If you live in the Baton Rouge area, then I'm sure you are familiar with Arzi’s. Arzi’s has multiple locations around the area and most feature a drive-thru for Greek on the go.

While at the Mall of Louisiana today, I decided to go ahead and review one lucky (or possibly unlucky) place for lunch. My selection was Arzi’s.

As for the usual with all Greek restaurants I visit, I ordered the Combination plate so that I could get a taste of everything. The Combo plate included gyros, chicken, Greek salad with cucumber dressing, humus and pita bread. The portions were nicely piled high on a small styrofoam plate.

I guess I will start my dining experience with the good part. The chicken was pretty good. It was tender and had a good flavor. Not bad at all. The humus wasn’t bad either. It didn’t have the overwhelmingly strong flavor that you find in other restaurants' humus.

Now this isn’t my first Arzi’s rodeo. I have eaten here many times in the past and I admit that I am not a usual fan of their gyros. It usually has a bland, rubbery taste. Today’s visit however seemed to be my best experience yet. The gyros were very tender and had that wonderful meaty combo/salty taste. Hopefully they’ll keep up the good cooking. It definitely wasn’t the best gyros I’ve ever had, but it was plenty good enough to make an enjoyable meal.

My only complaint about the meal was the Greek salad. The salad tasted and looked very old. It seemed every leaf of lettuce had a nice brown color and didn’t taste too fresh either. It was disappointing to find that someone wasn’t too concerned with the quality of the food they serve to their customers.

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Service
Though there was no waiting because we were dining in the food court of the mall, the service was fantastic. The line was a tad long, but they got the food out as quick as the customers could order it.

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Atmosphere
Um, I guess you could say the counter was clean. ☺  Hard to rate this one. I guess the mall food court staff will get the credit for this one since the tables were clean. I guess I’ll call it down the middle on this one.

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Arzi's Café
Mall of Louisiana Food Court
Baton Rouge, LA
(225) 769 – 9998
www.arzisbr.com

I ordered the usual Combination Plate, featuring rice, salad, hummus, pita bread, Chicken and Gyros. I started off my meal by tasting the gyros. It was pretty good, not too dry or greasy. I found that it could have a little more punch in the flavor, but definitely not the worst I've had.

The chicken here was excellent. It was tender and really went well with rice and hummus. Speaking of hummus, La Shish truly has some of the best hummus in the area. It’s rich and creamy, but doesn't have as strong a taste as many others feature. The balance of chick peas and other seasoning agents really work well together

Now last and certainly least was the salad with cucumber dressing. The lettuce was old and soggy. The cucumber dressing has a very strong and acidic taste that really didn't compliment the feta cheese too well.

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Service
When I visited La Shish, I found the service to be very slow, especially being that there were a total of 3 people in the entire restaurant. The waitress was friendly, but would forget to bring out things you previously asked for and took a  while to get my food out and any other things I asked for.

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Atmosphere
La Shish has a nice atmosphere featuring columns and hand painted artwork that covers the walls. Its clean and has an open floor for seating. Throw in the rhythmic Greek music (Not quite sure what they are saying) and you have very nice and comfortable surroundings.

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When it comes to Greek & Lebanese food in the Baton Rouge area,  Albasha’s has to stand at the forefront. Albasha’s offers multiple locations, authentic food, and a comfortable atmosphere that is classy yet casual.  

This place has always been a favorite of mine when I’m in the Greek & Lebanese mood. The food is always excellent and served fresh. On this trip I went for the usual Combination Plate.

The Combination Plate comes with a ton of food including gyros, chicken, rice and humus, side salad, and wrap bread.  It was excellent. The chicken and gyros was tender and so juicy. The rice and salad with cucumber dressing made an excellent side dish for this meal.  In my opinion there is no better gyros in the Baton Rouge area.

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Service
The service on this particular trip was horrible. I waited at least 15 minutes for the waiter to show up and take my order after being seated. Once he took my order, he either forgot to turn in my order or the cooks just missed it all together. My friend (who ordered the same combination plate as well) got his food in less than 10 minutes. After waiting another 20 minutes, I finally tracked down the waiter (who had not come by our table since taking our order) only for him to go check and tell me they have not even started on it. Very frustrating!

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Atmosphere
The atmosphere at Albasha’s is nice. It has a casual, yet a little classy feel with nice lighting and plenty of room.

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