Mezeh Mediterranean Grill

Place is rock solid and the prices are good. The marinated steak is seasoned perfectly and they allow you to put as many choices as you can fit into your pita, will not leave hungry.

The food is really good. Set up like a chipotle but the food is much better. Wish they had these in Virginia beach. The rice bowl is very tasty. But a piece of pita bread and u can make a couple pizza pockets out of it. Great idea for this kind of food since everyone does not like everything.

I do like this place but you pay the same as you do at Cava Mezze Grille for a salad ½ to ²⁄₃ the size. Also, the falafel is tastier at Cava.

I’ve been going back recently and the staff seem more attentive and friendly. I know I said I would never go back but the food is THAT GOOD! Also, there’s a guy with locs who works the POS and he’s really nice and talkative which makes for a better environment. I don’t feel like I’m bothering them anymore by wanting food.

Stopped by for lunch with my wife and four year old to try a healthier option for lunch. We both got the salad/​rice bowl, but then ventured off for the toppings and dressing. I learned by watching the others in line that you can do half and half with the protein. The eggplant is absolutely delicious; I will get this every time I visit! I topped my bowl with spicy chicken, hummus, tabouleh and plenty of other vegetables. I also chose the tzaziki dressing. Next time I’ll have the dressing on the side and choose two different options. I also learned by watching my wife that this is an option since there are about 5 options for dressings all of which sound interesting. I plan to try the falafel next time. My wife tried the cane sweetened soda and was happy with her selection. Our son and I stuck with water which they have for free next to the soda. There is also a cucumber mint water; that option is rare in restaurants, but highly appreciated! We both loved our selections and the four year old ate more of my bowl that I did. We sat at the outdoor tables to enjoy our lunch. This will absolutely be a place that we return for healthier meal options when dining out!

Cavernous interior, super clean, modern interior design. Healthier menu options with a cafeteria like preparation of dishes from premade vegetables and proteins. Staffers were friendly. Dishes are designed by you and made in front of you. Flavors were spot on and portions were large. Pretty solid overall.

Best lunch on earth. Chicken shawarma, spring mix, brown rice, spicy humus, cucumber, baked eggplant and pickled red cabbage. I think I’ve seen face of God !

Went to a party catered by Mezeh recently.
The food was SOLID! Absolutely fantastic chicken and falafel balls. Just the best :)

Mezeh is located right in Crystal City and is a fast and convenient place to grab a quick lunch that is healthy and fresh. It’s basically a chipotle but for Mediterranean food. I’ve only ever gotten a bowl but I think you can get wraps as well. The flavored drinks they offer are so yummy too!
Beware: the line gets LONG at lunch so opt for an early or later lunch instead of prime time (12 – 1)

My friends in Charlottesville are obsessed with the newly opened Mezeh in town, so I was pleasantly surprised to locate one in Alexandria. Alas, I was disappointed. The toppings and topping choices were plentiful, but the people inside the restaurant and sauce were not. My rice bowl was kind of bland. Additionally, my falafel was dry. While my friends in Charlottesville prefer Mezeh over Cava, I’d choose the latter.

Wow! I was shocked by the excellent food at this airport restaurant. The food was so good and the variety was so great, that I am giving five stars for that alone. I considered going down on stars because of a couple of things I did not like: inattentive staff, no seating, semi-​confusing menu and, of course, the very high price. After asking for help on how to order and what everything was, I was able to make a very good decision to get a rice bowl with the pita on the side. The lamb meatballs were very good. The black round, rice-​like grain was very good with a nice crunch. The hummus and tzaziki sauce were good. The entire dish made me feel very satisfied.

