We live really close to this restaurant and were really excited to try it out. Â On our visit we were one of the only tables in the restaurant. Â Despite this, it took FOREVER to get our food. Â Then, once we got it, there was a huge hair in one of the entrees. Â Which, hey, it happens. Â But the food was returned and then we had to wait another 20 minutes to get a replacement entree. Â And then even once the food arrived it was just okay. Â Nothing special and nothing memorable. Â Definitely not worth the wait or the price. Â
On top of this, it was sweltering inside the restaurant. Â We asked multiple times to have the air conditioning turned on and were still sweaty when we left. Â
This place is such a disappointment. Â It's got a great location and awesome patio but the food and service are just not worth it. Â I'd rather wait an hour to eat at Eureka Burger down the street.
Pros:
-Garlice sauce= delicious
-nice shopping area
Cons: Â
-The waiter's answer to my finding 14 inch long hair in my flat bread was "Well, everybody's got hair"
-Ignored at the "wait to be seated" sign
-could never get the attention of the waiters
-BLAND, flavor-less food
-$55 for two mouths (without drinks), without an atmosphere or service nor fine dining to substantiate it
The service was HORRIBLE! Â When we walked in there was a sign that said 'PLEASE WAIT TO BE SEATED.' Â There were people ahead already waiting but no host/hostess to greet or seat customers. Â During this time employees walked pass without asking any of us if we had been helped. Â After waiting about 10 to 15 minutes, I finally got frustrated and went to the back and asked if someone was coming to seat us. Â Finally we wee all seated. Â I ordered an appetizer (humus) along with my meal. Â After about 20 we asked on two different occasions and two different waiters about my appetizer. Finally, the humus comes out shortly before the meal. Â The food was bland but the garlic spread was very good. Â We have definitely had better Mediterranean food. We will NOT return.
Review Source:One of the best joints for Mediterranean food. Â The skewers are a must especially the filet mignon. The skewers are grilled once you order and tender and moist. Â My other favorite are the salad with fresh goat cheese and lamb hummus. Â They give you plenty of fresh warm pita too! Restaurant is nice and roomy with plenty of outside seating. The staff is friendly and attentive.
I do like entertainment with my meal but my only beef I have with this place is the feeling of uncomfortableness when you dine there in the evening and the damn belly dancer is right in your face while you try to eat. I'm sure the guys don't mind but I can't concentrate on my food! Lol!
We came here one night with friends for dinner. We had a Groupon to use. I was a little worried about how the food and/or service was going to be based on some of the reviews. Our experience was a great one. We enjoyed the atmosphere. There was a belly dancer performing amongst the tables, so that provided some entertainment.
I ordered the lamb kabob. It came with rice and roasted tomatoes/squash. The lamb was seasoned well and very tender. My husband ordered the quail. He was very pleased with his dish. He got 3 quails on his plate along with the same sides as mine.
There was a very tasty garlic spread served with pita bread along with an olive oil mixture with seasonings.
Our group ordered a few bottles of wine to accompany dinner. By the end of the evening, we had definitely spent the amount on the Groupon and much, much more. Our dining experience was a good one and I would come here again.
Service: The service was great.
Ambiance: It was low that evening. it is romantic yet casual
Food: The felafel appetizer comes with 6 fritter along side a salad with taziki sauce.  the cheese puff is delicious. My favorite part is the arm oil oozing out.  Each mean comes with free pita, garlic paste and a herb/oil dip. Chicken shawarma  is good too. the price is $17 rounded up.  it comes with vegetables and rice.  The garlic sauce that it comes with is good
They serve hooka out on the patio
Food was expensive, except they were just average. Nothing special about the food. The atmosphere, might as well go to a theater to watch some low budget movie to fall asleep...I believed they were going for the mellow atmosphere but it was just boring. From what I've heard from friends who previously went there a while back, their food just kind of went down south.
