Grape Leaf Express

Absolutely amazing food. Very delicious and fair prices. Come here every Friday and never disappointed

This place has a very solid Gyro platter that comes with fries or a salad. With a drink its around $ 12 so not the cheapest but I’ve never been able to finish one. The floors are normally pretty grungy though. Could use a good cleaning.

Had a Groupon and decided to check it out. Got $ 20 worth of food for $ 12. Overall experience was good. Good was tasty. It did take 20 minutes to get our food. A little long for an Express eatery. They skipped over our number. They were also out of silverware. Had to ask twice to get some.

Strongly recommend the dessert!!! Super super delicious!!! My favorite!!!
The food is fresh and healthy!!! Great experience!!!

Will definitely be returning! Extremely fresh, delicious food! Huge portions (I had another meal with my leftovers from a lunch portion). Friendly, gracious staff. Bright, clean, spacious seating area.
If I could add two suggestions for Grape Leaf’s management, it would be 1. make the garlic sauce with a stronger flavor! Compared to other Lebanese food I’ve had, this garlic seems pretty bit weak, and 2. invest in an oven to make your own pitas. The pitas served (although locally made) are thin, limp and lacking in flavor. If you had hot, fresh, fluffy pitas it would be a 5 star experience for sure!

The food here was amazing — we got the Chicken Galaba and the Falafel salad. All was very tasty and generously proportioned. The service took a bit of time, but was worth it.
Funny thing was we were just stopping in this shopping center on a drive down Florida to get some Chinese groceries from MD Oriental… the center was absolutely deserted on a Sunday and we went to Grape Leaf because it looked the most appetizing of the deserted restaurants. I am thinking I’ve discovered an unknown gem… then I come to Unilocal and see that it already has a hundred reviews and 4 stars, so you guys already know this place rocks. Guess it was just a slow day!

Without a doubt the worst service I have ever seen. When asked about a spoon for the soup I was told it was not my job!
I promise to never enter this property again.

Upon receiving my order, I placed it on the counter and walked out. I seek out mediterranean restaurants on the road because they usually offer large, well prepared meals, with shawarma platters typically consisting of salad, rice, meat, hummus, bread and possibly soup. They served a small portion of chicken on rice with a tiny bowl soup (for which I paid extra), and nothing more. It was a terrible looking meal. Considering the price and long wait (the restaurant was empty), I felt pretty slighted and decided to just leave.

Another spot that’s busy at lunch time but it’s very much worth it. The two guys working the kitchen were working hard at serving up some fab stuff. A good selection of Mediterranean foods including hummus and grape leaves and gyros and such.
I made the healthy choice today, going for the «Felafel salad» which came with three felafels, a huge pile of tabouli and a big bowl of hummus plus a bag with quite a lot of pita breads in it for scooping.
Next time, the gyro. It was *massive* and served on a huge pile of fries. Yummy looking!

Excellent service and friendly staff
Highly recommend any beef dishes here.
They also have the imported yogurt drinks that come in original and mint flavors, great for your guts!
Also, my mom lost her bracelet while visiting Tampa, we called here and the young lady was so adamant about finding it and comforting me over the phone that I was truly impressed with her genuine care, she even called back hours later to follow up while no other store did. Very nice.

Food is great and very authentic.
Prices are fair for the amount of food you get.
Ambience is good and very clean.

We will be back… Groupon thanks for helping me discover this place.
Next trip I plan to get the gyro and rice with the lemon rice soup soooo good

Wow, this place has gone down hill since it’s opening. My first experience was great, but they have lost a lot of quality in the food and service department.
It doesn’t even seem like the same restaurant. I was very disappointed. My chicken gyro was terrible. Some of the food was okay, but nothing like before.
Even the cleanliness could use some improving. Overall, this place is slipping. If they keep letting things slide, this place could spiral out of control. I was generous with the three stars because my first visit was so good.

No longer as good as before. The felafel wrap lacked flavor, a little on the dry side. Id much rather go with the felafel all by itself… The spinach pie was greasy and not very appetizing. Fries are boring, nothing Lebanese about them. Children menu options are way too limited, such is the case for the fountain drinks. Nothing special here… If you want true authentic Lebanese go to Fresh Bites down by race track ave.

