Barbary Fig

Barbary Fig is a staple for my husband and I! From the moment we enter, we are greeted with a warm smile by the owner and head chef, Haji. We never get bored eating there, because we are always presented with a plethora of flavorful specials in addition to our go-​to appetizer, the breek, which is a delicious tuna dish with phyllo dough. No matter if we order off the menu or get a special, we always leave feeling more than satisfied!

I love this place. The food is always great for me; SF sometimes finds something that is too spicy for her, but that goes with the territory when eating Moroccan food. I’m always wondering why it’s not full. I could eat their special entrée lamb shanks with figs and green shallots over rice all the time. Just shovel it my maw. Hummus is awesome, especially with the dollops of goat cheese and chopped up tomatoes and what I think is apricot jam. As much as I think of this food as comfort food, I have to admit, I think of the Barbary as my comfort place as well. Something about the (literally) homey feel (since it’s an old house), the friendly owner and staff, and the fact that it’s always there when I need it, makes it one of our favorites.

Great lunch! Great value! Friendly staff. Great portion size. Very tasty. Highly recommend. Great find.

This was my first time in this long standing neighborhood restaurant on Saint Paul’s busy Grand Avenue. The staff was quick and attentive. The menu is not large but they had several great sounding specials (I had rabbit with white beans and artichoke). I would defiantly recommend this casual and accessible Mediterranean restaurant.

Still our favorite restaurant in Minnesota! Be sure to get the pears for dessert.

The Barbary Fig is located on Saint Paul’s historic Grand Avenue. You wouldn’t even know that it’s a restaurant just by driving by it. Me and my fiancée went there last week for her grandma’s birthday. We had a hard time finding the restaurant because the building is a house and the sign didn’t really stand out.
However, when we did find it, we couldn’t actually find any parking spots, due to no parking lot. We had to park across from Walgreens down the block and walk back. Once we got inside, we saw that it was a fairly small restaurant. We got there early, so we ordered some bread and hummus. I also ordered a ginger beer, which was awesome.
The food here is extremely DELICIOUS! I ordered the falafel royal combination plate. I was surprised that the falafel did not come wrapped in pita bread, but the surprise went away once I had that first bite. The rice substitution was totally on point, and every bite was savory. This place may be small and lacking in parking, but the food will make you regulars!

I ate an amazing gyro here during Grand Old Days. After walking around and being overwhelmed by the crowds it was amazing to sit on their deck, drink a beer, and eat extremely delicious street food. I definitely want to go back for their full menu.

Enjoying a Sunday out with my restaurant adventurous sister. We happened on the Barbery Fig and popped in for brunch which turned out to be an excellent find. We tried turkish coffee for the first time and loved it. I ordered the smoked salmon, sheep cheese and scrambled eggs. Done perfectly and just the right amount of food. Sis had the Breek, a flaky turnover dish with egg, potato, sheep cheese and harisa sauce. Just the right amount of spicy and crispy.
I wish I was going to be in town long enough to come back for dinner. Excellent service, very clean, and well decorated. 5 stars with no reservations.

Best restaurant on Grand Ave. The lamb gyro and combo royale are our staple orders and they are consistently delicious. The owner and staff are nice and friendly. If we ever move out of the area, we’d certainly make a special trip back for this place.

Le Shek-​Shooka était succulent. Ce restaurant plein de charme est vraiment à découvrir. L’équipe est sympa, l’accueil chaleureux et le propriétaire/​chef fantastique !

The food is unique and I enjoyed sampling it. I had the brik. It was delicious and unlike anything I had tried before but seemed a bit greasy. I also tried the mint tea iced. It comes presweetened. It was a little too sweet for my liking but I’m not that sweet tolerant. Nonetheless, I really liked it, and I’m not mint’s biggest fan.
We sat outside on the patio. It is a nice space but the tables themselves left much to be desired. They were the cheap white plastic kind. They were covered with a cheap vinyl table cloth that was taped tightly around the table. It felt old and not particularly clean.

