Mama Ayesha's
1967 Calvert Street NW, Washington, DC
Middle Eastern$$
4.1•13 reviews
Halal summary
The staff of this restaurant has verbally confirmed halal status. All food at this restaurant is certified halal.
Fully Halal
Alcohol Served
1967 Calvert Street NW, Washington, DC
The staff of this restaurant has verbally confirmed halal status. All food at this restaurant is certified halal.
Our founder, Mama Ayesha Abraham, was born in the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem in the late 1800's. After running 24 farms by the age of 21, she came to the United States in the late 1940's and was hired as a cook for the Syrian Embassy. After toiling at the embassy and working at several DC restaurants, she opened her first restaurant in 1960, Calvert Cafe. The booming cafe served ambassadors, foreign dignitaries, and US officals. Known as the Calvert Cafe until Mama Ayesha's death in 1993, the building was renamed in her honor in 1994. Now run by her nephews and great nephews, although Mama Ayesha is no longer with us, her memory and recipes remain. Open Mon-Thu, Sun 12pm-10pm; Fri-Sat 12pm-11pm.
1967 Calvert Street NW, Washington, DC
Mama Ayesha\'s is a Middle Eastern restaurant (Maya Ayesha was born in Jerusalem, Palestine in the late 1800s but the restaurant doesn\'t bill itself as Palestinian) serving your typical Levantine fare. The waiter assured me that all the food is halal, but that doesn\'t apply to the walls of alcohol proudly on display. The restaurant is full-service and swankier than the vast majority of Arab restaurants. It bills itself as a DC landmark, a place to be or see a powerbroker, but perhaps it\'s lost Mama Ayesha\'s roots. Parking is nearly impossible, good luck finding it in a nearby neighborhood, so leave the 2013 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Wagon (12.1s @ 121mph!) at the track. Of course, grilled meat takes center stage, and this author tried the Mushakal Mashawi ($21) -- a meat sample for the indecisive with shish kabob (marinated leg of lamb), kifta (a ground beef kabab), shish taouk (marinated chicken breast), and vermicelli rice (rice with vermicelli). The food set the benchmark for average, quite disappointing with all the praise lavished upon it by itself. 3 out of 5 stars for quality, minus the standard 1 star for alcohol for a total of 2 out of 5 stars.
We ate here on our trip to Washington. The food is very good. I ordered the lamb chops and baba ghanouj. My daughter had the shish kabab. As others have already stated, there is alcohol served here.
Few of us friends got there late night for a carry out. Some of the most delicious food I have had. Felt like cooked with attention and skill.
this place is awesome! went there last night and ordered the shish. taouk. and it was great. we also tried the labneh and the hummos, along with the grape leaves.
place really nice,, clean. Food was good yet pricey.
The food is pretty good. The decor and ambiance is interesting, to say the least. Had the ground beef kabab, and it was decent. Please note I saw alcohol being served when I was there.
A lot of halal eaters tend to not go to restaurants that serve alcohol or cater to a "granola" audience. This is one of those places those people should avoid if that bothers them. The restaurant aims to serve communities impressed by decor, etc. I think they did a great job with that and the food isn't half bad. The pricing is in line with restaurants of this caliber and I will definately return!
Their lamb is really good; interior decor really nice and we had pretty good service. Very expensive but in line with the local area.
Was not that impressed.......The setting is great and the food is pretty good.......but the service is lousy.....Also, one of the waiter verified that the meat was "halal" but not sure of the validity as they serve alcohol there....Not a place to take families.
A touch on the pricier side but the dish i had here, kofte kebab with rice, was very flavorful and tasty. lovely decor as well.
Mama Ayesha's is great. I went in with a group of people for an Iftar dinner, and everything was fantastic- the food, the service and the atmosphere. I will definitely go back!
Great food. Not cheap though.
I've been here a number of times for the swordfish. Very nice staff and owner. I've know people to order entire lambs here b/c they are so good. They do have a bar which serves alcohol.