Sitti

I really, really like this place. Have been there twice and thoroughly enjoy their food.
Not a lot of time to specify what I had on both occasions, but needless to say it was great both times.

Fabulous food. Great service. Treated like a million bucks by owner. Love the Baklava, Hummus and lamb. Ate here a few weeks back with a colleague working at RedHat and found a new «must» for each visit to Raleigh. Looking forward to coming back soon.

The food is the same as my wife’s grandmother use to make. If you want authentic Middle Eastern food order the appetizers. That is what we have only ordered.

So my wife says, lets go to Sitti for brunch. I’m in! Wonderful hummus and salads with lots of quality vegetarian choices. Plus they can mix a really nice Moscow Mule!

Food is great. Atmosphere is good but loud. The sampler is the way to start if you’re not familiar with Lebanese food.

For me, this place hit over the top with the awesome staff.
I came here during lunch for a race event and begged for an outside seat to watch the runners pass. The hostess was happy to help and even went right then and cleaned off a table for me. It was so instantly pleasant I got myself a beer (fantastic brew) and was super excited when a complimentary basket of three very tasty pita breads landed in front of me — almost buttery in taste, not the quasi dry use to sop up sauces pitas, these were a proper appetizer and got my mouth watering. I was pretty surprise at the extravagance for just one person but I won’t argue me some tasty bread.
Next landed a tomato cucumber dressed salad. Confused I did not order… but it comes with the pizzette! Another pleasant surprise and suddenly I’ve upped my veg and begin doubting my ability to eat all of lunch. Pizzette arrives shortly, hot and tasty, I got the Veggie one with hummus. Food wise, it’s 4 star but the staff… my water was kept brimming full on this disastrously hot race day, they were quick and friendly and genuinely attentive. One of the racers went down across the street with some serious overheating and they ran over with a bag of ice. We chatted about the race and they were excited at what it was for the city, they cared and were totally present.
Loved my outdoor seat– it would be hot later in the day when the shade vanishes, staff was just amazing and the food was absolutely tasty and everything I wanted. Also, my pita bread doggie bag (yeah, stomach could not meet the demands of the food quantity I had)…packed with extra pitas for race recovery food. Oh yeah!

Sitti is one of my all time favorites in downtown Raleigh! They always have a special hummus, the kabobs are out of this world and a great selection of Middle Eastern wines that pair perfectly with its fare! Highly recommend for date night, girls night out and when you’re celebrating something special.

Okay, I have to give this place some credit.
I have only been here once but I will definitely be coming back.
I went here with my Arabic friend and he said this place is pretty good.
The baba ghannouj is my favorite. The appetizers alone were phenomenal.
My friend ordered the food and we just shared an appetizer and one entrée and it fit the two of us. I will post another review when I come back to this place.
Overall, this place is worth checking out.

This is my first time trying Lebanese food and I was not disappointed. The ambience is really nice, which is quite expected since it’s in downtown Raleigh. I did not order any appetizers but I was given their complementary bread, it’s a pita bread that’s a bit different from other places I’ve been to. I ordered the mixed grill with shrimp and chicken and it was to come with their sitti rice and some garnishes. I was quite excited to try the food, it came in a timely fashion, not too quickly but didn’t take too long either! The chicken was really juicy and well cooked however it was not seasoned as I hoped, however being my first time I am unsure of what it should taste like. I have tried kebobs in other places like chef Samir’s in Greensboro and they quite quite well seasoned and flavorful. However the chicken was well cooked as was delicious but it tasted merely of chicken so that is why I am going on about the taste. The shrimp however was great, well cooked and nicely seasoned. Perhaps they are a place where the quality of the meat and shrimp is what appeals, however I then think what would be different if it was ‘American’? The rice was amazing and I am quite disappointed that I only got a little of it, the quantity of the shrimp was also quite low. I was still hungry after the dish so I ordered the desert. It was Ashta which is based of milk pudding, nuts and some pastry. This desert took my taste buds to another dimension it was delicious and was something that I have never tasted before. I would go back and try the different dishes in the future and aspire to give them 5 stars one day

Food was amazing. Waitress took a little long to get anything we asked for hence the 4 stars. The food was great though.

Hummus!!! Wow. I also tried the salmon lunch dish — cooked to perfection! I’ll be back 100 times over.

Hadn’t tried Lebanese food and this was recommended by a local. I decided to try their Sitti Sampler, which was basically a large selection of their appetizers, plus I requested their Goat Cheese Stuffed Sweet Peppers. I did stray when I ordered a margarita. The food was all good. The appetizers came with a large basket of fresh home made pitas. The food was all great… If I were to ruturn, There are other items on the menu that piqued my interest…

I had to send a few kind words to the amazing staff at Sitti in DT Raleigh. I have been to their restaurant before, many years ago, and remembered the food being amazing. Last Saturday, my wife and I strolled in with our 1 year old daughter on her birthday after a day of fun at the Marbles Kid’s Museum (which is less than one block away). Our first thought was whether we had chosen too high end of a place for a Sunday lunch with a 1 year old. But the staff was extremely accommodating. They sat as in a comfortable booth, away from the crowd and kitchen. The young lady that waited on us was extremely sweet, asking about all of our diets (1year old included) and recommending items that were friendly to our daughter.
We had an appetizer sampler that was amazing (their hummus is fantastic and their fallafels are super delicious — flaky and moist, full of flavored but not overdone with spicy, just the right amount of crust on the outside). The whipped garlic spread that comes with some of the dishes is a gift from above. Trust me!
We also had the chicken kabob, recommended as good to share with my daughter, and they were right. Very well seasoned, the rice and veggies were perfect.
Oh, and the warm pita bread they serve is some of the best I have ever had.
On top of that, the staff was nice enough to present us with a crème brûlée for my daughter’s 1^st birthday, with her very first birthday candle!
Could not have been happier and more grateful for the staff at Sitti. It made for a wonderful 1^st birthday for my princess. Thank you!

