Jerusalem Cafe

My husband and I love great ethnic food, and this is one of our regular spots in Charlotte. I love the veggie combo, as their baba ganoush is out of this world and their falafel is the best I’ve ever had. I used to enjoy making falafel, but I don’t bother anymore because they’re so good at Jerusalem Café. My husband always gets something different, usually a daily special or a recommendation by the owner (who is very nice), and he’s always been very happy. Even the kids love it — this year, our five-​year-​old requested baklava instead of a birthday cake!
If you’re with a group and want a real treat, spring for the family-​style dinner. I think it’s about 15 bucks a person, and they just keep bringing out dish after dish. It’s a really great way to try new things, and we absolutely loved all the food. Really impresses guests, too. By the way, they do let you bring in your own wine.
Look for the occasional Groupon for an even better deal.

Not at all what I expected. I’m new to the area so I surfed Groupon for some local deals and found this place. I love gyros and was really in the mood for one. I decided to go for the platter with fries which ended up being greasy sliced potatoes. (13 $) Definitely wouldn’t pay that for what I received. The meat was under seasoned and left a lot to be desired. I’m used to a thick fluffy pita and understand that these things may vary especially since this place is authentic but I would opt for a fat fluffy pita vs a thin pita cut into pieces. The falafel was delicious and the cook was super cute and accommodating, the food just missed the mark and isn’t enough to make me want to go back.

Not quite as good as kebab je or zeoutonis. But pretty decent. Baba ghanouj here is really good. They are always empty so service is always quick .
They should reduce prices by a dollar or so per dish. They might get more traffic.
Closest falafel place to my house, so I will continue to go there for a quick pickup order.

This place is the best! We have yet to try something we did not like. Hands down the best middle eastern food I have ever had.

I type this review as I have to finish cooking my to go order. Our chicken and beef were both under cooked. The food is also bland compared to similar restaurants. On top of these two complaints, portions were small and the food was overpriced. Really glad I had a groupon and didn’t pay full price.

Amazing! Amazing! Amazing!
Authentic! Authentic! Authentic!
I just got back from Israel a month ago from a long trip and I can honestly say that the quality of the food is just as good– if not better– and just as authentic as the food is in Jerusalem.
The Hummus is excellent– fresh, tasty, flavorful, rich, filling-​just the way it should be.
Falafel is out of this world.
Recipes and ingredients are taken and passed down from generations.
Owner/​Chef is wonderfully friendly and lovely.
***The authenticity of the restaurant includes the atmosphere– ***so note to other Unilocaler reviewers– when you eat in Jerusalem– there’s no showy music or fancy table cloths– everything is simple and focuses on the food itself and the people who you’re with.
If you want to have the best Middle Eastern food come here!
Bravo Jerusalem Café.

Nice little spot to grab a gyro. The server was very friendly and I was seated right away. I asked for extra onion on the gyro and it had none, but not the end of the world. Still a tasty treat. That being said, it’s actually pretty pricey for the amount and quality of food that you get. I spent $ 29 for a gyro, lamb plate and one sweet tea. The gyro doesn’t even come with fries. I’d definitely come more often if the prices were a bit more in line with the food and location.

This is by far the worst restaurant i been to. My chicken was burnt! The order was put in compleatly wrong and the food was truly tastless. The stuff grape leaves were pretty good. The rest, i would say go to a better place, specially with those prices.

Chicken was tender and great. Hummus amazing. Unfortunately the service was terrible and the tabouleh had WAY too much salt.

My wife picked up a Groupon for this spot so we gave it a go. Started with the babaganouj, it was delicious. Brought me back to my port call in Israel on deployment in ’99. We got the shamwarma plate with rice (with peas, golden raisins, toasted almonds), and the chicken & kufta kabob with tabouleh. This is a tasty must stop to broaden your food horizons.

