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Reviews work... Out of business.. Was looking for a Middle Eastern Restaurant. Glad I read the reviews... btw.. They're out of business.
OUTSTANDING EXPERIENCE. AFTER LEARNING THAT ONE OF MY FAVORITE RESTARAUNTS WAS CLOSING,I HAD TO GO AND HAVE THE LAMB ONE MORE TIME. THE DINNER ITSELF WAS A LITTLE CHAOTIC AT FIRST (OF COURSE ITS UNDERSTANDABLE THAT CLOSING NIGHT MUST HAVE BEEN STRESSFUL) BUT EVENED OUT TO WHAT WAS A GREAT AND FESTIVE DINING EXPERIENCE. THE SAD IRONY IS THAT THE PARTY WAS SO FANTASTIC, EVEN MAGICAL AND WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO DINE THERE AGAIN. I PRAY FOR THE STAFF TO BE ABLE TO RECOVER FROM LOSSING THEIR JOBS, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THEY WERE CLOSE AS A FAMILY AND TRULY THE LABOR OF LOVE WAS EVIDENT. THE SHOW ITSELF UNDER THE STARS WAS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE.........AND WHO WAS THAT MALE BELLYDANCE/FIRE THROWER?????? WHAT AWESOME SYNCOPATION IN HIS PREFORMANCE AND THE NAUGHTY GIRL SHOWS WERE SIMPLY DELIGHTFUL!!!!! THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE. GOOD LUCK TO YOU IN THE FUTURE AND I WILL EAGERLY ANTICIPATE YOUR NEW HOME THIS WOULD BE WRONG TO CEASE TO EXIST AS THE ONLY PLACE WITH THE BEST LAMB.…
This restaurant is closing on March 24, 2007.. According to the austinist website, Ararat is closing its doors with a farewell party on Saturday, 3/24/07. After reading the more recent reviews here, it seems like a place that doesn't deserve to survive, so...farewell.…
ARARAT. A group of four celebrating a birthday, quickly learned that good customer service is not to be expected at Arafat. Each time we interacted with the waiter, we were received with indifference to one degree or another. Unbeknownst to us word got back to the manager that we had some concerns. Soon after we settled the bill and were ready to leave, we found ourselves surrunded by a couple of employees, and a woman we did not know to be the manager, who had been listening in on our private conversation. She confronted us about our dissatisfaction, but actually she was not inclined to hear us out, but rather to throw accusations and insults at us. She was intent on further demeaning us by "throwing us out of there!" Clearly she took advantage of the the fact that we were the only customers seated in back makeshift area to unload herself; she regained her composure as we passed thru the main dining room to exit, all the while quickly shoving us along, lest the customer take notice of what was going on. There was no question that she was deteremined to insult us in any form and fashion she could muster. This is the worst experience I have ever had at any dining experience. It left me reeling from the suddenness and extremeness of it all. I attempted to appeal to her sympathetic nature by informing her that this was a birthday celebration, but by then she was so far gone, as to be unreachable! Needless to say, rather than celebrating a birthday, we ended up tending our wounds. The experience was so bad as to be unbelievable; one that needs no embellishment! Good customer service is clearly not something Arafat espouses, so unless you cannot live without the food (which, at best, is mediocre) , then keeping a distance is advised! All this mayhem, a mere result of our voicing our concerns amongst our own party...unbelievable!!…
Mediocre food, bad service, scary manager. A good friend asked to take me to dinner for my birthday last night and I unwittingly picked Ararat. I remembered that you could bring a bottle of wine then and checked the restaurant website to make sure alcohol was not sold now. Reservations were made rather late and we arrived to be seated on a patio with a patio heater in what looked like a storage room adored with a shawl tacked on the wall. We ordered and the waiter noticed the bottle of wine we had. He brought three tumblers for those who wanted wine and left the corkscrew on the table. He did not mention the $3 per person corking fee. I thought food and portions were okay but not exceptional and the food came quickly enough. The piped music for the for the University of Texas type dancer would rise to a point you could not talk over when she started. The first low point came when a member of our party asked for bread. It did not come and when she saw the waiter again, she said she no longer needed it as she had finished her meal. He told her "no problem" and she laughed and said "no problem for you" and he peeked around the corner to let her know he heard. When the bill was brought, I asked this waiter how we were supposed to know about the $9 corking charge. He said it was on the menu and most restaurants charged more. So I retorted, "so we did not read the menu well enough." We also asked for a go box and were waiting some time for it discussing our displeasure with service, etc. and a woman shows up and asks if I need the go box. She gets it and I tell her the service has not been very good and she tells me that maybe it is the customers who are not good. We are all taken aback and then she stays to argue and finally I ask her just to leave us alone. She announces she is the owner and she will do what she likes. So as she closely follows us out for the crime of mentioning bad service we are also told not to talk and cause any scene in front of the other diners. It was truly a memorable dining experience.…
