Sahara Restaurant

Love this place. I have traveled to Egypt and the Middle East and this food is exceptional!
It is priced well and all home made fresh. If anything, they should raise their prices.
Also the décor is beautiful.

Not a fan of the food. The first bite of beef Shawarma sandwich was hard as a rock. The fries were lukewarm and the catsup was runny. While I was there two other parties came in and left before ordering. Two employees, including my redhead server sat in the first booth by the kitchen my entire lunch time. I felt like I was interrupting their meeting. The whole experience was disappointing.

I am a big fan of Middle Eastern food. My opinion of Sahara is top notch. We had four items when we were there and three out of the four were outstanding. The fourth only had so so flavor (but it was just a chick pea app — I do not recall the name). In addition we had Baba Ganosh, Meat/​Lamb Gyro, and Stuffed Grape Leaves.
The restaurant was completely empty at lunch time on a Monday. Time will tell if this place gets busier. We were impressed by the taste, quality, and value. The service was excellent. Our waitress was beautiful, pleasant, friendly and very helpful. We will be back for sure. I think it beats The Canal Bistro by far !!

I’ve lived in broad ripple for 6 years and in Indy for over 20. This is the best Mediterranean food out there. Why you aren’t here still astounds me. Get the Sahara Vegetarian Combo Plate to start and you won’t be disappointed. The lamb chops are amazing the gyro is awesome, the labanah is incredible. Stop wasting your time elsewhere

Overpriced, Neglectful Customer Service, Front Door Freezes Food:
We were the first customers to arrive for lunch on April 1, 2016. The seating was very nice and we wondered why no one else was there given the reviews. We decided to give it a try. We sat, placed our orders to the waiter who looked barely legal to wait tables and realized he was ALSO the cook. We didn’t receive silverware, the waters we ordered, nor our appetizer. No one checked on us.
After 30 minutes, we received our appetizer and one entrée. The other entrée arrived ~5 minutes later. We saw three other employees besides the cook, but they didn’t assist. Who can wait over 30 minutes for lunch to arrive?
To make matters worse, it was chilly outside and breezy. Every customer that entered, the front door closed as if it was in slow motion. Our food was cold after two patrons entered and the Turkish coffee ruined. The door desperately needs repaired.
The food was not hot upon being served and was overpriced for the size of the portions. The hummus was excellent, but the pita was hard and brittle.
The customer service was just terrible. No one checked on us before or after receiving our lunches and we had to approach the kitchen to hunt down our check. I felt robbed leaving a tip. It will be the last.
Here’s my tip: If you decide to try this restaurant, sit as far in the back as possible from the front door (unless it is a hot, summer day) and bring a bell to ring in case you need customer service.
They need to spend some money and hire a couple of real servers and dedicated cooks, play some music and have the tables set and ready. Bring customers water and the appetizer (s) before the meals. Customer service, customer service, customer service. And fix that door!

Have wanted to try this place since it opened but figured I would give them some time to get the kinks out.
Stopped in tonight since I was dining solo and ordered a gyro and Greek salad to go. A nice younger female took my Oder and said it would be just a few minutes. There was only one other table with patrons and they were waiting on their order as well.
I watched as a young guy pulled out a large piece if what I assume is the Lavash and he proceeded to reach into various bind and fill it with toppings. He then went over to the meats and began carving them off the spits. He paused after this and reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, put it back, grabbed a handful of each of the meats and placed in the bread, rolled it up and cut in half.
An older man, came out from the back with my salad container and proceeded to fill it. The younger man went back over and grabbed a pita, put toppings on it, grabbed another handful of meat, placed it on and wrapped everything up. The young girl put it in a bag, grabbed the plate he had made for the other diners and came out and handed me my bag. At which point I said, I cannot take this. Everything I had just watched in all the food prep had been done with bare hands. No gloves, no washing. The cross contamination was everywhere. She took my bag and apologized and then sat it down and took the plate to the table of diners.
I had to ask for my money back. She went in back and got the older man who proceeded to ask me if I wanted him to remake my meal. No, because A) you had fixed my salad the same way and B) every container had had bare hands in who knows how many times. I am not naïve, I know things happen at restaurants all the time that you never see, but food safety should be a priority these days and this just grossed me out.
He apologized and gave me $ 10.00 of my $ 10.88 back and I left. I wasn’t going to argue about .88 cents. But I definitely will not be back.
Also, I did look around and saw no gloves anywhere in sight even if they had wanted to use them.

