Olympic Pita has been going through a bit of an identity crisis lately. When I first discovered it last year, it was a casual falafel and shawarma restaurant. Then, it became Baraca with dimmer lighting, more modern décor, a much pricier menu, and sushi! In recent weeks, the name has reverted back to Olympic Pita. All of these changes never affected the quality of the food, fortunately.
- Olympic Pita Laffa
Olympic Pita is fantastic for many reasons, but mainly because it offers something that most pita places in Manhattan do not: homemade laffa. For those of you who may not know, laffa is freshly-made, over-sized pita baked in a tandoor oven that comes out with the perfect combination of soft and crispy at the same time. As soon as you open the door to the restaurant, you can smell the laffa baking.
On the way to our table the main dining area, we strolled by the laffa oven and the salad bar. Everything looked delicious. We started with an order of hummus, which came with a piping hot laffa for dipping. The best way I can describe this combo is “heavenly.” The hummus was garlicky and creamy, and topped with great tahina and olive oil. Although it doesn’t say it anywhere on the menu, the basket of laffa can be refilled as long as there is hummus left – so, be sure to ask!
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- Olympic Pita Salad Plate
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- Olympic Pita Hummus
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- Olympic Pita Falafel Laffa
Every lunch order comes with a trip to the salad bar. You are allowed to fill up one small plate with a delicious assortment of coleslaw, Israeli salad, pickles, etc.
For my main meal, I ordered a falafel laffa, which comes with hummus, harisa, Israeli salad, and French fries. I have had fries in pita before, but those were always bland and soggy. Olympic Pita’s fries were actually good on their own, and even better squished in with falafel and covered in hummus! The falafel was absolutely delicious…a little spicy, crispy on the outside, and a ton of flavor.
Even with all its changes and my few minor complaints, I can’t stop raving about Olympic Pita. It is definitely as good as any falafel I’ve ever had in Israel.
And finally, a few additional Miss Menu pointers…
- In addition to the sit down restaurant, there is take-out available.
- The sit down prices are more expensive than take-out, and the dinner menu is more expensive than the lunch menu
- Do not expect service with a smile – the servers are a little rough around the edges and hard to track down.
- Gratuity is included in the bill (which probably explains the above statement!), so there is no need to add extra money for tip on top of the total.
Tags: Baraca, Grill. Hummus, Laffa, Middle Eastern, Olympic Pita, Salad, sushi
The laffa is spectacular, but I will never set foot in this horrid restaurant again. I brought a party of 22 to Olympic Pita for lunch. We had made reservations in advance, and confirmed that they would be able to handle our crowd. They were not. We were served by two waiters who had three days experience between the both of them. It took 45 minutes for the cold appetizers, like hummus, to come out of the kitchen! It took an hour and half for the mains to start coming out. The waiters didn’t know who ordered what, many people’s orders were missed entirely, some people got served their main course before their appetizers, and four people didn’t get served a main course at all.
I approached the manager on the floor with the problems and she agreed to give us a discount and free dessert. A waiter then came up to me a bit later and explained that they couldn’t give us free dessert because the freezer was broken and the ice cream had melted! When the bill came, the manager took 10% off. I was livid, and refused to pay that price. The manager and chef then started yelling at me, accusing me of being a thief, of scamming them and other restaurants, and calling me disparaging names and saying that I had no right to wear a yarmulka.
Eventually, the owner of the sushi bar in the restaurant, who was visibly ashamed by the actions of the manager and the chef, pulled me aside, gave me 30% off the bill, and apologized for everything. And while I appreciate his actions, I will never set foot in Olympic Pita again.