Bawadi Mediterranean Grill

Getting there. Bawadi was recently remodeled and it looks nicer. There is a new oven and you can watch them bake the pita bread. The food has gotten better, it is very good. They have a buffet but since last week, February 2016, it is no longer all you can eat. This usually means better food, and it was. The lamb shank with veggies was amazing, as was the seasoned rice. There were several other sides to choose from. I was given samples of a few and ordered three of them, there was plenty to take home later.
Unfortunately, the Peruvian food is no longer being served. But the place still has the same delicious pastries.
Four stars because they do not have it quite together yet. The vestibule is gone and it is drafty in there on a cold winter day.

Came here for buffet and loved their food. Very delicious kabobs with tasty Hummus. It was worth the money and time.

We stopped to get Arabic sweets and were immediately greeted by a smiling lady who offered help selecting middle eastern desserts from the many different shapes and colors, the smiling lady turns out to be the wife of owner whom I met in previous visit, very informative and descriptive of the many choices, she kindly offered us a sample of my wife favorite dessert (Kenafa). Which I think is the mother of all middle eastern desserts ‚
We loved it. we have noticed that they had built a wood burning oven to prepare their own bread, which is an upgrade from what we had last time when visited, I gave them 4 stars for not loving the pita last time we had lunch, so I think they read our review and fixed if, great atmosphere and clean counters and tables, we also noticed a mixed crowd of diners mingling and exchanging laughs, we were told that they are working to improve and upgrade their menue to include popular dishes, just like the cuisine, me wife and I tried while visiting Palestine, so we will be coming back soon to try stuffed /​grape leave, zucchini, cabbage and maybe carrots with tamerddine sweet sauce … Which we love.
Thanks for the fresh hot pita and tasty Kenafa. We highly recommend Bawaddy restaurant and café, trust me you not be disappointed.

Beware!!! If you are planning to have lunch buffet then I would suggest to go somewhere else. It’s a rip off and the food was way too low in quality. It was cold. Yup it was cold. If you want to try out the sweets then go ahead. But do not even intend to go for lunch buffet. Horrible experience. !!!

After reading the reviews for this place I decided to go there with my husband and two daughters for the lunch buffet. We called in and the owner told us the lunch buffet is $ 12.99 and $ 7.99 for my 7 year old and $ 4.99 for the little 2 year old. As soon as we walked in we knew it was going t be a bad day for us. The buffet was COLD and guys I’m not exaggerating when I say this, I swear the food tasted a few days old. Aside from the cold and day old few the choices were very limited.
So we get our food and sit down and had to force ourselves to eat it because we were already paying for it. I told my husband that’s it what’s the point lets just pay the check and go. Then that’s when it really went downhill (as if it wasn’t already bad enough!!) they give us the check and try to charge us for 4 adults plus 2 children! What? The bill was $ 70 for a few bites of food we couldn’t even chew. We told the waitress there’s a mistake then the owner comes in the middle of the dinning room bashing us in front of all the other customers very loud. We explained to him we are only 2 adults and 2 kids etc and after a large argument he admits they are wrong.
We walked out of there very very disappointed and quite frankly regretting ever stepping in there. I never write negative reviews but this had to be said and is a warning to all of you.

Excellent food and great service!
I’m always craving for it. If I would live close by I would eat there every day!

We had the chicken kebab platter with basmati rice, garlic spread, tabouleh salad, and the beef kofta wrap in Pita. While we waited for our pick up order, the gentleman who took our order provided us complimentary sweet tea and Baclava ! A very kind gesture. The food itself was outstanding. Will definitely back for more of the good stuff on their menu

Came here on a Thursday night with a friend and we had such a nice time! First, the food was delicious. I ordered the hummus and schwarma platter. Huge portion of schwarma. It actually lasted me two more meals. After we were done with dinner, the place cleared out and my friend and I were the only two left. I can imagine the staff was hoping we would leave so that they could start closing and relax, but they were so nice! They let us try their hot tea and even let us sample a piece of baklava. It was insanely good, so I ordered a couple more pieces to go. Honestly, it was a great experience with excellent food and welcoming employees. Totally recommend for a delicious meal that doesn’t break the bank.

First, the food was good. If this ranking was based solely on the food it was be a strong four stars. I was thinking about other people who might enjoy it and when we might come back. It was good food in a small relatively relaxed location. Sure the server was mostly interested in her phone but it wasn’t crowded and it wasn’t an issue. That said I don’t think the manager/​owner wants my business.
I visited here with Mary Kate M. and as she indicated I had planned/​hopped to use a Local Flavor deal which was denied. Yes, the owner/​manager did remove $ 15 from the bill and I was relaxed enough I was accepting that without any issue. But it was what he said as he explained why he was not honoring them that made me pause. He was perfectly polite and he was also very honest. What I got from him honesty was he did not really want my business as I was not part of his target customer base. Apparently he had been under the impression the deal would be marketed to a specific group and not shared with everyone.
If he had been channeling Obi One Kenobi anymore he would have circled his hand in front of my face and said «this is not the restaurant you seek», and that is OK, I will not bother them again, I am not their target audience.
If asked, I might suggest this place to friends who are more closely related to the target audience but I seriously doubt I will visit again.