I enjoyed my time in this restaurant. I had chicken Shawarma, lamb chops, and Koba. The food was delicious and perfectly cooked. The workers are very delightful and nice. I recommend this restaurant for anyone loves Arabic food and good service. The price seems reasonable to me. Lamb chops, chicken shawarma, Koba and soda for $ 37.03 only. I am totally coming back.

I’ve been to Sahara twice and shamelessly ordered the same dish. I love the vegetarian combo platter! It allows me to nosh a little of everything. Its a great value, and the platter is so appetizing and colorful (I got the pics to prove it!) Hummus, salads, falafel, stuffed pitas… so, so good.
Our server was helpful and polite. An uninitiated member of my dining party was indecisive. He wound up with the mixed grill — all the meats! It looked and smelled amazing. Our server took the time to describe the components of the plate and give tips on which condiment goes best with which meat. What remained were empty plates.

This time we tried the mixed grill and lamb chops. The food was very delicious. We also ordered the combo plate as appetizer.

This place was fine for 5 dollar stand food, it however was not a complete satisfactory dining experience. The staff were also friendly but not attentive,
We ordered hummus which was fine but it only came with 1 pita, so we ordered another pita which was $ 1.00 for another single pita. We also ordered a gyro and the chicken tikka, the gyro was small and slathered in sauce and pickles, the meat was also kind of grisly. For the Tikka it took 30 minutes to cook which with very few table checks, our drinks barely refilled during this time, and just waiting for more pita it felt like a huge amount of time spent seated doing nothing. The Tikka itself was flavorful but dry and more bone than meat. The rice that came with the tikka was perfectly cooked and seasoned with nutmeg and a few other seasonings. The person who ordered the gyro felt hungry still so they ordered a chicken shawarma sandwich which was filled with bland chicken, tasty sauce, and loads more pickles.
My final comment is that I really love canal bistro and I wish I had gone there instead, the endless pita, the attentive waitstaff and the great food quality make me feel like this place just can’t compete.

The good thing about this place is its in Broad Ripple.
When I first walked in the service was good. I was greeted with multiple smiles and the waitress was friendly, kept a smile on her face and held a small friendly conversation.
It wasn’t until the food came out that the quality went down. I ordered the gyro, which wasn’t bad except the fact that it came out cold and she said «it came straight from the oven.» They did however take it back and bring out a new one, but it came out faster then my previous sandwich so I’m pretty sure it wasn’t fresh, probably just microwaved the meat and slapped it back on my sandwich (not sure)
My friend ordered the spicy chicken zinger and it was flavorless, order dipping sauce for it. And it wasn’t even busy.
I would rate friendliness a 5
Quality of food 3
Décor 5

The food is fantastic. The beef shawarma was super flavorful and had lots of fresh ingredients. The only thing stopping this from being a 5 star review is the service. I was one of two customers in the restaurant and there were two servers on duty. Despite this 1 to 1 ratio, it took forever to get anything. Hoping they can solve this issue.

I’m actually pretty sad to write this review. I had skimmed the star ratings on Unilocal weeks ago and had been eager to try it out. We popped in for dinner around 7:45 on a week night. There were two tables eating and two waiting for their food. We figured it would be pretty speedy considering the lack of customers and the fact they offer to go food prominently. To be clear, we weren’t in a rush. I just wanted to get back home to read a book so I assumed we’d have dinner taken care of in an out or so. Our waitress was so sweet but spread too thin. We waited for at least 20 minutes to even order drinks (a pot of hot green tea) and then 15 more to receive it… and it was lukewarm upon arrival. It probably would’ve been delicious if it was hot. There aren’t a lot of vegetarian options so between the two of us we ordered the vegetable appetizer plate, falafel sandwich, and lentil soup. It took way too long to arrive as well considering that by then there was only one table occupied and they were eating when we ordered. The food looked better than it tasted. The hummus was good but other than that, every item was mediocre at best. The falafel looked mass produced and was too dry, the supposed to be hot items were room temperature, and the spanakopita type pastry was horrid & tasted old. Maybe it was because we were the last diners of the night? Im unsure. I just know it was not good on any level. I’m seriously bummed. We tried all of the food we ordered and agreed to just skip this place in the future considering there are so many other really delicious options elsewhere. I gave two stars. One for cozy décor and the other for our nice waitress. She tried really hard to keep each of her tables taken care of but it wasn’t humanly possible. I didn’t have the heart to tell her the food wasn’t appetizing; I just smiled weakly when she checked in with us. Bless her heart but we won’t be returning.

