Ali Baba Grill

The food is decent, but they seemed to have a lot of trouble getting your orders straight. Lots of confusions and the service was very slow.

I went to the golden location and loved it but it was a huge huge mistake to visit this one. The service was terrible. There was only one server giving service to 11 tables. It took her 20 minutes just to get our order. I would not blame her but the owner should realize that it is not just the food that brings customers to the locations. A good service is always something which brings back the customers. It should be noted that the food was very good but I am afraid I was dissapointed with the service.

This place is joke. It says right on their front door that they’re open from 11 AM to 11 PM on the day I was going to eat here. the first time I ordered from here it was through GrubHub, I walked in at about 9 o’clock and the first thing they Yell at me is were closed. I place my order through GrubHub at 8:45 PM and was there by nine. I never got my food that day so I decided to get this place another chance another day, so I come back today thinking that they’re going to be open till 11 which it says right on their door and guess what they’re closed again. It’s fine if you want to close at 9 PM just put that as your hours don’t lie to your customers. I won’t give this place another chance besides I’ve heard the food isn’t that great anyway you might as well try the place is across the street that are open till 3 AM. I will never ever recommend or return to this place.

The food is great, it really is, but there are too many problems with the place to give it above 2 stars. The place is filthy, they rarely bus the tables or clean the floor, the bathrooms are disgusting and the kitchen looks pretty bad too. The chef/​owner is always on his cell phone while cooking, and the staff is both rude and lazy. After waiting an hour or so for my food, both times I went there, and having to get up to fill my own water due to the lack of interest by the wait staff, I swore I would never go back. But then the food came and it was fantastic. I suggest ordering for pick up well ahead of time and avoid any time spent waiting in this gross restaurant.

Amazing service. Amazing food. The falafel and hummus was wonderful. And everything was so fresh and delicious!

Holy yum! Hummus, side salad, drink. Three meat kabobs. Yes yes yes. These folks are doing it just right. Gyro is great. Kabobs on point. Pricing us reasonable. Twice in two weeks. Oh yes…

Would have loved to try the shawarma wrap, but they forgot to include it in our take-​out order.
The hummus shawarma was very tasty and included rice (upon request) and a salad. It also included pita bread, although in a bag and imported from California. Fresh bread would have been nice. Fair portion. We ordered a combo of meat, but they only included one of the two meats.
The spinach pie was very plain (better at Amira or Beirut grill).
Parking can be challenging.
Perhaps they excel in in-​restaurant dining, but forgetting to provide one third of our order is failing to meet a fairly basic requirement in my opinion (and because the purchase was made on Unilocal,they could not refund the cost of the food that was not provided). Unlikely that I will return for take-​out in the near future.

***Update***
Last two times we went the hummus was too lemony and they changed the gyro meat. They both were not good. 5 stars went to 3 based on recent changes. So sad :(
This one of my favorite restaurants in Denver. The food is always good. The hummus B shawarma is AMAZING. The other thing I love about this place is that the prices are good. I can get a full meal for 11 dollars (salad, bread, hummus, and entrée). The place is also clean. The other Middle Eastern places on Colorado are a dump and over priced. I have eaten at all of them and Ali Baba is by far the best.

This place has great tasting food for its location and at very affordable prices. Despite this, this place doesn’t really get busy. Most of the seating is filled up with I think family members mothers and children) of the owners judging by their clothing. My bf and I seated ourselves as there is no hostess.
We ordered the Lamb Shank and shared it. It came with complimentary (and huge portions) house salad, hummus, and pita bread. Oh man, their salad is sooo tasty! Their hummus has a puddle of olive oil in the center and as other Unilocalers have said, it tastes really good, certainly not overhyped. We tried to limit eating the warmed pita bread to save stomach room for our entrée, a bit of a downer I know.
My bf usually orders lamb shank for take out from here, and he said that the entrée when served in the restaurant was portioned differently: the meat was 2x as big and there was ½ as many potatoes and carrots! Rice is served on the side. This was so big and it definitely was enough to share between the 2 of us. The sauce that the lamb shank was sitting in was so good that we even dipped pita bread into it. At the end of our meal, the check wasn’t given to us, we had to go up to the cashier to pay.
On another occasion, we ordered take out from here. We just called and told them the time we could pick it up. We got the Chicken Baarg — Two chicken breasts marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, saffron and spices. Grilled and served with one skewer of chicken kobideh kabob (Chicken Kobideh: skewer mixed with parsley, garlic, lemon and red pepper). As take out, the pita bread was at most lukewarm and everything was portioned a lot smaller due to the container that they used. There were only 2 pita breads while dine-​in had 5 – 6. I guess that’s the difference in tip vs no tip lol. I preferred the chicken breast more while my bf preferred the kobideh kabob.
Definitely dine in for more value.

Best. Hummus. In. Denver. (but beware it’s not vegan friendly… yogurt.)
Ali Baba Grill is sort of a funny place. One of those not «hole in the wall,» not «fancy,» not really anything specific kind of places that’s located in a strip mall next to a froyo joint near a college. Don’t let the façade throw you off though.
The felafel and hummus are my favorites that I’ve ever had in Denver. The vegetarian platter is huge (you either won’t eat it all, or can share it with dessert after). The staff are friendly enough, but do beware, they stop serving food sometimes a half hour before closing.
Definitely a must-​try if you are into middle-​eastern food. The ambiance isn’t the same as Jerusalem but the food is better.

