Sahara Restaurant & Banquet Center in Sterling Heights

Just had a quick drop in here for a light lunch with my Family. Disappointed in not only the meal but the service. Ive never been anywhere where the people are this rude... who doesnt speak to their customers?...delivers the food to the table, without a word...my Husband asked if they had garlic sauce and it illicited a smart-allect "Yeah, we have garlic sauce, but you have to order it and pay for it". So on top of flavorless lentil and lemon chicken rice soup, the people are super rude. The guy who cleared the tables hovered around weirdly and doesnt speak either. I love middle eastern food, but this is not the place to get it. I certainly wont ever patronize this establishment again.

Not as good as they use to this place was the best quality wise now not so much I been a customer since they bought blockbuster last orders were below average my family no longer shops here but I keep trying to see if they are bk but unfortunately the food is still below average the old Sahara have pita café a run for their money this new food is gas station quality the bread is still good though

The food not like it used to be restaurant went down bad

I placed a carry out order and had an encounter with the “owner”, he was very rude and disrespectful. Also, I ordered a Fattoush salad and it was nothing special the chicken had 0 seasoning on it and didn’t listen to my order correctly because there were things in I specifically said I didn’t want on it. Go to other places if you want better food ✌🏽.

Service is meh.. but their food is delicious!

This place is horrible food was coldChicken was old and hard served coldWill never dine at this restaurant again

The manager is rude, and I spent my hard earned money I want quality food not old frosted food

Everything from the salad to dessert was fabulous, and so was our server. Thank you for the wonderful experience! I will definitely be back, Kudos to you all!!

The food was sooooooo good. The Sahara fries are everything awesome. Everything was worth getting again on are next visit. Plus Are server was super nice.

The Chicken Stir Fry was seasoned just right! I loved it

Sahara is a classic. Its one of those places that you know youre going to get a great meal every time you go there. Always consistent, always delicious.

I get that prices have increased but you shouldn’t decrease how much food you put in your combination tray and half/ full orders you guys are ripping people off I will never give my business here again after my last experience

This place used to be much betterThe floor was literally sticky, the food was greasyThe 2 stars are for the nice people there

Service was sub par, and the staff was rather rude at times. Waited about 15-20 minutes to have our order taken. The server forgot to give us our salads and basically rushed us to eat and pay and leave. Again food was what you’d expect, so if you are planning on going here SKIP eating inside and order take out.

My wife and I had our wedding here and we are beyond happy with our experience.The staff were very accommodating. They let us decorate our tables and set everything up the night before. They also let us bring in our speaker system and made room for a dance floor even though I know technically it isnt a banquet hall. The staff was super friendly and catered to our every need without hesitation.We were able to party and celebrate freely which was awesome. The food came out and it was perfect. I would strongly recommend to anyone having a reception or just to eat. Thank you to the staff and management for a great and memorable experience!!

I wouldnt recommend anyone to go here .They took my $30 off my card and told me to do what I had to do to get it put back on my card even after I canceled the order , if you call in a order its not prepared until you arrive after being told 15 minutes over the phone then you have wait an additional 15 minutes for a order that was called in very unprofessional service is very poor.

Great food, and you will need a box for sure. Lots of sides like pita, salad and rice come with main entree.

Good good but service is slow. Waitresses have been there for many years which is nice to see. However they need to up their staff on the weekends. Waited 20 minutes for a waitress to come to the table just to ask if you’re ready to go but we still that I have water or the menu. Food is always excellent and fresh!Pricing has definitely gone up in the last two years. You could get a sandwich for five or six dollars before. Now they’re more than seven-eight dollars.

Great atmosphere, fast and friendly service, relaxed environment, delicious food.

We love the food here. Way better than some other local places. Authentic and tastes great.

The food was amazing. Extremely flavored and SOOOO MUCH FOOD!Cute atmosphere and the owner is sweet and genuine.Do yourself a favor and get some!

The food here is absolutely delicious! The service was good. My main concern is the cleanliness. Dirty tables, fruit flies, etc. Place needs to be renovated. Old, dirty tables, etc. I would only give this place 1 star because of this, but their food quality is just that good, I still give it a 4

Food is good but I’m am VERY disappointed that the last FEW times I’ve come here, they have refused to serve crispy bread. I drive from very far to come here and eat that and every time we have come lately, they give a different excuse every time as to why they can’t make it. Other than that, the food is always good and fresh I would really like this issue to be addressed!!! Also very unsanitary. I saw the waiters picking up the bread to serve with their hands.

This is my Go-To place! Consistently delicious Chaldean food. You know its good when other Chaldeans are eating there. Staff is always friendly. Place is always clean. Prices are reasonable. Portions are generous. There are a lot of great middle eastern restaurants in metro Detroit... but this one is authentic Chaldean food... get the Potato Chops and youll know what I mean.

Waitress, Rona, was wonderful, food was tasty and the experience over all great.