I came here last night with Sarah S. We had a nice dinner and ordered one of their platters with a large assortments of meat and rice for 2 and baba ganoush which was amazing. All was wonderful. We had a nice time. The restaurant wasn’t busy, and I liked how clean it was… the floors were seemingly spotless.
The only downside is the Local Flavor Voucher that Sarah got wasn’t redeemable due to problems with the restaurant and the Local Flavor business. Something we didn’t realize would be a problem we would run into. The owner took $ 15 off the top to ease the bill and he said he posted signage — but clearly her and I both missed it since it was very unassuming at the door posted up with all his other stickers and flyers. Unless you’re really paying that close attention — anyone could have missed it.
Besides that, this place is solid. The food is vegan friendly and halal. I’d return.

Bawadi is a crazy good deal in a sea of pretty good Middle Eastern restaurants.
Bawadi is a halal joint on Leesburg Pike. It’s in a kinda sad looking and trashy shopping center, but the interior is spotlessly clean and otherwise very nice. Service is excellent and prices are ridiculously cheap for the volume of food.
I tried a Kabob Combo with chicken and lamb, and it was simply delicious. The meat was plentiful, the rice was perfectly seasoned, and the house salad was pretty tasty as well. As per usual, there was a metric ton of rice, so I had plenty to save for later. I also tried the Chicken Kabob Sandwich, which was equally tasty — there were absolutely huge chunks of meat packed into some delicious sauce, again leaving plenty for leftovers. In both cases, I got noticeably more than I’ve received at similar Mediterranean restaurants.
Suffice to say, I was extremely pleased with Bawadi, and will be going back.

This is the best falafel and Mediterranean food in the area. All fresh. We are vegan and it was easy to find delicious food here. We had falafel pitas, chickpeas and baba ghanoush. Slightly oily, but delicious.

Bad customer service. We waited almost 15 mins after the dinner still no one came to attend. Had to explicitly call the girl who was busy on phone for the check. It took another 10 mins for the check.
The food was good.

Loved the food, service, and ambience. Came here during Ramadan. Only downside is the pricing, be careful what you order :)

The baklava and a focused assortment of desserts are simply incredible at this small eatery located in a plaza that you could drive right by without ever noticing. I went here on a coworker’s suggestion and will be returning for that baklava. I may as well give the menu items a try too.

Food was pretty good, except that it was cold. I ordered falafel sandwich, the bread and falafel were cold. Prices are reasonable. Place is acceptable. Staff is very nice and welcoming. 4 stars because of the cold food.

Our first introduction to this restaurant was at a house warming party. It was catered by this restaurant. There was leg of lamb with rice (huge platter) as well as chicken. It was very very delicious.
We wanted to see if it was going to be as good again so we came out to try it in hopes that we would cater from here too. We came on a Sunday afternoon. There was the buffet that day as well but we decided to order from the menu. My husband got a huge platter with many different choices. The meat tasted very gamey. The chicken I ordered was described as grilled but came out looking like a roasted rotisserie chicken.
We did not even enjoy the rice… rice of all things should be somewhat decent!
The ambiance is very casual. They have a bakery inside too. We were not happy with the meal and do not plan to cater from here. I gave them two stars instead of one star because of their excellent catering that we had tried at our friends. Maybe they are better at catering. Who knows. I don’t plan to find out.

My fiancé and I went for the weekday buffet. When we pulled up, we noticed that a sign outside advertised a «Mediterranean and Peruvian Buffet.» I was disappointed to find that most of the dishes were Peruvian. The only vegetarian options on the hot bar were steamed veggies (broccoli and carrots) and a dish with beans (which I avoided, as it was most likely cooked with some type of meat stock). The potato salad and beet salad on the cold bar were bland. The hummus was good, but there was no pita bread to go with it. My fiancé (who is not vegetarian) had a better experience. He thoroughly enjoyed most dishes, and would return.

Great food, great prices and amazing service. Highly recommend the hummus, labne, meat and the kunefa.

Went in for some sweets and wasn’t disappointed. They have a wonderful, delectable assortment of baklawas (walnut, pistachio, cashew), shredded coconut pastries, knafeh (sweet cheese), cookies, etc. They sell them by lb (~$ 10/​lb) but it ends up being cheap for a few small pieces if you want to sample different varieties. Very fresh tasting and of course delicious without being too sweet. The owner (I think?) was incredibly helpful, welcoming, and nice. I really look forward to going back for the savory food items. I loved what I saw on the take out menu. Wish I could go for their awesome weekday lunch buffet.

Went for Iftar during Ramadan and the food was delicious! They had grape leaves, hummus, pickles and fattoush for appetizers. Their open buffet included grilled chicken, ok rah with lamb, molokheya, bachamel and mansaf (rice with lamb).
For dessert they served katayef and knefa. The katayef were amazing! The place was really busy so luckily we had made reservations for Iftar or else we wouldn’t have found a table.