Layla

I want to first start out by saying that I love Layla’s. That being said, I was SO disappointed with dinner last night. Maybe Sunday isn’t a good night to go? The server and hostess didn’t want to be there, it was That painfully obvious. I had the Moroccan Chicken. I normally love this dish. Unfortunately it tasted like salt. Like a whole container of salt had been dumped in. We will be back, but not on a Sunday!

Their musakhan wrap is the best food item I have eaten. The chicken is perfectly tender and juicy cooked with warm spices. Then the perfectly toasted and spice seasoned wrap adds the perfect extra crunch. Even though the service can be spotty (waiters can be a bit grumpy… but that was only once) the food always make up for it. Their rolls (only offered at dinner) and crab cakes are also delicious!
Overall fantastic place to go eat.

As an Iranian, I’m equally disappointed in the service and food at Layla. Absolutely rude waitstaff that point blank told us «we do not have high chairs or accommodate families.» I’ve been surprised by rudeness before but not to this extent, especially coming gel this type of establishment. Their prices and quality is not on par with other similar establishments.

The food is always delicious and the service is great. Every dish we have ordered is unique and perfectly seasoned.

Always looking for great service and good food in the SLC area… had a party of five and each and every dish we ordered was excellent including the appetizers. Service was timely and very friendly. We had two children in our party who actually have very sophisticated palates and they enjoyed the rolls, lamb meatballs, chicken shawarma, and mango ice cream! The adults feasted on the Moroccan Chicken, Eggplant Moussaka and Lamb Kebobs! If you are familiar with Middle Eastern cuisine… you will not be disappointed… great evening!

My new favorite place to eat in the valley. Food, service, atmosphere all top notch.

Really excellent food. Love the fries. Though they do take themselves a bit seriously and are somewhat unfriendly to bringing kids.

No complaints other than the slow service. My daughter and I had lunch here in October and enjoyed our meal. The humus is really good. The prices are somewhat high but the portions are big. I found the owner, an older woman whose appearance appeared harsh due to her constant frown, to be amusing and actually pretty nice. The restaurant is nicely decorated and very clean. Since the place is so small with tables pushed closely together, I would recommend going at off times and perhaps without little ones who require high chairs. I would go back again.

Tried this place after hearing about them on the npr station. Nice décor and interior. Additional parking in the back. The food is not great, especially when compared to Mazza. At the same time it is not bad, but having tried the cuisine, it comes off as mediocre.
The service is great but the food lacks the punch. They lack that special something.

Overall experience good.
The special of the day was Trout and it was amazing. Served with rice and asparagus. Top notch. The falafel was ok, we’ve had better. We would go back.

I went there with a friend. Very much overrated, the two stars i gave are for the place as a whole but not the food. The place is nice but the food is less than good (being from middle eastern origin, this is way NOT the way we serve food!) i orderedFalafel which was badly wrapped and i had a really hard time eating it!
Very expensive as well! There are way better Middle eastern restaurants in the valley and much cheaper!
Definitely not going back again and not recommending the place to anyone.

Was passing through SLC last night and decided to try Layla’s based on a friend’s suggestion.
The four of us took a table in the bar and proceeded to order our dinners.
I am happy to tell you that the beef short-​ribs that I enjoyed (with broccoli and some delicious rice) paired with a nice red wine turned out to be a very delicious dinner.
Additionally, the prices were reasonable and the service very attentive.
I encourage you to try it — I will again next time I’m in town.

