Bistro Lazeez

We ate at this cute little Mediterranean restaurant on a weeknight. It’s a well decorated little place that look well put together. We were served quickly and attentively. We had the chicken shawarma, falafel, a salad o forget the name of, and the «Dr. O» meat pie. All of them were excellent. We were very pleased with out meal there and plan on coming back again in the future. We would recommend this place to anyone.

Bistro Lazeez is a wonderfully conceived restaurant. It’s cozy, with friendly staff, and a very attentive owner. Been back many times; the food is delicious, whether you want Sharma sandwiches in an all-​inclusive platter or grilled kebabs, made to juicy perfection in the Bistro’s own sauce, vegetables and more. The kebabs are extremely fresh, and are very tasty with slightly spiced rice or potatoes and vegetables. Mixed grill options are a great choice, and prices are reasonable. Soups are fair too. I can’t say I’ve ever had mezze here but it looks delicious. Beer and wine selections. There are also some great non-​alcoholic beverages, including fruit nectar and a smoothie.
This is a rather unique Mediterranean restaurant, and out of many times going I’ve only ever had a mix up with the orders etc. once. A relaxing choice with quality food.

This place is a quiet, little gem in the heart of old Bethesda. Go here. Talk with the Chef-​Owner, Ramzie. Great for adults, great for kids. Delicious food. The salmon dish was excellent. Gluten-​free friendly menu. Many options!

Solid Mediterranean restaurant. Decent prices, good food, but not overly exciting. 2 for 1 wine deals on some weekdays.

Good stuff. The prices are low, it’s intimate and the décor is very lovely. The menu has a lot of variety. I was simple and went with the Chicken Shawarma sandwich with a salad. Chicken Shawarma was delish, I could taste the pinch of cinnamon among the tumeric and cumin. The flavors are a crowd –pleaser, especially for people who do not like a lot of spice, which is why this makes Lazeez a great place to take people who prefer American Bistro to ethnic eats. I love spice, so for me Bistro Lazeez could have taken the flavor up a notch. Prior to this, we ordered their fresh hummus (rich and creamy) with pita wedges– highly recommended.
The reason why I like this place is because they use extra virgin olive oil, antibiotic and hormone free chicken, and natural and free range lamb. This place SCREAMS HEALTHY!
On a Friday night, this is the perfect place for intimate girl talk, kee– kees, and letting your hair down, without having to look around to see if your disturbing anyone. The staff was so nice, the chef came out to personally thank us for coming and to get our feedback on the food. So, I think I just put Bistro Lazeez on my low– key night out rotation list, because this place is fabulous, and cool like that…

Intimate dining, with friendly servers and GREAT food. We’ve eaten there several times and each meal has been an entirely enjoyable experience.

A quiet, simple restaurant with delicious dishes. Stopped in for lunch with my boss. Tried the appetizer that I was able to choose four different dishes. More than enough food!

This place is a bit small but cute with great décor. It’s a fantastic spot to go to for a dinner date or close friends. My husband and I loved this place. The food was savory and flavorful. Not to mention, the staff was prompt and friendly. My husband ordered the Empress, which he could not stop talking about. I had the salmon that was just divine! Oh and cannot forget with ordered the smaller appetizer with the hummus, babaganoush, labne, and tab.

Great value for excellent authentic Lebanese food! Great service small menu but absolutely everything is tasty and authentic especially the shawarmas (meat and chicken). In the usa i have been having problems finding a good falafel bit at lazeez it is as good as it gets! It is really lazeez (delicious from arabic)! Definitely recommend it!

Very fresh Lebanese food. Excellent friendly and quick service, and a lovely ambience. All around terrific experience. Look forward to going back soon!

I truly and honestly wanted to LOVE this place, especially given the fact that it’s in my neighborhood and I’m all about supporting independent businesses and family-​owned restaurants. Unfortunately, after having such a terrible encounter and distasteful experience with the owner of this restaurant, Ramzi Osseiran, I will never EVER in a million years go back.
The restaurant itself is very chic and well-​decorated and the outdoor seating is definitely a plus. The food is actually quite tasty and Tourie, the waiter is extremely gracious, polite, and a stellar example of customer service. Ramzi, on the other hand is just the opposite.
It is glaringly obvious that there is so much he ought to learn about customer relations, but for starters:
1. Do not serve corked wine.
2. Do not close your kitchen at 9:30pm on a Saturday night.
3. Do not tell a customer that he/​she is welcome to order and stay at your establishment if you do not wish to stay late on account of said customer.
4. Do not ask a customer to leave in the middle of customer chewing his/​her food when you in fact had informed said customer that he/​she would not be rushed.

Very kind note from the new owner/​manager regarding the pilaf standoff.
It was the only thing holding me back from eating at BLZ, so I will have to return.
Everything I’ve had there has been very good from hummus and falafel to the soltani. And yes, the pilaf of course. Looking forward to returning.

Nice place, Snail paced service paired with mediocre food! I won’t consider going here again but chicken shawarma lovers can try!
We checked out this restaurant because a friend wanted to try it. The place was small but well lit with modern décor. First impression was good but as we waited for our server for 15 minutes just for taking the orders, the enthusiasm faded. We got hummus for appetizer and the pita accompanied with it was too dry. I ordered falafel wrap and while the falafel were crispy, the wrap was tasteless and lacked sauce. My friend ordered chicken shawarma and they loved it while lamb kabobs were another disappointment. It took another 15 min to get the check.
They definitely have a lot of room for improvement both on service side and menu side. They should definitely consider serving non rubbery pita if not the freshly baked pita.

