Fez Bistro

First, know that this (apparently) is a hookah bar, first and foremost, not a restaurant.  I mean, it's a restaurant, sure; but the prices, and especially the decor, give it away that it's really something else.  People told us it's packed on Friday and Saturday nights late - maybe that's true.  But it was nearly empty when we went around 7pm on a Friday night just for dinner.  So know that this review is based on it as a restaurant, not a hookah bar or music venue.  If you're into that, maybe this is more for you.  But as a Moroccan restaurant on its own... it ain't that great.  In particular, Taste of Morocco in Arlington blows this place out of the water, and for less money.

About that decor - this is the most outrageously disco place I've ever stepped foot into, at least since our neighborhood roller rink when I was a kid.  As in, there's an actual disco ball spinning on the ceiling.  There's also a whole wall of LED lights flashing in patterns and rhythm behind the stage, giving the room a vibe about as sophisticated as watching a life-size Colecovision.  At one point, it shows a galloping horse in glorious low-def.  Seriously, it's so cheesy I kept looking around for the stripper pole.

We figured our coupon would cover a soup, an appetizer, a bastilla and one main (a couscous), which should have been more than enough for us.  Well... the harrira soup tasted like Campbell's tomato that someone added lentils to, and based on the texture I strongly suspect that's what it is.  The bastilla was okay, but smaller than I expected (it was supposed to be for 2 people), and soggy on the bottom.  The eggplant appetizer was nice, spiced with harissa and tangy tomato paste.  But the lamb couscous was less than expected - just a few bites of lamb in a plate of couscous, a few raisins, and literally nothing else.  By the end, I actually was still a bit hungry.

The bill - they overcharged us for the lamb couscous by $2.  The waitress just shrugged her shoulders and said it was what the system charged, despite the menu clearly stating a different price.  It's one of the main menu items.  She did to her credit go back and change it, but that's a clear red-flag.  

As others have said, every customer also gets charged an automatic 18% gratuity, no option.  Given that service wasn't that great - other than bringing water when we walked in, we basically never saw the server again, and my glass went dry most of the meal - that's insulting.

Bottom line, for about $8-10 less (ignoring our coupon), we could have gone to the far superior Taste of Morocco in Arlington and had one of their meals for two.  That would have yielded a) much more and better food, b) a superior bastilla, c) belly dancing (which doesn't start until after 10pm at Fez, and as others pointed out, likely would have garnered us a cover charge), d) real mint tea (which Fez also apparently doesn't have), and e) way better service.  We only went because we had a LivingSocial coupon; without that, it's not likely we'd go back.

Sorry Fez - you're not my cup of (overpriced plain black) tea.

One of the Worst Restuarant I ever visited. Went there via livingsocial deal on Sunday night around 7.45 PM. No hostess and loud music going on. I had look for waitress/hostess after waiting on door for 3-4 mins.

There was just one more table occupied besides ours, which I dont worry about. First they give us a menu which did not have any vegetarian dishes. Upon asking for veg dishes, they bring a different menu. I am like what is going on?

Since their Bastilla was so famous, we ordered one. Turns out they were out of it @ 7.45 PM. We asked, why cant they make it, then we hear that Chef left for the day. We are like it isnt even 8 yet.  First we ordered hummus and soup, which were alright.
We also ordered Morrocan Mint Tea, which was super expense ($5 for tea) and super crappy. All we got was black tea with boiled water. I love morrocan mint tea, but this aint it. This had no mint, no flavor. It wasnt even a good black tea. And they charged $ 5 for it??? This was begining of RIP OFFS.

Anyhow, we ordered two dishes, one vegetables with Couscus and another chickpeas with vegetables. All we got is rice and couscus with boiled vegeratbles. No spicing of any kind on these. I am like, what the heck. But at this time, we just wanted to leave as soon as we could. We asked them for boxes, for which I had to go and find the waitress again. Then we waited for another 5 mins, but no check was forthcoming. So we again went and personally requested for the check.

Here is where rip off goes to next level. The check had automatic 18% gratuity added. We are like what is this. They tell me that they do that automatically for everyone. We are like why? Then she had audacity to tell me that it is for the SERVICE. Service? What service? I had to go find you 3 times, even though there were two tables occupied in resturants with 2 servers. Needless to say that, we told them to take that charge out and ran away from the place as fast we could.

DO NOT GO THERE. IT IS TOTALLY A RIP OFF PLACE

very disappointed with the service this place had to offer. I am somewhat of a regular here and I only come for smoking hookah therefore, I'm not familiar with much on ordering with them. My previous visit however was why I've decided not to visit them anymore. I asked for a glass of water alongside with the inexpensive hookah (Al-fakher) which was $14.99. Two bottles of water were placed on the table for my friend and I and I told the server I wanted a glass of water, I did not ask for bottled water. The server went on to argue to me about how they cannot void an already started transaction and I was stuck with paying $10 for something I did not even ask for. After removing the bottles from our table and promising to "be right back" I never saw them approach us again. They kept pointing at us and fiddling with the register. When I was ready to pay for my hookah, I had noticed they charged me for the more expensive hookah ($17.99) and took off the water. I went ahead and paid with the promise never to return. Very unprofessional, horrible customer service & little to no communication. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.