CedarLand Bakery & Restaurant

Al i can say is I Love This Place! Best place to get pine nuts and kebsi spices as well, but I’m addicted to the small meat pies and the grape leaves (warm). I’m still experimenting with the menu, but i found the m’jehdra to be a little bland compared to my home recipe. There i think the difference is that I use carmélized onions which take a long time to make. Most restaurants can’t afford to do that. I love how this little gem keeps growing and expanding. And the owner is such a doll. I love, too, that her son helps her out even though i think he has other dreams. If you’ve never tried middle eaten foods, please ask. This is a Lebanese place (hence the cedars of Lebanon displayed in both the name and sign) which had been the most western of middle eastern countries before 1983 and the civil war before that. Beirut used to be the Paris of the middle east with banking and fashion like a European city. Many of the beautiful people have had to leave their beautiful country, and we are blessed to have them, and to eat the food prepared by their hands. Just as most of our ancestors once left their homelands when the government’s and conditions became intolerable and not a place to raise one’s children.

Best shawarma in Dayton. Authentic and wonderful service. Tried the hummus, chicken shawarma, spinach pie, and Lebanese coffee. All were delicious.

The food here is pretty good. I’ve never had a dud. I’ve eaten here a few times. I did have the buffet once on a Saturday and it seemed a tad overpriced and I wish they would label the food. I follow a vegan diet and avoided some of the buffet dishes because I wasn’t sure what they were.

My boyfriend and I were looking for a decent place after our terrible experience at Pita Wrap. I didn’t realize this restaurant was so close to us!
The inside restaurant features a few tables on the right and merchandise on the left. Most orders seem to be pick up, but a few customers lingered to dine-​in. They have a separate room for the buffet that they feature on Saturdays. And I will definitely check that out.
We ordered two steak sharwamas and a side of hummus. We really appreciated that they served the hummus to us as an appetizer… it was still a long wait for the food, but it was nice having the side to nibble on. And wow… when the sharwama ‘sandwiches’ came out, they were quite large! And DELICIOUS! Everything is priced at a low to average price.
We will definitely be back. We’ve found our spot for Lebanese food. :D

Weird place indeed. Lamb shank was done but not much taste. Ambiance sucks. Ugh. Depressing. Rice with meat was bland. No sauce on anyyhing. Wont be back.

I’ve been here on many occasions since moving to the Dayton area. Tip: Try to get something different every time.
The falafel wrap is a favorite as well as the Za’atar bread. They use good oil and everything is prepared fresh. The vegetarian sampler is awesome; fresh minty-​lemony tabouli, creamy baba gannouj, and tangy hummus. Everything is served with fresh, homemade Lebanese bread. The fattoush is fabulous and spinach pies are very good. The grape leaves are good, but not quite as firm and are filled with different ingredients than those used by my family.
Added bonus here is the availability of authentic Lebanese dry/​canned goods at a fraction of the price of «specialty gourmet» grocery stores or international isles of the supermarket.
The proprietress and her family are friendly and helpful to customers who are unfamiliar with Lebanese food; good service and great, fresh food at reasonable prices are what keep me coming back.

I’ve driven past this place several times and since groupon had a $ 5 for $ 10 worth of food, I finally decided to stop in. I ordered the chicken shawarma sandwich, tabouli salad, and three sweets (baklava & couple other cashew/​pistachio sweets). The food was very good. The only criticisms I had was the pita bread was a bit hard on the end and the tabouli needs to be chopped a bit more so that the stems are chopped well. The chicken, sauce & spices were very good. This sandwich reminded me of a gyro but different. lol The woman at the counter was nice, but kinda scattered — too many things happening at once. The small strip mall is not appealing. Cedarland is on one end and has an outdoor patio. I will probably go back to try a few more dishes (eg, beef shawarma & hummus). Caio!

I think I was a bit too harsh in my last review because the dish I got that time was not so great. I have eaten their food multiple other times and all my other experiences have been good. The spinach pies are SO SO good! Hummus is tasty too, it’s got a bit more of a bite and it’s less thick than what you get at the grocery store, I love it. THey must have changed their falafel because usually I love it but last time it was different and I wasn’t quite as keen on it, too fried. The tabouli is nice as well and I was also satisfied with the baklavah. Believe it or not, the french fries are actually wicked good here and so is the coffee.

