Petra Restaurant

Reviews

• A H.

  star star star star star 8 June 2026

  Went in on a Thurs night and right away we were seated and served warm pita with zaatar in oil. Decided on the appetizer platter, lentil soup, and the special Mehnsaf which is a large plate of rice and pieces fall-off-the-bone lamb covered in a warm tangy yogurt. The food was served with good timing. Lentil soup was nice with pieces of fried pita. Appetizer plate was also very good, falafel was flavorful. Now the mehnsaf...wow! If you eat this you won't regret it BUT you won't eat the next day because of how filling it is. I'm just craving this as I type this review. Excellent service with great food, will be back!

• Walid S.

  star star star star star_border 5 June 2026

  I have been coming to this restaurant every time I am in town, in fact I sometimes make excuses to come to town in order to stop here.
  
  I really wanted to give five stars because the food is very authentic and usually well prepared but I am forced to take one star out due to my latest experience.
  
  I liked the daily special of kabsa and the other special maklouba I ordered two to take home and decided to stay and ordered a lamb sheeeh kebab which was the disappointing factor for the day. The lamb did not look feel or taste like lamb. In fact it was closer to chuck romp beef with the dry thick strands. I complained to the wonderful server and the other ladies managing the counter but the chef/cook was adamant and would not even cone to meet a fellow professional to defend or explain his claims. I felt very disappointed and decided to take one star out only because even if it was lamb it was very dry and tough unlike the melt-in-your-mouth fall-off-the-bone meat in the daily special.

• Umair K.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 3 June 2026

  I don't know what was worse, the food or the service. No one checked on our drinks, the staff is not attentive nor skilled in customer service, and the management is nonexistent. Everything about this place was horrible, especially there food and customer service. Not to mention the restaurant  is right next to a hookah bar that is playing insanely loud Arabic music which can be heard through the thin walls while you eat. I feel bad giving them even 1 star. Save yourself from this hell hole.

• Tom C.

  star star star star star 22 May 2026

  The Petra, located in a strip mall on the north side of Busch Boulevard at 4812 E Busch, is easy to miss if you drive by other than that there's a sign for it near the street. But its cuisine is anything but forgettable.
  The restaurant is named after the famous ancient city of Petra, Jordan, now a world historical site largely because its buildings were carved out of the walls of a desert cliffside. The menu has both a photo and a thumbnail description of it.
  Speaking of the menu it covers a wide variety of food native to Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian and Jordanian people. Since yogurt originated in this part of the world I thought I'd try it as an appetizer. Although it came in a retail 12 ounce bottle the flavor was much less sugary than what is found in most supermarkets but also wasn't the slightly sour flavor you'd expect in sugar free varieties, either.
  Adventuring further into the selections I came across kalaya chicken, a dish of minced meat and vegetables slowly cooked together with yogurt and a ginger/garlic paste.
  When it was served I was a little hesitant to eat it because it was filled with stewed tomato. Food that's too acidic usually disagrees with me but as I slowly started eating I realized that the combination of food had been cooked so expertly that it didn't have any adverse effect on me at all. In fact my friend remarked on quickly the food had 'disappeared'. Overall the texture was mild and creamy while the flavor of tomato and chicken was enhanced with a professional mixture of herbs and spices which never dominated the food but brought out subtle flavors of basil, olives and cucumber.
  My friend ordered beef shawarma with basmati rice and french fries as his choices of accompaniments.
  The beef was thinly sliced but not dry. It was just as easy to maneuver it on his fork as it was to eat. There wasn't any need to season it since it already had a slight salt and pepper flavor. In addition, shawarma usually includes cardamom, allspice and tahini. The beef was on a bed of cucumber, onion, tomato and parsley. With it were ample helpings of carrots and cauliflower, again very moist but not swimming in liquid.
  If you're familiar with basmati rice you know the shape of the grain is more rounded and full than regular rice. This is what gives it the potential to work so well in absorbing juices around it as it cooks. In this case it was treated with care during cooking because it was very tender and flavorful.
  Desserts, of course, are always something to look forward to in any Eastern Mediterranean restaurant as the mixture of finely layered dough, honey, nuts (varying from region to region) and spices are specialties here. The Petra was no exception. It has a number of items similar to baklava but each with its own unique twist. We tried the walnut baklava with a slice of baklava cheesecake. Baklava is a rich dessert but goes down so easily that you don't notice the calories. The walnut flavor balanced the spice and honey around it so much that I couldn't imagine one without the other. And, contrary to what almost every restaurant does, the cheesecake was not frozen and then warmed when ordered but made on the premises. I thought at first the flavor of cheese would overpower any baklava combination but was very pleasantly surprised to find that a great marriage of both had been achieved. It was at once mildly sweet and spicy while feeling crunchy and smooth at the same time. It practically demanded a cup of Turkish coffee which I ordered. The combination was both a perfect way to end a meal and stretch our legs as we talked.

• Hayat A.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 18 May 2026

  The food is good, the service is terrible.
  We had to ask for plates and silverware and napkins.  No one checked on our drinks, and when we requested refills, they never came.  The staff is not attentive to - or skilled in - customer service.  The manager does not seem interested in quality control.
  
  The food took forever to come.
  
  Will not go there again.  Too bad, b/c the food is good.
  Overall, don't recommend it.