Honestly, I really don’t like this place. I only come because it’s close to the office and people tend to suggest this place, especially if they’ve never been. It is yet another Mediterranean style chipotle, similar to roti or cava. This one is my least favorite. The toppings are gross, there is no other way to put it, and I end up eating around anything «new» I try. I can literally only stand the meat, salad and brown rice. Which BTW is saying a lot, the rice and meat are really meh for me too. All the other toppings I tried are bad. Like even the roasted veggies, some broccoli pieces are so big they are still raw, and unmanageable to eat.
The juices also seem appealing, but the beet juice, which is something I normally enjoy, tastes like the earth. It’s like they were too lazy to peel the beets and just juiced ‘em without peeling. NASTY.
Why the line is so long??? Even if it isn’t, it is painfully slow. I met one of my coworkers here, who had arrived before. The line was maybe 3 people deep, the shortest I’ve ever seen it (after 1:15pm on a Friday). It still took close to 15 minutes for me to get to the table, with THREE people in front of me. PAINFULLY SLOW.
I guess you’ll see me here if I am eating with a coworker. Otherwise, never again. Coming 5+ times and the food never being good, that’s enough for me.

I love this place! We went here on the way to Ronald Reagan National Airport to have a quick lunch before the flight on a Sunday. I was able to park my car right in front of the store on the street. The place was empty but the food was very fresh and tasty. Here, like at many other places, you go from left to right choosing the carb, meat, veggies, etc. to customize your own meal. I chose pita pocket, falafel, a lot of veggies, hummus, spicy hummus, etc. etc. It was SOOOO GOOOD! And the price is so reasonable too. The interior is beautiful and it makes you feel as if you are in a Mediterranean country. I look forward to seeing more locations opening up in DMV area in the near future.

Fresh, delicious food, great portions, and superb service. The falafel is amazing, as are many of the various toppings, including hummus, red cabbage, roasted corn, steamed beets, caramelized eggplant – yum! – and many more. Topped with the tzatziki sauce, the rice bowl was fantastic.
I’ll definitely be coming back.

This place is amazing. I feel so lucky I work by Mezeh, and that Unilocal helped me find it!
In my opinion, this is better than Cava in Tysons. Their portions are so much larger, which is always a win in my book, and their numerous options for toppings. It does get busy during lunch, but the assembly line format keeps things moving quickly. They also have an app that you can pay with like Starbucks and they give a slice of pita on the side of your meal. The food always tastes fresh and delicious!

The place is neat and the service is friendly and efficient. They don’t have the red pepper hummus as the brunch in Chinatown. But the environment is much better and the taste is the same.
If you look for some spot to be full, and sth not too fancy but delicious and healthy, then Mezeh is the one!

It was not what I expected and I expanded my tastebud horizons. I was pleasantly full after devouring my meal. It’s great for take out or sit-​in dining. Take a chance, you won’t be disappointed.

One of the best lunches you can get in Crystal City. Quality ingredients, efficient service, excellent value, and most importantly, superb flavors and textures. An easy lunch pick (or even dinner) any day of the week. One of my favorites is the pita pocket, a hot fresh pita packed with your choice of premium and standard toppings. The whole package comes together in a very satisfying lunch experience and it can even be pretty healthy.

It’s a very popular place to eat at lunch. The likes get very long so try to come before or after lunch hours if your strict on time. They’re another version of cava but I still prefer cava over mezza. The food isn’t as filling but they still have a lot of options available.
The standard bowls with protein range between $ 8ish for a bowl of rice and $ 9ish for a salad
On the bright side at least they give you the pita bread for free and have the cucumber water! Yum

I went here when visiting town for business and staying at the Crystal City Marriott nearby and brought some co-​workers along, who were all starving. Wasn’t sure what to expect from a Chipotle-​style Mediterranean place, but we were all blown away by how awesome the food was. Really. One of the members of my group keeps bringing Mezeh back up in conversation 3 months after the fact. I remember the harissa sauce in particular being niiiiiiiiice and spicy.

The Mediterranean version of chipotle! Soooo good and healthy. I got a brown rice spicy chicken bowl and choose cilantro hummus, caramelized eggplant, and the cucumber salad as my 3 premium sides. I also choose red cabbage slaw, more cucumber, and olives as my free toppings. I got the horisa (? Spelling) and Greek lemon dressing on the side. Everything is great and it came with free pita

Stopped in here quickly for lunch today. It is set up pretty much like a Mediterranean version of Chipotle or Shophouse, where you pick your ingredients as you go down the line. Here’s what I got:
Rice bowl with chicken shawarma: you can personalize your bowl with a whole slew of ingredients– I got caramelized eggplant, pickled carrot and onion, tzaziki sauce, couscous and veggies with mine. It came with pita bread and all came in under $ 8. Would recommend for lunch, a good healthy option with flavorful rice and meat, and pretty large quantities as well. I got it to go, and was fully satisfied with my lunch back in the office!

