Cazbar - Columbia

A highly recommended place with excellent product quality. The food is amazing, the staff are friendly, and the team is committed to providing great service. The prices are also fair.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

UPDATE: The response from the manager to this review was very much appreciated, and I followed up directly with the restaurant (via their website) based on their response to my review. I'm currently awaiting a direct response back from them.

INITIAL REVIEW: Both the food and decor at Cazbar are very good. I also love the fact they have belly dancers who perform some nights of the week. However, due to the busy nature of the restaurant and how crowded and cramp parts of it can be depending on where you are seated within the restaurant, the dining environment wasn't very pleasant for me during my most recent experience. My table for two had me being bumped into by both servers and the person who was seated directly behind me. It was also very dark and the lamp at my table was malfunctioning. I have been one other time, which was fine.

However, the service I received during my visit on 2/28/2026, was absolutely terrible. I did not have a reservation, so when I entered the restaurant I was told there would be a 35 minute wait if I didn't opt to dine at the bar, which was fine. However, the hostess seemed clueless concerning my desire to wait for a table, as I had to directly instruct her to take my contact information to add me to wait list. Once my reservation time came and went without being contacted about the status of my table, I went back to the front to inquire. I was then asked to wait a few more minutes as tables, as turned over. After about 10 more minutes of waiting without being updated with a status, I went back up to the front to inquire again. While up there, there were at least 3 people at the hostess station and none of them even remotely acknowledged my presence. Given it was a very busy night, but no one even made eye contact with me and I was standing directly in front of the hostess booth. Finally, I was able to get someone's attention and I advised that my reservation time had passed and still needed to be seated and that host seated me at that time. Once seated, no one from the wait staff ever came to my table to take my order after waiting at least 15-20 minutes. I attempted flagging down a worker who stated she spoke no English, so she was unable to be of any assistance in getting served. Eventually, I was able to flag down a waiter to ask him if he could take our orders and he did, but he did mention that he was not the waiter for my section. Eventually, the appetizer order came out, but still no wait staff had even brought us out our drinks or even update me on the status of my entree. The waiter from the other section did stop by and asked how we were doing and I let him know that a waiter still had not come to our table. At this time, at least 45 minutes had passed without getting our drinks or my entree. The waiter from the other section did go check on the food and said it'd be about 4 more minutes, which ended up being closer to 10 minutes. While I'm incredibly appreciative for that waiter picking up the slack, I was very upset overall, with my experience during my visit. I'd brought an out of town guest and I was embarrassed that I chose a restaurant, which afforded such a poor experience on that visit. Luckily, the taste and quality of the food off set the poor service, but it has me questioning whether or not I will ever return or recommend this restaurant to anyone else.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 2

Love love! Excellent service, amazing food and drinks. We will definitely be back. This was one of my favorite places.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The food was delicious but our experience was awful. We had a 6pm reservation and we were sat in the bakery section. We missed the entire belly dancing show. The service was non existent as the waiter who took our order never returned. We got the grand feast as this was a celebration event. The mezze arrived quickly and then the entree didn't come for an hour. An hour after that, so 2 hours at the restaurant, and no one ever returned to our table. A runner cleared drinks and brought an unasked for drink but we couldn't even find someone to explain the error. After 2 hours of being ignored,we flagged a server to ask for to-go box, our check, and our included dessert to go. For the money spent ($100 per person) there are plenty of places to go that would provide better service. This service was the worst I've experienced, and despite the food being excellent, I personally will not return.

I spoke with my dining companions and we are interested in a refund. Thank you for responding. Your management is welcome to contact me.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 5

Service: 1

The experience was incredible. The customer service was excellent, and the ambiance was fantastic.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Well service was slow because we went on Valentine's Day. Our service from our actual waitress was amazing. She was attentive and very nice. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was amazing. My boyfriend did a wonderful job picking a place for us to go on Valentine's Day.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Wonderful experience!! The lamb is always perfect!!! Great atmosphere and service.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food-drinks-desert very good 👍

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Love, love, loved it! This place was awesome, the atmosphere was very cozy and relaxed, the food was absolutely amazing, and the service was fantastic. Batu, our server was helpful, funny, and very attentive.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I love Cazbar! This place is amazing, the service is amazing, the food is amazing. I’ve been 4 times and every time it’s been incredible. This time we had the Grand Fiest for 2 and it was everything I had hoped for. The mezzas were delicious, the bread was fresh and warm, and the meats were cooked perfectly. We finished off the meal with the kanafa….hands down the best kanafa I’ve ever had. If you’re on the area, you have to check this place out.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Came here for Valentine’s Day with a 9:15 reservation. The line was out the door with people waiting over two hours with a reservation. We couldn’t even get a table and had to leave after waiting an hour to check in. Won’t be coming here again pretty much ruined our night. This isn’t a new restaurant I don’t understand how you overbook for Valentine’s Day when you know you’re going to be busy.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Wow is all I can say. We visited from ohio and we forsure will make this a regular stop when in Maryland

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Cazbar Katmer, Sultans Platter, Lahmacun for 10, lg Kunefe, Red Lentil Soup, Kocaman, Fried Calamari, Pumpkin Soup, Sandwiches, Three Course, Sarma, Chicken Stirfry, Cacik, Saksuka, Chicken Shish Kebap, French Fries \u0026 Yummy Yummy Sauce, Trilece, Small Salad with Chicken Kebab, Robot

I come from Turkey’s to send and I’ve tried several Turkish Mediterranean spots. This is the only place that is 100% authentic Turkish cuisine. Highly recommended absolutely love this place and I think you will too.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Good place, food was good but they weren't super on top of dietary restrictions.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

Incredible restaurant. We’ve been hearing great things about Cazbar for years and finally decided to go. Was a great decision!!

Really interesting menu. We learned quite a bit about Turkish dining, as typically uninformed Americans. The food was great, with nice big portions.

The waitstaff is wonderful. Answered all of our questions (we had many). Patient. Observant. Couldn’t have been better.

We went on a weeknight and it was surprisingly empty. Our waiter said it’s usually much busier. And especially so on weekends, mostly due to the belly dancers (Fridays and Saturdays I believe).

We’ll definitely be returning. Really great restaurant.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5