Al-Amir Cafe

While the food here is amazing! Everytime I come to Cincinnati I stopped in at this Café. I love to watch them cook the food on the Spits the taste is even better. If you’re in town make sure you stop here it’s worth your while. Prices are great too!

I got a carry-​out gyro dinner and fatoush salad. The gyro meat was decent. The rice was very flavorful. The fatoush would probably have been better, if everything wasn’t scrunched into the same carry-​out container. By the time I got back to my hotel room, I had a limp, steamed salad. Still, probably worth a return trip; I’d just eat in or ask for separate containers.

Working right around the corner from Al-​Amir has it’s good and bads for me. The good: I can get delicious Mediterranean food whenever I want for a good price. The bad: I’m gaining weight because I’ve eaten one too many chicken shawarmas.
Al-​Amir is a no-​frills middle eastern café on Vine St. next to the Westin. When you walk in, it borders on dingy. Don’t let it’s appearance deter you. After all, you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover right?
The employees are always extremely friendly and they make an effort to have a relationship with you. They’ve gotten to know nearly everyone I work with and they’re always genuinely happy to see us. I’m genuinely happy to see them too, because I can get my gyro and greek fry fix in under 10 minutes.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive option downtown, I highly recommend Al-​Amir. There’s no reason to venture to the Wendy’s down the street when you can get authentic Mediterranean eats three blocks away.

I went there today because I had a craving for a Gyro. I walked in and was greeted by the owner of the restaurant. I decided to go with a gyro, some fries, and a drink. The total came to about $ 10, and I paid it. My order was ready and I decided to eat-​in. The gyro was «OK», nothing too special, very few vegetables inside, and the sauce had no flavor. Overall it was edible but nothing special.
Finished my meal, and thanked the owner and left the store. As I exited the shop, I noticed a sign on the sidewalk that said, Gyro+Fries+Soda for $ 7.99. The owner had charged me $ 10 as if I ordered A La Carte, since he realized I had not seen the sign outside and wanted to add a couple dollars in his pocket.
Seems a bit dishonest to me. If an owner of a restaurant is dishonest about things like this, makes me nervous about other dishonest things he may be doing related to food quality…
I will not be returning.

Not the best Mediterranean food I have ever had, but the falafel was good, the fries were hot, and the price was reasonable.

Food here is really amazing. The gyro is fine, but if you haven’t explored middle eastern street food much, you’ve got to try this place, get a little adventurous and imaginative and get a few different items over several visits to see what you like. If you like middle eastern, I guarantee you will find at least one thing, if not several, that you love. I eat here several times a week. Turkish chicken, chicken biryani and chicken schawarma are all excellent. So are the fatoosh salad, hummus and baba ganuj. I’ve lived in Chicago and DC, and this is some of the best middle eastern street fare I’ve had. It appears to be locally owned, and they seem to make everything from scratch. And the people who work there (i assume they own it) are the proverbial salt of the earth. I accidentally left an expensive designer shirt there once i had picked up from dry cleaner. They kept it, recognized me (i had only been there a few times) and gave it back next time i came in. They care about the food and the customers and are always polite if not pleasant. Chipotle and [insert list of other chains] are fine [I guess], but cities need places like Al Amir to be interesting. It’s the kind of place that I imagine Anthony Bourdain might stop into if he ever came to Cincy and was trying to show the variety of offerings here. This place should be mobbed for lunch and dinner, but i rarely have to wait (I do go at weird times). Be forewarned, not much space to eat there, and to say it’s not luxurious is an understatement. But the food is authentic and seriously delicious. If they ever move or close, I’ll probably weep.

Falafel heaven. Haven’t had this good since Israel street vendors.
I know where I’m getting lunch while at work!

We get lunch here a lot. OMG it’s good. First of all, they have the best salads. Second, I guess the other food is good because everyone likes it. The falafel is good. I can say that. The hummus is good. The baba ganouj is the best.
The best thing about this place is the workers. I really love them. I mean, sometimes we just came here to eat because the workers are cool.
The food is good, too. It’s kind of a carryout place. I mean, and it’s very fast food. We get only half an hour for lunch, so this is the perfect place to go. Like I’ve enjoyed it every time I got food from here. Please eat here. This is one of my number one lunch favorites.

