Pera Mediterranean Bistro

Quick service, great location. I ordered the Pera sampler and was happy with everything, especially the tabouli salad. Prices are a bit steep, but a shared appetizer or two is very do-​able. Recommended.

Always enjoy eating here when in Williamstown. Food is always good with nice atmosphere.

I had lunch at Pera on a recent Saturday and thought the food was pretty good and affordable. I ordered a chicken kabob warp, which came with a nice small side salad, and a few glasses of white wine. Everything tasted fresh and nice. It was a bit crowded when I was there, there’s not much space inside, but the staff was very pleasant, although I did have to wait a bit on my waitress to take my order and refill my glass. I would go back again.

Had dinner there Sept 7 and 8 th.
The food is delicious, that is why we came twice. However there is not a good vibe from the owner Fahri. It was terribly hot in side, in fact it was 89 degrees at 7: 30 pm. When I saw that the AC read 89 I asked him to please lower it to a cooler setting. He was very loud, agressive and did not «hear» me, as he reiterated over and over that is the temp of the place and the AC has been on full blast for 24 hrs. I was indeed shamed in front of a room full of customers as he refused to put the AC on a lower setting as he yelled at me.
As we were leaving he tried to put the blame on the «landlord» and added how difficult it was to find good help. In fact, the first nite we were told the wait would be at least an hour (the place was nearly empty) as there was only one waitress. Strange vibe in this place — a dominating, abusive man.

We will never go back. My boyfriend and I visited pera for lunch yesterday at the urging of friends. The place was full and we waited only moments for a table. While we were waiting we watched the manager/​owner (?) chase around the servers and yell at them. I couldn’t tell you anything about the food because before it arrived I was sick to my stomache. The owner stood there yelling at the wait staff in front of the full restaurant. He was not helping them, just yelling. He then fired our server and told her to leave. Every customer was staring in disbelief, it was very uncomfortable. We move here from NYC and have never seen such an occurrence.

The food here is about 3 – 3.5 stars. Nothing is GREAT and nothing is TERRIBLE, it’s about what you would expect at a Mediterranean restaurant in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Unfortunately the vibe and service are ATROCIOUS.
We went in for lunch, it wasn’t particularly busy but it was mostly full, a sort of normal lunch situation. It took 15 minutes to get our menus. Then it took 15 more minutes to be able to order. Then it took over ONE HOUR to get our food. In the midst of all this, we were politely asking about our food’s whereabouts, and clearly other patrons were also asking.
All of a sudden, in a situation reminiscent of a scene from a movie, the sort of casual din of the conversation is interrupted by INSANE SCREAMING from the owner in the kitchen yelling at kitchen staff and waitstaff just out of the view of the dining room, echoing throughout the entire restaurant. The entire restaurant went silent in shock. We were horribly embarrassed for the owner and felt terribly for the waitstaff.

We took our daughter and husband there for her 41^st birthday celebration last night.
Fortunately it was a beautiful night and not very busy because there isn’t a lot of parking nearby. We parked a few blocks up and walked down.
Three of us ordered the mushroom ravioli and one had salmon. We also ordered a goat cheese sampler appetizer which was very good.
Our meals took quite a while to arrive — plainly not sitting in a pot waiting to be slopped out. I thought the sauce was excellent, not too light and not too heavy. For me, it was just right. Portions were generous; my wife could not finish hers.
Two of us had wine, my son-​in-​law had beer. The total bill was $ 120 which I think is reasonable for the quality.
We would go back.

The food was very average at best.
Falafel wasnt very good. It was bland. Texture was bad as well.
Chicken kebob was worse.
Serving staff was excellent

Very frustrated with this place. Ordered the Mediterranean nachos as my meal and it was extremely salty almost to the point of being inedible. What really frustrated me was the fact that I ordered a mug of hot water and was charged 75 cents for it. It wasn’t even a full mug. I asked the servers about it on the bill and was told that they know it’s odd but that they charge anyhow for hot water. I think it is absurd to charge money for a half mug of hot water, especially when I’m eating there. Watching the owner or manager sitting there was also very uncomfortable. It felt like he was there watching all of his employees and reprimanding them for their errors. Not a pleasant place to go and I will not be returning there again.