Excellent, the kabobs and quality of products used in the preparations are worth the wait you may experience.
Ordered the mixed grill and to my delight a health portion of chicken, lamb and Kufta meat moist to the last bite.
Great house or Greek salad. Yellow rice etc! The actual finishes and details throughout the restaurant are a prelude to the quality meal and dining experience.
I would give 5 stars but had to wait a bit on tail end of busy luck hour. I anticipate they’ll work the minor service /​carryout kinks in coming weeks!
Food makes up for it!

I’m so very happy to have this family owned and operated Middle Eastern addition to our rotation of local restaurants. The restaurant, right on Broad Ripple Ave, features really good food made from scratch with fresh ingredients. We had a great experience with the wait staff as well, and the restaurant was immaculate — very clean and well-​decorated. At the recommendation of our server, we began with an appetizer sampler which had a little bit of everything, including two stuffed grape leaves, flavorful baba ghanouj, a really nice fattoush, fresh tabouli, hummus, pita, and 6 pieces of falafel.
We also got a couple of their sandwiches (they’re probably more what I would consider a grilled wrap). The chicken shawarma was good! The sampler plus the two sandwiches may have almost been too much food for the two of us, but it was worth it to get to try everything.
On top of that, the Turkish tea was delightful — sweetened hot tea with mint and a splash of rosewater. I would come back just for the tea alone! Though we didn’t get dessert, the server gave us a sample of the baklava, and it was just the right amount of sweetness. Sahara is a warm and welcoming restaurant, and we’ll definitely be back!

Really good food but not a good experience. Service was painfully low and disorganized. I ordered two things and was not brought the second until well after I had finished the first. Either the server had never put in the order or someone just forgot to prepare it. It was apparent that the other tables were having service issues too. The place was not packed, but they were understaffed.
Both items, chicken shawarma and muthawama, were just delicious, but small for the price. The shwarma reminded me of those big burritos you get from the grocery freezer section — all flour and not much inside. But what was in there was great. I hope this place does well, but I am reluctant to go back.

As someone that is Middle Eastern and grew up eating the food I am ecstatic that this is the newest edition to Broad Ripple! The food is AMAZING! Everything is very authentic and so fresh! We had quite a few of the apps and couldn’t stop eating, it all tastes fresh out of the kitchen. I never give 5 stars but this place is the most deserving. It says a lot about a restaurant for it to be this good right out of the gate. Hands down the best restaurant in Broad Ripple.

So I stumbled into this place on Saturday when LAVA in Broadripple was too packed (I guess the secret is out). I was still in the mood for middle-​eastern cuisine so I was heading towards the tiny Gyro Joint when I came across Sahara. They opened about a week ago, and the place was rather empty as I’m sure the word has not spread. The décor inside when you walk in is a bit confusing as they have landmarks from all around the world, but clearly the place is middle-​eastern. It looks like the place is setup for 2 options, carry out directly from the counter Jimmy John’s style, or sit down restaurant style. We chose to sit down.
The menu had plenty of options, and all the things you’d expect. Hummus, Baba Ganosh, Falafel, Shawarma, Gyro, and Kabobs. We started with an appetizer plate that came with about 7 different types of dip, a few falafel balls and some bread stuffed with cheese. Everything was perfect. The 4 of us devoured this plate and ordered an extra side of Falafel since it was so tasty. For entrees, we ordered a mixed grill that two people shared, I had a Shawarma Sandwich, and my fiancé ordered a falafel sandwich. Being the insatiable foodie that I am, I tried everyone’s meal :)
WOW…I was shocked, I honestly could not find anything wrong with anyone’s food. It was all great. They even brought us 2 desserts for free to try and spread the word about them. I honestly could not tell you the names of these desserts unfortunately but one was made from Rice and the other was very much like a Baklava. Both good, but I preferred the Baklava like dessert (even ordered an additional one.
The best part? The place was absurdly cheap. The 4 of us, ordering 2 appetizers, 3 entrees (one of which was for 2) and a dessert… our bill came out to $ 42. What a steal!
The service was also perfection, but I’m not sure it had to do with server skill as much as the fact we were the only table. Time will tell as this place gets busier. Either way, we were so blown away by taste, quality, value and service that we will be back for sure.
I hope everything keeps up with this place to become a staple in Broadripple.

