Alaturco Mediterranean Grill

I have been to this restaurant several times, and the food is very good. But the attitude of the man who answered the telephone was a real turn-​off. I felt like I was bothering him when I called to ask how late they were open and if they had a liquor license. We did wind up doing take-​out from there this time ($ 80) but I am still rather annoyed at his poor attitude.

Great food, great staff. I placed a pick up order on the drive home, so of course I arrived 20 minutes early (boo). I was handed a paper, a comfy chair, and a glass of tea on the house while I waited. What a great place!

Came for saratoga restaurant week, after reading the menu. Not disappointed! Great food and friendly service. Do not miss out on the baklava!

Clean, quiet and delicious. Very authentic Turkish cuisine served by a friendly and knowledgeable staff, whom I assume is the owner. Looked like his mother may have been in charge of the kitchen so I’m assuming we ate very traditional recipes passed down. We ate simply: falafel, lamb kebabs for the kids and couple of small appetizers (zucchini, cauliflower and some philo dough things served with an array of sauces). We did have the Efes Pilsen. Not a bad beer. Turkish coffee and baklava finished the meal and they were terrific. All said and done the four of us ate well for sixty USD. We will return, with and without the kids.

I was really expecting to love this place. Its not high brow, but is clean, kinda trendy, and people are nice. Unfortunately the entire meal was a huge disappointment. I am quite experienced in Turkish and Middle Eastern food, and this was not a good meal. Where do I start, the bread was lumpy and heavy. The lentil soup was bland and tasted glue soup or something — normally something I love which I stopped eating in this case. The Kofta plate was more than other places, but essentially a giant salad plate with tiny medallions of burned ground beef … altogether about as much in a ¼ pounder. Won’t be back.

Alaturco is a genuine Turkish restaurant which has a cozy atmosphere and delicious food. I can attest to the fact that the food is exactly as you would expect to find in a restaurant in Istanbul. This is our go-​to place when we want to introduce friends to Turkish cuisine. I love the beyti kebab, Adana kebab, Iskender kebab, and the mixed grill (which is a good choice if you are not very familiar with the options). I recommend the traditional lentil soup as a starter and their baklava or kadayif as dessert. Rauf is a great cook who always delivers the best taste.

Excellent food here! We are in town for a wedding and dropped in based on Unilocal reviews and proximity. I can honestly say they have some of the best Doner (gyro) my husband and I have had, and we’ve travelled all over the world. Service was excellent. Well worth the visit!

Quality Turkish food with a smallish menu at the north end of Ballston Spa’s downtown, so you don’t have to fight traffic if you’re coming from Saratoga. I had the $ 7.99 lunch of a doner gyro with a soda and was more than satisfied. Meat was fresh, well-​flavored and plentiful and condiments were just right.
Alaturco is evidently a reconstituted fast food place and they’ve done a good job of painting the walls, adding touches of décor, and in general turning it into a pleasant dine-​in place.
Another reviewer mentioned a number of seafood dishes that I didn’t see on the dinner menu at this time. But what there is, is good.
UPDATE: Roger K, the Sherlock Holmes of upstate eatery sleuthing, tells me the black and orange paint job is because it used to be a Boost Mobile phone store. Well, it goes great with Turkish food!

Ballston Spa is really getting some amazing food joints.
Alaturco is one of them.
Once I tried the *other* Turkish place in the area, I vowed never to go anywhere else. There is no comparison.
These are what I’ve had that are completely amazing: Octopus, Esme, Sea Bass, Adana Kebab (My personal Favorite), Iskender, and for dessert: Kazandibi. In fact, I’ve not had anything else yet.
Service is good. The food is amazing. It’s a small place but they usually try to accommodate groups. More than 10 would be pretty rough. The do accommodate gluten free needs.

I have been here a couple of times. I loved their food. Their Zucchini Pancakes and Baba ghanoush is very tasty. They have plenty of options for vegetarians as well as non-​vegetarians. Their ambiance is average and food sizes are smaller — optimum.