Mezeh mezeh mezeh
I’ll start off by saying I really enjoyed the bowl I got. Very similar to cava grill in terms of offerings, but a few differences here and there. I love the kale/​arugula/​spring mix options for a salad. You get 3 salad toppings which are whatever (wish I could’ve replaced those for the «premium» toppings). I got both falafel and lamb kofta. The falafel was ok, decent flavor and not dry, but I would go for a different protein next time. The lamb meatballs were delicious, flavorful with a little bit of heat. Definitely worth the extra $$. You’re limited to 3 premium toppings, which I opted for spicy feta, cous cous, and caramelized eggplant. The eggplant was amazing… wish I could’ve gotten more than two slices but may double up next time. The spicy feta was also good, had some good heat but not as flavorful as the crazy feta over at cava. I liked the cous cous as well but pretty standard there. Filled up my bowl with the regular toppings and had a good sized meal for $ 10. Not bad at all.
The reason for the 3 star rating is because one of my meatballs had a huge piece of plastic in it. Like the end of a piece of plastic silverware or something. Not sure how this could’ve gotten in but it did not feel good biting down on.

My husband introduced me to this place. He works in Crystal City and it’s his go to for lunch.
We stopped by one day as they were about to close, after leaving the airport starving. I admit I didn’t get to try everything I wanted because like I said they were about to close and they’d started to put some of the food up.
I liked the way the meat was seasoned which is always the most important for me. I think the young women who worked there were mad that we came so late so they dumped on the toppings so much the lid on my bowl barely closed. Fortunately I was able to dig around and taste some delicious goodness. I’ll definitely have to go back prior to closing to get a better sense of all of their offerings.

This place reminds me almost exactly of the DC chain Roti. It’s like a Mediterranean chipotle. It’s decent, but didn’t quite blow me out of the water. Portions are decent, but it’s pricey. There are definitely places to sit, but the seating arrangement is quite awkward. I believe this place opened fairly recently in the Crystal City area. The lines can be quite long during the lunch rush, so try to get there early. As at Roti and Chipotle, you order at the counter and decide what type of meat, toppings, sauces, and base you want. I ordered a salad with roti chicken, hummus, couscous, and eggplant, along with the special Mezeh sauce. I enjoyed my meal, but they were WAY too heavy on the dressing (practically drenched my food) and they classified ordinarily regular toppings as ‘specialty toppings’ and charged more for them.
Bottom line — pricey, crowded, and not quite worth the hassle. It’s almost exactly identical to Roti.

Wow! I really like this place! In the typical fashion of the «have it your way» food line chains like Chipotle… Mezeh serves up a great, healthy meal on the Mediterranean tip!
The concept here is all about fresh, bold, and natural food and flavors. As the manager explained to me, all food items are made in house every day from all natural and fresh ingredients. No by-​products, artificial flavors, additives or mystery meats… My reply…“Oh yeah?! SOLD… Say no more. Let’s get busy on my bowl!“
You walk-​in, choose your base of a salad or rice bowl, and begin to now pile up your bowl with veggies and proteins. I chose the salad bowl of mixed seasonal greens and here’s where the fun begin:
+ Choice of Protein: ½ Chicken Kebab and Beef Kefta
+ Mediterranean Toppings: A plethora of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green peppers, olives, chick peas, pickled carrots and beets
+ Sauce: Harissa Sauce (Spicy)
The combination of flavors and seasoned meats was really good… like a party in the mouth. And, the vegetables tasted so fresh! The Beef Kefta was really a hit with me. The beef sirloin was seasoned to perfection. Now top this in the form of a meatball that has feta, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cilantro and a mixture of spices, pine nuts and cumin seeds in it… you are in for a foodie treat! To be frank, the entire meal did not disappoint from the veggies to the meats. I think the only drawback with Mezeh is knowing what to choose between all the toppings and which ones will work best to your liking. There are so many choices and combination one can create, in that anyone not familiar with Mediterranean food will find it somewhat daunting –a challenge to order at first. Not to mention, after trying to figure out your topping choices– you still have to figure out which sauce will not spoil the entire meal you finally went through all the effort to plan. LOL
In all though, a seriously good bowl and great place to go to break away from the typical, lunch/​dinner norm in this area. It’s hearty, healthy… the servings are huge and well worth the price!