This is the most disgusting excuse for a restaurant ever. When we entered, we were sure we entered a back door or something, the layout makes you instantly feel like you walked in the wrong door. No hostess or waitress to be found. The room is dark and no ambiance/​music/​nothing. After 10 minutes of waiting and no sign of anyone working in this «restaurant» we watched another customer walk out for not being served. Finally someone holding a chick fil-​A cup came out of the back and said «oh look customers, I should get someone» He went and got the waitress then left. The waitress came and brought our drinks, tea so old and dirty tasting I am sure they never clean their equipment. She promised to bring a straw out to me, came back cleaned off 2 tables wandered around and I had to ask her to place our order and for that straw. She said oh let me get my notepad I’ll be right back, 5 minutes later she came back to take our order. My husband ordered the falafel wrap with no tomatoes and I ordered the pie plate with salad. Husbands falafel wrap was laden with tomatoes and my pie plate a disaster. The bottoms of each pie was soggy and the top corners hard and inedible (like they were microwaved for too long) The meat and the chicken loosely resembled dog food out of a can and the spinach was definitely pre frozen not fresh. Even the salad had brown soggy lettuce. When I told the waitress I did not want it and that my husband wanted no tomatoes she begrudgingly took both away. Brought his back and never offered something different to me. She handed us the check with a $ 5.00 off credit for my inedible $ 11.00 plate. When my husband went and grabbed a menu to see if there was something different I may want the owner came out and said «I am not cooking anything else we are closing.» Mind you it was 6:00 pm on a Monday and they were remaining open. He was very rude. The waitress was sloppy, slow and not very nice.
So if you want a rude, poor customer service establishment who’s food resembles microwaved dog food go for it.

Best in Charlotte!
We love this place. Intimate setting and great staff. We recommend it to everyone!

What a weird little place. The arrangement of this place could not be more awkward: when getting something to go you place your order thru a 6 inch tall slit in the wall positioned so low you have to bend down to see who you are talking to. But to even access that slit you have to lean over a statue placed in front of the «window» area. To get their attention to place the order they have a bell for you to ring on the other side of the slit that you can use if you duck and your arms a long enough.
I’ve been there before but every time you have to call ahead to make sure they are making what you want to eat from their menu. about 65% of the time they do not have what you want.
Yesterday I ordered a whole rotisserie chicken and a 3 side item «meal» with baba ghanoush, salad, and rice. When I got home, we discovered there was no baba ghanoush and no chicken thighs. Instead there was some hummus and a large rolled up lump of chicken skin. I called the manager who repeatedly said ‘What do you want me to do about it’ and did not apologize. He did not believe me about the thighs. This place is friggin WEIRD!

I just paid 18.00+ for this and it didn’t even include onions peppers or tomatoes like they said it would. The portion size was smaller than it appeared in pictures. And instead of giving me fries like I asked for they gave me burnt chips. Really burnt chips. The food looked so beautifully played on the Unilocal photos… What happened?

WORST Mediterranean food ever!!!
Chicken kabobs were too dry and burned. Quantities not enough even for a single person. Only hummus was the thing which made me felt like eating Mediterranean food…
Server was in so much hurry that forgot to give water to kid.
P.S– To post a comment is mandatory to give a rating, so have to give a star… This place don’t even deserve one star.

Tastes close to the real thing. The grilled food and the starters are great. Everything is fresh and very tasty.
It seems to be a secret in Charlotte but if is worth the visit. We are coming back regularly.

The food here is flavorful, fresh and tasty. I’d say it’s my favorite Mediterranean restaurant so far. Sometimes the food takes a little longer to arrive since everything is made fresh once ordered so don’t get in a hurry.
The owner is very friendly but the one waitress I always see is definitely not why I keep coming — she is scatterbrained and doesn’t get in a hurry. She gets on my nerves but the food is good so I tolerate her.
The falafel and garlic sauce is amazing. I usually get the vegetarian plate but don’t be fooled — you’ll leave stuffed! My boyfriend loves the Jerusalem potatoes and they have the best hummus in my opinion.