Review Source:Pretty good. Â The garlic sauce gets 10 stars. Â I've always been happy with the food there, but I am white and not super experienced in authentic middle eastern food. Â I have gone with middle eastern friends who said that the food here is mediocre. Â
All I know is that I like it! Â And I could eat the garlic sauce for days! Â Nice ambiance, never a long wait to be seated; actually usually pretty dead inside.
I know I should have written this review early, but I get lazy. Â I admit that.
Feb. 9th....We started off with reservations at Eureka! but decided to come in here for drinks. Â The owner Walle spotted us and said he'd buy us another round if we ate there...so we did. Â Boy Oh Boy did we make the right choice!
We drank Arabia Night Maritni's (I think)
The service was excellent our waitress was the bartender who we asked what was popular and she had great suggestions for us. Â So we started off with the Shankleesh which was delicious. Â We shared a Chicken Cesar Salad. Â OMG the Chicken on the this salad was very flavorful. Â We ended our meal with Petite Filet. Â The filet was so tender it melted in your mouth. Â
The best thing about coming for diner is Adina. Â You can come and watch her shake those hips. Â
+++++++++++++
I was there this past Monday, President's Day...with my Mom and her friends. Â We were a party of 7. Â We came in for lunch. Â No one lives close by they all drove over 20 miles just because I said they had lamb. Â Well guess what??? Â They didn't that afternoon. Â I felt so bad...nothing was ready everything was still marinating. Â
Rumor had that it was Parent Weekend or something at the college and they were wiped out. Â
++++++++++++
I had 5 stars when I started this review that was in drafts, but since they didn't have anything we wanted on that Monday...I gave you 4, it's a good thing because if I would have re-reviewed it I would have given 2 stars.
Not the best Mediterranean/Greek restaurant I've been to, but not bad. The grape leaves were pretty standard, chill. The lentil soup was good, but didn't taste all that healthy/hearty and came with fried pita chips. And you get fluffy white pita bread with garlic butter which is delicious, but, for me, kind of not what I wanted.
This is kind of a formal, sit-down restaurant and the servers are very kind. They have a great location because they are on the corner and so have a huge deck area where you can sit. When I came, the place was pretty deserted, but I think it was around 4pm.
I do remember coming here before in the evening and I thought it was very romantic and I think I liked the food that we got (veggie kabob and rice or something).
The food is really good... but the service is HORRIBLE. Â We sat at the table with empty drinks for most of our meal. Â Then when we were done the waitress ignored us for 20 minutes before bringing over the check and only 3 tables were full. Â So if you want good food and have a day to waste doing nothing then this is the place.
I will NOT be going back here
Wow, this was the most delicious food ever. It was the very first time my boyfriend ever tried falafel, so I'm glad it was super falafel. Â The salad was the most bomb salad I've ever eaten. Â We paid 20 bucks for 8 pieces of Kabob, which made my face slant funny...and then we tasted it. I'd pay it again without a GroupOn! Â The owner was really nice. His toddler daughter did some belly dancing for us, and the service was quick and courteous. I'm especially happy because they carded me when I ordered the Lebanese beer (also delicious!) It's been a while since I've been carded, thanks Casablanca! P.S. This is in the trendy part of Claremont...you may want to dress up a bit!
Review Source:I love the location of this restaurant and their outdoor seating area. I love their appetizers and salads. They are definitely worth trying. However, the food is not that great. The meat usually comes out dry and the rice has a specific flavor that i am not too fond of. I am middle eastern and was not impressed by their kabobs one bit. I will definitely return for the salad and im not the girl that orders salads at restaurants. Tasty dressing and large portions.
Review Source:I like this place! My friends and I stopped in last night for some drinks and hookah, and we were all pleasantly surprised.
It was relatively late on a Saturday night, and they were open until 2 AM, so it worked out quite nicely, since my friends and I weren't quite ready to go home yet! There weren't too many people there when we showed up, but we were promptly seated outside on their cute little patio, informed about the flavor options for hookah, and offered drink menus. We all decided on our drinks and ordered the mixed fruit flavor for hookah.
