Alí Baba

We stumbled upon this place during our recent visit to Puerto Rico. Not only was the food amazing (can’t beat the homemade bread), but the service was outstanding. All the servers help out, know the menu well and can speak very good English.

Amazing and authentic food here. The fresh baked bread was something special. From the appetizers to the entrees, I was quite impressed. I simply stopped by for a quick falafel wrap but ended up enjoying a full course meal and will be going back again this week!

The chicken ottoman casserole was amazing. My children loved it as well. The side rice and pickled cabbage/​carrots were delicious. The baklava was the only dessert offered but it was definitely the best one I have had in a while. My husband had the moussaka. He never had it before and enjoyed it.

Checked this place out while on vacation. The food is good, the portions are appropriate, the atmosphere is wonderful and relaxing, the décor is cute and culturally inspired and the waitstaff was attentive and friendly. The only downside is that its a little pricey but i mean im sure youve overpaid for food many times back home so that shouldnt deter you now especially since the food is good.

Ate there in February 2016 and enjoyed the atmosphere and food tremendously. The waiters were superb; friendly, attentive and professional. I will be eating there again this week.

Service was awesome… but the food was even better. The bread is made to order. It’s a good sign when they ask how you want your meat cooked and it comes as ordered, medium rare. Have had a lot of subpar/​overpriced food in this area, but Ali Baba was delicious, well priced and a good atmosphere. Go!

Had dinner at Ali Baba last night. Arrived about 7:00 and only a few people were there. Authentic and fun interior design as well as the waitstaff uniforms. Very, very attentive service. Yes. You must have the lavash bread. Warm out of the oven served on a wooden plate. Hummus was deliciously creamy with just the right amount of spice. Bright green, I am guessing first cold press, olive oil was wonderful as well.
I had the vegetarian mousaka. Large portion with all kinds on vegetables and beans topped with cheese served on a cast iron griddle. Nice and garlicky. A full plate of sides with cabbage salad, potatoes and rice pilaf. My husband had the mixed grill which he enjoyed. He was not so much a fan of the pork but he ate it all.
Then the best baklava I have ever had, warmed and topped with ice cream. There was a lighting issue when they all end off suddenly. I was in the middle of dessert so it didn’t bother me. I continued to eat my dessert. They were very apologetic to everyone. It was back on in a few minutes. Not a problem for us.
The restaurant was full when we left will. Will definitely go back.

The fresh bread and hummus was good… so was the spinach and feta quesadilla. We ordered the mussaka for our entrée. Don’t expect it to be like the Greek kind. It was more saucy and went well with the rice. I didn’t really care for the pickled carrots/​cabbage. It was a lot of food for the 2 of us so go with an empty stomach.
The service was good, though it took a little while for our food to come out. The presentation was nice and the food was tasty. It’s definitely worth trying out.

Best pitta bread home made I have ever had,
Excellent food and outstanding service by Lauraine.
Will definitely come back.

Great service. Their curry chicken is delicious, and my companion had lamb, both were excellent! Will go back soon.

Visited this after I had been to Istanbul Turkish in Old San Juan.
This being more high rated we expected it to be better… But sadly it was not.
We ordered Hummus which came with home made bread (the best part of dinner)… Hummus was too blend and was missing garlic salt and lemon.
We ordered Chicken sheesh Kabob… Which was ok ok… The side salad was not at all good… Too much vinegar and potatoes on the side were over cooked… Almost burnt…
Vegetable Musakka and vegetable caserrole were decent.
But overall Istanbul Turkish in San Juan was a better experience.
Only good things here was the bread and the vegetable caserrole.

The hummus the best I have ever had. They were generous with the bread and it was right out of the oven. The atmosphere makes you forget that you are in Puerto Rico. I loved the lanterns hanging all around. It was quiet enough that we could hear everyone in the group. We got the mixed grill entrée that is supposed to be for two people but it was enough to feed 4. Pricing was very reasonable. Highly recommended.

Being from the metro Detroit Michigan area, I’m am used to having Middle-​Eastern restaurants all around me. Since must of these are Lebanese, though, I relish the chance to try something from another area.
Ali Baba gives the Turkish take. It’s different but good different. In two visits (one dine-​in, one take-​out) I had:
— superior vegetarian moussaka with just the right amount of cheese, large pieces of eggplant and a fresh and tangy garlicky tomato sauce (they use organic tomatoes here!)
— a very unusual Greek salad: lots of carrots, celery, feta cheese and olives, not much lettuce and no beets or peppercinis. Didn’t miss them.
–lightly-​dressed cabbage salads that were not overpowering
— little thin bread wedges packed with spinach and feta. It tasted like a variant on the stuffed Indian breads I love.
— red lentil soup that was a hearty combination with lots of vegetables.
— tzatziki that was a nice halfway point between soupy and overly thick.
— flat, warm, lightly-​seeded bread.
In summary, very good and carefully-​prepared food.

I still love this place!!! Thank you for another delicious meal. The menu is updated, service superb, and the food is consistently good!

