I’ve always loved Aida’s, and now that i’m back in Calgary I get to take full advantage of my love once more. In the past week I’ve been to Aida’s twice. Not only d they have vegetarian options for me, they have plenty of delicious and filling meat options for my family and friends. And can we please talk about the Mouhammara? Holy heck. I could live on it. When I go, I’ll often ask for an extra order to take home with me.
The first time I visited Aida’s this week was with my family and we started with (of course) the Mouhammara. In case you couldn’t tell, I recommend it. I also ordered the Fatayer to start, which is spinach wrapped in pastery and are delicious on their own and also with the Mouhammara. For my main course I ordered the Vegetarian Couscous, which was phenomenal. I wanted to order the Baklava for dessert, but was sorely disappointed to learn that it is made with excessive amounts of butter and, beng vegan, I obviously did not order it. The service was great on this visit; I find it’s often up in the air at Aida’s, where sometimes service will be wonderful and oftentimes take forever to even have drink orders taken.
My second visit of the week was with friends. One of whom is a vegetarian and the other who is not. Again, we started with Mouhammara (it’s not even an option with me to strat without it). I ordered the Spinach and Lentil Soup which was delicious, but very large and very filling. I would not recommend it unless you haven’t ordered an appetizer, are extremely hungry, or perhaps just eat more than I do. For my main course I ordered the Falafel Platter, which is always a good choice. I generally order it with Baba Ghannouj and Tabbouli, but (for some reason) I was not feeling Tabbouli on this occasion and, kindly enough, they gave me Baba Ghannouj and Hummus instead of the Tabbouli. I was pleased that they made the switch for me, but regretted my decision after dinner when I felt exceedinly full from such excess amounts of heavy food. I recommend sticking with the menu, as I plan to do on all future visits. The service on this visit was very slow. While our waitress was very nice and very helpful, it took a long time for drink orders and the final bill.
Overall, it’s obvious that I recommend everyone try out Aida’s, if you haven’t already.
Thanks for the review and the recommendation! I’ll have to try Aida’s one day! Awesome!
Thanks for reading; I highly recommend Aida’s, definitely a Calgary classic!
Hi Elsie
Not sure if you’ve made it to Aida’s yet, but it is PHENOMENAL! It truly is my FAVORITE restaurant in Calgary (because you can actually eat fresh, healthy food). My staples (because I am vegan) are Tabouli, Grape Leaves, and the dip sampler (but I don’t have the lebneh because it has yogourt in it).
I agree whole heartedly with Katie that the Mouhammara is to DIE for
Thanks for the Article Katie!
Oh, and if you want great service at Aida’s ask for Zanzara – she’s our favorite server in the entire world. We go there so often, we have developed a great friendship with her!
Have a great day,
Colette
Hi Colette,
Thanks for the advice! And so glad to hear someone else rave about Aida’s; it’s impossible not to tell the whole world how great it is!
Katie
Zanzara is probably the only server left in the world that actually cares about the entire experience for the guest. Is the music right, is the lighting right. It’s called refinement, and you very rarely see that from anyone in the service industry anymore. You will never hear her call women “guys.” She will not pop the cap off a beer at the table. She tries her hardest to provide the best dining experience that she can for you, in spite of the rudeness that most people feel the need to pass onto anyone serving them. And it is very hard when you have to do EVERYTHING on your own, answering the phone, making drinks, bussing tables, cashing. She does it all, with class, efficiency, and a friendly demeanor.
Oi, now I will definitely need to ask for Zanzara next time I’m there; she sounds awesome! It really is hard to find good servers, and I can understand why; I know that I would probably be horribly rude and disinterested in customers, which is why I know it’s the wrong job for me and have avoided it like the plague my entire life.