Jasmine

Wow, what a find! We had the chicken shawarma, lamb tekka wraps and the baba ghanouge. They were wonderful. Very attentive staff. Nice grocery selection to pass the time while your food is being cooked fresh and delicious! We will be back!

Had no idea what to expect from this restaurant. It is actually attached to a small Middle Eastern market. The chairs the restaurant are literally next to the shelves in the market. The food was very good. The staff was very friendly. And it was some of the best bread I think I have ever eaten. My favorite part of the meal was the baba ghanouj with iraqi flatbread. I would definitely come back to eat at this restaurant if we lived in Tucson. We picked up a couple of small items from the market. We couldn’t take much because we are flying and the restrictions are too prohibitive there is a great selection here especially interesting spices and spice mixes. If you like Like hookah and the flavored hookah coals, they also have plenty of selection for that.

We’ve eaten here 4 times in the last few months — we liked it so much the first time that each other time we brought another different couple and they all loved it also. Yes, the service is a little slow, but it’s well worth the wait and you know the food is made to order. The babaganoush is the best we’ve ever had and the spicy Turkish chicken is amazing. We haven’t had anything that we wouldn’t order again. The desserts are also fantastic. The owners are very friendly and you also need some time to browse the wonderful grocery store.

Placed a togo order here lady said it would only be 10 minutes I arrived 5 minutes late and still had to wait an additional 12. Lady did not offer a drink or anything for the long wait. Food was good but they need to get their timings right. Especially since I was the only person there and the place was empty.

Let me start with what separates Jasmine from other Middle Eastern eateries in town: consistently high quality food. It’s not a hit or miss here. Is the hummus fresh? Always! Is the Persian kebab juicy and delicious? Always! Is the Lamb Shank cooked to perfection and served with nice aromatic rice? Every single time! Do they go up and down on serving size depending on direction of wind? Nope. This impression is formed after dining there at least 12 – 15 times this year. Add to that the warm and hospitable nature of the family that runs the place and its easy to enjoy the experience.
Now to be fair, what they do have in common with other Middle Eastern restaurants in town: slowish service… but i’d say they make up for it with, again, plenty of smiles and warm reception.
The supermarket section appears to have plenty of Arabian and South Asian goodies in addition to a halal meat shop which is neat and carries competitive pricing.
If you’re thinking of checking it out, the food won’t disappoint ya.

Lunch service is SLOW even though the place was empty. Different culture so they don’t understand friendliness, bring drink out earlier. Made me wait for 10 minutes before coming over while they checked out people in the market area. Don’t seem to prioritize guest. Waited more while owner put paper in receipt printer. Really? Can’t come over and take order first?
Food is very good. But the service is not helpful at all.

To start, it’s the door on the left. I wasn’t paying attention and tried to go in the door on the right. That didn’t work out too well.
I was in search of grilled meats and Jasmine came through. I wanted to try a variety of kabobs and the owner had no problem with me tacking on extras for a custom order. The lamb tekka and beef kabob were delicious. The Turkish chicken was a new venture for me and I really enjoyed it. The menu labels it as spicy but to me, it’s nothing to fear.
Rich’s recommendation: any kabob or meat plate. The spices and flavors really shine.

Nice people, clean restaurant, and great food! Go this place its a gem, and should not be overlooked. Its better then most if not all in tucson! Great hummus, tobouleh, and swamahha. Also fresh juices!

This is a quaint Iraqi restaurant. The owners are very nice, it’s much like fast food without the speed. We ordered our appetizers first, hummus, Iraqi bread, babba ganoosh. The bread was room temp, and seemed more like tortillas. Our entries were: lamb shank, Persian kabob, lamb tekka. The food was delicious but was not hot. We had the hot tea and a non alcoholic beer made in Germany. Loved the tea! The baklava is all pistachio nut which is the best. Its a very small space but clean with a little store. I liked the people and the Arabic music playing that creates the atmosphere. We will try other places, but honestly, since the food was so good, we will probably return. Still looking for Good Persian bread.

Man was this a shocking surprise. It is in a shopping center area next to Tucson Mall.
Nice looking inside with a small packed grocery off to the right.
Menu is very clean and clear and offers a nice range of selections.
After a short study I made my choice. I started with humus and baba ghanoush both were very, very good. The egg plant was the best ever.
I got a couple of Falafel to try wowzer — crunchy, crisp with wonderful spices that blended really well. I dolloped some humus on them for fun.
My main meal was a meat combo Chicken Shwarma — oh my ggggggosh, so super delicious. I loved the wild range of spices — an wonderful combination.
The beef was extremely delicious as well.
I really enjoyed the Bhaklava — obviously made there. Had a nice ground pistachios on top.
This the best Arabic food I have ever eaten … here or LA. I tried a couple of other places in Tucson but this one outshines all the rest.
I will be back.

