Tiberias Restaurant (Meat, Middle-Eastern)
They say you have to give a new restaurant six months to finds its groove, and only then can one accurately judge it. First, any establishment needs time to iron out the kinks. But only later will the true qualities of the restauranteur emerge: Will the counters stay spotless? Will the bathroom be maintained well? Will they cut corners with the food? Do the prices rise?
Fortunately, we must put such tradition aside, as it is infrequent that a new kosher restaurant opens in Boston. A week ago today, Tiberias Grill & Salad Bar (417 Harvard Street, Brookline) quietly opened its doors, and by Sunday, when we visited, it was full of patrons. The menu is Middle Eastern with American influences, and prices are modest. There are about 10 small tables in this counter-service-only establishment, and a flat screen television is mounted in one corner. showing Israeli programming via satellite (a soccer match was on during our visit).
We ordered an admittedly small meal (I’ll amend my comments when we try more) consisting of a shawarma plate ($7.95) and buffalo wings ($4.95). The service was friendly, although the gentleman who helped us had trouble understanding our orders in English, so be patient or break out your Hebrew. Our shawarma was prepared promptly, with a full array of salad vegetables and techina, though no hummus was offered. The meat (I assume it was standard turkey) was flavorful, although a bit dry; perhaps they haven’t settled on the proper rotisserie temperature. The vegetables (lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and pickles) were fresh. The buffalo wings took longer to prepare, as they were deep-fried to order. With the slight pandemonium behind the counter, I feared that my order had been lost, and my lunchmate nearly finished the shawarma in the meantime. When the wings were finally ready, I was offered the same salad options as the shawarma, opting only for lettuce and pickles. My plate, thankfully, contained only the “drumette” wing portion (about 10 of them), had no visible feather remains (always a potential problem with kosher poultry), and were well coated with hot sauce.
The restaurant was very clean, and we noticed someone wiping tables and sweeping the floors a couple times as we ate. Smoke, however, was a problem; the giant hood above the grill wasn’t providing enough exhaust, and the smoke alarms went off, forcing the staff to open front and back windows to clear the air. Though the door and menu indicate acceptance of credit cards (MC/Visa), no register was in service, a calculator tabulated the bills, and cash was deposited into a drawer under the counter.
It’s already come up in comments, and it’s the question on everybody’s mind: how does it compare to Rami’s, the nearby Israeli eatery that has been a Coolidge Corner fixture for some years? Objectively, Tiberias’s menu is wider (shishlik, chicken skewers, grilled chicken, and buffalo wings), it’s open on Saturday night (Rami’s is not), it has a hashgacha (R. Aaron Hamaoui, New England Kashrus Lemehadrin) that might appeal to a wider audience, prices may be a bit lower (will have to look more closely), and it’s somewhat more spacious. However, we find Rami’s shawarma to be juicier, their “plate” portions to be larger, and we’ve been told on good authority that Rami’s hummus is better.
So, if you asked me, in terms of business sense, is this restaurant a good idea? At this point, I say no. Unless the Tiberias folks have big changes in store to really differentiate from Rami’s (and I can think of many ways to expand and improve), I don’t think Boston needs another copy-cat restaurant. I’d think an inexpensive but quality diner-style hamburger-and-fries joint would be a great alternative. But given we’re stuck, instead, with two Israeli places, here are some thoughts on how to take it to the next level:
• Lafa, folks. Lafa. Everyone enjoys a giant flatbread stuffed with greasy meats.
• Shnitzel. You guys have deep friers. You have chicken. What’s the problem? As I recall, Cafe Aviv had tremendous shnitzel — shnitzels as big as your face, and surrounded by a mound of french fries.
• Real plates. As much as I like the cheap-chic charm of eating on a piece of plastic, would it be that hard to use actual china for your eat-in guests? Plus, with real plates, you could experiment with creative ways to arrange your food, so it might feel like more of a culinary experience. Shalom Hunan scored major points in my book with their new plating techniques.
• Non-poultry shawarma. Hey, I enjoy the turkey, but certainly, with all our modern technology, we could fashion a true lamb shawarma.