We’ve got enough of these fast casual places that they can be compared one to one now, and this new Mediterranean place is basically another Roti. So, the question would be, is it meaningfully better than a Roti? Not really, that I could see.
The Crystal City location is quite nice inside. Their menu is a choice of getting your ingredients over salad or rice or in bread, and from a vegetarian perspective, it’s just falafel. It’s an interesting falafel, with whole fava beans and chickpeas mixed in, but served cold, which I’m not wild over. The choice of other ingredients is decent, if a bit heavy on the pickled stuff. I can confirm that somewhere between the spicy feta, spicy hummus, and s’hug sauce, something is definitely hot. The couscous was a little dry, but I ended up with a pretty appealing mix of flavors at a decent price; had to add in a cookie (appealingly chewy) and a side of rice just to get a $ 10 order.
All told, a quick and decent meal, but not really better than the status quo.

Wow what a find in Crystal City! My husband and I were walking around on a Sunday afternoon looking for a lunch spot. We had originally decided to go to Jimmy John’s but then I saw Mezeh on Unilocal so decided to give it a try.
Everyone is right by comparing it to Chipotle, it’s literally the same concept. I got a brown rice bowl with chicken shawarma and it was so so good! I found Mezeh to be far more generous with the toppings than chipotle or Roti and it was a great deal.
I got the Turkish salad, couscous and spicy hummus as my main 3 along with a lot of other toppings. The portion was huge and neither of us came close to finishing ours.
Download the Mezeh app for $ 3 off your first meal and you’ll also get $ 10 in credit for every $ 100 you spend. What a great deal, we loved our food and will plan to return sooner rather than later!

So. Mezah is like Rōti in that you get similar choices of a bowl, salad, wrap or pita sandwich. For those that have no idea the simple breakdown is Mediterranean fast casual aka chipotle style. Although there is no menu behind the staff so your basically choosing everything that goes in. without any pricing unless you peruse the paper menu before hand.
I had the unfortunate experience of the lunch time rush around 1:20ish…now I had no idea until I got there that they offered online orders… total buzzkill for a 20 min wait to even order food. When I finally got there I ordered a salad with a mix of the kale, mixed greens and some other green that slips my mind. I chose falafel for my protein so that I could get an accurate reading of the place. Then there were the «premium» toppings your allowed 3 but somehow I got skimped with 2 uM hello?! Anywho I ended up with the spicy feta and the cous cous. Then I told them to top it with everything cause I knew the toppings were unlimited.
I tried the falafel and it had a nice crisp exterior with a fluffy interior however it was lacking flavor a bit bland for my taste. The cous cous was nothing special slightly bland. Harissa dressing was nice and spicy then again could’ve been the giant glop of spicy feta I got. Now the confusing part is why put all the salad toppings on top of the salad before putting the protein and other items? Oh well to each their own. The marinated veggies and a nice crunch but lacked flavor.
I also tried their fresh pressed juice some of these aren’t sweetened and I had no idea so if you like it all naturally pressed then this is your stuff. Highlights in the juice department were the cucumber mint sweetened with sugar cane that was delicious they also had a few crafted fountain sodas unsure of the brand name.
Overall taste was okay nothing special. Value wise I’m not sure the food matched the price tag. I think I’m biased towards Cava Grill because I get more bang for my buck. So between Mezah, Rōti and Cava… I would have to choose Cava grill. Mezah has potential but the food is missing the vibrant flavors it should have. The décor so fresh and vibrant with a modern Moroccan like flair. Now perhaps I had high expectations from other fast casual Mediterranean spots but I guess if I’m In crystal city and I need a lunch spot I’ll make sure I plan ahead. Although the website doesn’t say you can order online at this location so perhaps that will change soon.
Oh also if you already have the level up account sign up for their app it gives you $ 3 credit: o)