Food is hit or miss… this twice now I saw hair in my rice so disgusting like please practice better hygiene.. your a restaurant for god sakes !! So grossed out probably wont ever eat there again … someone should contact the health department .. that really grossed me out

If you are hungry...DO NOT GO HERE. 4 small pieces of dried out flavorless chicken, with a small salad for $25? Rock hard, dried out falafal. The only thing that wasnt disgustingwas the grilled onion. Stay Away!

Great food as always. But like everyone else, theyre short staffed. Please be patient with your servers where ever you go, and remember to tip well...

Great food, great veggies, fresh pita and nice garlic sauce.. slow service. I had 3 fly by waitress/ers lol. So I tipped the bus boy(man)🙄. He gave the most attention lol

By far the best Mediterranean food in the state of Michigan, when coming to Sahara expect to leave full. Everytime you come here they take care of you, full plate, good service, and make sure you leave with a smile on your face. Ever since I was a kid my family would take me to this restaurant and I loved it, I’m still coming here 10+ years later... When it comes to Sahara, there is no other competition in Mediterranean food. Located right off of 696 so if are ever around make sure to hit that exit to pick up some food.

What happened? This place went from 5 stars to zero. My sandwich (beef kaftahad lettuce and tomatoes, no pickle, no radish, no garlic sauce. They gave us one pack of dried up hard bread after asking for extra. The tabouli was missing lemon, like zero lemon, no bulgar, no green onion, it was mushy and tasteless. Sandwiches were served with ranch. What happened to this place? It was God awful. What happened to the fresh bread out of the open oven? Wasnt cheap either.

My sister & I were working on home project and needed a quick bite, sad to say we stopped at Lamaira on Greenfield and staff was rude, so we drove a mile out the way to Sahara on Coolidge. It was awesome as usual where they treat every guest great and the food is awesome!

Excellent good tasting healthy foods. Always freshly made on the spot. Packed not to spill out if carryout. Quick friendly polite staff. Reasonable prices.

Tried this spot out and called back about a mistaken order ... the customer service rep was extremely condescending. I knew what i ordered & what i did not get in my bag. however the women waitresses are well mannered & super nice

The staff and food is very good. Only downside is sometimes longer than average wait. However, food is always fresh and hot. It is always made exactly to order. Favorite place to eat in Oak Park and highly recommend to anyone in the area!

We went to Sahara yesterday, Nov 13 for a lunch. Usually we prefer to take pick up order but this time decided to eat inside. Food was good and our waitress was very nice. Our biggest problem was an employee that didnt wear a mask. First he was standing behind the counter, then brought us more bread and then approached our table and asked how was the food. This made us very uncomfortable. Yesterday we had 8500 new COVID cases in Michigan, so to eat in the restaurant where some employees dont wear mask was not fun at all. There is a sign at the door: No Mask No Service, so you expect workers will follow the rules as well. I really hope they wear mask during food preparation...

I just called up there to let them know that I wasn’t stratified with my food it tasted burnt. The Manager, Ronald had the audacity to hang up on me because at 8:35 pm I couldn’t bring my food back but I explained I could do it tomorrow. I am appalled by the managers behavior and couldn’t believe the terrible service I just experienced. I frequently ate at this place but I will NEVER dine here again! Shame on them for having such a terrible manager!

I love the staff members and food. My boys and I always come out here for a late night snack/dinner. This is the common hangout spot but it doesn’t mean it’s loud and obnoxious. Very chill atmosphere and I’ll for sure be back to order the Chicken Cream Chop half order.

One of the better middle eastern restaurants in the area. Food is always fresh and authentic. My authenticity test is always to compare to food I frequently ate when I lived in PA. It was made the wife of good friend of mine. They immigrated from Syria and she was a wonderful cook. Prices are a little on the high side, though.

The food is good but inconsistently. Service is poor. Just one staff member in particular hung up on me when I called because of a discrepancy in my order. The menu says the vegetarian stir fry comes with potatoes in it but mine didn’t. Last time I got a side order of potatoes this time I got a side order of beans which the menu does not mention. When I tried explaining this over the phone the staff Member told me potatoes are by request only. I told him I expected potatoes since the menu said potatoes and he hung up on me. The same staff member unfortunately serviced me when I showed up at the restaurant and proceeded to tell me it was an old menu. Instead of arguing with me a simple side of potatoes would’ve resolved the entire ordeal. Instead he decided to bring the cook (possibly the owner or managerto attend to me. The cook apologized and remade my entire entree which was above and beyond. Poor customer service will really make a nice place shabby. They are not the only Mediterranean restaurant in town and I for one will not be back...

The food is over priced....the chicken was grilled too long,dry,and no real flavor. The garlic butter had way too much lemon juice. The hummus had way too did not have much flavor.....taste like just salt and oil. I was very disappointed. The gentleman who took my order was rushing me. I wont be going back but I hope that was helpful to my food lovers..who want somewhere too consistently get good food.

I have been going to this restaurant for 35 years. The food is consistent, tasty, and the portions are generous. IN fact, this is my favorite restaurant in Michigan. It is a staple. The taste is off the charts. Simply put, we love the place.