This restaurant is fantastic! I’m a huge fan of middle eastern cuisine and Sitti IS IT for DTR.
Recommend the kabobs but everything I’ve had on the menu is fantastic and a great atmosphere!

Five stars all around; great food, atmosphere, location, and service. I have yet to be disappointed with anything I have ordered here.
Anytime is a good time to come to Sitti. I really enjoy coming here for lunch as the menu items are less pricy but I don’t want to sell the dinner short, I have had some amazing entrees. Regardless of whether I come for lunch or dinner, I always get the Baba Ghanoujsh with Hashwi. It is phenomenal.

Awesome place, usually packed during lunch/​dinner but you can usually get seated immediately or not wait too long. If you’re going for dinner on a weekend i recommend making a reservation.
There’s a parking garage across the street on Wilmington, or you can find metered street parking. Meters end at 5pm.
I love their lunch options — I’ve had their falafel wrap and a great salad recently. The hummus trio is great! I asked for the salmon to be cooked almost rare and it was perfect. And super affordable — lunch special with arugula and blackened salmon was about $ 12.50.
The pita they give you while you wait for the food to come is delicious and the olive oil/​sesame dip with spices is delicious! Good drinks too. Sitti is part of the Empire Eats restaurants (they also own Raleigh Times and Gravy).
Definitely recommend!

Came here with a group of friends for Restaurant Week and we all opted to go with the fixed price menu. A few of us took it a step further and made sure to order different things from each list.
For appetizers, we ordered the hummus with lamb bacon, mouhamra, and brussel sprouts. All 3 were amazing, but especially the mouhamra, which I had never had anywhere before. Mouhamra consists of red peppers, walnuts, and pomegranate molasses. It had a smoky flavor with hints of spice and sweet. Definitely something I could have eaten for an entire meal. The hummus was your standard hummus, except for the lamb bacon. I love bacon, but lamb bacon takes it up a notch. However, the best combo was actually mixing the hummus and mouhamra together with some pita.
For entrees, we ordered a Baklava Crusted Salmon, Braised Short Rib, and the Mixed Kabobs. Of the 3, the salmon was easily the best. All of the proteins were cooked to perfection. The only thing that wasn’t top notch were the mixed kabobs. There was nothing stand out about them and the beef kabob wasn’t particularly seasoned well. The accompanying rice was better than the kabobs.
Finally, we got all 3 available desserts: mixed berry sorbet, pistachio cake, and chocolate fondant. Wow. We were all full at this point and none of us could finish our desserts but it was not for lack of trying. The chocolate fondant was similar to a lava cake, and when paired with the butter pecan ice cream made for a super sweet bite. The mixed berry sorbet was the lightest of the 3 and probably the smartest decision to order after the filling meal we had. I’d recommend it for someone that needs something sweet but light. I only had 1 bite of the pistachio cake but I personally preferred the other 2 over it.
All in all, having tasted 9 different things that Sitti has to offer, I came away impressed, but not blown away.

I went to Sitti on a Friday night with a friend, and was happy to see that we were seated without a wait. There are a lot of food options, and they all look delicious. We ended up ordering three smaller plates to share and two desserts, which was more than enough for two. The goat cheese stuffed peppers were delectable, and the avocado hummus was delicious. The beef shawarma was a tad dry, but other than that the meal was great. The entrees looked to be more on the expensive side – picking a few small plates to share made it more manageable.
The main issue that I had with our evening (other than the dry beef and the chocolate fondant being a little overcooked) was the pushiness of our waitress. She went so far as taking the menu from me and propping it up on the table, after asking if we would like more small plates for our main meal. Overall though, a good choice for some nice Lebanese food.

If you want upscale Mediterranean food and adult beverages, then that pretty much leads you to Sitti.
I kept saying ‘no’ for some silly reason to checking the place out, but thankfully my wife wore me down.
We ordered way too much food — appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Plus drinks. It was all great.

Bottom Line: Flavorful Lebanese cuisine served in a hip atmosphere in downtown Raleigh.
Admittedly, before going to Sitti I had never tried Lebanese food but I do really enjoy other Mediterranean cuisines so I figured it would be delicious. If you aren’t sure what Lebanese cuisine entails, think about pita bread, hummus, goat cheese, chicken kabobs, marinated lamb and assorted fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants, olives and lemons. If you are still on the fence then you can order a sampler platter (called «Lebanese Tasting») before committing yourself to Lebanese but I’m pretty sure you’re going to like it! Another cool thing about Sitti is that they have some nice vegetarian options. In any event, don’t leave Sitti without trying the cheese rolls.
Service here was very good and the décor is definitely hip. They have a nice outdoor patio as well that can be reserved for private events. The one thing to note is that it can be very loud in here at peak times.