I like the food bowls but the proteins looked a little stale. Great hummus. Good pita. Meh for Metzeh.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Marolyn Garo
Ordered take out a few nights ago. I paid extra for double protein, I even tipped the staff, but my bowl was missing both my extra protein and the greens that I’d ordered as part of the base.
I call to try to get it corrected, you cannot get to a person, you’re forced to run through a script with a bot. I finish submitting my complaint, and last night I get an email with a coupon, when what I requested was a refund.
Poor quality control, non existent customer service, and dry chicken on top of it all. I won’t be returning.
Genuine Recordings
Filthy, trash in the utensil holders, behind the counter looked like a tornado came through. Walked away and came back 15/20 min later to give them a chance to settle down, clean up and restock but that made no difference. The lady serving had a poor attitude, tried to give the least amount of food possible and tried to up charge when I asked for a little extra. I have never had an issue with my portion size at mezeh until yesterday. The card machine was broken so they had to read and manually type in my information which is not ideal. I have worked in food service for a long time, sometimes we get understaffed or really busy but that is no excuse for poor customer service.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Chris Sellers
Don’t ever order delivery from this location. I ordered two bowls and they looked like this. The greens were mostly stems, the bowls weren’t even half full. Almost no chicken. Wrong sauce. Missing half the ingredients I ordered. Every time I called them, I never could talk to a person. Only order from Mezeh in person when you can control the quality in front of you.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Kaitlyn O'Reilly
I’ve been to optimist all many times, but this is the worst experience here so far. I ordered ahead online so it would be ready when I got to the store. It took me a minute to find parking, which is perfectly fine, so I was a few minutes behind the scheduled pickup time. I got inside and waited. And waited. And waited. Many people were helped before me and I was not acknowledged at all. They weren’t very busy, and I understand helping the people who were there before me, but it wasn’t just the people there before me. Not a huge deal even so. One of the people seemed like he was new, so it’s understandable that I might get missed or delayed for a bit. I finally got the attention of the employee who wasn’t new and asked about my order. She took a few minutes to find my ticket, that hadn’t been started yet. Mind you, at this point, I’ve been waiting for maybe 15 minutes past my original pick up time. I probably stand there for another 10 minutes waiting. When I finally get it, I checked the order and I’m missing something. Okay, still- she’s probably having a long day and might be tired from training someone new. I go to wait and try to catch her eye to get her attention, but I’m ignored. There was a gentleman who was waiting for another half of his order for nearly as long as I’ve been there- we made small talk and I told him I’m glad I checked because they missed part of my order. He got her attention for me, but she continued to try and ignore him. It was obvious at this point that it was purposeful. He was not being rude to her or any employee, but she ended up giving him a huge attitude and was extremely rude. That’s honestly the main reason I’m leaving this review- she was completely unprofessional, and what could have been passed as a bad day turned the already negative experience into a worse one. He ended up leaving without the other half of his order, and I left behind him. I would have asked for a refund and left the food at that point, but the chances of getting her to help me were slim to none. I feel bad for the new employee who has to be trained by her. I hope it was just an off day and that she’s not normally like this- I hope her day gets better. Still, no matter how this food will taste, I will not recommend this spot to anyone, and the likelyhood of me returning is slim to none. I might try again if there are different employees there, but from being ignored (which I now realize is what happened) to a incredibly rude interaction with an employee, to my food being 30+ minutes behind- I’d leave less than 1 star if I could.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Felipe Scaramelli
Don’t order online. It works terribly.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Ashley Lopez
Staff is rude and don’t greet! I stood there waiting to be serviced for a few minutes in a empty restaurant everyone carrying on as if I was invisible. I just walked out
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Patrick Sullivan
I had such an extremely enjoyable meal tonight. I love this place. Excellent food quality and generous portions.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Samantha DeStefano
Mezeh in Gaithersburg, Maryland is wonderful. Generous portions, the greatest variety of superb vegetable toppings, and the best falafel. Manager Mayra and employees are friendly, helpful, efficient.