Pera adds some decent middle eastern menu options to Williamstown. I was satisfied with the food but frustrated by the service. People were sitting at tables outside, which seemed a pleasant way to eat dinner. We were shown to a table for two in a busy area near the kitchen, but since we’d walked in, I was happy to get seated. The restaurant was initially pretty full but by the time we decided to skip dessert and get our check, there were very few people left.
Since they were out of spanikopita our server thoughtfully recommended we save money by choosing a combination plate of hummus and grilled eggplant salad rather than ordering each separately. My lamburger was perfectly cooked, medium rare, but was piled high with feta. A little feta goes a long way. When it was time for dessert, our server told us about two options and disappeared into the back. We quickly decided we wouldn’t order dessert, so we waited for our check, which took way too long.
We were profoundly ignored by the manager who was having an intense discussion with another server until both disappeared into the back. The manager seems like a friendly guy but during my dinner he stood just behind my chair talking loudly at length with a couple sitting at a corner table, and then he talked across me with the party of six on my right. It was annoying and hard to have a conversation with my dining partner. By the time we needed our check the staff seemed to have moved onto their own tasks back in the kitchen. We flagged down a friendly busser who took my credit card and helped us settle up.

This is a popular stop for people on the way to the theater or other attractions in the area: it was pretty full on a summer weekend. We generally enjoyed our dishes, especially grape leaves, felafel, and pasta with calamari. I made the mistake of ordering a mixed drink that came out watery and weak.

Mezze moved to the old Le Jardin. Pera’s Mediterranean Bistro moved to the old Mezze. It’s not hard to keep track of the dining changes in Williamstown. We decided to give Pera’s a go last week when visiting my parents in upstate New York. My uncle and aunt and dad and husband all went to check it out.
Apps:
–There was an odd event where the falafel was served with what tasted like a basket of tortillas.
–Then we ordered the Pera’s flatbread with cranberries and brie. What?
Entrees:
–I ordered the mushroom ravioli, which I would have thought of more as being in an Italian restaurant, which, I know, can also be Mediterranean. But it was all sort of confusing: the brie and then the falafel, and the tortilla, and then the ravioli. Say what? Like a world music love-​a-​thon.
Setting:
–It’s a small place. Make reservations.
–It also does not seem to be too noisy, despite the crowds.
What else?
–The owner seems to be there every single night, checking on things. So that’s a good sign.
In the end, I would go back here for lunch only. For those dinner prices, it’s better to dine at home. Note: if I did go to lunch here again, I would try the lamb burger. All in all, Williamstown has a long way to go, so cheers to trying, Pera’s.

Came here for the first time. Can’t talk to the wine selection, as we were drinking water (flavored with cucumber). But the food was largely delightful. If you’re considering the Mediterranean nachos, definitely get them — a complete surprise, given the description. The mushroom raviolis were excellent, as was the pasta with chicken and pesto cream sauce dish. My wife said that the baked stuffed shrimp were the best she had, and it is something she has panned in many restaurants. Can’t talk about desserts. Service was decent enough, but not remarkable.

First of all, the service was good, and we were greeted cordially at the door by the host, and seated promptly.
The wine list does not have a wide variety of choices, but we did find a bottle of Bordeaux for under $ 30.
The eggplant appetizer was fresh, but really unmemorable. One could say the same thing about the bread that accompanied it.
The salads were fresh and flavorful.
The special for the night was a surf and turf with a flank steak and scallops. The kitchen was accommodating, and met my request of having just the flank steak. It was cooked correctly, rare, as I requested it. The lamb kebabs that we ordered were not cooked medium rare as requested, but were delicious nonetheless.
For dessert, we shared a molten chocolate cake. It must have been zapped in the microwave, and been prebaked with a frozen center, because it only took about two minutes to deliver it to the table. If a chef is doing a real molten chocolate cake, it usually requires at least eight minutes from the time that it is ordered until the time that it is unmolded, and more often 10. This was obviously not the real thing, and it showed in the presentation, texture, and flavor.
This restaurant seems to be the only game in town, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be mediocre. With a little more effort it could really be wonderful.

I was very hungry and afraid if I find something tasty to eat in this town. It turned out it was a good choice to eat pasta with delicious vegetables. Very nice staff, good price and fast service. It was a great dinner eaten during business trip.