Our 2^rd time here! Twice for dinner once for lunch. Excellent food, authentic! Babaganush appetizers delicious, all lamb dishes off the map! Prices are fair not sure others comments! European folks don’t pig out like Americans! Felt portion are totally fine! Highly recommend!

Good quality Mediterranean food in Saratoga county area. Lunch specials are reasonably priced at $ 10 or less. I went in with a friend on a weekday for a late lunch. The place was near empty, which is expected at that time of the day, so the service was fast. We ordered the babaghanoush appetizer and for entrees we got the falafel wrap and chicken kebab platter. The babaghanoush was tasty, and so was the warm pita bread that came along with it. We asked for more pita and it was served promptly. Chicken kebabs were very juicy and full of flavor, and no Mediterranean restaurant can go wrong with the falafel :). We also got the Kadayif (kind of deconstructed baklava) and Sutlac (rice and milk pudding) for dessert; the former was very good, but the latter tasted bland almost like a low-​sugar version of the Indian rice pudding. Not sure if it is supposed to be like that. Only negative point: I could not understand why they serve a tortilla with the lunch platter plate. It just does not fit in. A warm pita would be a much better choice.
I will definitely go there again the next time I get a craving for Mediterranean food.

Just opened 5 – 6 months ago. So newly renovated, very clean. lunch special $ 9.95 good price nice portions. I had the Adoner kabab plate. very good.def be back

Tuesday night (St. Patty’s Day), My friend and I made the rare trip to downtown Ballston Spa because of a Groupon deal and the want to try new food. We were the first ones to arrive to dinner. The restaurant environment has low ambient lighting and has Meditarranean feel to it. Cool bathroom sink too!
Food was delicious: mild flavorful and authentic. We wanted turkish specialties, so I had the $ 15.95 Iskender (A lamb and beef gyro dish served with red sauce and yogurt on the side) and friend had the $ 15.95 Moussaka (Layers of fried zucchini, egg plants, potatoes, ground meat, peppers, tomatoes cooked Turkish Style pan-​fried). The quantity was barely sufficient. Dishes came with sides of white rice and bulgur (cereal food made of wheat, looks like rice) and warm pita breads. The turkish white rice was unique, fresh smelling and texture /​shape like Japanese rice. In my opinion, a scoop each of the rice & bulgur side quantity was insufficient for both of us & did not share well.
That night, the service was average. Our waiter took a rather long time getting us the bill (not like it was busy as there were two other tables when we left) and did not follow up filling our water glasses (only visit made since ordering was bringing all the food at once out to us). Dinner rather expensive for such quantity, will probably not go again for dinner without Groupon. One day perhaps, I will try their lunch or brunch — in hopes for more rice & bulgur!

We decided to go here to try something new, and it was a great choice! The service was phenomenal and the food came out so quick. The warm pita bread and olive dip was a perfect starter. As an appetizer we choose the you pick three, which we highly recommend. I went with the moussaka and my boyfriend had the gyro. For dessert we had the baklava! I must say — everything was absolutely delicious! We used a groupon discount, which made our bill much cheaper! :) We will be returning.

Super Essen hier. Kann ich nur empfehlen.
Ich hatte einen Döner Kebap. War wie super lecker, wie in der Türkei. Mit echtem Fladenbrot, nicht diese Teile aus Deutschland. Das Fleisch war sehr gut am Spieß gegrillt und schmeckte hervorragend. Die Dönerspieße werden auch immer frisch selbst aufgesteckt. Ich hatte die scharfe Variante gewählt und diesmal war es auch echt scharf. Also, wer bei «scharf» nur ein wenig pikant erwartet und auch nicht mehr verträgt, sollte das entsprechend bei der Bestellung mitteilen. Mein Frau und mein Bruder hatten den Chicken Kebap und den Mixed Grill, jeweils eine Platte mit Bulgur. Ich habe auch probiert und auch von diesem Essen kann ich nur schwärmen. Natürlich erhielten wir auch ein Doggybag, da die Portion meiner Frau einfach zu viel war. Auch sehr wichtig, nie den leckeren Tee zu trinken vergessen. Der schlägt fast jeden Espresso!