Excellent Turkish food! We loved the lavash bread. It comes out hot and poofy. Must try it. I ordered the mixed grill plate. All the grilled meats were juicy and extremely well spiced! We also has the baba ghanoush. It was also very tasteful. My wife had the iskendar kebab. She loved it. The lahmacun was a little bit thicker than I like but also very tasty! Must try if ur in PR!

Very nice staff, but the food is not great. Not sure how it’s rated so highly on Unilocal

Echo everything said by others. Who would expect fantastic Middle Eastern food in San Juan?
Everything we had here was great. Prices were reasonable, especially considering its just off Ashford Avenue. Service was good, and we liked that there was both indoor and outdoor seating. We went back to this place two times in during our trip here, and looking forward to going again.

Right across from marriott stelaris tucked away — we ordered the hummus which was pretty good and i had the adena kabab which is ground lamb. I would say average all around — not awesome and not terrible. Reasonable priced.

We arrived and decided to sit outside because it was a nice night – big mistake, so many bug bites! Our server was attentive, and food came out quickly. We ordered the fried eggplant which came with their signature bread, which was delicious. We followed this with a mixed ottoman which was a bit dry but flavorful. Sangria was cheap (for Condado) and refreshing. I’m not sure if I would come back for the ottoman but would definitely for the bread and dip.

The atmosphere was nice. We sat outside with the breeze. The Mediterranean food here was better than I expected. I have eaten at many places in Florida, and I do not like anything that I have ordered. But here, it was pretty good. The nan was buttery and fluffy. The rice and steak was good also. Came here with a group of 6. I can’t remember what we all ordered.

Great food. Portions are huge. The restaurant is a bit hard to find at first.

Generally I dnt go like med sides but this place has some Nice sides. House made bread is really good. Décor is really good.

There’s a place back home (Dallas) named Ali Baba that is great, and my boyfriend loves Mediterranean food, so he looked forward to coming here. But wow, the food was just so overpriced. This restaurant made us realize how overpriced basically all of the restaurants in the touristy areas are.
Food — ³⁄₅
Gozleme — This was basically a quesadilla was filled with a lot of spinach and feta cheese. It was definitely cooked in too much oil, but I loved that it has more spinach than cheese.
Chicken ottoman casserole — This dish was big enough for two people to share. The chicken was tender and cooked with peppers and onions. It came with a side of roasted potatoes and pickled cabbage. This isn’t how I normally like my chicken cooked, but my boyfriend loved it.
Overall, the food was pretty good, but it was just so overpriced. If we had known the prices beforehand, we wouldn’t have come.

Went here for Dinner and ordered the Hummus as an appetizer and the Chicken Shish Kabob entrée for my main meal.
Hummus was meh but the bread was pretty good. Large loaf with sesame seeds on top.
Hummus should have been a bit more garlic-​y (IMO).
Chicken Shish Kabob was very bland and the chicken tasted rubbery. I expected wholesome pieces of Chicken Kabob with char-​grilled flavor, but I was served a platter with some veggies and chicken pieces that tasted like plain old rubber.
I am a Mediterranean food buff and this was definitely not even close to being mediocre. Like all places in San Juan, it is over-​priced and food was bland.

Place is great! I really wanted to do more authentic Puerto Rican food, but stumbled upon authentic Turkish instead. Sangria was the closest we got to island food (which was quite good, by the way). Hummus was okay. Feta special was awesome. Mozzarella bread (I am not calling it by the right name) was great. This place was a lot of fun.

Awesome food… it wa a thanksgiving dinner. So they had a setup where we could only order from the appetizer list or get one of the wraps. Within this limited menu, we found so many good options!
As other reviewers have mentioned, the bread they serve in the beginning is huge and tasty. it has sesame flavor. Came with hot sauce which was too hot for me and I stayed away from it!
They let you pick the appetizers of your choice and get a mixed plate, which was convenient. We had the tabouli and grape dolma. It was so so delicious. yummm!!! Such rich flavors!
The falafel was really good… the tahini sauce here was unique. I bet they had a special ingredient. The peta was very soft and nice.,
–1 star for 2 reasons: a) dessert felt undercooked and I could taste the raw flour
b) I called the previous day to ask if they are open and they said yes. It would have been nice if they mentioned that they have a limited menu (how am I supposed to guess and ask that question!!) I guess it didn’t affect our dinner in a big way, but some heads up would have been nice!
An important tip: the address on Google is not correct. it’s actually right across from the Marriott, behind the Starbucks. Also, prepare to invest time in finding street parking of just pay 10 – 15 bucks for parking at one of the hotel garages

What an amazing meal. Fresh and clean tastes.
Not like a very expensive meal the night before at the local brew pub.

Delicious food, great service, and reasonably priced for the area. We stayed at the Marriott across the street for a few nights on our vacation… initially we walked past this place several times (thanks, google maps) before finally realizing it was directly in front of our hotel! Lol!
Anyway, our party of four ordered a variety of dishes to share. Standout dishes were the greek salad with grilled chicken, veggie moussaka, beef kabobs, hummus, tsaziki, and the amazing freshly baked lavosh bread. We also ordered a pitcher of their homemade sangria, which was absolutely refreshing and delicious. Every dish was seasoned perfectly, like Mediterranean food should be. Even the side accompaniment of pickled cabbage and veggies paired well with the richness of our entrees. We ordered an additional lavosh because we could not get enough of it with the hummus. Oh, don’t forget about their homemade hot sauces… good stuff if you love spicy!
At a glance the menu may seem pricey to some, but the portions and flavors are definitely worth it! The servers are bilingual, and very friendly and helpful. They did check on us a few times too much towards the end, but overall it was a great experience. We will definitely be back on our next trip!

