Shahrazad

I went for the lunch buffet before work at about 11:30. It was very good. I especially loved the spicy chicken and green beans. My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough variety for my liking, but otherwise the food was very delicious. I will definitely be back.

Never have I been disappointed with the food here. Usually a go-​to when it comes to going out to eat in Milwaukee. The restaurant is cozy and the service there makes you feel apart of the family. A few of my favorite eats are the lentil soup, and then the hummus appetizer along with the lamb shawarma plate!

This is one of the best places to get some good Persian and more generally Middle Eastern food in Milwaukee.
Personally, I really like their Chicken Koubideh as well as their Appetizer sampler.
Only problem that I have with this place is that when I ask for something spicy, they just throw a bunch of chili flakes on it. The spices just aren’t well integrated into the meal. Also, the lentil soup is kinda bland and dry.

Love this place. Good owners, good service, delicious food. Their buffet is a great deal. My Tunisian friend rates this place as the most authentic in the city. I agree.

I came here for the lunch buffet, and I was satisfied but unimpressed. The selection was limited and somewhat bland. With other great buffets in the area, for similar prices, I don’t know if I’d be back.

Had falafel appetizer with lentil soup and two main dishes of lamb and chicken shishkabob. Uninspiring for everything! Falafel was not fresh or crispy and blandly flavored– no garlicky or cilantro overtones, and it had more breading than chickpeas. (Competitor Casablanca on Brady St is far better, but my own recipe is best!)pita accompanied appetizer with a few sauces and pickled vegetables.
Lentil soup was bland, served without lemon wedge. Lamb not tender or succulent, and chicken was also inspired, although chicken came with more traditional onion, green pepper and tomatoes which helped. Lamb came with a tomato sauce and potatoes with zucchini. Both came with white rice with a touch of saffron coloring, but no exotic flavors.
All in all, disappointing. Casablanca is more authentic and tasty. (Send me an email if you’d like my falafel recipe:
!)

They would get a ⁵⁄₅ except I found a hair in my last bite of rice. What a treasure in a not so great area of Milwaukee. My husband really wanted to try some moroccan food, I wasn’t sure about it. I am now a fan! From the sauteed veggies to the chicken and lamb dishes, everything was superb. We were surprised at how empty the restaurant was when we first walked in (it was us and another group of 6). As we were finishing up 2 other parties walked in. We will be returning in the future!

lunch buffet was pretty good but i was the only one in there and got 1 refill of water. staff was friendly just a bit unattentive.

If you want a no frills dining experience but high quality food full of flavor. You found it! Probably the best middle eastern cuisine in Milwaukee. People that rave highly of Casablanca in Milwaukee on Brady street obviously know nothing about middle Eastern food or never been to shahrazards. They have hookahs as well. The décor and layout needs remodeling but I can look past the décor because I came to eat good food! The owner cooks the food himself with his wife’s help. The wait staff and customer service can be spotty because he hires college students that have between poor and moderate customer service experience. Parking in that area can be a chore. Park on side neighborhood streets and walk over. Its worth it you will be pleased. The falafel is cooked fresh on the spot. Not dried out from a heat lamp (see Casablanca). The food is made fresh daily. The dishes might take a few minutes to prepare and they usually tell you upfront. However they do use the services of college kids that have difficulty multitasking but they are still pretty friendly and helpful people with good intention (they tend to forget to mention this to dining customers, that food takes a minute to prepare as its made fresh on the spot when ordered). Give em a try you won’t be disappointed.

I was very excited to stumble upon this place in Milwaukee that has my name! What could be better? Well a lot of places but it wasn’t bad. I took some Taiwanese friends and was excited to introduce them to Persian food. We had lentil soup and kashke bademjoon appetizer. They were pretty tasty. I was a bit disappointed we didn’t get some sabzi and noon o paneer to start out with. We all shared some kabobs and salad. The meat could’ve been a bit tastier but I did enjoy the variety of options. We had some couscous too which was pretty good with veggies and chicken. I had to drop the rating a tad because when the waitress was taking our order the phone rang at the register and she ran away to answer it. A bit odd I though especially since there was another waitress working. It also took quite a while to get our bill. Overall, this place was not bad for Milwaukee! Check it out.

Every time my husband and I eat at another Middle Eastern restaurant in the city I wish we were eating here instead!
The restaurant is pretty small but don’t let the ambiance fool you, the kitchen is really all you need.
The chicken kebab combo is my absolute favorite. The chicken breast chunks are fresh and so very flavorful. The ground chicken kebab is mouthwatering and balances the perfect amount of flavor and oiliness.
The rice is of course fabulous as well, topped with buttery saffron, how could you go wrong?
I definitely recommend this restaurant for any meal of the day!

Shahrazad serves up some of the best baba ghanouj and the most heavenly hummus in Milwaukee. The baba ghanouj is smooth in texture and tangy in flavor. The hummus is unbelievably creamy and features the perfect blend of seasonings while the tahini lends a subtle, nutty flavor. The restaurant is definitely vegetarian friendly. In fact, this evening I ordered the vegetarian combo with baba ghanouj, hummus and yalenjee (grape leaves stuffed with rice, tomatoes and spices). My dining partner ordered the lamb shiwarma sandwich. The lamb is incredibly tender and tasty! Service is swift and comes with a smile. I did not indulge in dessert during this particular visit. But, based on previous experience, I’d encourage you to order the baklava. Perfectly flaky crust with just the right balance of nuts and honey. Who am I kidding? Order a sampler of all the desserts they offer. You won’t regret it.

