Sahara Middle Eastern Eatery

I love this place and the staff is so friendly. I usually order a chicken schwarma sandwich and baba ganoush.

Really tasty food. Great prices. Fresh made desserts always on the counter. Often Omar will give you a fresh sweet on the house. The walnut tea has me coming back again and again. The staff are so friendly and always crack me up. Just what a local small business should be!

Only $ 4.99 for an amazing falafel sandwich, oh my god. It’s great. They’re also very accommodating as they veganized my sandwich without question by switching the tahini cream sauce for hummus. I’m scared because I live two blocks away and walk past every day to and from work… I see many vegan falafel sandwiches in my future!

The shawarmas here are REALLY good! The meat is super tender and flavorful! It’s very, very good, but they need more than just meat. In my opinion, some rice and veggies would take them to the next level. It may not be the traditional way of serving shawarmas, but it would make it a 5 star review.

Middle Eastern eatery.
One of three.
Shop and Staff
From the three middle eastern eateries I’ve been to this is one that stood out big time, so I had to write a review. This one takes the cake, the first-​place prize. The young man running the counter most of the time is unbelievably friendly. If you wear a baseball cap you are sure to have a conversation with him. Being from New York he is a huge baseball fan. I’m a Milwaukee Brewers fan. The very first time we went I had my baseball cap on, and at first it was hard to understand he was talking about my baseball team. I didn’t expect him to be so friendly, and willing to talk to me about the baseball season, and how good my baseball team was doing. The unfortunate thing is the Milwaukee Brewers are not very good, but I love watching the game when I can. I would highly recommend wearing your favorite baseball team cap. You are sure to be treated very nicely.
The shop inside was very clean, and very well-​maintained. Some people say this hole in the wall is dirty, not clean, and they feel that it is very dingy. In my honest opinion this place is great. The floors were clean, and the tables were clean. All-​around a great place to have some great food.
Food and Experience
The food was unbelievably delicious. I’ve never had falafel this amazingly delicious. By far when I have a craving for falafel I come here. The serving size is huge. I’m not going to lie I can finish what I order, but I usually enjoy taking half home to enjoy later. My girlfriend and I both ordered our own dish. The food came out super fast and mind you the place had five people ahead of us. I believe we got there just after a rush, and there were in all 15 people inside the restaurant. I couldn’t help but notice as we were ordering our food some of the people leaving the restaurant got a very warm «goodbye» and «see you next time» from the young man running the counter. The parking is a bit hard, but if you get lucky you can get a parking spot right in front of the restaurant.

I love the Sahara Middle Eastern Eatery! Our band has played there twice. We have always been treated like royalty. The food is really excellent ! Everyone is so friendly and sweet. Love, love, love it!

Terrible. Went there for a late lunch (about 1:15) with a friend who lives in Albuquerque. Ordered a beef lamb shawarma, falafel, a lamb kabob, and two beers. The falafal was clearly old and had been re-​fried, and re-​fried until it was so hard you could not pierce it with a fork. The lamb was overcooked, tough and burnt. The beers were two months past there «enjoy by» date (see photo). The shawarma was very bland. I come to Albuquerque every year. I will not be going back. I doubt my foodie friends who live here will either. Way too many great restaurants in this area. Go anywhere else.

I love eating here. Everyone is always very helpful and friendly. The food has never once been bad to me, it’s always super tasty and I often end up craving it. Sometimes we dine in or take-​out and they always make it easy either way. It is a self-​serve and self-​seat, but you can always walk up when you need anything and they are happy to help you with whatever you need. Now when I go I don’t just get a platter, I have to take extra dolmas and hummous home to snack on.
As some have said in reviews «it’s pricey.» I’m not really sure what you are expecting? This is authentic handmade food that you can see them make in front of you. Yes, in this economy, 12 bucks on a combo platter can feel pricey, but to me, it’s a deal. Most sit-​down, dine-​in restaurants these days tend to be around 8 to 12 bucks a plate so… I always get the beef & lamb shawarma combo platter (12 bucks) and it comes with basmati rice, falafel, hummous, fattoush salad, dolmas, and fresh pita. Basically everything you can want on one happily packed plate. But, I’d like to point out there are other «cheap» options too. My partner always gets the beef & lamb shawarma sandwich and that’s just 6 bucks.

Great food for a great price. I’m vegan and it can be hard to find good, inexpensive eats. They don’t have a huge selection of vegan options, but what they have is excellent. I usually get the vegan falafel sandwich, which is super tasty. I recently had their vegan baklava (!!!) which was also amazing. Great place.