Their beers were about $5 each, while their hard liquor drinks were $8.50-- honestly, not too bad for a restaurant/bar price. I ordered the mai tai, and whoot! That stuff is STRONG! They certainly don't skip on the alcohol, so you're definitely getting what you paid for. The hookah was nice and smooth, lasted a while, and everyone at my table enjoyed the flavor. The hookah aficionados of my group said the hookah there was a little bit on the pricy side, but honestly, it wasn't too expensive once we split it all between us (about $5 each for a party of 5).
No one at my table ordered anything to eat, since we had gotten dinner shortly before at a place nearby, but the staff was absolutely cool with that and just assumed we were there for drinks as we walked inside. I was worried about getting some disapproving looks for not ordering food, but it was nothing like that. In fact, our server  was INCREDIBLY friendly! We were a bit of a rowdy bunch, but he took it all wonderfully. And, naturally, near their closing time, we HAD to be the group that is the bane of restaurants-- asking to split the bill with a large party because a bunch of us had to pay with a card. The waiter was completely cool with it and calculated it right at our table to help avoid confusion. A+ for that guy's service!
I'd definitely consider stopping back in when I wanted some more hookah and drinks in Claremont.
Every time I eat at Casablanca I love getting the falafel, cheese pies, and beef kabab entree. Definitely my favorites. Tried the chicken kabob once and it was kinda dry so I wouldn't recommend it. The lamb kabab is also good but a little more pricey.
They also serve you pita with garlic sauce while you wait for your meal which is a + !
Parking in the structure can be annoying so make sure you plan accordingly time wise.
We went on a Friday night and the place was live.  It was a 10 minute wait to sit inside but outside tables were available.  There was a nice vibe to the place; lots of talking and laughing. There was also a  couple performing in the back.
The service, itself, wasn't too good. Â Actually, the service sucked. But it was friday night and it was pretty busy. Â Luckily the food made up for the absent service.
The food was excellent. Â We started with the shankleesh (which seems like tabouleh mixed with feta cheese) and it was really good. They also gave us some warm pita with 2 dipping sauces: garlic paste and olive oil w/ spices and lemon. Â That garlic paste was incredible. Â I could've ate that by itself.
For my entree i had the quail. Â I highly recommend this dish. The serving size was huge (you get 3 quails) and the dish was soooo good. That was one of the best mediterranean dishes I've ever had. Â My wife had grilled trout. Â It was ok but nothing compared to the quail.
Overall, it was a pretty good dining experience. The price is a little steep in comparison to other mediterranean places (both of our entree's were $20) but the quail dish and the garlic paste were memorable.
I was unimpressed with Casablanca Bar and Grill.
This is not to say that the food wasn't good: everything we had was delicious, portions were large, and the service was decent. However, the prices were far too high for the experience. I've had equivalent or better Mediterranean food for prices that were much lower than Casablanca. Although I understand it is Claremont, this point alone makes me unlikely to return.
I had the hummus and lamb appetizer and it was pretty good, although the dish I was most impressed with was the simple pita and garlic sauce, which was zesty and addictive.
I have been to Casablanca several times and I must say the food is very good and the location couldn't be better. I'm not quite sure how one could leave this place still hungry unless they don't know what to order.
Service is fine, we were never made to wait or were treated rudely. I guess it is hit or miss bc there are many CS complaints about this place. I did see servers/workers sitting at the bar talking but our food was out in a timely manner and we were checked on enough times. I am a customer that doesn't like to be interrupted too often mind you. All in all I felt I got the same service while traveling in Greece and I didn't think it was bad either.
#36. It's a bit ironic that this was the first restaurant I tried in Claremont. Â I had just moved here and was really excited about the Village. Â But this was something else.
We had a party of at least 16. Â You'd think that the servers would be more attentive, but no, we were pretty much neglected for the entirety of our time here. Â It took forever and a day to place our order and get our check. Â The place was quite empty too. Â The food wasn't terrible, but it wasn't filling for me. Â
I tried to like this place-- really. Â I even came back a second time with a friend, but upon entering, the hostess said that we would have to wait 20 minutes. Â I looked around the restaurant. Â Uh, Ma'am, you literally have five customers here. Â 20 minutes?! Â Goodbye.
