Cafe Arazu has been on my list to try to a while, so I was very excited to finally go!
The location is darling, I've only been to Newburgh a few times, but this strip of businesses is really charming. Cafe Arazu fits right in as the location of an old ice house (as noted by the plaque on the front of the building). The interior is stocked full of middle eastern flair including many handmade tapestries that are actually for sale. The vibe is relaxing, a bit exotic and easily lets you forget about where you actually are.
I know for sure I'll be coming back based on the atmosphere and location alone. There is a gorgeous patio with bistro lights facing the river that even in this cold weather made me want to sit there. This is probably a wonderful place to go with friends during the summer.
There is an extensive drinks menu with options including a pots of Moroccan mint tea, chai, caramel mocha, wines, fun cocktails and beer. We went for lunch are were excited by the menu; in retrospect I wish we could have tried a bit more. It was nice to see the number of vegetarian or veg-possible options on the menu.
I ate the portabella pesto and goat cheese wrap with french fries. The wrap was quite good and the best parts were the crisp lavosh bread and the extraordinarily fresh taste of the filling. The french fries with my meal were very standard, and  I'm not sure if these are made in house. I may opt for a different side in the future. The portion size was really perfect for me, but my dining partner felt like his portion left him a bit hungry by the end of the meal. He did, however, enjoy his gyro thoroughly!
We finished our meal with desserts including a homemade chocolate torte and baklava. The baklava was above average served at a nice temperature and still crisp! The torte had a great flavor and wasn't overwhelmingly chocolaty. I loved that the torte had such a range of textures, making it very fun to eat.
We went mid afternoon, so reservations were not needed. The service in general was just a bit slow, but I think it comes with the territory at this type of establishment. Due to this pace of service, I would recommend getting an appetizer to tide you over if you are very hungry.
Manna is still my favorite for a cheap bite, but the combination of the food and atmosphere at Cafe Arazu make it date-night worthy. Honestly, Cafe Arazu is in a category by itself.
Overall, a solid dining experience that has me looking forward to my next visit.
Just had  a very late lunch there today. Got there a little past 4pm and we were told we can only order from the lunch menu since dinner does not start until 5pm (no shish kabobs for me).  Got us some appetizers and gyros and wraps. They were OK but by no means special. Nice outdoor dining with view of the river. But their tables could really use some cleaning, its pretty bad if you have to keep flies away from food and drinks on your table. Service was OK.
Review Source:Great food - nice selection of middle eastern classics and other more mainstream dishes, all done very well. The atmosphere inside is charming and uniquely decorated, and the outside seating area is large, nicely shaded and landscaped beautifully. They also have an amazing bar inside, rich wood and a great beer selection. Definitely the best place to eat in Newburgh!
Review Source:This is the new best restaurant in the Evansville area. Â The food is consistently good, and the atmosphere is lovely. Â The owners are passionate about what they do, and it shows. Â This is one of the only restaurants I recommend to other people in Evansville because there are so few decent meals to be had here. Â If you haven't tried it, you need to, and if you have, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
Review Source:This is my new favorite place to eat in this area--yum!! Â Hubby and I planned to meet friends there at 7pm on a Saturday evening. Â Luckily, our friends had been there before and knew it would be a good idea to make reservations for the patio, which was a great call and I would highly recommend doing the same if you're planning in advance. Â As I am on a vegan kick at the moment, I called at 11am to talk with the host about the menu options-- I didn't want to ask our poor server a barrage of questions that would send her back to the kitchen for clarification a billion times.
I spoke with two people on the phone--first the host, then a woman who knew the ins and outs of the menu-- and I was delighted that they were both incredibly friendly and very vegan-accommodating. Â A lot of times when I ask about having things be altered so that they're vegan (or just trying to find out something like whether or not a restaurant's pesto has cheese in it), I get a lot of huffy and puffy attitude from staff-- not so at Cafe Arazu! Â By the time I got off the phone I was feeling warm n fuzzy about the staff and very excited about the many menu options that could be made vegan. Â (happy dance!)
Fast forward to arriving-- the table was ready and our friends were seated. Â Our server, Barbie (love her name!), was very nice and came by the table often to check on us and refill water; when we got to the end of the meal, she was kind enough to hunt down the answer to my dessert question (does the baklava have butter? answer: yes) even though it took asking 4 different people. Â I'm grateful that she cared enough to really get to the bottom of it-- a lot of places would have either guessed or said they couldn't find anyone who knew after giving it one shot. Â Going the extra mile counts for a lot in my book.
As for the food-- it was superb! Â On the recommendation of the woman I'd spoken with by phone, I ordered the shrimp with couscous dish made with portabello mushroom instead of shrimp-- it was SO good! Â I also had the red lentil soup-- again, amazing. Â I'm a sucker for good soup and I think I could eat a bowl of that stuff every day. Â The meat eaters at the table raved about their food as well, though I can't recall exactly what they had.
The only thing less than perfect was the description of the wine we chose from the wine menu. Â I'm not a fan of sweet wine at all, although I recognize that the midwestern palate tends toward the sweeter side, so it makes sense that the pinot noir we chose was on the menu in the first place. Â However, there should have been a more accurate description that included the fact that it had some sweetness to it-- probably about a 6% or 8%-- because I wouldn't have chosen it had it been accurately described. Â Next time I will choose a cab or merlot and hope it's better; if they serve it by the glass, perhaps I will ask for a small taste before ordering a bottle. Â Still, the absence of accurate wine description was a momentary annoyance in an otherwise wonderful dining experience. Â I will most certainly be back again and again.
I don't know why it took me so long to try this place. This is by far the best patio dining experience I've had since moving to Evansville. Sitting outside at this cafe is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon or evening.
I ordered the lamb kabob. I was surprised to see 3pieces of rack of lamb on my plate, which were delicious. The rice of the day was well seasoned also. We tried the bruschetta for an appetizer, it tasted fresh and the tomatoes were nice and sweet. I had zero complaints about the meal. Throw extremely reasonable prices on top of it and you have a winner.
Have been half a dozen times or so. Â The food has been from good to really good. Â Once or twice we ended up with a scattered brain waitress but all other times the service has been great. Â We enjoy sitting at the bar and having appetizers also. Â Great place and a much needed addition to downtown Newburgh
Review Source:We had a reservation for the patio, but when we arrived (on time), we were told they had written down the info wrong, and we didn't actually have a table. Â The hostess scrambled to get a table ready for us, but it was obvious our party on top of the other tables were too much for our server to handle. Â Our server seemed a bit scatter-brained all night, at one point we were told the soup of the day was Kale soup, but then told it actually had no Kale in it (?), and when the soup arrived at our table it was actually tortilla soup! Â I ordered the Shepherd's Platter, one of the few vegetarian items available at night, and was a little disappointed by how small it was (and I'm not a bit eater by any means). Â Perhaps this was just an off-night for the new restaurant, so I may give Cafe Arazu another try.
Review Source:It's so exciting to see nightlife come to downtown Newburgh! Â I've been here for lunch twice and once for late night snacks. Â I love the vegetarian options. Â Oddly, you can only get the wraps during lunch hours. Â The dinner menu is a little limited but everything I've tried I've enjoyed. Â There is a small outdoor dining area in addition to the two small interior rooms and bar. Â Service is good. Â Decor is interesting.
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