Riyadh's might be decent if you were literally right in the area (say shopping at the awesome Lounge Lizard vintage shop next door!) and all the sudden realized you wanted Middle-Eastern for lunch. Old-school moderate design, no frills, just a low-key place to grab some food.
We ordered the lamb and lamb/chicken combo mezza plates, and they came out relatively quickly, with friendly service. There was not a lot of meat served with the dishes, which was great for me, but 4 pieces of lamb seems a bit light? The hummus/baba ghannouj/tabbouleh were all amazing though. Totally fresh and in healthy portions. The falafel was unfortunately hard and dry, and in very small pieces. The lamb was fattier than I would have liked, but my boyfriend seemed to enjoy his chicken.
The biggest downfall at Riyadh’s is that they use store bought bread. The bread at Middle-Eastern restaurants is key, and should be homemade, thin and delicious, served piping hot. Instead the bread here is just thick white bread in a circle form, served luke warm.
On the upside, this place is cheap, so it would definitely fill the need for an inexpensive dinner for some. All in all, Riyadh's is just not nearly as authentic as I would have liked, and what I have come to expect from some fantastic Portland Middle-Eastern restaurants. I say skip it.
* Jayne
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