Everything was so delicious here!!! Â The pita bread and the garlic sauce were fantastic!!! Â The portions were very large as well. Â We ate way too much and still had lots of leftovers to take home! Â
We did not experience the horrible service mentioned by other Yelpers. Â Our waiter was very friendly and helpful. Â He came by frequently to check on us and refill our drinks.
We will definitely be back!
Okay so I went to Casablanca Bar and Grill on a Saturday night with 4 other people. The food is good, but I have to say the service sucks.
1. They charge us a gratuity charge for party of 5! (I don't mind paying for the gratuity or tip, but they should notify the customers by having signs that they will charge gratuity no matter how many people you have)
2. The servers barely check up on us. I think at one time I see our server seating down on the bar stools having a chat and drink with another server without telling us that she is going on break.. (Geez talk about a bad service, right)
3. It takes FOREVER to get our check.. (DAMN IT! We just want to pay and get out of here!!).
As I say the food is good, but with no courtesy on telling customers about the gratuity charge and having a good customer service are a disappointment in my book. I don't think I will ever go there again. I'll just find a better Mediterranean food that provides great customer service and slap you on the gratuity charge for less than a party of 6. Ugh.
A Mediterranean bar and grill? Â The name of this bar did not fit Greek style of food they offered but the restaurant was a hit. Â The staff was quick to help and service was good. My party just stopped by for quick appetizers. We ordered the Falafel served with fresh dice tomatoes topped with a herb infused vinaigrette which was perfect along with the spinach pie and pita bread and accompanying garlic sauce. Â Yummy!
The bar and grill situated in a hot and restored area in Claremont near the community's prestigious colleges and vibrant downtown filled with unique stores, several popular burger joints, movie theaters and desert shops.
The view from the restaurant windows and outdoor heated dining area was gorgeous as it showcased the center of this popular area.
Eating out is an experience more than just food - it combines the ecstasy of taste, conversational companionship, efficiency of service, the location, and the delight of ambiance. Restauranteurs can focus on greatness of their establishments by excelling in these areas.
Unfortunately for Casablanca, the failure of their service outweighs their location, the deliciousness of some of their food and the ambiance.
Yesterday we had a large party (22) for a birthday that we had arranged at least three weeks in advance. Our server assured a number of things that we wanted to make it enjoyable, as well as introduce potential new patrons to the restaurant, as it is one of my wife's favorites. This assurance was broken and our server failed miserably at doing his job as a server and ambassador of his employer.
Amongst items of dissatisfaction:
- rude service (as in one of our guest had to chase down a menu - see previous 10/4 yelp review for additional details
- bill atrocity: let's just say if you are getting 18% gratuity + an added tip - you could at least honor the guests final bill request)
- set menu: they offer a set menu for $35 pp which us good if your guest want all of the items. But if they don't, it shouldn't be an assumed requirement. It would have been good the server had not incorrectly told the guests as such.
There are more instances from last night, however, I believe it would be redundant as the reviews since September showcase a restaurant slowly losing admirers due to bad choices.
As a former CGU student, I love Claremont and think of the Village as a quant place.
Casablanca's ownership needs to read these reviews and make a 180 degree turn before people lose patience.
I, along with any friends within earshot or SMS, have lost the patience and will not patron this restaurant (or any other restaurant the owner owns) again.
I cannot adequately express the shame I feel for having the nerve to suggest this place for a mini girls' night out. I think Eileen C already broke it down but I just have to put my 2 cents in and say this place has some nerve. It was seriously empty and still we were brushed off like some drop in visitors. Which we were but hello they are a restaurant! Wait... oh I get it now... it wasn't a restaurant? That makes much more sense. It was an empty room of tables with rude people avoiding eye contact with the confused people who had the audacity to walk in. Makes much more sense.
It is crazy to me that I gave this place 5 stars before. I was vegetarian at the time, that is the only excuse I can think of. The shame...
Normally I hate the whole, " Complain, complain complain, whine, whine, whine" schtick, but this place really sucks!
