Aladdin -- Tastes of the East/PitaWorks

I love their little ‘sampler’ boxes in the mini fridge. You get a little bit of everything as well as a warm pita. Its just enough to fill you up and also very wallet friendly. Try a mango lassi — also very good. Samosas seem to have gotten smaller, but very tasty as well.

Shared a falafel pita for lunch and it was fantastic. Even sharing it my husband and I were full. Great mix of flavors and they were nice enough to cut it in two for us. Highly recommend this place.

I’ll keep this short and sweet: I’ve been coming here nearly every Monday for two years at lunch time. They have the BEST Chicken Tikka Masala in the city. There, I’ve said it. THE BEST. Their Indian samosas are the bomb (not too greasy, just spicy enough) and their falafel is excellent as is their different hummus varieties. — Love you Aladdin. Don’t ever change.

I could probably eat the falafel pita everyday for lunch, no joke. I love how they have several pre-​selected pita options, but my favorite is the build-​your-​own. Lots of fresh ingredients to stuff your pita full :) These pitas are about $ 7 and worth ever penny. That’s a pretty good deal for lunch, and you don’t leave feeling hungry!
Aladdin also has awesome, authentic food options in their deli if you’re looking for sides. Overall, don’t skip this place if you’re at the Public Market.

Descriptive phrase: tasty pita goodness.
Nom nom nom Public Market, you continue to please. I ventured from my usual food stand at the Market to try Aladdin and now have another place to add to the rotation. They have almost an overwhelming amount of choices, but I got one of their standard pitas (number 6?). For $ 5.55 I received the perfect amount of wheat pita, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, curry chicken, some crazy-​awesome sauce, and some other mysterious deliciousness. I can’t be expected to remember what was all in it when all I can think of is how great it tasted!

Generally my go-​to place when I’m meandering through the public market. I love the little grab n’ go boxes that come with a couple of falafel, hummus, and spanikopita-​type items (there’s variety, too, if you’d rather have a different combo). You get a warm pita to go along with it and it’s just the perfect snack or small meal. The gyro and samosas are also delicious. Check it out if you love the middle-​eastern food flair!

Yup, I went back to try the lentil soup and falafel. I don’t think I would get the soup again, but it was worth a try. The falafel, however, was awesome. The quality stands up to my favorite falafel shop in Madison, yay!
Got the chick pea & fava bean salad and was amazed by it once again. The hummus is great, especially the chipotle! The olive salad was a little salty.

Oh, Aladdin… you always feed me so dang well.
I love coming here for lunch — I’ve never had a bad plate. I usually try to convince my husband to come down with me because I can never take on the Gyro Combo by myself (not for lack of trying).
The service is super fast, and the food warm and comforting. Bad day at the office? Come on down for some heart-​warming falafel!

Looking at the other reviews, I’m surprised. Was I there on an off day or something? Somehow, I don’t think so, as I tried several things. Here’s what I have to report:
Falafel — good. Liked the sesame sauce to dip it in. Would definitely get again.
Chicken curry — very disappointing. Admittedly, I’m kind of like a four-​year-​old in that I don’t like my veggies, so was not pleased to find peas (ew) in there. But also, the curry sauce (gravy?) was barely poured on enough to wet all the rice. The flavoring was decent, there just wasn’t enough there to really enjoy it. Chicken chunks were fine, as were potato chunks. But yeah, just eh. Not worth the calories/​money in my opinion.
Hummus (yes, I know, it’s hommus) — super disappointing. How do you screw up hummus? It was bland, left kind of a weird after taste. Just blah blah blah. And the pitas it came with were nothing special. Kind of dry and blah.
So, yeah, what did I miss folks? I would love to have a go-​to ethnic place at the Market, but for now it looks like I“ll have to keep driving out to Royal India for my fix.

Love looking at this deli case… great variety of hummus! Some of the best flafael ever! I loved the idea of the build your own pita but my stomach did not, I ended up getting sick which is odd because I’ve eaten out of their deli case many times before so not sure what happened there!
I also love their grocery items and buy rosewater and sundried tomatoes here!

My star rating is misleading… I LOVE Aladdin/​Pitaworks… I do. I love love LOVE it and go there 2 – 3 times a month. HOWEVER… Today the girl making pitas came out from the back, took a minute to slick her hair back into a ponytail and then grabbed gloves and started making pitas. GLOVES ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR HAND WASHING, especially after running through hair for a minute. I don’t mind bar hands as long as I witness handwashing. This is not the first time, but I thought last time was maybe a glitch. Ugh. C’mon Pitaworks!

After several trips to the Milwaukee Public Market, I finally decided to give these guys a try. It turns out I saved the best for last!
My wife and I both had the «Taste of Jerusalem» sandwich. It was filled to the brim but wrapped cleverly so it was easy to eat. Amazing tastes from the olive relish and tahini salad. Falafels were crunchy and tasted wonderful. I chose the whole wheat pita which held together well.
We also took home a hummus sampler. It have pesto, red pepper, artichoke, and plain. Red pepper was my favorite but all were enjoyed.
Many other options on the menu and you can even build your own pita.
Looking forward to my next trip to the MPM!