My boyfriend and I went here to try something out of our comfort zone, and we’re glad we did!
We got the appetizer sampler platter and tried a bunch of food including baba ghanoush, different types of falafel, hummus, and this stuffed grape leaves dish. The baba ghanoush was by far the best, very tasty! The stuffed grape leaves weren’t really my thing, they kind of tasted like tea, maybe they’re supposed to taste like that?
After that we got the lamb shawirma and lamb sandwich, both very good. The service was super friendly and helpful! My only complaint was the temperature, it was very hot and stuffy.

I’ve loved coming to this place since 1996. The food and staff are always terrific and deserve 5 stars. However, this is the first time I’ve experienced the 2 big, imposing TVs right in the middle of the main dining room. The quiet ambiance I was looking forward to is now gone. No more interesting ethnic music. If I wanted to watch the Brewers lose, I’d go to a sports bar. Please, lose those TVs. They kill the mood.

Nice combo of Middle Eastern (and I think North African too) and Persian menu items, with lots of interesting vegetarian items. Lots of restaurants with these types of cuisine stop at hummous and falafel for the non meat eaters, but there was plenty here on the menu to choose from. We started with the lentil soup, hummous, and kahskeh badmejan, which is possibly my favorite Persian appetizer. All were good, and the kashkeh badmejan had a really deep, roasted taste, one of the best I’ve had. For entrees we had the mojadra (lentils and rice topped with caramelized onions), and the shakshooka. I had only had shakshooka with eggs before, but it was a great stand alone vegetable dish with rice. I ordered it «hot», and it was spicy, but not mouth burning hot — just perfect. An all over good vegetarian experience.

We had a quick dinner here the other night before going to the WAC for a fitness class. My husband ordered the shawarma sandwich, which he really loved, and I ordered the fattoush salad. We had baba ganoush and some yogurt/​cucumber dip as appetizers.
I really liked the baba ganoush, but my salad was subpar. There just wasn’t a lot too it, and the fried pitas were really, really hard. The yogurt appetizer was also disappointing — $ 6 for yogurt that has essentially no flavor? No thanks! Luckily, I used it to make soup the other night, so it didn’t go to waste.
I’m not too impressed with their service usually, but we had a nice server who was able to get us out in under 30 minutes, which we appreciated. It was annoying to wait so long for water, though, and many of the appetizers are overpriced. I’ll stick with Moe’s or Casablanca!

Meh.
The lamb was great, but the rice and appetizers left something to be desired. I’m middle eastern so no one cooks as good as my momma! …that being said Ramallah takes the cake if you want awesome middle eastern food, dare I say even casablanca is tastier than this place. Granted that’s arab and this is Persian and yes there’s a difference.

You may need to take the ensuing overly enthusiastic endorsement of this restaurant with the metaphorical salt of this particular context.
There is an ancient and venerable tradition in my Sinhalese Buddhist family, as we are members of the Salagama caste best translated as the physician-professor-scientist-immigrants-who-can’t-admit-that-their ancestors-​were-​poor-​cinnamon-​farmers-​for-​the-​Portuguese. Since time immemorial when the men in our clan reach our fifth decade we are required to engage in the ages old ritual we call the colonoscopy. This ascetic ritual involves a long day of fasting, ending in the consumption of secret potent magic water that spiritually drains but mystically prepares the body for the introspective gastroenterologic ceremony. It was after this rite of passage (indeed intended), that the Chief of Staff drove my groggy and ravenous cleansed self to Sharazad.
I’ve been here before and always thought it was okay, but this time was my first for the buffet. Usually at these Middle Eastern restaurants, ordering off the menu is better, but the lunch buffet here is delicious. I had four plates. It isn’t just vegetarian like some of the others, and the selection isn’t as wide, but the food that is offered is much tastier. There is an excellent beef kebab and a different chicken (after not eating for a day and a half to hell with karma, Lord Buddha himself died from eating spoiled pork you know), the rice and couscous is fresh made and marvelous, a great selection of fresh and cooked vegetables. I had four full plates, and would have had more but the Chief of Staff was worried I would explode like Mr. Creosote of the Monty Python skit. Their Turkish coffee is more Magreb style, but delicious.
They lose a star because the one highly competent waitress is not enough for all the tables when they get even half busy, and she won’t tell any fascinating tales as the name of the place would suggest. Don’t be stingy on the tips like the table next to me, she is working hard for her money.

I love this place! The lentil soup is amazing and their pita sandwiches are perfect. It’s nice to have a relatively healthy restaurant close to campus with good service.
I need to try more items on their menu, but what I’ve had so far has been wonderful.

Shahrazad isn’t the trendiest Middle Eastern in town, and it hasn’t changed much in the close to 15 years we’ve been coming here. You can expect a solid, traditional menu but no hookah rentals or belly dancing.
What They Do Well:
*Lentil soup — it comes with most dishes and can be order by the quart to go. It’s thick, rich and delicious.
*Grilled specialties — regardless of the meat, kebabs and shawrma come out moist and well seasoned.
*Veggie dishes — there’s a good sized section for vegetarians, and most of the apps are veggie too. The hummus is homemade and especially tasty.
*Service — it’s mostly college kids waiting tables but we’ve had unfailingly cheerful and quick service every time.
Room for Improvement:
*The rice that comes with most things is pretty «meh»
*Like I noted above, nothing has changed in 15 years including the décor. It’s not «bad», just a bit tired.
So — when you’re sick of waiting in line at Casablanca, head over to Shahrazad for some delicious, reliable eats.