Zooroona

Love the lentil soup and Al Dar house salad. Amazing! I loved the chicken biryani and my husband’s favorite is the chicken Kafka kebab. Staff is super nice and efficient. The spicy Moroccan soup was very flavorful and SPICY.

It’s never a great sign when you walk into a restaurant at 6:30 on a Friday night and find that there are only a couple of tables occupied. Still, I thought it reasonable to give Zooroona a chance based on its high rating on Unilocal.When all is said and done, I can’t say I’m glad I did.
One would think that a restaurant with seemingly more front of house staff than paying customers would offer prompt service. One would be wrong. I can forgive waiting nearly 40 minutes for food to arrive if I visit a restaurant during its peak demand, but I’m much less inclined to excuse such delays when a restaurant is nearly empty.
I cannot speak to how much attention is paid to the freshness of food, but if the beer is any indication, I’d be concerned. Seeing a 961 Porter on the menu, I decided to order a bottle. They were out, but the waitress mentioned that they still had the 961 Pale Ale in stock. So I ordered it. As the waitress was walking towards the table, she began pouring my beer into a frosted mug, and I had to call out to stop her. I see no problem offering patrons a frosted mug, but if that is default practice, say so before you start pouring, because some of us like our beer served at a temperature where you can properly taste it. As it happens, it didn’t matter that she began pouring the beer into a frosted glass, because I refused it after seeing that the bottle had a best before date from November 2015! To serve such blatantly out of date product raises questions about what they do with items that have no dates for the customer to see.
I could excuse both poor service and lack of competence by whomever manages the bar if the food were as great as other reviews led me to believe. But I must say, having sampled three different dishes, I don’t believe that to be the case.
The one dish that I found to be quite good (if rated independently of the other dishes and the overall dining experience, it would merit 4 stars) — the «Turkish Pizza» — is a June-​only special. Insofar as there is no cheese, and the only tomato sauce is that which the ground lamb is cooked it, I think calling it a pizza is wildly misleading. And if the menu hadn’t said it, I’d not have guessed it was made on naan in a million years, because the dough was far thicker than any naan I’ve ever encountered. Regardless, the lamb was exceptionally well seasoned. I’d be thrilled if I could find a dish like this locally.
I also tried the «Persian Batata,» which is listed as a signature dish, and consists of «diced potatoes sauteed with garlic, cilantro, and spicy hot sauce.» I’m not sure what the hot sauce was, but it tasted like the same kind of terrible buffalo sauce you’d be served on discount wings at a sports bar. As buffalo sauce isn’t something which exists in Turkish or Middle Eastern cuisine, this was a most unwelcome surprise. Not as objectionable, but still not something I was impressed with, was the «Moroccan Veggie Tagine.» The cous cous was excessively dry, the level of heat oversold («fiery» is not even close to accurate), and the taste far too sweet overall.
It’s possible that the selections made at my table were merely unfortunate, and that I found myself visiting on an off night. But there’s nothing about what I experienced that makes me eager to visit again given the two hour round trip and the existence of multiple other well regarded restaurants in Kalamazoo that I’ve yet to patronize.

What can I say. I was blown away by the food and the wine. Most everything is made in house. The best middle eastern food I have ever had. If you like middle eastern food and you are near Kalamazoo. This is s must stop I place

Glad I found this place. The menu has a wide range of Mediterranean options. My only disappointment is the lahmacun/​Turkish pizza is no longer on the menu. The kofte kebap and masaka were both very good and freshly prepared. The surprise high point of the meals have been the salads. The Al Dar and Fattoush are outstanding.
The service is as good as the food; very attentive and friendly. On my first visit, the owner walked about and welcomed the diners. He paused at my table for a pleasant conversation.
I will come here again as I visit the area.

An excellent and authentic Middle Eastern food restaurant. But, what sets this place apart in Kalamazoo, is the excellent wine/​beer/​liquor selection. From the soups/​salads, to the entrees, to the desserts, the food is outstanding and the menu choices are excellent. This is a great option in Kalamazoo near downtown.

I absolutely love the food here. The lamb hummus medley is one of my favorite dishes from any restaurant. Excellent restaurant.

I dig Mediterranean cuisine. Everyone’s hummus, bread, lentil, tawook, etc. are all unique. This place is now on my short list and will make it hard to enjoy my favs back in the Detroit area as much.
–Lentil Soup = tight
–falafel = on point
–Berryani = been looking for one that has a flavor I really like since Market Square stopped making it. Trying it wherever I find it on the menu. This one is my fav so far.
«Do you have beer?» I inquire to our server.
«Certainly we have 5 on tap…» She started listing them, all I heard was Two hearted… Uhhhhhh what?!? A Mediterranean restaurant with beer??? Real beer?- and yes –I was awake… I checked.
Solid.

