Layla’s Lebanese Restaurant

The food is so delicious. My boyfriend and I went here for our first dinner date, 6 montherversary, and our 1 year yesterday. The hummus is awesome and service was great!

My husband and I loved Layla’s but it is gone! Does anyone know if they closed completely or moved? We miss it and we’re so sad and disappointed to find it gone.

Hands down the BEST place to get shawarma in all of Alexandria, VA… I am IN LOVE with this place, from the music, to the service, to the ambiance, to the incredible food… come here if you want a good experience for your meal…

Terrible customer service; waitress was very rude. Food is mediocre for the price. Do not go here. There are better Middle Eastern restaurants in the city. Food was also under cooked.

The best authentic Lebanese food you will find in the DC area. We ordered the hummus, baba ganoush, fattoush and tabbouleh. All were excellent and very fresh. For our entrée, we ordered the chicken and beef shawerma and beef kabob. I have three kids although they don’t have a kids menu they were able to have a smaller versions the shawermas for the kids for $ 10. The plates were all delicious! The service is very pleasant.

Pretty tasty, I had a beef shawarma and it came with fries. The portion is medium size. It could’ve been a little bigger but besides that I thought it was delicious.

Terrible service! I was meeting a friend there for dinner whom I hadn’t seen in quite some time. The server came over to get our drinks in a timely manner and then proceeded to return every 3 minutes to see if we were ready to order. We were clearly in conversation and told her we hadn’t even had a chance to look at the menu. After the third time coming over, my friend said that I guess we were ready to order since she had been over so frequently and the server proceeded to inform us that she had been over once to get our drinks and one additional time to see if we were ready and she thought that she was late and we had been waiting too long. We told her we were ready and then she proceeded to walk away from our table.
I have waited tables for many years and any good server knows when your table has had adequate time to look at the menu and her response was extremely unprofessional and to make matter worse, I believe that was Layla herself. We were so disappointed that we decided to leave and on the way out mentioned to the bartender that we’d like to speak to the manager because our server was extremely rude and her response was that was the manager and I heard what you said. Unbelievable! I refuse to give business to places that do not value their customers!

Awesome Kefta Stew!

I started with the vegetarian appetizer platter. Everything was excellent. I especially liked the falafel. The hommos was very good.
For the entre, I ordered the mixed grill (assorted kebobs). The rice pilaf was excellent. The chicken was seasoned well and cooked perfectly. The lamb kebob was disappointing. I ordered it medium but it was cooked well-​done and was very dry. The kafta was also very overcooked and dry.
There is no kids menu and the only thing I could find on the menu for my daughter to eat was a side of pickles. What she got was a single small pickle with a bowl of radish and olives. She doesn’t eat radish or olive (and the olive had pits) and kept asking for more pickle and complained that she was hungry and didn’t get enough to eat. Very disappointing again.

AMAZING stuffed grape leaves, with a delicious and tangy yogurt sauce on the side. We both ordered the falafel sandwich. which was delicious and fresh. My one year old who is super picky about food, ate my falafel!!! That’s how good it is. The crispy, seasoned fries on the side were also yummy.
Great, fast service too!!!

Ate here on a Sunday night and the service was absolutely horrible. The waitress was extremely rude. She would ask us questions and would walk away before we finished answering. Almost hit us in the face while cleaning up and taking away the plates. Very carelessly and unapologetically dropped our to-​go box on the floor and didn’t seem to feel too bad about it. At the end, when we asked her for a bag for the box, she threw it on the table. Suffice it to say, that she definitely did not receive a tip as she was not worthy of one for the kind of service she gave us. I have never experienced worse service anywhere before.
The food was nothing worthy of a review as well. Both the shish tawook chicken and the rice was extremely dry and not very flavorful. The chicken shawarma was decent but nothing special.
I will definitely not be returning to this restaurant nor recommending it to anyone I know going to the area. Huge disappointment!

When it comes to Lebanese cuisine in Alexandria’s Old Town, Layla’s wins hands down. The humus is always fresh and yummy, but for me it is all about the delicious Shawarma, cooked to perfection with spices and juices merging together in warm pita bread. I stopped in yesterday to see two guest bartenders who I hadn’t seen in sometime. My meal was excellent as always, and I found myself asking, «Why don’t I come here more often?» It was then that I learned this family run business might soon be put up for sale. This news filled me with sadness and I have to say a bit of guilt for not showing up more often. Well, I am not sure if the rumor is true, but I will show up for the Shawarma while I can.

I ate at Layla’s today and it was a great experience through and through.
The waitress was beautiful and very helpful, she served us the best Lebanese food I have ever experienced! she chose a desert for my friend and I to share and hooked us up with some wonderful Lebanese coffee. My friend and I will never forget that experience! thanks to you at that nice tasty restaurant!

You are missing out if you do not at Layla’s! My husband and I were in Alexandria for a wedding. We don’t normally eat Lebanese food, but Layla’s came highly recommended by friends who live in Old Town. We started with Layla’s Special Appetizer Platter with meat which included hummus, tabbouleh, baba ghannouj, stuffed kibbeh, meat pies, and makanek. Loved it! For dinner, we ordered lamb kabobs. While we don’t eat Lebanese, we do eat Greek often and have tried lamb at many places. I am not exaggerating when I say these were the best lamb kabobs we have ever had. In addition to the food, the service and atmosphere was great. We tried several other highly rated restaurants on King street throughout the 5 days we were there, and this was our favorite.