• Real Buffalo Accoutrements. Serve the wings with some sort of pareve but creamy dressing (akin to the treif standby of blue cheese dressing), or at the very least some celery sticks as is customary. Your diners need something to offset the spice.
Those are just off the top of my head. All said and done, I’ll still go back to try more. When it’s not Saturday night, and I don’t need buffalo wings, though, it’ll be Rami’s for us.
TIBERIAS MENU
The review just about says it all. I have all next week off, so I hope to have a chance to try the rest of the menu(I’ll report back here on some of the other items). Count me as a vote for Lafa, schnitzel, and lamb.
And if anyone’s listening and has some cash burning a hole in their pocket, a diner would be great. Or an American style fast-food joint(mmm. greasy fried chicken).
Really small portions (as to the meat). Big “ditto” on the plastic plates – please get some real ones! Lamb would be nice, as would be skewered grilled vegetables and a buffalo wings option that includes more wings and less (or no) salad so it can be shared by a group.
Mmmm, lamb shawarma… Accept no substitutes. Turkey? Feh! Get rid of it, or no redeemer for you.
Tiberias is amazing…
It’s a touch of Israel in the middle of Brookline. From my experiences Tiberias has a much a friendlier staff, tastier and fresher food and an overall better environment than its competition Rami’s.
Thanks for the really helpful and informative review. I’ve heard from two separate sources who have been to Tiberias that the food is very good, but the service is extremely slow. One person had to wait 1/2 hour for falafel, of all things (falafel should take 3 minutes to serve, tops). Let’s hope they iron out the kinks soon enough, and I agree that a kosher diner in this area would be a big hit.
tiberias is super… everyone should go
I returned to Tiberias and has the chicken skewers this time. I was quite satisfied with the spicing and juciness of the meat. One of my dining companions had the grilled chicken plate which was simlarly good.
Another of my companions tried the hamburger. It was very much NOT an American hamburger. A spiced pile of meat akin to meatloaf, and served either with pita or breadless. Come on, you guys have a grill, how hard would it be to make an american style burger??
While I was generally satisified with the quality of the food, the service continued to be lacking. There is now a cash register, but still no credit cards(yet, they assure me this will be operational shortly). I had to wait for over 10 minutes to pay once I was ready to leave. They need to be more effective it moving people quickly , especially given the small number of tables. The spelling of Kosher(Cosher) on the sign was quaint as well. I think an American consultant would be most useful. I nominate jabbett.
I really hope that this restaurant will succeed because the food is really much tastier than the competition across the street. Service should be faster and menu should expand, but what is the fascination with Rami’s anyway???
Why does Rami charge so much for Falafel? Competition will be good for everyone.
Firstly, all restaurants go through a period of adjustment as they “find their groove”. Regardless of whether or not this is a kosher restaurant in an area that desperately needed more, you still need to give them the time to find theirs.
I did just that, and finally “took the plunge” last night with my family. What a treat it was!
Let’s start with the atmosphere. Wide open, plenty of seating (compare to Rami’s where you can’t even comfortably bring in a small stroller, and you feel like you’re eating on top of everyone else), bright, nice touch with the plasma screen bringing Israeli TV for “background ambiance”.
As for the food … In my opinion, it was great. I had the beef shishlik plate, generously accompanied by salads and hummus, followed in short order by an order of buffalo wings (had to try it). While not traditional, the wings were slathered with a great vinegary hot sauce. If you need to cut the spice, try pita (carbohydrates are known for that). My (Israeli) wife had shawarma in pita, her staple, and she enjoyed it. My baby girl had some grilled hot dogs with hummus (she loves her hummus!) and munched away happily. Unfortunately, my son slept through dinner and had to settle for one of the hot dogs when we got home.
Now, for those of you complaining about turkey shawarma, get over it. There’s a reason that Israel is the world’s largest per capita consumer of turkey. It’s not because of all the Americans making aliyah who still want to make Thanksgiving dinner. It’s the shawarma! Not to say they don’t serve other types of shawarma in Israel, but, for the most part, you’ll pretty much find turkey shawarma there, especially in the small counter places.