The food was genuinely good — fresh, flavorful, and exactly what I was craving. The portions were solid and everything tasted well-prepared. No complaints at all on quality.
The only downside was the wait time. It’s a Chipotle-style setup where you move along the line, but there were only two people working the entire store. They were clearly trying their best, but it took quite a while to get through the line. It felt more like a staffing issue than a service issue.
Overall, I’d still come back because the food made it worth it — just hoping they staff up a bit in the future!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Chris P
Amazing portion. Great and fresh flavor. Reminds me of Cava or Naya. Really healthy options and great when on a diet, especially when traveling. The chicken was flavorful and the greens were delicious. The hummus and sauce were a treat and really made the bowl slap. Avocado didn’t seem fully ripened but it was very much edible and a generous portion. There seemed to be a bit of a language barrier with the staff and took a couple tries to get the order right but in the end they got it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Alex Kazanski
Mezeh at Optimist Hall is the kind of place that rewards a smart opening move: build your bowl with intention, and you’ll checkmate lunch. ♟️🥙
The “board” is stacked—bowls, wraps, and pitas with house-made dips and over 25 flavorful toppings, so you can play for speed (grab-and-go) or depth (layer flavors that keep getting better). 🧠✨
I love that it’s built for repeat visits: one day chicken shawarma, the next falafel, and it never feels like the same game twice. 🍗🌿
Tucked into 340 E 16th St (Unit R201), it’s a precise, reliable stop when you want fresh food that’s filling without slowing you down. 📍🚶♀️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lady J
I’ve visited a few times for lunch, but unfortunately, I’ve never been greeted, offered help, or given suggestions. Most recently, I stood there for over five minutes in an empty store, completely ignored. Not a single person at the counter acknowledged me except for a kind prep cook who offered assistance. It’s disheartening that it took such an effort to get anyone’s attention. I left without ordering anything, only thanking the woman in the back. The manager really needs to step up, as she was the one who never greeted me. This will lead to bigger issues if this doesn’t change soon as fast
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Shondria Green
The food is aways fresh and the service is always friendly!
Great service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I like the food bowls but the proteins looked a little stale. Great hummus. Good pita.
Meh for Metzeh.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Ordered take out a few nights ago. I paid extra for double protein, I even tipped the staff, but my bowl was missing both my extra protein and the greens that I’d ordered as part of the base.
I call to try to get it corrected, you cannot get to a person, you’re forced to run through a script with a bot. I finish submitting my complaint, and last night I get an email with a coupon, when what I requested was a refund.
Poor quality control, non existent customer service, and dry chicken on top of it all. I won’t be returning.
Filthy, trash in the utensil holders, behind the counter looked like a tornado came through. Walked away and came back 15/20 min later to give them a chance to settle down, clean up and restock but that made no difference. The lady serving had a poor attitude, tried to give the least amount of food possible and tried to up charge when I asked for a little extra. I have never had an issue with my portion size at mezeh until yesterday. The card machine was broken so they had to read and manually type in my information which is not ideal. I have worked in food service for a long time, sometimes we get understaffed or really busy but that is no excuse for poor customer service.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Don’t ever order delivery from this location. I ordered two bowls and they looked like this. The greens were mostly stems, the bowls weren’t even half full. Almost no chicken. Wrong sauce. Missing half the ingredients I ordered. Every time I called them, I never could talk to a person. Only order from Mezeh in person when you can control the quality in front of you.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