First falafel ever. Yep, it happened here. I had a pita with falafel, hummus (with a little sriracha mixed in, yum!), some spinach, cucumber, and tomato. I was tempted by some «funky fusion» chips but when I asked what kind of flavor they were the lady working didn’t know so I decided not to risk it. If only she would have known.
They also had some rose-​water lemonade which sounded intriguing with the whole rose-​water deal, even though I’m not into lemonade most of the time. Alas, they were out.
All in all, for my first falafel experience I think it was pretty good. I would probably try it again. Hopefully I’ll have some other ideas of what to put with it to make it even better.

Mark my words, Middle Eastern food is hot right now, and I welcome places like Aladdin where I can pick up a half pound of tabouli and a pita sandwich to eat for lunch. And yes, I quantify my tabouli consumption by the pound.
In retrospect, maybe me choosing the curry chicken salad wasn’t quite fitting within the overall theme of Aladdin, but seeing as how the burden of marking off my little ordering slip falls squarely on my shoulders, I have no one to blame but myself. Still, I enjoyed it, especially when smothered beneath a pile of hummus, baba ganoush, and some veggies. It’s not revolutionary by any means, but it fits in well with the little worldwide tour that exists in the Public Market, and I’d hit it up for a quick lunch again.

I’ve hit this stand in the Milwaukee Market enough times to levy a big thumbs-​down verdict.
No veggies were harmed in the making of the gyro here; it’s the same lifeless slabs of meat as everywhere else in the city. The falafel and chicken tikka both manage a level of dryness that might be good in a food like biscotti, but not so good in a pita.
Try the cart on Water & Wisconsin instead. Also, for what you’re getting the price tag is far too high. Avoid.

I love the chicken kabob plate with a couple of felafel thrown in the mix for good measure. For roughly $ 8 and change you get two marinated chicken breasts (usually falling apart tender) a large bed of rice, a side of hummus, a good side salad, and a pita bread. Plus the aforementioned felafel if you so desire. Otherwise it will be cheaper but try it as it’s quite delicious dipped in hummus.
I eat this all the time. I really should try other things on the menu, but I just can’t because it is so delicious!
Service is quick, I mean, it’s basically a lunch counter so most things are prepared. Sub one minute times till you get your food is not uncommon. I miss working close to here but I suppose it’s for the best or I’d still eat this dish twice a week.

Best Flaffel I have found in the city so far. The homemade hummus is Delicious and a Must Try!
Aladdin is my usual go-​to palce when I am at the Public Market looking for a quick bite to eat.

Mmm mmm I do love the make your own pita sandwich here! A whole wheat pita, hummus, falafels and veggies — it was a tasty lunch and actually good for me.
I do love their chicken curry — But I’d like more heat. My husband is completely addicted to their hummus, so we always end up buying tons of extra goodies to bring home.

I am the kind of person who rates almost entirely on the taste of the food and the atmosphere, not so much the service. I could have some pretty lame service and not really let it affect my star rating.
You should know this about me in case you’re a service freak.
My rating for Aladdin’s is based solely on the food, in this case.
I am a curry nut. I cook curry at home and order curry in restaurants. I have a curry cookbook.
Here is what I have noticed, curry is found worldwide. There are so many variations and cultural interpretations that there are stacks of cookbooks at the bookstore dedicated just to that one meal: curry. «150 curries,» «the curry bible,» you get the point, no?
Something I have learned about myself — I prefer the spicy Indian style curry. I love curries from southern India made with star anise, cinnamon, dark brown curry sauce, onion, garlic, ginger, curry leaf and no less than 15 dried chilis mashed into a paste — and I love the Malaysian versions of Indian (mamak) curry.
Aladdin’s is not serving southern Indian curry, it is serving middle eastern (Egyptian) variations of curry.
The chicken curry is in a red sauce with potato, peas, tomato, corn, and cardamon. There is no chili added.
I’ve learned that I am not as partial.
There is no way I could give them a bad review based on my disappointment that it is not southern Indian curry, it is not supposed to be — and I will definitely be going back, my attention will be on the hummus and the falafel next time.
If you have tried one curry, you certainly have not tried them all.

I’m a suckah… I’m a fool for you, (Aladdin).
I’m a suckah for a great falafel sandwich. I’m a sucker for a pita slathered with homemade hummus/​hummos. I’m a sucker for a cup of lentil soup. Sigh.
At Aladdin (in the Public Market), you can get all of these things AND more. Yes, it’s true fellow Unilocalers. Anything and all things Middle Eastern-​ish in nature. AND THEY’RE ALL AWESOME. There’s also an extensive Indian menu with entrée-​type items with jasmine rice and tender chicken and curry and love.
Pitaworks, which is connected to Aladdin and is sort of the same entity but a different thing, is a heavenly place in which the consumer can construct their dream pita. DREAM PITA. For me, this consists of a wheat pita, falafel, roasted red peppers, hummus, cucumbers, and pickled olive/​pepper spread, side of Jerusalem salad.
I have always really enjoyed Aladdin. Even back in the day when it was in that weird building in Plankinton. Even then, and even now. There are a bevy of fantastic food choices available when visiting the public market, and I almost ALWAYS hit up Aladdin. Seriously. It’s a new-​ish (old) problem I’m developing once more.
Loss of one star for the seemingly disinterested and disassociated staff. Seriously. It’s like they hate you and they’re doing you a favor. But whatever. I don’t even care. My love for the lentils trumps any residual teenage angst they may have pent up in their hip little hearts.