This is where I go to get my gyros downtown. Their meat mixture is beef and lamb and they have seats inside or you can take your food to fountain square. They don’t skimp on the meat either. While I love eating their gyros, my favorite thing here is their fries! They have incredible fries. My only criticism would be that they take a while to have your order ready especially if you come for the lunch rush.

Staying at a nearby hotel, I’ve been here twice for dinner mostly because it’s been open when I have returned to the area and don’t want to sit down to eat. Both times, inside was rather warm so I prefer to grab and go.
The falafel gyro That I got during my first time and reminded me of falafels that I have eaten in Israel. My second visit I got the chicken shawarma sandwich. Both were hefty portions and too much for me to eat in a single sitting.
I’ll continue to visit this place when I’m here for travel and agree that it’s one of the better «fast» places to eat in the downtown area.

I love this place. The Gyros are delicious! I get a Gyro and fries for $ 6.80. They are always super nice and efficient.
So, we went to the Greek festival this weekend, and the Gyros in comparison, were nothing up against Al Amir. Al Amir were much better! If that tells you anything.

Al-​Amir isn’t the greatest fast Mediterranean food in Cincinnati, but it’s solid. You can count on them to be open late on Sundays when you’re craving a gyro or want some falafel for lunch on a week day. Their restaurant isn’t flashy, and borderline divey, but the food is decent and the cost is low. It’s not a place you’d really want to go to sit down and have a meal; it’s more of a carry out place in my opinion. The staff are friendly and take little time to prepare your food so it’s nice when you’re not interested in being out for long or are under a time crunch.
I’d recommend this place to anyone who’s fine with fast food. You could do worse than Al-​Amir Café if you want a meal in ten minutes. Give it a try for lunch sometime if you’re downtown. Their gyros are tasty and exactly what you’d expect from a place like that.

Awesome Mediterranean place, you should try it.
I tried the chicken platter and falafel wrap, both were delicious.

Al-​Amir is a whole in the wall down on Vine St. near fountain square. When you walk past, you can smell the gyros and the Mediterranean spices wafting out of the kitchen. The menu is enormous so despite not really liking this genre of food, I though I’d be able to find something I like. My boyfriend ordered some gyro related dish and I got stuffed grape leaves, a Greek Salad, and Baklava.
The food was overall just okay (besides the Baklava, that was heavenly — but isn’t it always?). We got carryout quickly, but had to stop back in because they forgot the dressing for my salad (no big deal). It’s a typical hole-​in-​the-​wall, so don’t go there expecting big things out of the food, atmosphere, or service. In summary, just A-​OK!

We went on a Thursday for lunch and it was too hot to sit inside. The cashier was quick, the menu was extensive but everyone gets the gyro. The price was reasonable.
The gyro was great. The lamb was very soft and had a good flavor. The fries remind me of In-​N-​Out so they must be freshly made and with good potatoes.
I recommend this place for lunch because the order was very quick.

Went here with the team for a work lunch. We were walking form Longworth to the square and the idea of a gyro sounded good at the time.
Pretty standard gyro. The food was above average — no one in our group of 7 thought it was worthy of 4 stars. We were in and out quick which was nice, and it was a short walk to Fountain Square for a nice sit down lunch.
The service wasn’t the best, wasn’t the worst. We had one issue with our order, but they were quick to fix the problem.
Tasty meat, maybe a little light on the tzatziki sauce. Only one of our bags had an extra cup of it (I think the mega gyro). One co-​worker raved about the fattoush salad.
Tasty, hit the spot. Felt oily after (as you usually do after eating gyros).
Would go back if I was yearning for a gyro again.

First off, This review is based on a pretty short, limited taste of their food because my husband & I only got a gyro sandwich and feta fries to share. But from our quick visit I can’t say too many good things about the place.
The sandwich was good but the fries were a disappointment. They put cubed feta on the fries instead of crumbled. Because the feta isn’t crumbled into small pieces the cheese ends up not melting and just rolling of the fries and the cubes of cheese are too big to really enjoy with a bite of fries. Also this is the first time I’ve seen a place put Greek salad dressing on top of the fries… Thank goodness my husband asked them to put the dressing on the side because we tried some fries in the dressing and it just made them taste oily.
Like I said the sandwich was pretty good and they give you a hearty portion of gyro meat.
Lastly, the place itself was pretty jankity. Their plastic ketchup bottles had a ring of dirt around the lid, the place smelled like burnt oil and I just felt oily coming out. Trust me, we are not opposed to hole-​in-​the wall places… If the food speaks for itself.
It looks like from the other reviews that they have pretty good falafel’s so next time we’re in the area we will be back to try them and hopefully at that time I can give them a better review.