So glad I dined here! My mom, part of our Dining Trio, heard about Jasmine from her friend. So my husband, mom and I joined another friend to taste for ourselves. Definitely worth a visit, Unilocalers! The restaurant is a sectioned off area within a Middle Eastern market, run by Rana and her husband. They also do catering.
We each ordered a platter: mom had a delightful lamb shank on a bed of yellow rice. Gary and our friend Lily dined on two spicy meats-​a kebab and chicken. I had the Lamb Tekka (tikka?) and chicken kebab. All the meats were tasty, and I especially loved the lamb! We also ordered two appetizers: baba ghanouj and tabbouleh salad. Two of us topped it off with homemade baklava. Everything was delicious and well prepared by Rana, working hard behind the scenes.
While we ate, we saw many people come in for meals to go on top of buying market items. We definitely enjoyed our repast and hope to return soon. TIPS FOR YOU: Order food ahead if you want your food quickly, whether for take-​out or eat-​in (menu on the website, I think). It takes some time for preparation. The owner even suggested that. Also, plenty of parking available – the restaurant is in a strip mall south of Roger on the east side of Oracle, closest to the road. And I believe you can buy the baklava by the pound. The restaurant offers a number of vegan/​vegetarian choices, and around 10 different meats (shwarma, kebab in form of chicken, lamb, beef, etc.). People who fear «hot» spicy food will find plenty of mild choices here. If my mom can eat it, so can you! I took a few photos of the food for your visual delight. If you have never tasted this type of food, open your mind (and your mouth), and be adventurous. Plus, you support a hard-​working family!

Both the restaurant and market have great food at a great price! My favorite thing from the restaurant menu is the falafel wraps. They add plenty of fresh greens to the wrap and the fact that they toast the wrap adds a lot to the texture of the sandwich. The wrap plus a side salad is the perfect size for a light meal. Their full dinners come with a very delicious, nicely-​spiced mung bean soup. I also greatly enjoyed coming here in the morning for some Turkish coffee.
The market has most of the basics for Middle Eastern cooking. They also sell a lot of great decorative items, including tea and coffee cups. They have also had some beautiful Turkish lamps for sale, each lamp consisting of several colorful stained-​glass globes. The owners are also very sweet and friendly and work very hard to make you feel welcome.

I read the review’s about this place and thought I would give it a try. I ordered the mango smoothy and the lamb takke. And while I waited, I looked around the connecting store. The store had a lot of spices that interested me and also made me feel like this store takes its food serious. After walking around waiting for my food, which took 30 mins, my order was up. The food appeared very delicious and appeared to have been just grilled but after taking a bite, that was not that case. The meat was a few degrees below warm and the rice was dry. Not to mention the menu said the dish comes with bread, there was no bread with my meal. I don’t understand why I had to wait 30 mins for food that was clearly leftovers from the day before, and just warmed up moments before serving it to me. This was a total waste of money, a total of $ 15+tax to be exact. I was so disgusted with the quality and taste that I ended up giving the food, that I just ordered, to my dog.
Don’t waste your time and money here.

Still in Tucson staying at my moms; traded in one of my unused IL
Certificates for this one, Mom & I went here on Friday for lunch thinking we would have some great Middle Eastern Food & then perhaps find some goodies at the market combined with the restaurant.
I ordered a Grilled Meats Platter which came with Lamb Teffka which was very good, & two pressed ground beef skewers with some type of seasoning and tasted just like a Salisbury steak frozen meal from decades ago when I was a kid, which was not good at all. It also came with french fries which were very dry, and a salad with a very disappointing salad dressing. The whole meal really had no flavor or taste with the exception of the lamb which was very good,
My mom ordered the Persian meal which was supposed to be ground beef with spicy Persian spices, she ordered hers non spicy and said it had no taste at all, was like ground beef pressed together in a skinny paper that was gross. The meal came with some type of yellow rice which was loaded with some type of heavy grease of some unknown origin and her salad was very lacking in the dressing department as well.
I ordered a lemonade with rose water that tasted very medicinal,. to be fair I have never had rose water to drink, so maybe it is supposed to taste like cough syrup and rubbing alcohol combined? I sent my back and just ordered a plain lemonade which was better but not great.
We ordered an appetizer which was rice dough with some type of ground meat inside which was again tasteless and the outside of dough was as hard as a hockey puck, I had to forcefully pry it apart to get to the inside. Once I accomplished this I was quite disappoint with the lack of taste. At the very least it should have been deep fried that long and should have come with some sort of dipping sauce. The salads should have come with a dressing with some flavor, perhaps some lemon juice and/​or vinegar (rice, balsamic or red wine). It just tasted like it was floating in oil without any seasoning
We checked out the market and there was really nothing either one of use wanted to buy. My mom who lives in Tucson will never go back here, on my next visit I will not be back here either.
In addition the service was lackluster and there were no napkins on the table
Pehaps living in the Chicagoland area I am spoiled with great Middle Eastern, Mediterranean & Persian food from Reza’s.