This place is totally overrated. Not terrible, mind you, but certainly overrated, and both bland and expensive enough to make it not worth my while to eat here again.
I also agree with a previous reviewer that they take themselves way too seriously, especially considering the relatively weak caliber of this food. not the friendliest folks in the Valley, put it that way. Considering the stand-​off-​ishness, I can very easily envision their aforementioned aversion to children here, too, so parents beware!
I finally made it in for lunch today, but probably won’t be going back, unless I’m invited by someone else. I had been in before to pick up a menu and take a look at the place, and picked up instead on some pretty cold, stiff, vibes and some hard looks from what seemed to be the delusional proprietors trying over-​earnestly to cater exclusively to what they perceive to be a snobby, discriminating, upper-​crust Holladay/​Cottonwood/​East Bench clientele. Nonetheless, thinking this might have been a fluke, my wife and I went in today for the full experience and ordered a decent variety of items.
I really don’t understand how they’ve received all the ‘Best’ awards for years running consecutively, unless it was for décor. I’ve been eating Mediterranean/​Middle Eastern/​Greek/​Lebanese/​Persian food enthusiastically for decades, and I’ve definitely had better… lots better.
The place is very nicely decorated in an airy, modern, Persian-​Art Deco motif on the inside, and is very ethereal and pretty looking, but the food was unoriginal and quite bland; Very nice presentation on some of the items, and above mediocre for sure, but seriously nothing to write home about.
Really good french fries, though– The kids will love them!
Mazza, and even our good ol’ reliable friends at The Med do a much better job at good-​tasting food of this type than these guys. Again, the operative word at Layla is BLAND.
Skip it.

Unilocalers, you really steered me wrong this time.
Layla has been on my to-​eat list for months, and I finally got a chance to check it out for lunch this week. Boy was I disappointed!
While I am not Middle Eastern myself, I was lucky enough to grow up eating middle eastern food from many different regions — Pakistani, Turkish, Israeli, Afghani, Persian. I’ve eaten it all, and I’d consider myself familiar with the dishes and flavors.
We ordered a combination platter of mezze (small dishes) contained Kibbeh (beef meatball/​croquette), Hummus, and Hollum Cheese as well as a Lahm Bi Ajin (Flatbread with ground beef).
First, the portions were a JOKE.
Even though the menu describes the item as croquette[s] PLURAL we got one kibbeh about the size of a hard boiled egg along with a tiny portion of hummus and a sliver of cheese so small I could have eaten it in one bite. If the laughable portion wasn’t bad enough, the spices and flavors of all these items were totally wrong. The meat was bland and had zero heat. The hummus was also severely lacking in flavor and far from the best I’ve ever tasted.
To summarize, my experience at Layla consisted of a bland, unoriginal, and severely overpriced meal. If you’d really like to be WOWed by middle eastern dishes, I highly recommend spending your time and money at the newly opened Café Zaferan (
) instead.

I took my kids and wife to Layla and was blown away. We were walk ins with no reservation. My wife is of Turkish nationality, so we know this food extremely well.
A little pricey and honestly weird to have fries on the menu (which were excellent, but bring on the kebob) the food, service and ambiance were all excellent and well beyond expectation.
Some of these other reviews talking about don’t bring the kids — didn’t happen with us, we were
treated first class.
Absolutely coming back and bringing the kids with us.
1000% better than Aristos or Mazza and brings uniqueness to food from the region.

Don’t take your children to Layla. No, seriously, don’t – little ones are neither wanted nor welcome. As for whether you should go there yourself, I’d say maybe, possibly, but probably not.
We decided to give Layla a try because we love Mediterranean food and after having lived and traveled extensively in the region, we were excited to try a new restaurant that features the cuisine, especially one that was so highly rated on Unilocal.
Because we wanted to take our children, who are both well behaved and accustomed to eating out, we made a reservation for 5:00, which is when they open. We love our kids and think they’re great, but we also understand that some people don’t want to dine with children (even well mannered children) so we always arrange to eat at restaurants before they get busy.
Unfortunately, our children were not welcome at Layla, in practice if not actual policy, even though we were literally the only guests in the restaurant for over 45 minutes. When the hostess, a grouchy senior citizen (perhaps the family matriarch?) saw we had kids in our party, she was visibly hostile and rude. We asked if they had a booster seat for our preschooler and she responded «we don’t offer those» in an incredibly brusque tone. I have no doubt that if we had not made a reservation, she’d have refused to seat us at all, like another reviewer experienced.
Once seated, we took in the restaurant itself, and it is very chic. It avoids the typical, gaudy décor that is so common in family-​run ethnic restaurants. The restaurant is very tasteful and simple, with a modern vibe.
Our server, Liz, was very knowledgeable and recommended some mezze for is to try. And our glasses, though small, were never empty. The wait staff was a large improvement over the hostess.
The food itself was a bit disappointing. Our hummus, though topped with an excellent olive oil, was very, very bland. There was no hint of sesame, garlic, or any of the other usual spices. The muhummara (a red pepper, walnut, and pomegranate molasses dip) was better, but not as good as what other places in the valley offer. The pitas used for dipping were a bit cardboard-​like in texture, maybe left overs from yesterday.
We ordered a variety of entrees. My chicken skewer was boring and dry. They served it with a garlic aioli, which helped somewhat, but the overall flavor was only of charring, and not in a good way. The lamb was over cooked and dry as well. The lavash wraps were good, but not great. The moussaka was probably the best thing ordered by our table. I’d give the food three stars – edible, but certainly not life changing.
As we finished our meal and other guests began trickling in, it became clear the staff wanted us OUT. They took our plates, which still had food on them, without asking if we were done. When they gave us the bill, they stood there waiting for us to produce our card and they had it back to us for a signature in about 45 seconds. Our children were not making noise, but it was clear the staff was done with us. As we walked out the door, the elderly hostess gave us such a sour look, I couldn’t believe it.
Layla clearly considers itself a fine fining establishment, but let’s be honest, their menu consists of wraps, kabobs, and finger foods. All the entrees come with fries. I think they take themselves a bit too seriously.
And for all that, the food wasn’t that great. We’ve had much better Mediterranean fare at kitschy little Café Med (whose ambiance can’t touch Layla, but whose food leaves Layla in the dust). If you’re looking for a classy, quiet, child-​free restaurant, and those elements are more important to you than the food itself, Layla may be for you. If you want a knock-​your-​socks off meal look elsewhere. And seriously, don’t take your kids.
Personally, we won’t be back.