This place is vastly underrated. Barbary Fig has so much to offer: great food, pleasant service, and an owner-​cook who knocks you over with kindness. It’s a small enough place that hearing conversation isn’t a struggle even on busy nights. Ask and the owner will set you up with a special bottle of wine, just a tich higher than those on the menu. Open on Mondays!
One caveat: unfortunately accessibility isn’t great — there’s a flight of steps up to the dining room.

Some people are fans, some are not, but I’ll tell you about my experience :-)
A couple things you should know…
* Parking can be tricky (street only); plan accordingly.
* It’s LOUD; especially upstairs (even with only a couple patrons).
* They do take credit cards!
I love one of kind places, run by families, there is something special about that. I was greeted by the owner (and thanked on my way out); he’s so genuine and truly cares about his clients that dine at his restaurant. It was a Thursday night and not super busy; so, getting a seat at dinner time wasn’t a challenge.
It’s kind of cozy inside, designed inside a home converted into a business. The dining area is in sections, based on the layout of the original house. We ordered a couple appetizers, of which I got Brik. It’s deep fried and filled with spicy tuna, green onion and parsley… it’s delicious and reminds me of a Jamaican meat pocket.
I looked through the menu and finally landed on the chef special, which was lamb over rice (with figs)…mostly because a neighboring table ordered it and it looked/​smelled fantastic (hey…pics are worth a thousands words!). I hope they put this as a regular menu item (because it’s not)…the lamb was super tender, fall off the bone; combined with a bed of seasoned rice with sweet figs. Every bite had a crazy combination of sweet, salty, savory… taste buds were going wild!
I’ll have to make my way back and try new items, but I believe you should give Barbary a chance!

I hate to be the oddball but I really did not care for this place. I agree with my fellow Unilocalers in that the Owner could not be any nicer. Nice, Sweet, welcoming man! Had the food just been a little better, I would have bumped it up a star but the only item I really liked was the Falafel.
I went with a few fellow Unilocalers and we ordered a variety of items. Rhonda had their soup which she was said was excellent. I didn’t try it. It looked way too thin for me.
They also ordered Grape leaves. I was a Grape Leave virgin so I tried just a tiny little bite and Whew… Am I glad that’s all I tried! I hated it… The leaf was chewy and crunchy like a bay leaf. The filling was odd, the temperature was luke warm, and I barely could choke down my one bite. The plate got eaten by the rest of the crew but they all agreed these were not the best they have had.
I ordered the chicken special which was chicken in a puff pastry with veggies. It looked amazing when it was served at a table beside us but when mine came, it didn’t look the same! Don’t you hate that? One bite in, and I didn’t care for this dish either. It tasted way heavy on the cinnamon. I really did not like the chicken filling. I am not a fan of shredded chicken and this was mixed with something odd. I let Will taste it and he was impressed with the explosion of different spices going on. Too much was going on in this dish for me.
The one item I loved was the falafel… I love to try falafel everywhere and this was some of the best I have ever had.
if I were to ever come back, I would get falafel and hummus.
Free Parking in the back which is nice. Go in the alley and park behind the building if you cant find a spot on Grand. They also have a nice patio for summer.

Cute, quaint house turned restaurant. The owner is super nice. Once you enter, you see a counter. The seating is actually upstairs…
I didn’t have any pictures because I ate the food too fast. I had the chicken gyro which was bomb. They had lean chicken breast that were shredded and marinated. The only con was that they had the sauce and filling on top of a large pita that sat flat on the plate. By the time it was in front of me and i tried to eat it folded, the sauce got the pita bread little soggy. I basically ate this with a fork and knife. Regardless, delicious. Made fresh.
I also had the bread pudding which was drenched in warm milk. I actually was a bit meh about this. I like french meadow’s version better. Barbary fig’s bread pudding was a bit too much cinnamon for me. Also, the amount of milk in the bowl made me think that the bread is really that old and stale. I felt like i was eating texture of soggy cereal. However, my friends really liked their desserts (i believe one had a flan-​like pudding and the others had pastry rolls). They were very good and on point.
Overall, great experience. Server was nice and owner is a sweet man. I would definitely come back again. Also I heard there is a parking lot in the back (I didnt realize this and we parked on the streets instead).

