Soby’s Eatery

I was introduced to Soby’s through a friend’s wife — 20 years ago. It’s still my favourite place to stop for their ‘Shish tawouk’ sandwich. Their tabbouli is delicious and fresh and the coffee is to die for. They fly their baklava in every Friday from Montréal and I dare you to try and find better :)

Great family run spot. I eat their Donair (w sweet sauce) and their Fatoush salad all the time. The salad is fresh and tastes amazing. Their fries are unreal. Best in town. Serious. This place is spotless all the time and the owners are wonderful. Hidden gem on 17^th.

Clean, friendly, and tasty … the kibbe is to die for !

It was great, the front manager is always smiling and friendly. He recognized me every time I came. The food is great (I’ve tried shish taouks and desserts, they were excellent…). Don’t forget to try their herbal tea.

Had a chicken shwqrama here. Chicken was barley cooked almost white, raw. Worst lebanese in calgary expect a new plaxe here soon

Delicious, authentic Lebanese food. Definitely coming back for more since I live nearby. They also have Shisha here so I’ll definitely be coming back at night to chill, perhaps get some work done and smoke some shisha!
I got the shish taouk (chicken skewers on a plate) and hummus which was delicious.
Prices are reasonable given the location (17^th AVE SW) too.

Amazing food. I’ve eaten at over a dozen Lebanese places in Calgary, this one is truly outstanding. The food (Fattouch and Shawarma platter) is incredible. Hummus is second to none. Service is always excellent.

Great place. Walked into the place and was first concerned that there wasn’t a lot of people in there. But ordered anyways and the food was great! Owners were very nice as well. Hummus was great. Kibbeh was great. And Za’tar pita was yummy. Also this restaurant has nice décor and tables. Spent some time there working away on my laptop. Better than crowded coffee shops.

I personally don’t find most middle Eastern eateries super exciting, but this Lebanese eatery at least provides a bit of a change from many of its peers. I had the shwarma platter and for example, the hummus was strong on tahini and garlic, not your over-​the-​counter thick chick pea paste, and was drizzled with olive oil and paprika in classic Lebanese fashion. The fries were thin ribbons of potato with the skin on: not crispy, but salty and nice nonetheless. The meat was lightly seasoned and unremarkable, but the pickled peppers it was tossed with were a welcome addition. A good amount of pita was provided for stuffing/​dipping/​mopping. The baklava is refrigerated, so I’d recommend letting it sit out for a while before eating. It comes from Montréal, and a few types had more intense floral notes that you typically get, but I wouldn’t say it was better than some of the locally made stuff you can find. In sum, come here for something a little different, but not particularly special. Za’atar and ful are items I haven’t seen on menus elsewhere… I haven’t tried them yet, so tentative positive marks there.
Noteworthy was the efficiency and courtesy of the staff… order at the counter and your food is delivered to the table.

Super clean and friendly. Falafel is excellent. Seems to be a bit of a hidden gem.

I really don’t like writing reviews like this for what seems to be a family run shop, but I honestly hated the meal I had there.
Soby’s, apparently closed for ages and moved to 17 Ave SW, is a quite large, modernesque eatery specializing in meditarranean (falafels, schwarma, etc) and surprisingly some more western tastes (smoked meat, etc). But it’s pretty darn quiet also, as I’ve never seen the place busy ONCE as it seems to be that either they’re not doing a particularly good job at advertising or others are having the same opinion I did.
With the exception of fast food restaurants, I try to avoid chain restaurants like the plague. They tend to be made in a central kitchen, with all the «chefs» doing are re-​assembling recipes from boiled pouches. I find that in independant little places like this, you can see the food being made, or at least you know that there’s probably someone cooking.
Well, I can definately attest to someone cooking here. I ordered a chicken schwarma as that’s usually (for me) a good measurement of the food, especially for a mediterranean place. It was a little pricey at $ 9 for a sandwich, but still, if it was good, I have no problems.
Well, the meat was horribly dry, the vegetables had seen better days, and there was also mostly lettuce and tomato, no turnip or anything that would distinguish it as being from that region. They added a hummus spread that was fairly dry as well, as if it’s been standing around for awhile. Needless to say, I honestly felt like I was being cheated if anything.
I won’t give it a 1 star as I normally would as they are trying, there’s no malicious intent or poor service, and it’s tough being on 17^th Ave SW. It’s a nice décor, though the lighting could be improved. I’m hoping they’re doing something right, as they were supposed to be a legendary place at one time. I just wish I had actually seen the food that the other 2 Unilocalers gave a 5 star review for.
#54 of Unilocal’s 30-​Day Review Challenge

Soby’s has reopened at this new location after being closed for five years. I love the Shish taouk and it’s as good at the new location as it was at the old. All my friends love them as well.

No much business yet but there should be! Stopped by tonight for a quick meal and it was delicious. Had a chicken and a beef shawarma platter. Only complaint was that there was much food. Rice was delicious, shawarma was presented out of the pita for you to stuff yourself, meat was more fresh then the typical off the stick mystery meat but lost nothing in regards to taste. Hummous was garlic-​ly perfect with out being over powering. Pita was served on the side toasted and plain. Owner operator was there and worried we didn’t like it due to leftovers… Next time will only get one platter and a second shawarama on it’s own to share! And cost with bottled water was thirty bucks! which on seventeen is a great place. Hope to make it a regular take out place