I always search around Kalamazoo for new and interesting places to eat. And I was pleasantly surprised by Zooroona.
We were greeted at the door by the hostess, who was kind and seated us promptly at a booth by a window. The server came just a few moments later and took our drink order. She was sweet as well, although I cannot remember her name for the life of me. Anyway, she gave us enough time to go over the menu, she didn’t rush us at all like some servers do.
We ordered our baba ganoush and some olives, which were fantastic! The baba ganoush was a perfect combination of smooth and creamy yet chunky and savory. The pita was hot and slightly crispy around the edges. Really delicious. We went on to order our entrees; I decided on the shish tawook, and my friend got the chicken shawarma. We sampled out of each other’s plates, and everything was fantastic. The chicken was juicy and cooked perfectly, with just the right amount of seasoning. Some places just kill the chicken with heavy handed seasoning, not Zooroona.
The only thing I didn’t really care for was the Fattoush salad. Way too much mint for my taste. But otherwise the greens were fresh and crisp, and the tomatoes and cucumbers packed a ton of flavor. I will definitely be back at Zooroona.

Great, great service. I got the lunch item of the zooroona wrap for take-​out dinner and they were able to bake the falafels for me. Originally they said they had to fry them because they would fall apart but since it was in a wrap it would be okay. They even offered to try baking it and seeing if it tasted good before giving it to me, which I declined but appreciated. The wrap was delicious and the staff was so friendly! I even called back after eating the delicious meal to let them know it was great!

As a vegetarian, I’m always looking for good Middle Eastern food. Without a doubt this was one of the best vegetarian platters I have ever had! The falafel was moist and delicious. The baba gannouah was also exceptional!

Just AWESOME flavor! Definitely try this place!!! We had the beet and feta dip, kafta kebob, and some kind of shrimp dish (spicy). All of it was phenomenal and the flavor a were distinct. They mixed well together. I definitely recommend the things we tried. The service was great. When I pulled into the parking lot I was a little iffy but when I entered the restaurant I felt much more at ease. The décor is tasteful and relaxing. The shrimp dish could’ve been spicier (I can’t have a lot of spice and it was not spicy enough for me). Overall, this is definitely going down as one of my favorite places. At least three regulars came in while I was there so it looks like it’s frequented often.

Amazing Mediterranean. Veggie appetizer platter was super tasty, service was very good and they had microbrews on tap. I’ve eaten a ton of Mediterranean food and this is one of the best I’ve had. Make sure to try the beet and feta dip!

Very pleasant surprise.
The spicy potatoes, turkish tea, and prices will have me back in no time.
Excellent.

Great Food! We often go to the buffet on sunday for lunch, which is FANTASTIC. The hummus and baba ganoush is the best I have ever had. Service is pretty good, they are very friendly and helpful. I would recommend it!

Update your restaurant timing on your website at least.
I drove all the way here to find out they have changed the timing. The waitress asked me to check the updated timing on the website! Well I don’t think she had checked it herself. The menu, Unilocal and even their website shows the restaurant is open from noon to 9:00 pm on Sundays and the waitress said they are closed from 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm on Sundays !

I don’t come here nearly enough, because the boy doesn’t enjoy Mediterranean food as much as I do. This place is a gem. Everything I’ve had (and I try to order something different every time) has been fantastic, with the exception of the Beef Borek appetizer, which was dry and bland.
Zooroona makes a killer baba ghannouj, and their hummus with meat is on point as well. Their garlic-​yoghurt sauce is killer, and their shawarma has always been tender and delicious whenever I have ordered it.
The falafel is awesome as well, and I literally have dreamt about their kibbeh before. Kafta kabob, shish tawook and chicken biryani are all very tasty. The salads are fresh, crisp, and the dressing is excellent.
Great selection of vegetarian entrees as well.
I’m hungry now. Maybe I’ll have Zooroona for dinner today.

Excellent lunch buffet for $ 12.99 on Sundays from noon to 14:30. I ate here with my daughter when returning her to WMU after Thanksgiving. We were planning on eating at an Indian restaurant in the same strip, but it was closed.
The buffet was well-​stocked and clean with salad, pita, hummus, baba ganoush, garlic paste, falafel, one lamb, two chicken, one beef, two vegetarian dishes, lentil soup, rice pudding and baklava. I love a nice, smoky baba ganoush, and this one was great, no overpowering flavors, silky texture. We both loved the falafel with garlic paste, and the vegetarian dishes as well. One contained potatoes with feta; the other was perhaps a deconstructed moussaka.
The atmosphere of this restaurant is lovely. It has a nice bar with a good wine list. They serve on gorgeous plates, too. We’ll definitely go back.

