Exotic Bites

Amazing experience! The owner is a lovely human being! The food is Unbelievably fresh, delicious food. I'll have dreams about that hummus!

Exotic Bites is a cute little restaurant located on Harrison St. It has a lounge feel setup with not only tables for dining but a small bar and couches for those looking to chill out and smoke a little Hookah. We choose to sit outside, since the restaurant was a bit dark and stuffy and because it was a nice day out.  

Although it was tempting, it was the middle of the day, so I had to pass on the Hookah. I didn't however, pass on their Falafel Entree. Along with the Falafels, it came with salad, couscous, and pita bread. Everything was fresh and tasty. I really liked their Falafels because they were huge and packed full of flavor and not dry.

My boyfriend who met me for lunch isn't a fan of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern food. So stupidly, he decide it would be a good idea to order the Philly Cheese Steak off the American portion of the menu. Obviously, he was disappointed. It wasn't even an attempt at a Philly but simply a Middle Eastern take on the sandwich. On top of that, it was cold, the cheese wasn't melted and the fries looked like they were chopped up into itty bitty pieces.  

Despite that little mishap, the waitress was one of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever encountered. She was very sincere and apologetic that my boyfriend didn't like his food and made every attempt to rectify the situation, although we didn't take her up on any of her offers. She has a sort off of beat personality but she was really fun and funny. I truly enjoyed having her as our server.

So the conclusion is that the food here is good, just don't order food that a restaurant doesn't specialize in because it probably won't be very good. However, Exotic Bites, if you don't intend to make it good, just don't put it on the menu. The service was spectacular and the best part of the meal!

I will preface that this is my first time eating this type of food, aside from eating Greek yogurt and pita bread. Overall, I enjoyed it. I ordered the spinach konafa and chicken shwarma. First, the cons. The chicken shwarma was way too salty. It felt like the chef salted the chicken and then forgot and salted it again. I had takeout so I felt that the portion was seriously lacking for $13.95. It came with a salad and a side. I chose lemon potato. Maybe it was the fact that I ate more leftovers than it fresh, but it became too lemony sour for my taste. It may have been more memorable fresh before the lemon acids saturated the potato.

With this in mind, I would assume the salad comes separately if you ate inside. With the typical 3 section takeout box, the chicken portion (though already too salted) was like probably 1 cup of chicken. Okay, maybe 1 1/4 cup. I would really like to see how they would have filled out the plate to make this $14 portion look larger. Perhaps, with more potato. More than what I got in that box, and probably with a much flatter plate. The salad was standard. I'm not into salads and it was fresh enough but nothing memorable, but not bad either.

Now the pros. I loved the spinach konafa! Actually, I believe it was fried. The konafas were so good I NEED THE RECIPE! The phyllo dough was cut into really thin strips. As thin as vermicelli noodle! Then there is spinach with ricotta cheese inside! Hello, win-win if you like the spinach dip-esk combo, but crispy! It was friggin like fried spinach dip! Which, if exists, I've never tried! Oh and the konafa came with the most awesome homemade hummus! At least I'm pretty sure it was hummus!

The pita bread was good! There was something orange on it. Some type of oil with seasoning? Fresh. Mmm. The white sauce they gave me was indeed made of Greek yogurt and some seasonings but seasoned enough to relieve itself of the tart taste that is Greek yogurt. I liked the tomatoes and cucumbers. Fresh and cucumbers are always so refreshing when served cold!

The service was really slow inside the dining area because they only had one server, but the majority of the food is good so I'd come back for that. I just wouldn't order the shwarma unless they guarantee me it won't be over salted. Didn't try the hookah. Also, some Yelper complained about the restroom. I didn't use it. The place is small and also located right before the circle on Harrison street. It's close to PoleStars! Kinda.