I would not recommend Layla’s to anyone. We visited the restaurant on Sunday night for the first time and the waitress was rude throughout the night, the AC was broken and it was extremely hot, and the bathrooms were dirty. The next day we requested our tip back because we did not feel the waitress deserved the mandatory 20% tip they charge groups of 6 or more. When my wife returned to the restaurant to pick up the $ 20 tip and she was treated badly by the manager. We all have bad days but this was just unacceptable and the waitress and the managers behavior was unwarranted and not proper for a business that needs returning local customers in order to stay in business.
I would highly suggest that you choose a different Lebanese Restaurant in the area.

Excellent beef and chicken schwarma! it you eat here often enough, they give you a free beer here and there. it’s the little things that keep me coming back. Been here 4 – 5 times, all where consistent but the last visit where I could tell that they had their B Team on the grill. Ordered the same thing I always get (chick Schw) and it was phoned in (meaning I didn’t feel the love) maybe it was because it was a weeekday, it was late or early or whatever, just picked up on the new cook.
Layla’s, if you’re reading this; the pain of going from small hole in the wall greatness with repeat customers will diminish the second you hire outside the family or expand and your repeats will know this immediately reducing your business to curious tourists one time visitors. Keep up the quality! Thanks!

OOoh, was this place yummy!
Halloumi cheese — was good. Cheese was salty, but overall, great cheese!
Layla’s Special Appetizer Platter — a total deal! For $ 18 you get two good blobs of AMAZING hummus, some of the freshest baba ghannoush and tabouleh, 4 (count it — FOUR) slightly warmed grape leaves (NEVER had warm grape leaves — these must have been the BEST grape leaves I’ve ever come across!) two mini spinach pies and a couple of balls of felafel. Everything was amazing. Was a really great Mediterranean restaurant where everything tastes great. Very refreshing — left me full and satisfied but didn’t leave feeling like a bloated goat. I’m craving the leaves and hummus…

Pokin’ around Alexandria for the first time, I sat down in Layla’s with my wife and her friend Kat for a late (8:30) Tuesday night dinner. Most of the shops were closed, so it was a pretty quiet night except for an Ipod playing music a little bit too loudly from a cart with ancient speakers on it. We sat near the back so I noticed it.
It is kind of dark inside, but a nice vibe, and our waitress was very nice, prompt, and not intrusive at all. We only recognized about ¾ths of the words on the menu, but she kindly filled us in when we had questions; very patient. We settled for the appetizer sampler — hommos, (that’s how they spell it, I swear) babbaganoush, little spinach pies, falafel with tahini dipping sauce, stuffed grape leaves, and taboule. It was all fresh and good, (SNOB TIM SAYS ‘hommos is best when served fresh’) my favorite was probably the falafel and the spinach pies, of course the unhealthiest of the lot. THAT’S HOW I RAWL!!!
For entrees, Kat ordered a beef dish with rice, Lacy had a cut of salmon (she said it was so-​so), and I had kebbah, a delicious ground beef dish that is fried like falafel and dipped in a yogurty sauce. The beef was well-​seasoned and the kebbah each had a crunchy outside and soft inside, kind of a small dish but very tasty. We skipped dessert because of the larg-​er sampler.
Overall, we were pleased with our dinner and would come back, but honestly if we’re back in Alexandria we’d probably want to try another restaurant just for some variety. But solid overall, no complaints.

Quaint family run Lebanese restaurant located in Old Town Alexandria. Parking can be found either on the street or paid parking lots and is limited. Be aware that during business hours the street parking also requires payment (albeit relatively cheap).
The restaurant is very clean and organized. The décor offers an intimate vibe. The noise level is typically quiet to average, which allows for conversation without lip reading.
Service is fantastic, some of the best I’ve encountered. Wait staff is friendly, polite and attentive. They are very quick to refill your glass as well as offer good suggestions and feedback on the menu items.
Food is pretty good. The hummus is excellent, very smooth with subtle yet noticeable flavor. Beef shawarma (gyro) is decent but not necessarily authentic. Meat could be a little more tender and they could add a little more flavor. Fries are awesome and have a kick due to the seasoning they use (cumin perhaps?). Baklava could have used more honey but is serviceable.
Food is slightly overpriced but considering the location, it’s acceptable. Excellent place for a date or quiet night out.

Superdelicious. The spiced meats and friendly staff were great, but what really stood out for me was the BANANA DESSERT. I’m going to drop BANANA DESSERT a few times because you’ll probably doubt me, but it’s freaking delicious (even to my mom who haaaaaaaaates b-​a-​n-​a-​n-​a-​s).
I got some of the stew action (can’t remember what it’s called) and it was flavorful. My friend got the Lebanese version of meatloaf (again… notsomuch with the names of stuff, sorry) and it was okay but not phenomenal. We all devoured the BANANA DESSERT along with the mixed platter of baklavas, too, actually. :)