The Persian Kabob had just the perfect amount of spice to it, and is the closest to home bbq I’ve had, and the closest to Armenian style in the city. Will definitely return.
Oh, and the rice in itself was great. Just wish they gave more pita bread.

Middle eastern market and restaurant on oracle. We usually drive to the one on country club– so this is a little closer to us. So we checked it out. They have a good selection of pickled items, candy and cheese. We ordered persian kabob meal. It was pretty tasty and came with buttery rice (yum) and Arabic salad. Overall it was pretty tasty. From my experience persian kabobs are not spicy, but it is what it is. We’ll be back. We enjoyed ourselves. Atmosphere is quiet and one guy is the cashier for market and server– but it worked it out :-)

Best tabouli I’ve had in a long time! Baklava was made with walnuts in the center and a light dusting of pistachio on top. Very reasonably priced. Nice people here! We also enjoyed the hummus and shawarma platter along with a side of lebne cultured cheese. Mango juice is blended to order.

Went her for a surprise date night the other day. My boyfriend loves middle eastern food. Here is what you need to know before you go:
Positive: the food way yummy, especially the shawarma (beef) and the hummus was amazing!!! There wasnt too much olive oil in it that gives it a bad after taste, it was spot on and perfect. Loved the pita as well.
Needs Work: not sure if it was just because everything is made to order or what but it took forever to get our food and the staff was not very attentive. The person in the back making he food is who delivered it out and he was very friendly but the person out in the front sat us and forgot us (at least that is how it felt)

I’ll preface my review by saying maybe we caught them on an off day, but we were disappointed with our experience and won’t be going back anytime soon. It’s too bad because my SO and I normally love these types of restaurants and frequent a good one if we can find it.
The staff seem nice enough but service was horrible. Every step of the meal took somewhere between 10 to 30 minutes. There were 4 employees working and not one drink refill offered in the entire hour and 20 minutes we were there.
The Arabic salad had some great flavor but didn’t look very fresh, as if maybe it had been sitting out for awhile. I got the lamb, my SO got the chicken, both meats were dry and difficult to eat and the rice was pretty greasy. The food had decent spices but it was so dry that the spices couldn’t really take my attention off the quality.
To top it off we waited 20 minutes for them to bring the ticket (as they had done for other tables) but they never did. The owner sat at the cash register and stared at us. I’m not sure if maybe we committed a cultural taboo somewhere along the way but the service was inexcusabley bad. Open to trying this place again, hopefully on a better day, but so far I’m not impressed.

Opening up just four months ago at this location, this place offers Iraqi-​style cuisine. The market area had some interesting items that you won’t find in a traditional grocery store, and they even have a butcher section to take home meat to cook.
I have no complaints with the Arabic Salad, hummus, and the pita bread. Whatever olive oil they use, they should continue to use it. It added so much flavor to the hummus and salad.
The lemongrass chicken was cooked dry, and I could not taste any of the herbs and spices. I also had a few bites out of the beef shawarma, and it was okay. Value wise, it’s good if you want to try or really enjoy his food and/​or if you are on a budget. This is more of a to-​go place than it is sit-​down. Just be sure that you eat the food warm.
The owner seems really nice and attentive. I talked to one other employer from Iraq and had a good conversation with him. Therefore, I say that customer service at least made up from the chicken I unfortunately had to mix with ketchup to get some flavor.
Nothing was bad here, but nothing gave me the urgency to come back the next day. It’s one of the those «if you are in the area and want something different» type of place. Next time I would get something different, but definitely would need more of that hummus!