Layla Revisited

I know I had been to Layla in the Grove, but that was quite a few years ago, and with previous owners of the restaurant. You can check that out here: https://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2012/07/layla.html

The old version used to serve Mediterrean, but the new version is a strange combination of gourmet burgers and shawarma!

Still, things didn't go quite as planned as I was hoping to use my birthday as an excuse to pick out a burger and a shawarma and split both. Both are filling by themselves so sadly, you can really only pick one.

Since Patience picked a burger, I went ahead and ordered the shawarma so that I could at least get a bite of burger. There are quite a variety of burgers with clever names, although I personally would only prefer a couple of them. Patience ordered the "Clarice", the lamb burger. (Hopefully, you get that.)

Clarice burger with sweet potato waffle fries

I assume there is a kid's menu with burgers on it because we went early to make it to the movies and almost every table was a family with kids. We were outnumbered!

I had the Traditional Shawarma, which was lamb as well. I figure if you order the Greek version, it really is a gyro at that point. hehe

To keep the theme going, I ordered quinoa tabbouleh on the side instead of fries, although hummus and pita was available too.

Traditional Shawarma with a side of quinoa tabbouleh

I was impressed at how many options there were to have your burger or shawarma become vegetarian or vegan, as well as gluten free. It literally is for everyone!

I really do hope to make it back to try MY pick of burger next time! (And may go later in the evening.) With a decent sized cocktail and draft beer list and a full bar, I'm thinking there must be more adults after 7pm.

Note: There was a charity cocktail called "Fund the Pain Away" where $2 of every drink goes to a local charity and I was more than happy to do my part!

Resources:

Layla = http://laylastl.com/

Layla

Since Layla is down the street from Wednesday’s “Cocktail Club” at Sancturia, my friend and I got to try out this new Lebanese restaurant. We had a very hard time narrowing down our selection since we both had our favorites that we wanted to try, so we followed the waiter’s advice and ordered the Layla Mezza for Two. Really…I think it easily could have fed three or four!

I got to taste my favorites: baba ganoush and falafel, while my friend had her favorites: hummus and tabbouleh. The Mezza also came with mutable, batata harra, and labneh. It was hard to remember which was which when it all came out on a large platter, but we both ended up sticking with our favorites when dipping the pita bread. Since falafel can be dry by itself, I recommend placing it inside a pita along with the different flavors to mix and match the taste. The Labneh, a thick Arabic yogurt dip, helped to sweeten it up for sure.

My friend and I also shared the Chicken Shish Kabab, which comes with basmati rice and fresh vegetables, and I’m not quite sure where we found room for it. I really didn’t want to leave it behind in favor of the Mezza platter, but then I also enjoyed dipping the chicken in some of the sauces as well.

I definitely recommend bringing a friend to help try multiple dishes. We were so full, there was no room left to try their baklava, one of my all-time favorite desserts that’s not chocolate! I definitely hope to go back.

Fantastic attentive service as well.

Resources:

Layla = http://www.laylalebaneserestaurant.com/