09/02/09

Glad we didn't read the reviews - this place was great!

by marlashane

I'm glad I didn't read the reviews of this place before going here, I may have never gone. But it turned out to be a very tasty, pleasant meal for lunch on a weekday. We were there around 1:30 with a few other customers. It took just a tad longer than comfortable, but we will be going back soon. The lady serving us did forget my tea - which after reading the reviews I guess this happens too often. I hope (if she is the owner) she realizes she needs help and gets a seasoned manager. They don't even have a web site!

• Pros: Tasty, healthy food. Ambiance. Price reasonable for location
• Cons: Little slow on service

03/25/09

awful food and service

by AFMOHMD

I and my husband were there yesterday , and we were coming from college station,Texas and was looking for Mediterranean restaurant and we just found this, we waste our time in waiting and were so surprised from the quality of food, I really regret the time and the money we spent there..furthermore the restaurant was not clean and the restroom are not in convenient place and not clean too..

we said that "it seems that the one who cooks this food has no experience in cooking"... the food was not tasty at all.

I will never go back to this restaurant neither advice any one to go there.

I can't imagine that a chef can cook this badly..

it is awfully bad...and you have to give a tip for the unpleasant experience!!!!!

don't go there.

• Pros: Example: best croissants in town
• Cons: What are the drawbacks?

02/01/09

Best Mediterranean Food!

by JoeMcBurden

Great for quick lunch, and awesome dinner dine in. Authentic setting with great food and arabic music.

BELLY DANCING is great on saturday nights. Valentine's day of 2009 will be great. Can't wait for that event.

• Pros: Food, Setting.
• Cons: Needs More Locations

01/13/09

Not a good value for your time or money

by schlaumfi

The food at Marakesh is consistently average, not worth the long wait, lack-luster service or the elevated prices. Today, I spent 25 minutes waiting for a take-out sandwich. Chips were not listed on the menu, were not included with the sandwich and the person taking my order didn't ask if I wanted any. I only found out later from observing the order window during my long wait that chips were available. When my sandwich was ready, the server just pointed to the order window where the sandwich was. He did even attempt to hand it to me. I paid $6.50 and added a tip for this? For just an average sandwich with no chips or drink that I had to wait almost half an hour to receive and finally no service either? I won't be back. There are plenty of other places downtown to get a tastier, faster and/or less expensive lunch. This place comes in low on all three counts.

• Pros: convenient for downtown, nice decor
• Cons: long wait, lack-luster service, not a good value for what you pay

05/08/08

Avoid and Save your $ !

by HDermish

How can anyone call this a Restaurant? I complained about the Falafal the waitress told me not to order'em again because that is how Falafel are prepared; when i told her tha i was a North-African and i know what Flafel should be; she responded the cooks were Mexicans and they know Falafel (meanwhile my Mexican wife trying not to V0#%@T).

• Pros: None
• Cons: where to start

01/11/08

Terrible Experience

by fd123

I decided to go have lunch there with two co-workers. Well, I should have known somthing would go wrong because when we walked in the lady cooking the food seemed very overwhelmed by more than a few customers coming in for lunch. It took 30 minutes for my co-workers to get their food, which were the daily specials, but I never go my food, which was a daily special as well. After sitting there for one hour, I went up and told the cashier, who didn't seem very bright, that I would just take a refund and leave since my co-workers already finished eating. The lady who was bringing out the food knew I didn't have my order yet but didn't seem to care. We noticed that other people in the restaurant weren't getting their food either, or their orders were wrong. Don't go there! It's time for them to close the doors permanently.

• Pros: Food Ok
• Cons: Way too long to get your food. Poor Service. Unattentive employees.

12/28/07

Have no idea what they are doing

by pitcdbf10

I ordered a "kabob plate" (or a similar name) during lunch... Yes, i know mediterranean. I can cook it, I have been to the middle east various times, and have various middle eastern friends. I also cook a good deal of Greek. It tasted like Mexican food. The kabob was some poorly cooked meat, it was not kabob (which is typically ground lamb or goat in some parts of the world, for you clueless people) - but instead tasted like fajita meat. Look, just open a mexican restaurant like everyone else in town. PLEASE CLOSE DOWN and stop taking up valuable real estate on Congress which is in dire need of some good restaurants. Where the heck is Athenian grill??? why do i have to eat Mexican everyday??

• Pros: its pretty cheap at lunch
• Cons: horrid. just horrid.

10/02/07

Downward Slope....

by dvogler

The food at Marakesh used to be consistently good, as was the service, before the owner passed away. Unfortunately, it just doesn't seem to have ever gotten its bearings again. The food prices have gone up, portions have gone down and the quality really varies. The menu has been slashed for lunch time. Some days, getting a quick lunch there is an impossible feat, other days it seems deserted. Perhaps this is part of the downtown swing of things, but the staff here seem to be overwhelmed too quickly for a place that knows it's close to the capital and serves lunch! They have a constant flux in workers which is likely the cause of the inconsistencies in service and speed.

The Chicken Shwerma plate, a former favorite, now features dark meat, whereas it used to be nice white meat. And there seems to be no option to request white meat, I guess. They used to have a small salad and now that 's gone from the menu completely.

The lady that owns this place seems to be trying hard, but is often visibly stressed out. The former owner was a jovial man who had a handle on his staff and his kitchen. Just today, I went in there to give it yet another chance (so few places even serve meditteranean food after all). It took at least 30 minutes to get a to-go order. I got the falafel plate (4 small pieces of falafel, a cup worth of tomato/cucumber/pepper salad, a cup of hummus and half a square of pita bread). With a drink, this cost me $8.00 and I was still hungry. On the plus side, it tasted okay, but nothing stellar. Can't wait for the Athenian to open back up in 2008. Even if that place was on the pricey side, the food was good, so fresh and so quickly served in nice portions, much more worth it than Marakesh in its present state.

• Pros: Sometimes the food is good
• Cons: Rising prices, smaller portions, service inconsistencies

08/07/07

Great lunch place

by oldtimeaustin

I've been going to Marrakesh for years, even when it was called Longhorn Po Boys and Falafel (which still exists north of the UT law school, I think). The last bad review on Citysearch was at a bad time for the business. The long time owner of the restaurant died awhile back, and it took time for things to get back on track. From what I've seen recently, they are back and better than ever. Service recently was great, and the food very good.

My favorite is the Chicken Shawarma plate. Expect a little wait, but not long unless its a really busy day. I really like the tabouli-they'll substitute that for the marinated green beans (which are also good) on plates if you want. There's Orangina in the case behind the counter for a change of pace drink, and hibiscus mint tea as a more exotic option with your lunch.

• Pros: Food
• Cons: Sometimes crowded at rush hour

03/30/07

Worst dining experience in Austin

by krystawyatt

I was not impressed at all with the service, food, and atmosphere. There was only one waitress for the whole restaurant, and it was at least 75% full. She looked over worked while the blondie at the counter showed off her stomach to her coworkers in the back. The salad was wilted and tasted like they poured a gallon of lime juice over the whole bowl and were digging out for each serving - I obviously got the bottom, my tongue still tingles from the lime juice taste. Everything went downhill from there.