Some places you like just because. A quirky order system, a middle eastern store on the premises, and sometimes an order takes longer than you like. It’s pretty authentic middle eastern food for the environs, and way less frou frou than its competition. Plastic forks, paper plates, and choice of Cholula or El tapatio at the tables.
But then…
You bite into the spinach pies and taste the za’tar. Or the fattoush with delightful small bits of crunchy pita and you wonder why all salads aren’t this lemon-​dilly-​fresh flavorful. Or that happy feeling after a good falafel sandwich. And the friendly family that runs the place, answers newbies’ questions patiently and explains their food. More restaurants should be like this. And it’s way better than the fast food chains sprinkled up and down its street. Pick up the Dayton city Paper, relax, people watch, and just take it all in. Even if they play Dana Halaby mixed in with better music choices. And oh yeah — a very good sign IMO — patronized by people from the region.
Word — dont get the french fries. Why did I do that? Should have got another baklava instead, or the delish almond cookies.

Authentic family-​owned no frills, order at the counter Lebanese cuisine. This is a great place to sample a lot of different types of Middle Eastern food for a very reasonable price. Our small kids loved the pita with meat and cheese on it (kind of like Lebanese pizza). I was close to giving the place five stars but the lamb schwarama (similar to gyros) was a little dry. Still, my wife’s falafel was good, the stuffed grape leaves we’re good, and I liked the hummus. Our family will be back!

I had eaten here quite a few years ago and was anxious to check it out again, I’ve really been experiencing a customer service slump recently and Cedarland didn’t break me out of it. The lady working the counter was super friendly so kudos for that, but my friend and I were the only people in the place for lunch and it took about 30 minutes to get our food, we almost had to leave to get back to work without eating. The lady suggested an eggplant dish with beef, rice, hummus, and tabbouleh, when it finally came out the bread, hummus, and tabbouleh were pretty danged good but the eggplant and beef was kind of like a mushy consistency, I wasn’t very happy with it and it really didn’t taste that great to me. Also, it seemed a little overpriced, $ 14.00 for the lunch special. Maybe I just caught them on a bad day, maybe I just ordered the wrong thing, who knows. May have to check them out again at some point in the future, won’t be rushing back though.

The décor, music, food, and people are very authentic. You can easily imagine you’re in Lebanon while you’re there — pretty neat.
Had the kousa and the boy had a beef kebab. It’s just like eating at a friends moms house. I don’t know much about Lebanese cuisine, but I’m guessing that this is very authentic. Great ingredients, and it was a dish with some flavors I can honestly say I’ve never experienced before.
Everything was homemade! So refreshing.
We’re going to come back to try the buffet so we can give it all a taste.

The food at Cedar Land isn’t bad. It’s about what you expect from a Lebanese mom cooking dinner for her family. If you’re from the middle east and you want a meal that will remind you of home, this is a good place to go.
But, for the price, I would expect a higher standard of food. Not to mention that real table ware instead of plastic forks and knives. Have you ever tried to eat a lamb shank with plastic ware?

Not bad, beats the heck out of fast food! I had the chicken shawarma and stuffed grape leaves. A bit pricey, I’ve gotten a lot more food for about the same price.