Nous avons passé un excellent moment au déjeuner aujourd’hui. Tout s’est bien passé, le service est très bien, nous avons été servis par une serveuse parlant français. TOP

I voted this as the most surprising meal we had in PR. Who knew we would get some of the best middle eastern food in PR?
Hands down best babaganoush we ever head. The eggplant was so fresh. It was really stand out. And of course that special break it was served with was killer.
I can never eat baklava again after trying it from here. 86 layers??! Are you insane. It was insane. Again, the best this new yorker has ever had. The mint tea was really special too. I am a big tea drinker, and this tasted very different from any other tea, or mint tea I ever had. Super fresh.
Service was fantastic too. Everyone was very kind and attentive. Oh god… will I ever have middle eastern food this good again… cmon NY, I am embarrassed for us.

The appetizers were AMAZING. I got the Adana kebab — it was ok– the meat was a little too densely packed for my taste and overall it was just so rich. But the appetizers, omg. The bread, with ezme, tadziki, and an eggplant side (imam bayaldi) were killer as were these spinach feta things we got. Overall I would absolutely go again and just order what my husband got, the mixed rice dish, and appetizers. It’s also quite $$$. Dinner for 2 was a little over $ 80– worth it I guess but unusual for the cuisine at a casual place

Wonderful place!
We went here while in Condado and enjoyed several appetizers. We had one of the eggplant dishes and it was so delicious that my wife ate some too (she thought she didn’t like eggplant!). We also had the tabouli and the spinach-​feta quesadillas. Everything came with delicious lovash bread.
A variety of vegetarian options — can’t beat that!
We had prompt & friendly service and were very happy with the casual Mediterranean café vibe.
It’s expensive — look to spend $ 10 on each appetizer and between $ 20 – 25 on entrees.

Aunque el sitio es bonito, me molestó que el gerente estuviera todo el tiempo asediando a las muchachas que sirven. Al pagar no permitió que pusiéramos la propina. Se la dimos directamente a la muchacha que nos atendió y a la que se dió cuenta el gerente le hizo señal de entregarla. Ese hecho dañó la visita al lugar. Salimos con ese desazón.

So good. So, so good. Everything from the service to the presentation of our bill. Fantastic! My sister, brother in law and I were in San Juan for the day waiting to board our cruise ship for the week. We were not able to board until 2, so after checking out we took a stroll thru the city and beach, then decided to go for lunch. I got on my trusty Unilocal app to check out our options. Bam! When I saw Ali Baba was so close to us (less than a half mile!), and I LOVE Turkish food, the decision was made without any discussion :)
This joint is I the ground floor or a business building/​shopping high rise. It’s small. Only 7 – 8 tables could put here — only a few of which were four-​tops. There were few tables outside, unassuming they were ABs. This joint exudes that classic homey, quaint, personal atmosphere. The presentation of the food, not to mention the fantastic melding of flavors, tells one right away that the food is made fresh, and with love!
We got there right as they were opening, thus we were the only customers. The young lady who sat us and was our server was very polite and friendly. She gave us plenty of recommendations and explained any questions we had about the different offerings. I was having a curiously hard time deciding what to pick, so we shared a few appetizers: Baba Ganoush (with homemade Lavash bread) and Tabouli. The flavors! I can hardly put it into words the distinct eggplant flavor was lightly seasoned. Not tarty. Not salty. Perfect. I could definitely taste the lemon and garlic mixed into the Tabouli. I’ve had better Tabouli, in my opinion, but this was not too bad. Booth dishes were scooped up and scarfed doe with the hot, fresh bread. Light, airy. A array of seeds were sprinkled on top — the presentation was top notch.
Main dish? Ottoman Casserole. Verdict: Extremely succulent! Incredible mix of spices seasoned the fish to perfection. The lamb meat was so unbelievably tender and juicy — phenomenal experience for my taste buds. If I lived in San Juan, Condado to be specific, I would kill to eat here every few days :)

I am not an expert in Turkish food and it is probably the first time for me. But I would definitely look for turkish food from now on.
The place is hidden away from the street, but the decorations are very nice. I particularly like the lamps. We ordered chicken, hummus, eggplant dip and lentile soup. They are all excellent. We ordered extra bread to go with the soup and dip as well. The flavors are earthy, rich and sophisticated. I only wish the portion size are a little bit larger

Excelente restaurante lo considero el mejor turco en PR, La comida comenzando por el principal de cordero es exquisita, excelente servicio de los mozos todo el tiempo te atienden con cortesía y conocen los ingredientes de los platos que ofrecen. La decoración es bonita y contribuye a crear un buen ambiente. Las mejores chuletas de cordero.