I’ve been to optimist all many times, but this is the worst experience here so far. I ordered ahead online so it would be ready when I got to the store. It took me a minute to find parking, which is perfectly fine, so I was a few minutes behind the scheduled pickup time. I got inside and waited. And waited. And waited. Many people were helped before me and I was not acknowledged at all. They weren’t very busy, and I understand helping the people who were there before me, but it wasn’t just the people there before me. Not a huge deal even so. One of the people seemed like he was new, so it’s understandable that I might get missed or delayed for a bit. I finally got the attention of the employee who wasn’t new and asked about my order. She took a few minutes to find my ticket, that hadn’t been started yet. Mind you, at this point, I’ve been waiting for maybe 15 minutes past my original pick up time. I probably stand there for another 10 minutes waiting. When I finally get it, I checked the order and I’m missing something. Okay, still- she’s probably having a long day and might be tired from training someone new. I go to wait and try to catch her eye to get her attention, but I’m ignored. There was a gentleman who was waiting for another half of his order for nearly as long as I’ve been there- we made small talk and I told him I’m glad I checked because they missed part of my order. He got her attention for me, but she continued to try and ignore him. It was obvious at this point that it was purposeful. He was not being rude to her or any employee, but she ended up giving him a huge attitude and was extremely rude. That’s honestly the main reason I’m leaving this review- she was completely unprofessional, and what could have been passed as a bad day turned the already negative experience into a worse one. He ended up leaving without the other half of his order, and I left behind him. I would have asked for a refund and left the food at that point, but the chances of getting her to help me were slim to none. I feel bad for the new employee who has to be trained by her. I hope it was just an off day and that she’s not normally like this- I hope her day gets better. Still, no matter how this food will taste, I will not recommend this spot to anyone, and the likelyhood of me returning is slim to none. I might try again if there are different employees there, but from being ignored (which I now realize is what happened) to a incredibly rude interaction with an employee, to my food being 30+ minutes behind- I’d leave less than 1 star if I could.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Don’t order online. It works terribly.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Staff is rude and don’t greet! I stood there waiting to be serviced for a few minutes in a empty restaurant everyone carrying on as if I was invisible. I just walked out
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I had such an extremely enjoyable meal tonight. I love this place. Excellent food quality and generous portions.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mezeh in Gaithersburg, Maryland is wonderful. Generous portions, the greatest variety of superb vegetable toppings, and the best falafel. Manager Mayra and employees are friendly, helpful, efficient.
Restaurantji Recommends
The food was genuinely good — fresh, flavorful, and exactly what I was craving. The portions were solid and everything tasted well-prepared. No complaints at all on quality.
The only downside was the wait time. It’s a Chipotle-style setup where you move along the line, but there were only two people working the entire store. They were clearly trying their best, but it took quite a while to get through the line. It felt more like a staffing issue than a service issue.
Overall, I’d still come back because the food made it worth it — just hoping they staff up a bit in the future!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Amazing portion. Great and fresh flavor. Reminds me of Cava or Naya. Really healthy options and great when on a diet, especially when traveling. The chicken was flavorful and the greens were delicious. The hummus and sauce were a treat and really made the bowl slap. Avocado didn’t seem fully ripened but it was very much edible and a generous portion. There seemed to be a bit of a language barrier with the staff and took a couple tries to get the order right but in the end they got it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Mezeh at Optimist Hall is the kind of place that rewards a smart opening move: build your bowl with intention, and you’ll checkmate lunch. ♟️🥙
The “board” is stacked—bowls, wraps, and pitas with house-made dips and over 25 flavorful toppings, so you can play for speed (grab-and-go) or depth (layer flavors that keep getting better). 🧠✨
I love that it’s built for repeat visits: one day chicken shawarma, the next falafel, and it never feels like the same game twice. 🍗🌿
Tucked into 340 E 16th St (Unit R201), it’s a precise, reliable stop when you want fresh food that’s filling without slowing you down. 📍🚶♀️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I’ve visited a few times for lunch, but unfortunately, I’ve never been greeted, offered help, or given suggestions. Most recently, I stood there for over five minutes in an empty store, completely ignored. Not a single person at the counter acknowledged me except for a kind prep cook who offered assistance. It’s disheartening that it took such an effort to get anyone’s attention. I left without ordering anything, only thanking the woman in the back. The manager really needs to step up, as she was the one who never greeted me. This will lead to bigger issues if this doesn’t change soon as fast
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
The food is aways fresh and the service is always friendly!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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