Third time’s a charm, right?! After I wrote an update this past Saturday, I ended up there that night for dinner. Finding parking close by was a nightmare, but is really something that needs to be addressed with the city, not the restaurant.
After circling several times, finally finding a space, and walking to the restaurant, WOW! I had take out from here twice, but this first visit inside really gave me the full experience.
Greeted right away and directed to a clean table on the left. Had interesting and luxurious seating. The man who took care of us was extremely friendly and helpful. He, as well as another man, thanked us several times for coming in.
A fellow Unilocaler led me to believe my fries were probably just a bit limp because they were takeout. I didn’t end up ordering any this visit since there were other things I wanted to try and want to cut back on fried food calories. I chose to have the falafel sandwich and a small tahini salad.
The salad came out first and was DELICIOUS! With a basket of pita, it was a meal in itself and anything but small. The tahini was tangy and everything I expect in a tahini sauce, changing my opinion noted in my last update. The sandwich was in a wrap and pressed like a panini, with pickles. Wrapped nicely in a lovely paper and served with a beautiful garnish of beets, etc. that tasted as good as they looked. The sandwich was different than the one I had the night before on pita with a spicy salad topping. I think I prefer the first sandwich, but this one was almost as good.
Our server was kind to bring us tea on the house, and what a sight. Elegantly served in a silver tea pot with these wonderful clear glasses sitting in silver holders. Mint leaves floated to the top as the tea was poured. I am not much of a tea connoisseur, but really enjoyed this one.
Between the amazing food, inexpensive price, impeccable service, beautiful dishes plated with care, and top-​of-​the line décor, I left feeling very impressed as well as quite full. I took the rest of my sandwich home though it was hard to stop eating because everything tasted THAT good. I also must note how nice the ladies’ room was. It had to be one of the most stunning restrooms I have ever seen.
Hardly anything to complain about. Only SLIGHT negative is the Aquafina brand bottled water, but I am to blame for not asking what kind of waters they had available. Before leaving I did see a pitcher of water with citrus fruit floating in it. Mmm! Mental note for the future.
Sahara certainly earned five stars from me, no exaggeration. I was also amazed to hear they are open until 4 am on weekends! You MUST try it. If eating at Sahara forced this agoraphobe to walk down a street in order to dine out, you know it’s good. No, not good. Perfection.

After months of waiting, I finally get to review the newest middle eastern restaurant in Broad Ripple! Tonight was their opening night and I was probably one of the first 3 customers. Fully staffed, I was greeted and helped immediately. With the name Sahara and shawarma platters on the menu, clearly this was middle eastern food. Here’s the real test… when I asked where the recipes were from, the owner responded, «Jordan». Hallelujah! Not just another «generic» middle eastern answer. Based on this, I had extremely high hopes.
The restaurant is set up to easily be take-​out or sit down. Operating on a limited menu until next week, there was still a full array of choices. I decided to try to beef shawarma meal. The meal included an array of pickled vegetables and french fries. While I waited, they offered me a drink (even though I didn’t order one). Nice touch! As I watched them carefully construct my meal, there were about 4 or 5 people working on it. Clearly, they wanted to be sure everyone was trained and that the orders were completed correctly. Once it was all packed, they threw in a complementary dessert as well and thanked me for my business as I walked out. Nice people and great care put into the food. But who cares about all that if the food isn’t good right?! OK… on to the part that matters.
Check out the picture I posted. The to-​go trays are so cute and neatly ordered. The shawarma sandwich was wrapped in lavash instead of a pita (again, big kudos!) and true to the authentic Jordanian style, was mostly meat throughout. I was seriously worried there would be a bunch of lettuce or something lame inside. Nope. Nothing but well seasoned, freshly carved shawarma. Simply put, this might be the best shawarma sandwich I’ve had in Indy!
Remember, this is Jordanian food, so do not expect this to taste greek. Although you will draw similarities to food and spices from Greece or Lebanon, the flavors are different. Go in with an open mind, taste the food and try not to walk out saying, «That didn’t taste like the gyro I got at XXX place». Trust when I say, the food is good and the meat is well seasoned and kickin with flavor. I honestly can not wait to go back and try more of their menu.
The location is right on Broad Ripple avenue between all the bars so if they choose to be open late, this could be Broad Ripple’s answer to the amazing Halal carts that line the streets of Manhattan. Good people, great location and great food.