Sahara Grill

$8.00 "Meal Sharing Fee". I just experienced robbery by the crook owner. A friend and I wanted a light meal, nothing too big, so we decided to stop in and split an entree and an appetizer - something normal people do at restaurants all over the world. We aren't cheap, just didn't feel like downing 2,000 calories each.

When presented the check, we see an additional $8.00. I ask if they accidentally added on a dessert or something, and the owner points to some fine print on the menu that says "$8 sharing fee" and says I should have read it.

One, this isn't a credit card, I don't need to read the menu front to back to look for tricks like that. Two, the waitress didn't bother to tell us.

I don't care about $8, I'm writing this because the owner could care less about customer service and who knows what other cheap tricks he has up his sleeve.

Give your money to good people, not this street hustler.…

For Authenticity, Keep Walking. I don't know why this place had such great reviews. I had the lamb kabob platter, which is reasoably priced, and comes with a good deal of food. The salad was ordinary, with store-bought greek dressing, it was very fresh, but again ordinary. The pita was average at best, not home-made and probably of a brand you could buy at the grocery. The rice was rice-a-roni in texture and odd color, contained small noodles as well as rice, it was greasy and topped with a few sliced blanched almonds. It was terrible and added nothing to the kabob. The lamb was superb, properly flavored, 7 or so large pieces, slightly charred on the outside and a perfect slight pink in the middle. It was marinaded perfectly and tasted very Lebonese, with a hint of rosemary, which grows in such abundance on the dunes of the coast. The vegetables on the kabob (it was actually served kabob style without the kabob, a nice presentation) were overdone, bland and mushy. The side veggies, which were slices of grilled zuchinin and a grilled plum tomato were awful The spices did not blend at all with the spices on the meat or the lack of spices in the 'rice'. The baklava was average at best, and expensive considering its poor quality. the atmosphere is country kitchen with Lebonese artwork, kind of weird. The music is nice. My reccommendation is to keep walking and go to the Sansom Kabob House down the street, the food and atmosphere are 100x better and the prices are about the same.…

A mango drink by the summer sea. I have never been to Lebanon, so I will have to settle for dining at Sahara Grill. I am a snobbish critic when it comes to pita bread and hummus. Both are fabulous at this place. As a vegetarian, I find that SG ranks among the best options in Philadelphia. The service is casual and the servers are authentic. It feels real. I like to eat there when I am in town.…