I've never had to walk out of a restaurant without at least sampling the food. I mean, once you've gone through the trouble of being seated with water placed upon the table and all, you're practically married to the place. Well, but then again...we never got the water....
Not only did it take us 20 mins to get seated at a table in the ghost town of a dining room, we sat for nearly another 15 minutes neglected and in dire need of liquid relief. Â Promptly bring me a nice glass of beer, and I'll notice nary a shortcoming in the crap food and inattentive service. But without... well then it's a spiteful Yelp review in the making.
An adjacent table of disgruntled diners actually had to get up and flag down a server, mumbling about the horrible service. This made me feel better: At least it wasn't just me being a high maintenance, demanding bitch. Our neighbor at least managed to garner a server, one who has finely mastered the art of eye-contact-avoidance, who walked past us 4 times without a single glance over (I know that bastard saw us glaring at him through his peripheral vision).
Hungry and irate, we finally decided to leave. I told some peon staff member that we were leaving due to the abominable service, and she just stared indifferently at me without a look of consciousness in her wide, vapid face.
The whole restaurant is in shambles; Rickety lopsided table legs, dirty dishes from lone-gone diners left unattended, staff with the intelligence of wild turkeys...How does this place manage to stay in business??
This was the last stop on the bar-hopping bachelorette night of shenanigans for my bestie. I've eaten here before -- the lamb kebabs are delectable! -- so I already knew the service pretty much sucked if you are eating. To drink and smoke hookah? Then it's perfect.
Our server was nice enough though sometimes it seems he didn't understand what we were asking him. We checked in on Yelp which provided a coupon for a free dessert (baklava anyone?) with a purchase. When my bestie asked if the purchase could be hookah, he stared at her. She had to ask again before he said "No" while looking perfectly bewildered. I asked if the purchase could be drinks, to which he shrugged.
And that epitomizes the service at Casablanca.
The drinks are straightforward and of the expected variety, tasty and not watered down at least. The hookah here is always delectable but the two or three times I've been here they always are out of some flavor or another. Oh, and they don't have a menu of the hookah flavors either which strikes me as odd.
We drank, we ate yummy but tiny baklava (four pieces? really?!) and smoked our mixed fruit hookah. We had a good time because we had good company to drink and smoke with, not for the location. The only reason I'll ever hit up this place again is for hookah and drinks late night because the service is too much of a hassle if you aren't there to chill.
The restaurant, which was fully booked for the evening on OpenTable, was inexplicably only about half full when we showed up at 730 on a Saturday night. Â While most of the diners were outside, we sat inside because it was breezy, the heaters above the very nice exterior deck were not on, and some of our party didn't have light jackets.
From the second we arrived we felt rushed -- "Hi, what do you want to order?" as opposed to "Hi, would you like to order a drink?" Â And even when I pushed for an aperitif, it was "Great, I'll get those drinks. Â Now what do you want to order?" Â It was clear that our server wasn't leaving our initial table-side encounter without an order.
In the end, I get the impression that folks eat early in Claremont and that a 730 arrival time here was equivalent to a 930 arrival time in SF or NY. Â This was later confirmed -- as we were pulling out of our parking space around 830/845 -- our waiter walked by on his way home for the evening.
Despite the whirlwind pace of the meal in the increasingly empty restaurant, the food was superb.
The garlic dip was to die for. Â Amazing.
Dolmas = grape leaves = "warak enab" = A. Â But the serving is too large for one person. Â It would have been nice if the waiter told 2 of our 3 people not to order the same item and to share instead.
Hummus = A+, yummy. Â Again, too large for one person.
Lamb chops = A+++, a must-try. Â Highly seasoned, nice and thin, very tender. Â Very, very good.
Lamb kebab = A. Â Very solid. Â
Kefta kebab = B+. Â The worst dish we had was, of course, the one I ordered. Â It was a bit dry and tasteless. Â Theirs is only ground beef; I've had similar kebabs that mix ground beef and ground lamb and they are much better. Â
Hint: Â I'd ask for lemon to go with the kebabs since it goes very well on them and they don't offer it automatically.