This is one of those tiny places with good Mediterranean fare. Went here with a bunch of friends on a whim, and had a mixed experience. The ambiance is nice, the décor contemporary and the dining area well lit.
As for the food, we loved the shawarmas, but the lamb kebabs left a lot to be desired. The lamb was tough and looked like it had been cooked in a hurry. The salad was the only saving grace of my dinner. Maybe its just my taste buds but the food did not really leave me craving for more.
Service is one area where they have a lot of scope for improvement. Apparently there was only one server that night, and it took more than 30 minutes for our main course to appear, and more than 15 minutes for the check to be processed.
Overall, not a place I’d strongly recommend unless you have a few hours to kill.

The Grilled Cornish Hen tasted of the same marinade as the above chicken which was a bit too tart for my dining companion, and he mistakenly poured the marinade over the pieces before trying them, adding to his woes. The pieces of poultry suffered the same fate as the above dish for they were overcooked — a casualty of being double-​cooked (precooked first) and not grilled from scratch. Usually one to take home leftovers, his was not packed-​up this time. The couples next to us confirmed that their chicken was equally dry.
To read rest of review and view photos, check out my blog at Wongeats.

Rarely does it ever happen but every once in a while Unilocal steers me in the wrong direction. Such is the case with bistro lazeez. I decided to try this place because of it’s high rating. But I just don’t see what the hype is all about. We came here on Saturday for lunch with some friends. First off, The pita bread is straight from a grocery store… plus they charge $ 0.75 for an extra basket. LAME.
We ordered the appetizer sampler. The hummus was ok, the eggplant had too much garlic, the falafel was good but they only gave you two and the tebouleh salad was gross. Just tasted like cilantro on a plate. We all ordered combo platters and no one seemed to thrilled. The kafta kabob was not good at all. Tasted like rubber. The chicken was the best thing we had — tender and flavorful. A few skimpy vegetables and lots of rice rounded out the combo meal as we all opted out of the potato option. All in all this was a bad meal and definitely not worth the price. But what really did me in was the deserts. I think we ordered one of each because we were still hungry, but disliked all of them. For $ 4 each they give you the skimpiest deserts ever, which really offended me. As if I don’t know how cheap it is to make Baklava! Some nerve to charge that much for a single bite! Anyways I’m don’t complaining about this one.

Recently, I was down in Southwestern Virginia chatting with some friends in a wooden cabin. Naturally, the topic of hummus came up. And these are some of the quotes that came out of that conversation.
«Oh, hummus is so freakin’ good. Just don’t leave me with a tub of hummus, I’ll finish it all»
«I love the sabra hummus, man I could eat that on anything.»
«I could just use a spoon and eat the hummus as is.»
Obviously, these quotes are not attributed to me.
Though, I enjoy hummus… with the peppy occasional crudite or hot soft pita, I’m not lapping it up like a starved dog (like apparently my friends have been for some time).
Reading back on the quotes, it sounds almost like my friends were punking me. What, were they auditioning for a hummus commercial? The dialogue almost vaguely sounds provocative.
Where did they get such an insane love of store bought hummus?
Well, I’ll tell you one thing. Upon trying to think of a hummus that is so good that I might ‘eat it with a spoon’ or ‘coat a leather boot’, only one place comes to mind.
Bistro Lazeez.
Their hummus here is so good, that there is a sort of an innate anger that the portion is what it is. You think to yourself, «oh, that’s right kitchen! You give us measly hummus-​less plebians out here a spot of hummus to appease us… think we won’t strike?» «A chick pea here and a chick pea there makes Jack a dull boy.»
And then you realize, it’s not the French Revolution, it was only 5 dollars, and you can always order more.
That and there tabbouleh here. I’m set.
So, I’ll amend my shock & awe… just a bit. I still think you can’t get a store bought hummus that is worth shaking an olive branch at. But there are such hummus’ or «hummus-​i» that might make me bring out the guillotine or at least a typewriter to practice your crazy-​free-​hand.

BLZ SAUCE!
Get it. Anything that has it. You’ll thank me later.
I had the BLZ chicken medley. Freaking delicious. It’s marinated in the BLZ sauce AND it comes on the side. I would drink that stuff. It was great on the chicken, the side salad, and the roasted potatoes. Damn I need that recipe! My friends both had the chicken kebabs which were great!
Only complaint is the service was pretty slow, even though the restaurant wasn’t crowded at all on a Tuesday night. That won’t stop me from coming back for more though!
Still really want to try the baba ghanoush, hummus, falafel, labneh, and beef kofta. Anything and everything with that sauce on it.

The service was amazing. Like truly truly wonderful.
The food was just ok. It wasn’t too bad. I’m glad I got my falafel sandwich because that was pretty tasty. The hummus was also quite nice.
My husband ordered the shwarama sandwich/​wrap and it just didn’t taste that good. It was the yogurt sauce they put on it. something tasted kind of off about it.
I also ordered the tabbouleh for an appetizer (but mostly wanted it as a side to have with my falafel sandwich) which was pretty mild and not bad but they just served it as is and without any pita or anything to eat it with. Luckily our waitress (again. PHENOMENAL service) came to the rescue and gave us some pita on the house.
Not bad and the prices were ok.

The sampler platter was so worth it! I loved the babaghanouj.
The chicken entrée was succulent.
All in all it was a solid good meal, but not something to write home about.
I’d go back if I was in the neighbourhood.