Based on my limited experience.
I personally think this remodeling wasn’t good planning. The remaining space is too small to fool anyone in believing it’s anything else but a hole in the wall feels very confined and I’m left staring at the parking lot — which seems to be the norm around these parts.
There’s no lunch menu and $ 7 to $ 10 appetizers are way overpriced for this venue. Then again the owners seem to be a little confused on makes an appetizer … EIGHT felafels ?! Anyway they need to rethink the meaning of the word appetizer
At least the Hummus and the Baba Ganush are available as so called «sides» and priced and sized correctly ($ 4) as can be seen in picture #30. Nicely garnished with paprika, tomato, parsley and olive oil and they taste very good, a creamy hummus and the Baba had a clear flavor of roasted eggplant — which for me is the whole point of it! The bread which came with this was just triangles of pita pockets, meh. Now offer more choices as a side.
I also tried a Kafta wrap which was ok, juicier than usual but I didn’t love it. Mainly because I didn’t ask first and as it turns out it’s made with ground beef without any lamb meat. When asked the (very) young waitress told me the meat was grilled over an open flame but I doubt it, I thought it was cooked on a griddle.
And the Baklava was great, in a nutshell that wraps it up.
I’d say it’s great if you live in this neighborhood but since I don’t this one experience will probably be it.

I hate it when I get a certain craving from watching the Food network! This time it was chicken schawarma and falafel!
Scouring Unilocal led me to Jerusalem Café off Weddington Road… and what a find! I saw they had falafel in my search, but the schawarma was a bonus! It’s in a shopping center with a Harris Teeter and next to a TCBY. I was happy to find it was neat and clean inside, we went in and sat ourselves. There were maybe 8 – 10 tables inside and another 4 outside on the patio.
Our waitress was incredibly friendly and attentive. She checked on us just enough and gave us an overview of the wines. The chef (possibly also the owner) also popped out a couple times and was also really friendly, checking to make sure we were happy with everything and to see if we needed anything.
On to the main event — the food! We started with the falafel appetizer. The serving size was huge — 9 good sized falafels served with tahini sauce. My bad, I ate too many and was stuffed when dinner arrived! Overly excited about them, I guess. They were so fresh and homemade — possibly the best falafels I’ve ever had!
For dinner I had the chicken schawarma salad and my husband had the Jerusalem mixed grill (grilled lamb, kufta, chicken with rice and veggies). Well my salad was delicious… but…I had entrée envy when I saw/​smelled his! (hate it when that happens) We shared and both entrees far exceeded our expectations. I would suggest doing an appetizer (or two) and sharing the mixed grill — you would be more than full.
I am SO happy we found this place and will definitely be back asap!

I love this place. You can get an inexpensive falafel for lunch that tastes home-​made. Everything I’ve had here has been fantastic.
Grape leaves are the best I’ve had. I typically am not a fan of them but I tried them out and loved theirs.
Their tzatziki sauce is amazing. I get a side of it every time and add it to my falafel it’s so good.
The tabouleh is very fresh and flavorful, with a bit more lemon than I’m used to, which is a good thing and makes the other flavors pop.
And you *** HAVE TO TRY THEIR ‘FRIES’ ***. They are home made sliced potatoes that they fry up to perfection. So so so good.
The atmosphere is of a very nice café, and they recently made some interior decorating updates that make for a very nice feel. Some other reviewer had given, in my opinion, an unfair 3 star rating based the atmosphere, I’d bet they would like the place much better now, though it never deserved a 3.
I’d love to see them come up with a lunch special, as getting a falafel and a side is a tad on the pricey side, though worth every penny.
The family that owns it have been *very* nice to us, they remember us, say hello and smile and wave when we come in and we always chat a bit. I like that. Makes you feel like you’re part of a community.
Highly recommend for a nice lunch or causal dinner.
EDIT: Updated review to reflect new interior decorating upgrades made.