Amazing Moroccan and North African food. The Brik, which is a traditional North African dish is super great. It is fried and suprr crispy with tuna green onions and a hint of spice. I do not like spicy foods at all and I enjoyed the dish. I had the shek-​shu-​ka which was a african version of a brrakfast scramble. Eggs, seasoned lamb, caramelized onions with warm french bread. This dish is also highly recommend. Enjoy

This place is adorable. It’s in a house and customers sit on the second floor of the house, which can be a little confusing. Because when you first enter, this place looks like an empty deli with a working, lit kitchen. There is only one girl that is working the entire floor and so the service is a bit slow. Everything is old school including how they take orders, which adds to the charm. When we asked to have our bill split, they were fine doing it but they had to do it by hand.
In all honesty, I’m a value shopper. Barbary Fig did not deliver on expectations when it came to value — their portions were all over the place for different dishes. We ordered a house appetizer to start which was octopus for the night on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes that turned out to be very garlicky and somewhat grainy, probably pushed through a ricer. The octopus was very tender and all in all it was a very flavorful, yummy dish for $ 8. The salad was HUGE and was definitely worth the price on the menu, and looked delicious! My dining friends confirmed its deliciousness. The entrees were what surprised me. I ordered two dishes — the combo royale and the shek-​suka (can’t remember actual name). The combo royale was about $ 14, and for the portion and the flavor it was definitely worth it. Quality was there, perfectly seasoned, quantity was good, but it was very greasy and my dining friends thought that everything was too salty. We all needed refills of water within 10 minutes of starting to eat, although it really did enhance the dishes. The shek, which was about $ 10, was meager. It was a very thin layer of scrambled eggs with lamb sausage, caramelizing onions, and seasonings. It tasted good but the quantity should’ve considered more an appetizer. The apricot fava over a bed of rice looked good but my friend was continuously salting her plate.
All in all the dishes we got were tasty, but the quantity and quality could be somewhat inconsistent. I give it 4 stars because of the good value dishes and the ambience, but you’ve got to know and set your expectations when you order. Otherwise you may leave disappointed. Worth the trip if you’re in the neighborhood.

Man this place is oh so good, I may kidnap the chef and start a gyro truck back home and make some money. Still great food and service and still a bitch to find parking. But when your this good i don’t give a fiddlers fart about the parking situation.

Maybe best Mediterranean food ever had. We had two of the chef specials, can’t imagine you ever going wrong there. Super value and casual = WINNER.
COME GET SOME.

I love Greek food. I really do. However, the consistency of the tahini sauce was a bit off. The dish I ordered, the Mint and Dill Lentils, was kind of bland at best. I still brought my leftovers home so I could add some spice to it.
What was really concerning was the fact the waitress spilled oil from the appetizer all over my purse. She apologized profusely, but did not offer to take it off of our tab.

Sunday Brunch served 10:30am-2pm, as posted on their front door.
On this grey and rainy day, we were warmly welcomed by Haj when we arrived and we happily accepted his suggestion of the Lamb Sausage-​Egg Hash with a side of Harissa sauce, Mimosa with pomegranate and a Turkish coffee.
The mimosa was nice and refreshing, not at all too sweet. The hash was mildly spicy and salty, and the harissa was delightfully spicy and flavorful. The hash jumble came with slices of a french-​type bread on top. The Turkish coffee arrived when I had a few bites of food left on my plate, which allowed a perfect amount of time for the coffee to settle before I began drinking it. Mmm… Rich tasting and sweet.
Another fine meal and I look forward to my next one here (perhaps it will be on a lovely and warm summer evening…).