My wife and I were in need of a quick bite to eat this past Friday evening. We were originally thinking of having an appetizer at one of our usual spots near Fountain Square, but after finding somewhat large crowds we decided to stop at Al-​Amir Café instead. My wife had tried Al-​Amir a week or two ago and had positive things to say.
I was honestly a little skeptical after stepping into a tiny and somewhat dingy restaurant. However my wife reassured me and insisted that I try the chicken shawarma wrap that she had earlier ($ 4.99). On this visit she went with the falafel wrap (also $ 4.99). After placing our orders at the counter my wife took a seat at one of only a few tables while I waited at the counter.
I was able to see into the kitchen from the ordering counter and watched as the cook scooped the falafel and placed each ball into the fryer. He also put a couple of pieces of marinated chicken breast on the grill for my wrap. I always like to see food prepared to order. I’m sure this could add some wait time during the lunch rush, but our food was ready in less than ten minutes.
Each of the wraps was topped with onion, lettuce, tomato, and garlic sauce. We added a side of fries ($.99) which were also fried to order and plenty for the two of us to share. I think I liked the falafel wrap slightly better than the chicken shawarma, but both were really good. The last few bites were pretty messy but totally worth it. Don’t let the appearance of Al-​Amir deter you from giving their delicious Mediterranean food a try. You are also likely to leave smelling like the food you just ate, but that is also totally worth it.

If the original Al-​Amir over on Eighth Street was spacious and comfortable and provided for a somewhat leisurely and pleasant lunch experience, the move to Vine Street turned Al-​Amir into the sort of cramped, frenzied, harried take-​out joint you might see in midtown Manhattan or the Loop in Chicago.
Creature comforts border on the minimal. It is strictly bare-​bones.
The food is very tasty in a short-​order Middle Eastern kinda way – big flavors with little subtlety, and lots of sloppiness. But if you order anything other than a gyro or gyro plate, you might be waiting a bit for your food, because pretty much nothing else is pre-​cooked. But in most cases, as with the spicy chicken shawarma sandwiches, the wait is worth it.
P. S. The former CM was wrong about Al-​Amir having been here «forever and ever.» It had been at this location only a few months at the time he wrote his review in 2011. But his mistake was understandable: the previous tenant was an outpost of the once-​ubiquitous Mythos, which was very similar to this in its threadbare appearance and style.
P. P. S. I tend to agree with those taking to task those who could label as «Greek» a restaurant called Al-​Amir, but in defense of those folks, Al-​Amir does offer stuff like «Greek Fries,» a «Greek Salad,» and gyros. So call it «Middle Eastern/​Greek,» in spite of the Arabic restaurant name. Or just «Mediterranean.»
UPDATE (⁸⁄₂₀₁₅): A recent gyro from here was really bad: Got back to the office with take-​out only to be subjected to terribly stale pita and dried out gyro meat. Hopefully it’s only a blip, and the track record suggests keeping the rating as-​is for now.
UPDATE (⁹⁄₂₀₁₅): Dove right back in, and ordered the vegetarian plate for the first time. Quite a good deal at eight dollars. A ton of food (esp. the flavorful hummus), pretty good falafel, and OK grape leaves and Greek salad. So that subpar gyro from a couple of weeks ago was probably was a blip indeed.

Color me shocked. I did not realize Al-​Amir was located a mere 2 blocks from my office. For under $ 8, you can get a gyro, a small greek salad and a sizeable amount of french fries. The gyro itself was pretty gratuitous. The meat was more than enough however the tasty tzatziki sauce was scant so I ordered extra on the side. The sauce is a little more herby than I’m accustomed to but delicious nonetheless. The service is quite speedy. You can almost snap your fingers and your food will magically be ready!
Check this place out for some cheap, quick lunch eats. However, don’t expect a pretty establishment. It’s pretty run-​down unfortunately.