What a hidden gem! Hands down the best experience I’ve had at a restaurant in a long time. I came in at sort of an odd time, about 4pm, and there wasn’t anyone else in the restaurant. I thought maybe this wouldn’t be well-​received, but it was completely the opposite. The owner happily welcomed me in and I had a seat at the bar.
I ordered the Hummus as an appetizer and the Sultan Shawermah Wrap for my meal. It came out very quickly and it was all very, very good. Also, for $ 16, this was a ton of food! I’m what my mom would call a «growing boy» and after eating a little over half of my food (I got the rest in a box to-​go), I was full for the rest of the day.
The service was absolutely incredible. The owner waited on me himself. He was friendly, he didn’t charge me for my drink, and he gave me extra pita bread to take home with the hummus without me even asking for it! And to top it all off, when he gave me the bill, he penned an «X» on the tip line and said, «don’t tip me, you came in and that’s enough for me.» I was amazed and I told him I would certainly be coming back.
Food: ⁹⁄₁₀
Service: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Atmosphere: ⁹⁄₁₀
Value: ⁹⁄₁₀
The bottom line: Superb service combined with a great atmosphere and fantastic, authentic food at a reasonable price. What more can you ask for?

Zooroona has the best Middle Eastern cuisine in the area!
The food always seems so fresh and perfectly seasoned. I especially like the Chicken Shawermah dinner. The Al Dar Salad is one of my favorite salads in town.
This past weekend, I tried the Sunday brunch buffet. There was a good selection of dips, entrees and desserts. There were lamb, chicken, beef and vegetarian selections. I thought this was a great way to sample the different foods Zooroona has to offer.
It does seem that when I go for dinner, it always takes longer than I expect it to. I don’t know if this is because the kitchen is slow or if the dishes are being cooked to order. Just know that dinner may take a little longer than you would expect at most restaurants.

I used to live in midtown manhattan and eat out frequently where there were at least 5 ethnic restaurants every square mile struggling to get your business.
I needed a restaurant for my wife’s birthday and chose Zooroona because French and italian are overplayed and we like AUTHENTIC ethnic food. Zooroona is the best Mediterranean/​Middle Eastern restaurant I’ve ever been to. Portion sizes are great and there was live music playing with our meal.
We started with the Turkish pizza which was delicious and the accompanying homemade harissa was not unnoticed. The taste was well balanced but in my opinion, the harissa should have been much much hotter but was probably made milder to not alienate clientele who are more sensitive to heat.
My wife had the Lamb medley served over hummus. My wife was happy that the lamb was not game-​y tasting at all. She ordered the Al-​dar zalata as the starter salad and that was delicious. She did not finish it all and we brought the rest home where it was still delicious the next day cold.
Myself, I ordered the moroccan kafta tagine to be made extra extra spicy; it was delicious, the accompanying couscous was both tender and fragrant. I ordered the Fattoush salad to try and honestly preferred my wife’s Al-​Dar Zalata.
We weren’t hungry for dessert but forced ourselves anyway… I had just merely mentioned in passing to our waitress that it was my wife’s bday when we first got there and we got complimentary baklava. That’s attention to detail. Since baklava is normally made with honey and my wife is difficult per her own words «I only like raw honey», she hesitantly took a bite and instantly lit up saying, «it’s fucking delicious.» I had the rice pudding which was delicious and spiced wonderfully.
For all that food described plus a turkish pot of coffee (1 pot =4 small cups of coffee) which was delicious came out to a little over $ 50. I will definitely come back when I’m in the mood for mediterranean/​middle eastern; I’m currently eyeing to try the spiced beef with figs stew
I could live without seeing my favorite kebob type, tikka, on the menu since there are a lot of styles of kebobs but the only thing that I wish Zooroona had that I didn’t see on the menu was a tagine possibly involving merguez which would be delicious. I could literally inhale Merguez but it’s IMPOSSIBLE to find around here and when you do, it’s americanized to the point that it’s not spicy anymore. I’m suffering from such Merguez withdrawal, I’m thinking of making it at home; «mirqaz kibda bi’l-liyya» (2:1 mutton to fat plus harissa, tabil [algerian/​tunisian spice blend], and salt) to be specific
UPDATE: I decided to add more information to be more helpful… With every meal, there’s complimentary pita bread that’s accompanied by olive oil and za’atar (Arabic herb and spice mix) which is wonderful here mind you. The trick is to take some pita, dip it in olive oil and then in the za’atar.
Chukran, zoorona. Salam.