Pretty great stuff. I’ve looked for a while for good Mediterranean and couldn’t find it.
If you are new to this kind of food, you cannot go wrong with anything that said gyro or kabab. The meat was perfect.
My only beef, which has been everywhere I’ve been out here, is the dolmathes seem to be frozen, that or the rice was just too saturated. But really, that’s nitpicking, Yani’s were so bad I didn’t eat them, these were still pretty decent. This was good stuff. Coming from Detroit area where we have a huge Greek population, I’m picky. But boy I love it when its done right. This, was done right.

Wow this is a great Mediterranean restaurant. The chicken n lamb plate is super delicious. Salads wil blow u mind. Luv it every of this place. You wont be disappointed. :-)

If you like middle eastern food or good/​okay/​passable service, keep looking. This is not the place for you.
I went here with pretty low expectations (the exterior embodies a «hole in the wall» atmosphere), but it managed not even to meet those. After all the raving reviews on here and the proudly displayed «best falafel» signs, I had to get the falafel. It cost about $ 5, and it was worth about $ 3. It took about half an hour (way too long for a fast food sandwich), the falafel was cold, and she messed up the order. When I asked her to fix it, I was told that I should take it as she gave it to me because it’s better that way.
Don’t waste your time or money here.

My second visit, and it was awful. The food was a rip-​off. It was a daily special: stuffed cabbage. They told me it was filled with lamb and rice. The lamb consisted of an occasional tiny shred. I found two actual small pieces big enough to be tasted. I was stuck with lots and lots and lots of rice. I should’ve sent it back. Of course it is a self-​serve joint, so no help.
I was hungry so I ate it. When paying at the counter I said I was so disappointed. The woman just looked at me and made no response. It wasn’t crowded or anything.

Well I liked the food although I had chicken Tika plate;
Chicken was good = 2 stars
Salad — meh
Yellow rice tasty but a little dry = 1 star
Atmosphere … So so
All in all 3 stars

D-​Lish! We are glad to have the Sahara in the neighborhood.
Thanks for cooking dinner Omar.

Sahara is probably my favorite Mediterranean restaurant in the UNM area. Great falafel and vegetarian platter! The staff is so nice and helpful and everything is fresh.
There is an authentic ambiance inside and it is kept very clean.
Plus they serve local craft beer!

Loved it! Omar is the BEST! Awesome Chicken Shawarma, Turkish Coffee was fabulous, and very nice baklava! Great night with the family!

Their lamb & beef shawarma was juicy, slightly tart, & wrapped in a pita with pickles. Very juicy, so mind the leakage & your pretty clothes. Saffron rice, nice yellow color but the flavor not quite enough saffron flavor, mixed feelings. The star is the Jallab drink. A cold, syrup drink consisting of grape molasses, dates, & rosewater. Its refreshing and definitely a must try. Its very sweet but it packs a flavor punch. Staff friendly, parking lot, huge dining space, & TV.

As we were eating our meal; my husband and I were stunned that we hadn’t eaten at Sahara before. We ordered the chicken shawarma sandwich and the beef and lamb shawarma sandwich. Both were fresh and delicious. The owner made us feel very welcome, and even took the time to share the best way to eat his sandwiches. I’m looking forward to going back and trying other things on the menu.

The Falafel sandwiches here are awesome. They remind me of a place in Vancouver that used to be good back in my College days. I had spoken so highly of this place to my boyfriend and when we went back a couple years ago, and the family from Fiji that ran it was gone. The sandwich delivered was falafel blasphemy, soggy sad flavorless. Deserts falafel is no longer the glory that it was, but now I can get the memories anytime I want with a delicious walk able falafel wrap from Sahara. The tubular form is a classic representation of the this sandwich, and makes it easy to multitask walking and eating. Sometime yes I just want to literally enjoy food on the go. The New Yorker working the counter is a treat, he has been working both times we have visited. He gives the joint a big city feel.
The sandwich itself thin pita– not the yeast puffy kind. Falafel is fried fresh and has lots of flavor and spice, texture is crunchy and moist in the middle. Tahini sauce is what all tahini sauces should aim to taste like, Sandwich has lettuce and pickles on it too.
The last time we had shared a lamb shaswarma plate that had potatoes, house made pickles, hummus, dolmades, and also had a falafel wrap. All the food had been good here. It is quite filling as well. We has the arabic fruit punch soda last time and it is worth a try, though it does remind me of Hawaiian Punch with a bit of sparkle.