings it to me, she grabs the pita from the order I picked up 35 minutes before and gave me that! Not even fresh pita??? Inexcusable. They should have also offered me a free drink while I waited. If they had done that, I would have gotten over it. But they did NOTHING to make up for my troubles.

UGH. The food I can eat is ok. Byblos used to be better. I hadn't eaten there in a while because I found it over-priced. But I guess this was my last trip. I'll hoof it down the street a little further and get Mona's, which is better and cheaper. And they've never gotten my orders wrong.

Byblos: They're slow... but they're expensive! And full of mistakes!

Byblos has had patches of poorly-trained or ill-concieved chefs playing with its baseline flavors over the last few years, but it still provides top-notch Mediterranean(esque?) fare with fresh and actually crafted ingredients, a moderate rarity for this style of cuisine in this or any other town.

Notes of choice:

Still, when i think schwarma i think Byblos. Beef or chicken marinated for at least a day in red wine and olive oil and fresh herbs, then grilled. Tonight seemed a bit of an overstep, the cook had added cardamom and cloves to the mix, and maybe not enough garlic to marry the tannins of the spicy wine. I'd say i'm being picky, but being this is one of my true comfort meals that i eat at least 6 times a year, i feel entitled. They were clearly slow, for the first time I had a dude waiter (he was good), and the length of the marination was queue to the slow times of passed August.

That said, the other reason i often go to Byblos is the wonderful Eggplant and Crab cake which is listed as an app for the table, but also makes a nice small plate alone with whatever dry white you fancy, or a nice drink with tonic. The Bechemel drizzled over the pile of crab has a good fresh lemon bite, usually, and keeps the affair from being too heavy. It is this dish, honestly, that often makes me bring all but a few bites of my schwarma home in a box.

Also one final tid: the lebanese rosewater tea here is unsweetened and not too perfumey, something most places fail at on both accounts. Makes me happy, though.

I have taken away a star only because of the variety of competion in this new New Orleans. Byblos will have to fight for that star back. If they can.