Awesome fresh ingredients! Perfect hummus and the gyros dinner is tasty and not overly spiced! The rice was cooked to perfection!
I will definitely come back!

More like 3.5 Favorite hummus. Always get the chicken shawarma to-​go. Good service, but sometimes get some inconsistencies with the to-​go orders, and last time the styrofoam box was melted and I couldn’t eat the meal. Great place to go near campus, but would recommend eating in!

Cool Arabic script décor. Seat yourself and say hello to a waiter as he runs by. The food is right in the pocket. Very satisfying! The sambusek are really nice with coffee if you want a savory treat!

4 stars for the lentil soup and service!!! BOOM!
The hummus and baba were stellar too!

I was beyond bummed that they ran out of the lamb shank on the one night we visited. FH was also bummed that they ran out of whatever beef dish it was that he wanted to order. I don’t know what it was about that night, but they were also almost out of baklava.
Despite all that, we thoroughly enjoyed the food that they DID have. I had the gyro meat plate, and FH had the kafta kebob. FH’s brother and his friend had some kind of chicken dish and lamb curry. Both seemed to enjoy their meals, as well. The side salads, hummus and pita were a nice touch, and I really enjoyed the hummus because it tasted like it was loaded with tahini.
My gyro plate was literally enough for 3 ½ meals. I had it for dinner, then a late lunchtime snack the next day, and then FH and I split the leftovers for dinner that night. For under $ 11? What an insane steal! He really enjoyed his kafta kebobs, even though he was under the impression that they were beef the whole time because he «doesn’t like lamb.» Mhm. Sure you don’t, babe. That’s why you devoured your kebabs and half of my gyro meat.
The baklava was the best I’ve ever had. No kidding. Flaky, thick, light, sweet, and buttery. I think I had a dream about that baklava that night.
If I had to find one thing bad to say about this place, it’d have to be about the Turkish coffee. What is IN that stuff? I’m not a hairy person, but if I had nose hairs, the smell of that coffee would have burned them clean off. It was truly unlike anything I’ve ever smelled before — chemically, harsh, without even a passing resemblance to coffee. It scared me. Skip it.

I stopped at the University St location last week. I’d never been to Ali Baba but the reviews on Unilocal were great so I figured I couldn’t go wrong. And I didn’t!
I dined at dinner time so it was dark outside. When I entered the restaurant, it took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the lighting. I felt it was a bit too bright, like a cafeteria.
But beyond that, the service was great and the food was exceptional! I ordered the Vegetarian Combo. The hummus, baba ganoush and falafel were some of the best I’ve ever had! I’m very particular about all three items and I was not disappointed. The dolmades were served just the way I like them: slightly warm but not too hot or refrigerator cold like you get it at other places.
The price was outstanding. $ 11 for more food than I could eat! I can’t wait to go back. My mouth is watering just writing this post.
The only disappointing thing was that they were out of baklava. I also overheard the server tell another table that they were out of lamb shank. It was early evening so that was a bit surprising.
Enjoy!

I’ve always been to Ali Baba’s in Golden and finally found my way to the DU location. Get the hummus. Always get the hummus… in any way you can. This spot is rarely busy, the food is delicious and you get a pile of food for an incredible price. My co-​workers are envious when I bring Ali Baba leftovers for lunch — yours will too!

Service — 10
Environment — 10
Cleanliness — 10
Food quality — 10
Food prices — very reasonable
The service was exceptional. The food was out-​of-​this-​world delicious. I ordered the lamb shank and it was absolutely delicious!!! Oh man, it was sooo good. The rice served with it is delicious as well. I can’t wait to go back.

My wife and I had dinner here the evening of 11÷8÷14, prior to attending a show at the nearby Newman Center on the Campus of DU. It’s an unadorned family run restaurant. It’s seat yourself, and no booze. The clientele seems to be DU students and their parents. Although the place may be unpretentious the food is outstanding!
I had the lamb shank which was served in a bowl with potatoes & carrots and a fabulous broth covering it all, with a huge side of rice. It could not have been better.
My wife had the King Combo which is an assortment of Kabobs and sides. She loved it. I sampled one of the lamb Kabobs and it was first rate.
The two dishes were served with salads, hummus and pita bread.
It was more food than either of us could finish. We would have liked to bring the remainder home but it was impractical due to the theater commitment.
There are two other locations, one in Golden the other in the Tech center, Definitely want to check out the Golden location which is closer to us.
Service was very good too with a very helpful and friendly serve staff.
And the most amazing of all… the tab was only $ 35.

We ate for the second time last night and I have to say that the place is growing on me. This time we were meeting people who were already there waiting for us. We running a bit behind and had our friends order for us. When we arrived we found that friends were already eating. The staff was awesome and had kept our dishes hot in the kitchen for us. Our food was hot and fresh when it arrived and really delicious. We had the lamb shank which is just outstanding. The meat falls off the bone and is nestled in a wonderful broth and a few vegetables tossed in. The broth is just delicious and goes really well with the saffron rice that they serve on the side. Humus is served to each person and even though it is a bit heavy on the tahini for my taste it is very good. The pita is ok but I doubt it is made there.
I like the staff here at this location and the place is kept clean.