Next, the service. Kudos to the management for taking to heart previous comments regarding service (although I don’t have first-hand experience of the “before”). That’s what the “breaking in” period is for anyway, so all those who were knocking the service, get over it and give the place another shot. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. Our order was promptly and courteously taken by the staff behind the counter (and yes, I ordered in English, even though I could have done so in Hebrew), and the food arrived in a reasonable amount of time. As for the ding about the “gentlemen without the firmest command of English”, all I can say is … what a load of ____. English works fine in this place, but if you know Hebrew, or even want to try out the little you do know, go for it. It’s amazing how patient Israelis are with an American fumbling his/her way through Hebrew in a conversation. Although I don’t know who specifically this comment was describing, let’s give someone credit where credit is due. If you happen to be fluent in Hebrew, good for you. But don’t expect every Israeli to be fluent in English (and believe me, from those I know, they have a much better command of conversational English than a normal American Jew with Hebrew school education would have of conversational Hebrew).
As for the rest of the comments(plates, lafa, burgers, etc), you people really need to visit Israel a bit more often, or even elsewhere in Jewish communities around the U.S. This is the quintessential little Israeli non-sitdown counter-service restaurant. It doesn’t pretend to be anything else (except it’s good to have hot dogs for the little ones!). As for the spiced hamburgers? Well, here’s a news flash for you … Sephardic Israelis cook with spices. If you want an American hamburger, go fire up your own grill, or open up an American-style kosher establishment as some of you seem to want (my bet is that our area doesn’t have the critical mass of strictly kosher restaurant diners to support such an establishment, so I’ll lay another bet that it wouldn’t last too long, since those not strictly kosher would most likely head over to the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse or some other place instead). I for one would rather have something a bit different than what I would normally be making at home.
In conclusion, eating here is just like eating at a similar place in Israel, minus the elbowing your way to the front and shouting over other people to get your order in. As Michael K put it so eloquently … “a little touch of Israel in the middle of Brookline”.
Tiberias Grill … good job, don’t give up, keep improving (there’s always room for improvement). It’s nice to see someone giving Rami a run for his money. He’s had it too easy for too long (especially with the overpriced falafel).
Howie-
It is not a news flash to me that Sephardic Israelis cook with spices. I have been to many of this sort of establishment in many different cities and the hamburger was actually as I expected. I was merely suggesting that there is a large slice of prospective clientele that would enjoy an American style burger, and it wouldn’t be difficult for Tiberias to provide it.
Your angry reaction is bizarre. I have been a patron of this restaurant a half dozen times, and will continue to be a frequent patron. All of my comments were intended to describe ways in which the restaurant could be better and more successful. You have somehow construed them as ignorant or mean-spirited. That was decidedly not my intention.
Howie… thanks for your perspective. As always, my goal for the site has been to develop a source of collective experiences on all things kosher.
Understandably, we have some different perspectives. Mine, plainly, is that we already have an Israeli-style counter-service joint in Rami’s, and that should Tiberias wish to stand out and serve the community in a unique fashion, it could take my suggestions to heart.
On the occasion of a restaurant opening, it’s not unusual for folks to bring up what they’d really like to see in a new kosher restaurant, be it American hamburgers or bigger portions.
To reiterate, this site thrives on individual experiences and perspectives. But let’s keep in mind that we’re all real people behind these screen names and we don’t need to get angry at each other over restaurant reviews.
To all … I didn’t mean to come off as angry (for the most part … I’ll get to that).
As for Bostonian … the “tone” of your burger comment was, in my estimation, snide, to say the least (”NOT” capitalized; “spiced pile …”; “come on …”), so I decided to respond in kind. First touch of anger.
Second touch of anger. I stand behind my response to your “command of English” comment, jabbett. There’s never any need to take a personal shot at someone trying to make an honest living. If you’re not understood right away, try restating or rephrasing.
As for the “uniqueness” issue, though, that’s something else. You’ll find many restaurants of this kind (Rami’s, Tiberias Grill) in close proximity to one another in many communities in the U.S. where Israelis will settle. It’s a simple tried-and-true business plan copied ad infinitum throughout Israel. Also, there’s something to be said for head-to-head competition, as it will hopefully drive both restaurants to become more creative as time goes on — Rami’s has been in a rut for a long time now since he had been the only player. First, though, is to master the straightforward and keep the menu manageable before becoming adventurous (adventurous can be relegated to daily specials to test the waters). Every time you add another item to the menu, you add more complication for the staff.