I only know of one other Lebanese place in SLC & their menu couldn’t be more different! It was a pleasantly surprise though Layla’s service far surpasses the other. I shared a plate with my partner but we couldn’t finish our meal, it was so large!

The only times I get to have Mediterranean/​Middle Eastern food is when I am in D.C. (And I only go there once a year). I FINALLY convinced my boyfriend to take me to Layla. He never had Mediterranean/​Middle Eastern food before so I was so excited that his first experience was a spectacular one!
We were the first customers in after 5:00pm so we had a lot of power, we got to choose where we wanted to sit, yay. Once seated, our server came quickly to our table and asked if we needed any assistance ordering and gave us their specials of the day. We ended up ordering the grape leaves, Moroccan chicken, Salmon with saffron butter, Layla fries, and a side of pita. My favorite was the grape leaves and salmon with saffron butter. The grape leaves were very citrusy and the salmon was literally melt in your mouth good, cooked to perfection. The chefs accidentally gave me vermicelli rice instead of Layla fries. Once I let our server know, he immediately went and put in an order of fries at no charge.
For dessert, my boyfriend and I were torn between the mini roses and orange blossom infused ice cream. We decided we will be back in the future and since we were so full, we got the ice cream. This is the part where Layla lost one whole star. While we were eating our ice cream, the cup that was holding it shattered out of no where! Either the glass cup was fairly cheap or we were hammering down that ice cream like there was no tomorrow.
Overall, amazing food, chic ambience, and great service. We will definitely be back. I have my eyes on the Turkish coffee with condensed milk and the mini roses. Hopefully we won’t break anything when we come back.

If you find your self in Old Town (new and fake, of course) Holladay with a hankering for Mediterranean/​Lebanese, Layla will service your basic needs. It will be expensive, however, and in every regard (other than cost) it will be a lesser experience than the one you’d have at Mazza.
Rosewater tea, lavash wraps, herbed fries, dripping-​with-​grease musakhen, $ 9 «spring mix» salad with two dominos of fried cheese, overpowering plug-​in air fresheners inside: for me, it’s a recipe for waiting until I can get back to Mecca … er, Mazza.

Gave this place 4 stars as the food was 5 stars the service was 1 star.
We were the 3^rd table to arrive, 4 other tables came after us and had their order taken before us. I went to the other server that was on the ball and asked if we could get our order taken? Finally the other server came out from hiding and took our order. We were furious, we sat there for 30 minutes.
We ordered a lot of appetizers to share between four of us. So excellent, so flavorful, so fresh.
The main courses were just as awesome. It was unfortunate we kept on asking for the same things over and over. I know Gordon Ramsay would shut the place down for poor service. :-)