Jerusalem Grill

Poor. Should have heeded the 2.5 star avg rating! During my hour long adventure, the waitress informed myself and fellow patrons they were out of the following items:
1. Ice — the machine was broke
2. Lemons
3. Cracked wheat for tabbouleh
4. Lamb steak
The food was marginal. Was offered tabbouleh as an included side item for my entrée and was charged extra. By that point I just wanted out! Paid the bill and moved on. Avoid this place!

Really good food… and I don’t say that often about restaurants in this town. Everything from the hand-​made dolmas (instead of the canned ones you’ll see in other restaurants), the creamiest hummus, fresh veggies and herbs in all the dishes (I’ve yet to find canned or frozen in anything), to the perfectly seasoned lentil soup, falafel, and — probably most importantly — the fantastic meat. They really do know how to spice and cook the meats here.
Only reason I can’t give it 5-​stars — the boring pita. Everything else here is hand made and fresh… why not the bread?
I’m not sure why this place isn’t booming. It reminds me of our favorite Mediterranean places around Chicago. Maybe the vegetarians haven’t found it yet…

This could be so much better. I’ve eaten here about 6 times since they opened. Agree with the other reviewer that the place is dark and really uninspired. Why do so many places open in our town with no thought to customer experience. They could put some nice artwork on the walls, plants in the windows, lightening that makes the room warm and inviting. It’s like a dim, dark version of a Subway in there.
The wait staff has always been nice but never the same and mostly always brand new. Ask a question and they go look for an answer.
The food is a mixed bag. I like their Falafel balls and the lemon rice soup is fine. I’ve also had a salad with rice that has potential. The biggest issue I have is the quality of ingredients. Gordon Food Service reigns here. The lettuce is iceberg, the tomatoes are barely pink, the rice is Uncle Ben’s and everything is canned that can be. I heard the owners moved here to open the restaurant but I wish they looked into what our town is about food wise: Fresh local ingredients are abundant and many locals support restaurants who use them.
I can imagine how great this place could be if the people who run it decide to become part of this town rather then just trying to make a living off this town. They could use and then advertise local vendors. I think they have good family recipes that would be really tasty with more fresh ingredients in them.
Athenian’s pay attention to what’s in their food. They support each other. I hope this place chooses to join in and I think it will thrive. College students come and go but to get regular year-​round local customers it helps to become a player in our local economy and to get to know what locals want in dining out. Casa, Salaam, Village Bakery and Jackie O’s are always busy, there is a reason why.
I love Lebanese food and I hope this gets better.

If you either care about your money or time, don’t come here :)

The food is great, and worth the recent price increase (and expanded menu). There is an extremely high turnover rate for the waitstaff, so a lot of the time you’ll be dealing with servers who are brand new.
I strongly recommend the mushroom/​onion sauté with rice.

I got takeout from here. I’d rather get food from here than from Habibi’s for your cheaper Athens Lebanese fix — I think it’s fresher. I got the lemon-​rice soup (it was alright), the tabouli (it was fresh), and the lamb grape leaves (I liked them). Decent place for takeout.

Decent lunch place and service was good. First visit. Falafel wrap was good as was kibbe and grape leaves. Grape were served warm which brought out the flavor. Tsaziki was tasty and garlicky… though it did not have enough cucumber for my liking. I will eat here again.

I’ve been there several times since they opened last fall.
The food is usually very good, but inconsistent. It’s never the same twice in a row. Seasoning and ingredients seem to change with every visit.
Service is usually slow. I’ve been there for lunch and had it take an hour to get a gyro. For dinner,
Décor is drab, dark, and uninspired. The took over after a Mexican place went out of business, and just removed the wall decorations. They need more lights, and color.
I had dinner there last night, and they were out of pita. How does a gyro place run out of pita? It makes me wonder whether the manager knows what he’s doing. I hope they get their act together because the food is really good.

If you want excellent Mediterranean food, good service, in a reasonable time frame drive to Parkersburg and try Chams. If you want to stay local and have the time, Jerusalem is good. The fries they boast on their website are overrated. Order tabbouleh instead. The lamb gyro is literally the most delicious handful of bliss ever. So good. As for service I give it 2 stars, but for tasty grape leaves and bliss in a gyro wrap Jerusalem merits, 3 stars.