Thought I’ve written a review of my first time experience, but I guess I was so content with my meals from Grape Leaf that I forgot. My husband and I found this place the very first day we moved to Tampa after such a long day of moving. We were floored because we love Mediterranean food and we knew we were going to miss the Greek restaurants we loved to dine at our previous residence. This place totally perked up our day and has kept us coming back for more. It is in such a convenient plaza as it is around the corner from us.
The employees are very friendly and accommodating to your needs and wants if they can swing it. The interiors really shows that the owners put a lot of time and effort in making it a very ethereal atmosphere to dine in unlike several other ethnic food restaurants that look unappealing to sit in and dine in. (I remember this one other Greek food location that had the most awful shade of lime green on the walls and extremely ultra contemporary décor that did NOT match the region of the food they were serving) Anyway, the food is phenomenal, but you do need to know what you’re getting so you can pair it with a side that is a bit the opposite as sometimes the chicken (shawarma) can be salty. I love their Lavash Express whenever I am in the mood to pig out and indulge in their fantastic garlic sauce. The lentil soup is soooo good, too. The gyros, kabobs, and rice are also delicious. I have yet to try anything else on their menu but plan to do so because they have yet to let me down.
Come and try them out!!!

I like this spot. We need more casual Lebanese spots because the cuisine is awesome. Grape Leaf is good, but not my favorite. I would recommend it for anyone looking for Mediterranean food in Brandon.
The restaurant itself is clean and inviting. I really like the size of this restaurant. My favorite spot is tiny.
As for the food: I think the falafel is excellent. The fattoush salad is good, the shawarma is good and the kafta kabobs are delish! I’m also fond of the grape leaves. The hummus is good, but a bit heavy on the tahini for my taste. I’m not a fan of their gyro. I think it’s the tzatziki sauce that turns me off. I really like cucumber sauce and I can’t taste any cucumber in the tzatziki on Grape Leaf’s gyro. I need the cooling flavor of cucumber sauce in my gyro or it’s not the same. Can I mention cucumber one more time?
I don’t recommend the gyro, but I’m a fan of this restaurant.

I debated between giving 2 and 3 stars. I lean towards 2 stars because I don’t see myself returning and because I’m still hungry after having a chicken shawarma sandwich and fries.
The sandwich was small and didn’t have much flavor. The chicken was dry and the only thing in the pita wrap was pickle slices and a sauce. Well that’s all I tasted and saw. At $ 4.99, it was cheap but I would spend more for a quality «sandwich» that filled me up. This was almost snack size.
The fries were average but they give you a lot ($ 2.99). My first batch was extremely salty so I told the chef this. He said he could make me more and that it would just take a few minutes. It seemed like he didn’t want to after I said «Yes, please.» The face he made said it all. I almost said «don’t worry about it if it bothers you that much». He said something about not putting any salt on it this time and I was ok with that as I could just add it myself.
Aside from that, the cashier was friendly, the atmosphere is nice. Cool light fixtures as others have stated, nice artwork and architectural features. But I don’t see myself returning especially since there are at least three other Mediterranean restaurants closer to me which are better.

What a pleasant surprise to find a delicious Lebanese restaurant in Brandon, home of the chain restaurants. We went on a Sunday at lunchtime, and there was only one other couple in there. You place your order at the front counter, grab a table, and they call your number when your food is ready.
There is plenty of space inside the restaurant, with nice furnishings, pretty wall art, and beautiful light fixtures. I love that they actually use real plates for your food-it’s a nice touch that makes it seem more like a restaurant than a fast food place.
I had the falafel salad, which was a combo plate of tabbouli, fattoush salad, hummus and 3 falafel patties. It was excellent. The tabbouli was fresh, the seasonings on the fattoush salad were outstanding, and the falafel balls were served hot and had an excellent flavor. Hummus was creamy and flavorful. It was all served with more pita than I could eat.
Great meal, great value, and I can’t wait to return.

I came here in the evening to pick up a few items on the menu: beef shish kebab, fattoush, vegetarian grape leaves and spinach pie. The atmosphere and here is very clean and modern with a nice Middle Eastern/​Lebanese flair to it. I wish I took a picture of the place and light fixtures which were beautiful. The staff was friendly and informative.
The entrées come with a choice of the rice or fries and a side salad (Choice of four types). I chose the rice for the side. I wasn’t too much of a fan of the rice due to the blandness, but I assume this is not their specialty in this part of the world anyways.
Everything else was pretty good especially that spinach pie! Other than spinach, the spinach pie was made with ricotta cheese, cream cheese, and sour cream. Delicious! The beef shish kebab wasn’t as season as I anticipated, but it was still good. Being that it was my first time here, I would come here again to try the other dishes.

I love Lebanese food and this spot will end up being a go to lunch spot. The experience today was a little bumpy, though. I didn’t get the soup that was supposed to go with my platter or the baklava I bought for my friend. It seemed like the girl on register was learning her job and I certainly over-​ordered so I didn’t say anything.
The baba is delish as well as the chicken and rice. Vegetarian stuffed grape leaves were VERY good. I have never had them warm, they grilled them before serving. Really liked that touch.
I would say they need to give more pita with the baba. The garlic sauce is lacking in flavor a bit and the hiccups with ordering need a little tightening up.
Overall very good. Healthy. Super clean and pretty decorations. I would call it 3.5 but a 4 it is!