Clean and overall friendly. But the food came out at odd times. Dinners did not arrive at the same time. My wife ordered the spinach pie. It was not in the traditional filo dough but more of a roll. The bread was so hard she could barely tear it with her hands. She mentioned to the waitress that she could not eat it because it was so tough. The waitress asked if she wanted something different and my wife replied, no thank you I just cant eat this. The waitress then said "well you have to eat it as soon as it gets to the table.". One, she did try to eat it immediately And two...an average dinner takes about an hour. A guest should be able to enjoy their food for the duration of the visit.it was as if the pie was made fresh, then frozen and then microwaved. Anyway, they did not remove it from our bill and we paid for it. With so many excellent Mediterranean restaurants in the area we will likely not return.

Great food. Great wait staff. Was a very enjoyable experience. Would recommend stopping in for lunch or dinner. Keep up the great service!

Good food but atrocious service. Disparate treatment. Ive been an occasional customer since the 90s but wont be back. Incompetent wait staff and chaotic kitchen couldnt get a chicken kabob dinner and a hamburger to us after an hour. Management was hostile when confronted with the fact that their kitchen had deep fried our cheese sticks for so long that all the cheese must have oozed out into the fryer. Too many other good options nearby to put up with this type of service.

My second visit...food is just ok. We wanted to sit at a booth, but they were all dirty.

As a connoisseur of Middle Eastern cuisine I frequent Sahara in Oak Park quite often, particularly for lunch. Unfortunately one of my main gripes with this location is that far too often when I receive my carry out order one or more items is usually missing. On most occasions I just look over the error, and keep it moving, but today I found myself especially irritated, because this is the second time in a row that my carry out order was not right! Mind you that I am placing the order with the cashier right at the front counter as opposed to calling it in over the phone.I actually found myself quite irritated, and inflamed once I got back home to sit down and eat only to discover that with the exception of my small order of fries, and the soup that came with the lunch special sandwiches everything else pertaining to my order was wrong. My receipt clearly shows that my order was taken correctly by the cashier. However, instead of receiving the two Chicken Tika sandwiches that I ordered I was given two Chicken Shawarma sandwiches overflowing with garlic cream sauce in their place. Since I am allergic to garlic cream sauce I had to throw the two Chicken Shawarma sandwiches away. Lastly, missing completely was the small Sahara salad that I ordered. Needless to say, my lunch was ruined!Sahara this is no way to treat a loyal customer!!!UPDATEOn 2/11/19 shortly after 11:30 a.m. I decided to pay Sahara in Oak Park a visit to take the owner up on his/her offer to remake my order. Upon explaining the situation to the cashier at the front counter (who by the way had a very nasty attitude), and showing her my original lunch order receipt as well as the owners response to my complaint via my cellphone on Google reviews, she flippantly explained to me that there was nothing that she could do, and that only the manager (who usually comes in on Tuesdayhad the power to give the go ahead to remake my order. She made absolutely no effort to call the manager on his cellphone or take it upon herself to go get someone else who might be able to better assist me with the predicament, which ultimately led to my immediate departure, totally frustrated, and utterly disgusted! This is the second time that a situation like this has occurred to me with this restaurant. It is safe to say that I will not be patronizing Sahara in Oak Park ever again!!!Sahara you just a lost a distinguished, and loyal customer!

Huge banquet-sized space that might be hard for waitstaff to serve adequately. That said, not sure whose fault it was that the bread-spread combo had to be requested after a VERY long initial wait for menus, etc. Order was incorrect on several fronts - stuff didnt come out together; sides and soup werent as ordered. Wait person kept apologizing, referring to a "she" back in the kitchen that was getting things wrong.And the food itself? Meh. Large portions, just barely enough seasoning, but not well prepared. Yellow lentil soup was spiced okay but was very, very watery. The keftka (not lamb, but ground beef and lamb onlywas, again, seasoned okay but have no idea why it didnt have a proper char if it was grilled as advertised. The chicken chop ordered by another person in our party was a bit overcooked with a stale, bitter breading.We wont be back - there are plenty of better Middle Eastern restaurants with much better food and better prices in the area.Seems to me that someone made the common mistake of watering down their cuisine, thinking that giving it the true strength of the flavors of the Middle East wouldnt be acceptable..trying to please everybody, you sometimes please nobody.

This was the second time I tried to eat at this place. The first time they never acknowledged us so we left. The second time it took 20 minutes to get menus, never received bread and they give you a tossed salad with gross ranch dressing. Not an authentic oil and vinaigrette chopped salad. Dirty restaurant, the floors are nasty, the tables are sticky, poor service. Treats African American guest poorly. We will never go back again. Immediately left and went where they treat you with respect, is clean and the food delicious and fresh and spent a bill. For the best Middle Eastern food go to Grape Leaves on Greenfield.

Call in and ordered two cream chop sandwiches and they were very Bland and plain barely anything on them and felt like they had just been sitting under a warmer. I am updating this because I went back and I am equally disappointed, look at the picture and tell me that this looks appetizing, worst Shawarma I have ever had