Jerusalem Cafe.

Has anyone been lately. The last time I attempted to dine there they were closed for a family emergency. I'm going with some coworkers this Friday and just wondered what's going on there since my last visit in September 2006.

Here is my little write up of that dining experience:

9/6/06

I dined there this afternoon with a coworker and found it to be quite comparable to Safier's, but with a larger dining room. This isn't a surprise since someone who used to be with the folks at Safier's is now at the Jerusalem Cafe.

Anyhow, my friend and I both had the lunch special, which was a gigantic bone in chicken breast stuffed with rice and veggies plus 2 sides for $5.99. I am telling you this was enough food for 2 people but we added on an order of awesome hummus and tabouli. For our sides we chose saffron rice and a veggie mixture comprised of eggplant, mushrooms and potatoes.

The chicken was savory and tender, the stuffing was delectable and the hummus is heaven on my taste buds. Oh my, beautifully prepared, topped with a dice of onion, tomato, zucchini and EVOO, served with plenty of pita bread. My friend’s tabouli was equally sumptuous, in its simple way.

This place is over on 4th just west of the UL campus.


Thanks in advance for any input.

[Robin Garr]

Has anyone been lately.

I haven't been back since about the time you went, but it should be noted that Sammy, the cook who had been at Safier, moved on to the new Saffron's Buffet after Majid sold it. I don't know who's cooking at Jerusalem Cafe now (or, for that matter, if Sammy is still at the buffet), but it's fair to assume that things have changed to some extent.

We went by there last Friday night at 8 pm when hubby got home from work and it was closed. Don't know if it was already closed for the evening or really closed. Best call first.

I went a few weeks ago and was unimpressed with both the food and (especially) the service. My boyfriend and I got there around 6:40 and planned to eat before heading over to U of L for a 7:30 poetry reading. I ordered a falafel sandwich, my boyfriend got (I think) a shwarma, and we ordered some hummus to share. The guy who took our order was rather surly, but we didn't think too much of it. We got our drinks and settled in at an outdoor table to wait for our food.

After a while a woman brought out our hummus. It was pretty good but didn't make a huge impression on me. And then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Even though the information on the front door said that they were open until 10:00 or 11:00, at 7:00 the same woman came outside, announced that they were closing, and locked the door. Around 7:15 my boyfriend went inside as someone was coming out (his only opportunity, since the door was locked) and told them we needed our food to go. They finally gave it to us and apologized for the wait, saying they were short-staffed because of the family emergency that Doogy mentioned.

I ate part of my falafel sandwich on the way to to the reading and, like the hummus, it was so-so. My boyfriend's shwarma had to wait in the car until the reading was over, and he was similarly unimpressed when he finally ate it.

If either the food or the service had been better, I'd be willing to give them a second chance. I'm sympathetic to their family emergency. But they just seemed to have no regard for their customers at all. They seemed sort of annoyed that we were there to begin with, gave us no indication of how long the wait would be, and were barely apologetic when they did finally explain what was going on. I'll stick with Safier. They're reliably friendly and delicious.