Advice: Â Next time, I'd come around 630, bring a coat and sit outside, tell the waiter to take his time, and I suspect it would be perfect.
I had dinner here the other night with my grandmother who is visiting from out of town. She loves eating here, and this is where she always wants to go when she visits. However, our last dinner was not such a great experience. Â
On this particular evening, the three of us wanted to share a bottle of wine. Our waitress was unhelpful as she proceeded to tell us that they were out of each bottle we tried to order, instead of telling us what they were out of so as not to waste our time on a game of "Guess which wine we have in stock." The one that looked appealing was available only in a liter bottle. Thankfully, she only charged us for a regular bottle's worth. The wine glasses were HUGE portions. I felt like I was at Heroes over on Yale ordering a stein. Yes, I know all the wine will be consumed eventually, but you don't want to serve it in a way that makes your patrons feel like a wino. Yuck.
We all ordered the beef shawerma. Now, I'll be the first to admit I am no expert on Mediterranean cuisine. I do know that overcooked/tough meat doused in vinegar is not pleasant, and no excuse can change my taste buds otherwise.
All of us felt the same way. I'm telling you, this dish was almost inedible. When we complained, the manager/cook/whatever basically blamed our lack of cultural exposure to this particular meal as the reason for our displeasure. No, your meat was disgusting, and if that is what shawerma is supposed to taste like, then maybe consider removing it off the menu. The service was atrocious and unfriendly.
This was all in light of the fact that he knows my family comes here any time they are in town and that we have been loyal patrons. They did not comp anything off the tab. When I saw the cost, I was shocked at the price, because I felt like I had had the most disgusting meal I have had in a long time. I have been anticipating a review like this, as the service has progressively gone downhill. Needless to say, my family and I won't be returning.
My boyfriend and I used to be big fans of this place until recently, now we joke and say "let's go to Casablanca" and gag/laugh. It's bittersweet because this place has so much potential, but we refuse to dine here again. Here's why:
The owners/managers seem to be very courteous and the food is decent, location is perfect. However, the quality has declined little by little since we started going here back in August. We've gotten long blonde hairs in our food on two separate occasions, were treated rudely by our blonde (interesting coincidence, don't you think?) waitress when I was served fliet mignon that was practically raw ( I ordered Medium rare) and cold on the inside, and drink refills are hard to come by.
When venting about our final experience with a coworker who lives in the village, he was shocked and explained that he had the same waitress and had experienced the same quality of service and even had a long blonde hair in his food as well.
Consistency and quality simply are not basic elements to this establishment. Since our last visit we've eaten at Zaky Chicken or Zuzu in Glendora and have been happy with the price, quality and service.
A few weeks ago I went to Aladdin Jr and I had a great time. Â Casablanca is another great mediterranean place in the IE. Â I love Aladdin Jr for the lunch buffet. Â I think Casablanca is the place to go for a dinner date. Â It's located in a nicer area, they have full service, and it's just nice to walk around in the city afterward. Â They also have discounts available on <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a>
If you come here, you absolutely need to try their kebabs. Â They are all perfect. Â Their meats are flavorful, juicy, and perfectly cooked. Â Their shish-kebab had huge cubes of filet mignon that were perfectly cooked, lean, and flavorful. Â Their lamb kebabs were great without having that gamey aftertaste. Â I can see why it is a crowd favorite. Â The surprising favorite was their salmon kebab, which was very tender and perfect with the rice.
Their kebab dishes comes with rice and veggie.  I felt that the rice pilaf was  a little too buttery for my tastes, but I still enjoyed it.
For appetizers, we ordered hummus and their deep fried cauliflower. Â Deep fried cauliflower is one of their signature items, but I don't think I'd pay $10 for it again. Â If I wanted it, I'd get it at Aladdin Jr's lunch buffet.
I think that it's worth checking out, but it's pricey. Â Before coming here, jump on <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> and then give it a shot. Â Despite the other reviews here, I had no problems with the service.
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