Howie-
I apologize once again if I came off as snide. While I am familiar with this sort of hamburger, I(perhaps as an “ugly American”) view hamburgers as an American food, and having nothing to do with Tiberias have long objected to the labelling of what I would consider meat loaf as “hamburger”
Truthfully, I actually like this Israeli style of hamburger, and Tiberias’ was fine. I just have a pet peeve about calling it hamburger. Probably the same way Chinese people feel about American “Chinese” food.
But I think we agree on most points. This is an excellent restaurant with excellent food, and I will continue to patronize it and hope for their continued success.
I maintain my original intention, that Hebrew might be a more effective language with which to communicate while ordering, as it is most likely the preferred tongue of the Israeli staff. Rather than squabble about the intended and perceived tone of my review, I’ve changed the wording of my third paragraph so you might find it more sensitive.
In the future, if any reader is troubled by the nature or tone of any Kosher Blog contribution, he is welcome to e-mail me directly using the contact link above.
“Now, for those of you complaining about turkey shawarma, get over it.”
To me, that’s the same as saying “for those of you think that fresh, locally brewed ale is good – get over it, ’cause Bud Light is the best selling beer in the country!”
Thanks, but no thanks – more for all those clever modern Israelis, I guess. I’ll stick with Lamb in my shawarma, a “heth” that’s different than a “chof”, we won’t even go into a “waw” instead of a “vav”, and let’s kick back with a nice local brew and be thankful for kosherblog.net.
Nathan,
I’m not disputing that lamb is tastier than turkey. What I am trying to convey is that you won’t find too many places serving lamb shawarma in a kosher Israeli place. Rami’s also uses turkey shawarma, as do all that I have so far visited around the country. In Israel, I’ve seen places offering beef shawarma as well.
My guess is that lamb is more expensive, so it probably isn’t cost-effective. And, if spiced right, I think most people wouldn’t be able to tell what the meat is after having been cooked so long on the rotisserie, as I’ve known many who have mistaken the turkey for some form of beef.
Bostonian, thanks for understanding my intention and clarifying.
jabbett, nicely edited.
On my most recent visit, there were two changes worth noting. First, the restaurant now accepts credit cards. Second, several new menu items have been added. The ones that I recall are a mixed meat dish, and schnitzel. I have not tried either yet, though I did try the falafel which I found to be quite good.
Since I came back to school in January, I’ve been to Tiberias at least 5 times, in addition to the time we brought it to Seudah Shlishit. I am impressed that it was good cold, pareve and a day old! However, it is absolutely amazing at the actual restaurant. I’ve now had the felafel, shwarma, grilled chicken, and schnitzel. Everything I have eaten has been better than the previous. The service is wonderful. The people that work there are incredibly friendly and treat students kindly. While occasionally the TV has been a bit loud, it is usually a great place to have a great kosher meat meal and leave very full and happy. Regarding portion size, I always order the plates. More than once I’ve bought an extra pita and had enough food for lunch the next day, too. This is awesome, especially since Sherman leaves a little to be desired.
I don’t know – the friend who first informed me of Tiberias rated the falafel “acceptable” (mind you, this is in comparison to “back-of-the-shuk” falafel in Yerushalayim, to quote), and I’d agree – but Rami’s is better. And I guess Rami’s prices have gone up? I thought falafel at Rami’s was $4.50 with chumus – we paid $4.95 at Tiberias.
And the Israeli TV is not always a good thing. My husband and I walked in Saturday night (to take out) and saw ladies in lingerie. . .
Anyone know what’s going on at Tiberias? I drove by there yesterday and the place looks boarded up. Has it gone out of business? If so, the obituary reads something like this: good food, nice people, true Israeli atmosphere, bad service. They never did get their act together. Oh well, we still have Rami’s.
I think it’s gone out of business, judging by how abruptly they closed up. I thought I saw a green construction permit in the window, though, so they could be reconfiguring somehow.