This place is a must try and a welcome addition to the area. This place is similar to a Chipotle so you pick your base (rice, salad, pita, etc.) then your protein, and a bunch of different toppings. Everything is fresh made and you have a ton of different options. I had the rice bowl with steak, roasted veggies/​eggplant, garbanzo beans, a Turkish stuff sorta like salsa, and some oil/​vinegar. It also comes with a fresh piece of pita bread. Be sure and get some free cucumber water too. One annoying thing is they have a selection at the register where you have to select about paying a tip. Tacky to put your customers on the spot at a fast casual restaurant, why I would be expected to tip?
This place was excellent and a good price too, I’ll be back for sure.

The term «Mediterranean Chipotle» is a gross understatement. The freshness of ingredients here at Mezeh rivals that of no lunch option in Crystal City and should be talked about in the same breath of the high end restaurants in the area. In the few weeks that Mezeh has been open I have visited 5 times (don’t judge me) as well as had the privilege to test out their new catering options. Each visit has been a test of new ingredient and combinations along with the staff really listening to the customers request and concerns (eggplant topping was changed from large chunks to manageable slices). If you’re looking for a fresh new lunch spot to get a fantastic meal and a cane sugar soda or one of the many wonderful iced tea selections for under $ 10 and you haven’t checked out Mezeh yet, you’re missing out.
Now to the catering. Anyone that has worked in this area knows that the same thing week in and week out can be boring, and Mezeh catering adds an affordable and delicious option to the rotation of caters lunch. Pita wraps cut in half provide a great serving size along with pita chips and hummus available as an affordable side, and lets face it, everyone loves hummus except that one guy in your office nobody likes anyways.
Rewards system is app based. I rather have it phone number based because I have too many apps as it is, but such is a minor inconvenience to receive 10% back in rewards.
Also, it appears the owner is a bearded gentleman named Patrick M as well. I assure you are are not related.
TL;DR Mezeh is bomb, go check it out.

Fun Fact: I prayed for a Mediterranean restaurant to come to Crystal City. And then this baby opened up. You’re welcome.
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After three visits, I am ready to write my review. And the fact that I ate here three times and was able to make each rice bowl taste different, tells me that I will not be getting bored with their food anytime soon.
This place has a set-​up similar to Chipotle Mexican Grill. You go down the line and pick your meat, rice and other toppings. Lots of food for a reasonable price. The two main differences between this place and Chipotle is (1) they have way more food options (2) the servers are actually friendly at Mezeh, so you don’t feel like you’re going through the lunch line at a maximum security prison.
I don’t want to recommend any particular food option because everything I’ve tried was good. And it’s fun to mix things together and see what it will taste like at the end. My first time coming here, I got a little too carried away and my flavors were all over the place. But on my second and third visit, I ordered like the boss that I am.
There is one thing you must do! Download the Mezeh app. You’ll get $ 3 off your purchase and after spending $ 100 you get a $ 10 credit! Lucky!

I came to Mezeh for their grand opening party after I received a flyer about it at my house. Mezeh is really easy to get to and the restaurant is very cool with lots of different kinds of seating with a bar by the window and lots of tables. The restaurant is build your own, you have the choice of base, meat, and then a slew of toppings.
The employees were helpful explaining what all the options were. I went with their special of a chicken rice bowl with chicken shawarma and it was tasty! I also had the spicy hummus, Turkish salad, chickpea salad, and red cabbage slaw with it. I also had one of the spicy sauces but it tasted like it has mayonnaise in it and I am very sensitive to that so I will not get that again. For a little dessert we had the baklava. They make their own baklava and it was quite good.
I really like the idea of this as a fast casual place where you can get something outside of burritos as big as your head. Everything was very tasty and I did not feel weighed down by my meal. I would definitely come here again.
My only criticism is that the restaurant is so noisy, the music was too loud. When we were ordering the food we could not hear the employees behind the splash guard as they were trying to describe things to us. There were also times when I could not hear my dining companion and we were sitting next to each other at the bar. Please turn the music down a tad.
Everything was great and I will be back.