Great authentic Mediterranean food, we sample lamb kebab, chicken kebab, doner and all available appetizers. I have been traveling through Europe extensively and know how these dishes should taste. This is the real deal!!!

Came with a group of vegetarians and gluten-​free. Everyone loved their dishes and left with full bellies. The wait staff was incredibly accommodating. Not just a meal; an experience. Highly recommended!

Happenstance had us driving through Ballston Spa on a Wednesday and the building that was once a bbq restaurant and most recently a Boost Mobile phone store, now had a banner hanging across the front announcing, in the Boost Mobile colors of black and orange, that it was Alaturco Mediterranean Grill. That orange color has to get your attention. Your initial thought might be to think you’ll be more likely to stop into the Dunkin Donuts that shares the building, or to grab an ice cream cone at the stand on the other side of Alaturco. But we slightly altered our drive to Saratoga the next day to check out Alaturco.
First of all, the color theme continues inside. Even the paper menus are black on orange. But don’t let that scare you away or make you wait until Halloween to visit. Yes, the restaurant was only a few days new when we visited so there are a few rough edges, but you can sense that these folks are serious about wanting you to feel welcomed and to enjoy your meal.
They do not have an alcohol license yet so we avoided choosing soda or juice and kept it simple with the local water. All the tables were nicely set with fabric runners that matched the seat cushions, goblet water glasses, spotless silverware, and ceramic dishes. I mention this because it’s not what you might expect from looking at the place as you drive by.
My wife ordered the Lentil Soup ($ 2.95) which she enjoyed, but thought the yellow color was different than any other lentil soup she had ever had. I started with an appetizer of Falafel ($ 5.95) served with a small ramekin of yogurt sauce. There were five good-​sized pieces that were very crunchy on the outside and compressed just the right amount inside. Really good flavor and not greasy. I may need to come back for lunch some day to have the Falafel Sandwich ($ 7.95 with soda).
A basket of grilled Turkish flat bread (Bazlama? Pita?) was brought to our table along with our appetizers. We enjoyed some of it with our apps and some of it with our entrees. It was very fresh, soft, and tasty. I think it had yogurt in it to enhance the flavor. Speaking of entrees, my wife had the Iskender ($ 15.95) — thin slices of lamb and beef from the vertical spit, over seasoned and seared pita, with yogurt and hot butter sauce, and topped with a zesty red sauce. My wife is not a fan of lamb, but the blend of all these flavors would not give a hint to its existence in the dish. A very tasty dish and large enough that half had to come home with us.
My entrée was Moussaka ($ 15.95) Turkish style (pan fried instead of oven baked Greek style). The ingredients were pretty straight forward, fried zucchini, eggplant, potatoes (which had a wonderful flavor on their own), ground meat, topped with sautéed onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers and a tomato sauce. With the exception of those potatoes, I thought the flavors need to somehow be a little bolder. But it still was a very enjoyable meal.
Since we planned on having Turkish coffee ($ 2 each), I thought that would be a good excuse to also order dessert. My wife chose Kazandibi ($ 3) and I chose Kadayif ($ 3). Kazandibi is a milky pudding with a coating of caramelized sugar. Not unlike a very thin slice of flan. The flavors reminded me of the top skim of my Mom’s rice pudding. My Kadayif was more substantial in size and sweeter with the added syrup. It is actually made with shredded phyllo dough, nuts and a syrup of water, sugar, and lemon juice. I think I like Kadayif even more than Baklava.
Our server was friendly and willing to answer all our questions about the food. She even explained how the grounds of the Turkish coffee can be used to read your fortune. I’m certain we’ll be returning, even though our delightful server said she had not mastered the art of twirling the coffee serving tray.