I don’t know who’s giving this place 4 or 5 stars, but I’ve eaten at this place at least 6 times over the last four years, simply because it’s Lebanese and I’m hoping to have a good meal, but alas I finally have to throw in the towel on this place. For full disclosure, I’m a Lebanese American who lives in D.C. where we can get good Lebanese food.
This place gives you bad Lebanese food. On my latest trip I stopped there and ordered chicken kabobs on rice, with sides of tabouleh, grape leaves and spinach pies (fatayer). I paid $ 16 and it took about 15 minutes to get the food. The rice was definitely not lebanese/​arabic in any way in either consistency or taste; the chicken was dry; the tabouleh was okay, the grape leaves dry and somewhat hard (they’re supposed to be oily and soft), and the fatayer was disgusting (the dough was hard and clearly freezer-​burnt and there was almost no spinach filling inside — pathetic).
Previous visits I’ve had netted the same general experience. Long timelines to getting your food (e.g. 15 — 30 minutes for a simple order). The food is not only a bad representation of Lebanese food, but borders on disgusting now and then. These guys clearly pre-​make a lot of their food, freeze it, and simply heat it up when you order it. This doesn’t apply to everything they serve — the hummus seems relatively fresh and decent tasting — but most everything else just doesn’t taste Lebanese or, for that matter, good. In speaking with the owner, who seems like a very nice lady, she indicated that she just can’t keep up with all the work. I’m not sure if she’s really busy catering events with little time or energy to making good food for the restaurant, or what. But I’m very suspicious when someone says that they can’t keep up with a restaurant — that usually means lots of corners are being cut, and you can usually taste the result.
Believe me, I really want to like this place. As far as I can tell it is the only Lebanese restaurant in Dayton. But I really can’t like it. The best substitute I could find, albeit a bit more expensive, is Pasha in The Greenes shopping area, 10 minutes away, off of 675 just south of 35 — it’s a Turkish restaurant and their food is somewhat close to Lebanese food.
Done. Never going back.

I’ve never had middle eastern food before.
My daughter and I tried their beef shawarma today. As someone else commented, it does take a little time to get the food but that’s because they prepare it fresh. The beef was tender and tasty with a nice crust from roasting. the pickled turnips were tasty as well. Overall, very delicious. I’ll have to go back some time and try a full meal.
The people were friendly and helpful. They offered suggestions and advice for a first-​timer.
Prices were reasonable too.

Great place to eat. From the outside the place looks like it’s small deli joint but once you get in you discover that the restaurant has a large dining area in the a joining space.
The food was great but the wait took a little longer than I had expected. When my boyfriend and I went in there was just another group of 2 people waiting for their food. We ordered the shwarma beef sandwich, the kafta sandwich, and hummus. The consistency of the hummus was runny and different than I am use to but still good. The sandwiches were tasty and had an interesting flavor from the spices that were used. The Shwarma seemed like it had a hint of nutmeg or something similar.
I’ll definitely come back here to try other items from the menu.

Cedarland is a delicious little find in Dayton. I was amazed when I walked in at the other items that were available for purchase. It was much more than just a restaurant/​bakery, offering many items one would expect to find in a local Lebanese grocery store.
The food was delicious, plain and simple. I ordered the Chicken shawarma wrap and I was not disappointed. The chicken itself was perfectly grilled and it was wrapped in a warm toasty pita that, if I am not mistaken, was freshly made.
I look forward to going back and trying something else on the menu.
If you are looking for a Middle Eastern meal, look no further.

We have been wanting to eat here for sometime, so we were happy when we drove by tonight at 8:30 and they were still open. So in we went and ordered dinner.
I got the Chicken Kabob sandwich, a thyme pie and the baba-​ganoush, all of which were deliciously flavorful. My husband got the beef sampler plate and enjoyed it. The menu has many other things on it that caught our attention, so we’ll most likely be going back soon!

Storefront family-​owned bakery and restaurant. Serves Lebanese/​eastern Mediterranean food (falafal, kebabs, and so on) for takeaway or dine in. Wonderful food, freshly baked bread, plastic plates/​silverware, friendly service and inexpensive prices. Very well regarded in the local Middle Eastern community, I understand from a colleague who is originally from the region.
On my last trip I had the Shish Kebab sandwich with a side of pita and hummus, and I definitely got my money’s worth. The baklava was warm and delicious. I’ve had the shawarma beef sandwich combo on earlier trips, and it was filling without being too large or messy. I especially liked having options for drinks other than the usual fountain drink liquid sugar. The juice and yogurt drinks offered something new and interesting to try.
Recommended for the inexpensive, casual lunch, and as an excellent break from the usual chain places. I’d go there once every week if I worked closer.