Pera is a great addition to Williamstown dining. Fair prices, excellent food, a nice varied menu and OK service make it worth a stop.
We have had their lamb burgers, wraps, and a number of appetizers and all were tasty and fresh. Not only is the lamb flavorful, it is served on a terrific roll.
Mussels were full and seasoned just right in a delicious curry sauce. Salads fresh and interesting with dressings that were bright and not overly oily.
The atmosphere is nice, and service fine although could be more attentive.
There are a number of good restaurants in Williamstown, and Pera is now our first stop.

The hummus was yummy, the tabbouleh was well seasoned. However, I’m pretty sure that the good people of Pera in Turkey don’t use tortillas to dip up the delicious hummus. If you’re going to serve Middle Eastern food, at least use the right ingredients! Or tell people you’re taking the cheap tacky easy way out and figuring no one will notice the difference! I’m pretty sure that tortillas and Lavash are two distinctly different items!

Years ago I decided that Williamstown was a culinary wasteland, but not so now that Pera has opened up. I enjoyed lunch there with three friends yesterday afternoon before a visit to the Clark Art Institute. The menu lists a varied selection of appetizers or small plates, including mussels and a couple of daily soup specials, six or more salads to choose from, wraps and sandwiches, as well as heavier pasta dishes and entrees to choose from. Bread for the table an extra $ 1.99 but enough for 4 to share for nibbles before your meal. Three of us had salads — Cookie enjoyed her Med salad — a large bowl of greens with tomatoes, feta, olives, etc.; Stitch tried the spinach salad and appreciated the toasted almonds and apples (a nice change); and TBB dug into a salad with smoked salmon that was loaded with capers (gluten and dairy free). Me, after a three hour morning stint at the gym, devoured an entire falafel wrap, served with «cusabi» dressing (yogurt, cuke and wasabi). This wrap was amazing — a generous serving of perfectly cooked crispy on the outside soft on the inside falafel, tender greens, a simple wrap that was chewy and fresh, and a sinus busting sauce that I asked for more of — it was such a great combo. The sandwich came with kettle chips, salad or fresh fruit: I got a nice little side of fresh pineapple. Staff were attentive, maybe a bit disorganized, still trying to figure out how to parse out service responsibilities, but they were kind and eager. The food was terrific — simple, no surprises, but made with quality ingredients, and the recipes were nicely (even lovingly) executed. Next time I’ll try the kabobs!!!

I’m in love with this place. More importantly — the owner is in love with this place and it shows in ever corner. The menu is diverse and every plate I saw looked beautiful. I ordered a steak (a lunch special) that came with a salad. When it came out, there was just a bit of lettuce on the side. I sighed… that’s not a salad. Oh — then the salad came out a minute later. And it was an awesome salad.
The steak was really good — but I nabbed a bit of my fiancé’s mushroom ravioli served in a marsala sauce. I hate marsala — I think it never looks good and always has a strange taste to it. Here. oh wow… talk about pulling a 180. Of course, I can’t imagine having marsala that is even half as good again.
The ambience of this place is brick walled, modern post-​industrial vibe meets a homey Mediterranean kitchen. It works. It works well.
As we paid our tab, and headed for the door (I had an appointment to make), we noticed the owner sitting at a table with his family. Somehow it came up that we were celebrating two birthdays, and he seemed genuinely disappointed we didn’t mention this when we came in. He tried to get us to stay for desert — but between being incredibly full and pressed for time, we had to decline.
I whole heatedly endorse Pera Mediterranean Bistro! This could be equally enjoyable for a medium sized group (we had 7) for lunch as it would be for a romantic dinner for two. I look forward to finding my way back here in the near future.

We enjoyed Pera for dinner the other night. We ordered an appetizer, two glasses of wine, and two pastas, and the bill came to a hefty $ 65… but we actually ended up with way more food than we could eat. Portions are nothing to scoff at.
We started with the eggplant salad, which was surprisingly light. Unlike a baba ghanoush, there was no garlic tang — more of a pickled flavor. My dining companion ordered the scallops alfredo. The scallops were tender, though the sauce was a touch heavy. I had the mushroom ravioli, which came in a slightly sweet cream sauce with plenty of mushrooms adorning it.
Our server was quite professional, suggesting wines for us and giving us just the right amount of time to finish. The décor was also pleasing, with warm lighting and some framed photos adorning the walls. Overall, it was a lovely meal, though the amount of food was quite surprising. We would return if we had a big chunk of change to drop on a delicious dinner.