Gemmayze Lebanese Kitchen and Lounge

Went there for a late dinner with friends. The place has a very cozy feel to it, and the lightening was perfect. Service was prompt and we sat at the full service bar. We had the Gemmayze Trio, Shrimp and the 4 kinds of kabob. This was a good fulfilling meal for 2. Everything was cooked perfectly and packed with flavor, but I was expecting a little bit more of an authentic taste. Overall excellent place for dinner.

Very cool place right down town drinks were good no complaints there, food was good but not great. I would go back but would prob order something else them the kafta must say if you like hummus this may be your place it was great.

We came here with to use a Groupon and were pretty disappointed with our food.
–Fatoosh salad: the dressing was basically all oil. It wasn’t mixed well with the rest of the dressing that wasn’t oil, so you would just get bites of the salad with literally just oil on them.
–Stuffed peppers: the meat was totally unseasoned.
–Grape leaves and the table bread: best thing we had there, but nothing exciting.
Besides the food, the waiters were friendly and attentive, and I really did like the vibe inside the place. Very modern and chill, and we really enjoyed the music they were playing (Radiohead, Arcade FIre, etc.) which is really the only reason for this three star rating.

First time at a Lebanese restaurant. It was around 8:30pm on a Friday night when my friend and I arrived. The place has a nice décor with dark lighting. We were seated at a half booth half chair table. If you read my other reviews you know much I love booths. Anyway, a lot of the items on the menu looked delicious.
We ordered
Shish Tawook G Cubed chicken breast marinated and skewered with
peppers and onions — 14.95: I remember my friend saying the rice was really good. The dish looked quite big.
Gemmayze Trio
Ara-​yes Halabi, Grape Leaves and
Chicken «wraps» served w/​hummous and garlic paste — 12.95: I LOVE the garlic sauce that comes with any middle Eastern meals. The was really filling. I think I ate about a little more than half. I was still full the next morning. Worth it!
We also ordered drinks but I don’t remember them being remarkable. They also had bread which was pretty tasty.
I checked in on Unilocal and received a free rice pudding with our dinner purchase. Love Unilocal!=D
Nice spacious bathrooms.
As some other reviewers mentioned, this place plays really loud music. I can’t even hear myself talk.

The music is so depressing, my word. The food is barely ok. The meat and lamb had a funny taste, like a old meat taste. We came in for lunch, should have know by the place being empty. I would not recommend this place. We had a 60 groupon for 4 people and for some reason we left hungry.

If you go here, I would suggest ordering from their appetizer menu. The entrees here are overpriced and you don’t get much food. Appetizers are a different story though. Outstanding hummus and baba ghanouj and fairly priced for the serving. Very good beer selection too. Our server was outstanding.

I have never been disappointed with this place, from the drinks to the waitstaff to the food. And if you check in here on Unilocal,I believe you even get a free dessert! So I guess now we have to go back again to claim that… :)

Came here about 7pm and was seated at the front. The restaurant was all but empty. The service started out ok but after the waitress brought my food out she didn’t return. After I finished my [subpar quality] food, I looked up and noticed she was at the bar making drinks for customers at the bar. She made drink after drink after drink. I proceeded to stare intently at her so as to get her attention but she didn’t even look my way for about ten minutes. When she finally looked my way she said «I’ll be right over» and it was another five minutes before she came over. To top things off, she did not even apologize for the ridiculous wait, and even chose to patronizingly call me «sweetie».
Went to the website afterwards to inform the manager what had happened, and after I clicked the «submit» button on the online feedback form, my browser went immediately to the restaurant home page without any acknowledgement that my feedback had been submitted.
Called during business hours to talk to the person in charge of the website and the server that picked up said he didn’t know who was responsible for the website. I asked for the manager and he said «he won’t be in until tomorrow. It’s just me and the cook right now.» I suppose I could have asked him to have the manager call me, or I could call tomorrow, but honestly I don’t care that much. I’m writing this review so other people can avoid the complete joke of a business that this restaurant is. If it’s still in business in a year I’ll assume it’s being used for money laundering.

In reality I’d give them a 3.5 out of 5.
First visit the waiter was very nice, I met a friend there with her newborn for lunch. I am pregnant and morning sickness has not let up. I go through a lot of liquids, from water to iced tea. I get that it’s a bit hard to keep up with, so I was thankful for the bottles on the table. Just needed a bit more attention when the bottle got low.
I ordered the tabouli salad and chicken shwarma. We started with pita and Hummus.
The pita is absolutely the best ever. Fresh and warm, and the hummus was really tasty too. Just keep in mind they only give you like 5 pieces of pita for a big plate of hummus and you’ll likely want more.
The food came out fresh and although not lightening speed, it was perfect for having casual conversation and munching on the appetizer.
My salad and chicken were delicious.
I noticed when my friend started to breastfeed our waiter suddenly disappeared. She was well covered and no one asked her to stop or leave. But I was a bit annoyed to be out of water, finished with our meal and ready for a check when our waiter wouldn’t come around. Hey buddy, just don’t stare right at her boob, give us more water, grab our plates, and don’t freak out. It’s just an infant breastfeeding.
My second visit was similar. Ran low on drinks, had to ask for pita like 4 times. Waited longer for our meal and my chicken was rather dry this time, and spent a lot of time looking around for our waiter.
The food is good, I think the service is just not quite up to my ideal. I’ve only gone for lunch and it’s been the same waiter both times, so I’m curious if it’s just him or the establishment.

So it’s a Thurdsay… and even though it’s nearly 70 degrees, it’s of course raining… again…
What to do? Pull up that Groupon you just bought for Gemmayze, tag one of your best girlfriends for some happy hour fun, and relax the rush hour traffic time away.
Ahhh…cozy, warm, and good food with great company is just what the doctor ordered and it was very therapeutic! So much so that I just bought another Groupon for Gemmayze! cha-​CHING!

just going to write a quick review:
Reason: Birthday Party
Where we sat: Large Lounge area upstairs in the back. Couches were comfortable. Table is about knee level when seated, it is not made for meals, more for appetizers and drinks. (²⁄₅)
Ambiance: Nice, very cool place for large parties or just hanging out. (⁴⁄₅)
Food: Decent, but portions are smaller than what you would expect for a Middle Eastern Restaurant. (³⁄₅)
Price: Pretty pricey for what you get. But you’re really paying for Royal Oak. (²⁄₅)
Final Thoughts: Wouldn’t be my first choice for Middle Eastern Food, but based on their drinks and drink specials, and accomodations for large groups this is a solid place for large gatherings. (³⁄₅)

Had a great experience at Gammayze! Authentic Middle Eastern? Not really but was very good and they do have some authentic items on the menu. Some people prefer the non-​authentic. Raised right outside Dearborn I grew up on a lot of authentic middle eastern food and understand both sides of the argument.
We were there on a Wed which is half off bottles of wine night. Bonus! They also have a full bar with some interesting drinks. We started with Hommus and veggie grape leaves which I was very impressed by. The hommus texture was smooth and you could tell it was fresh because the garlic was not over powering. The grape leaves are hand rolled every days and served warm with a lemon wedge and garlic spread.
I ordered the Shish Tawook (chicken kabobs) and they were very juicy and nicely marinated. 3 of my friends ordered the lamb chops and they LOVED them. I was kinda bummed they don’t offer lamb shish kabob but heard good things about the chops all night. Another person in our party ordered the shrimp dish (can’t remember the name) but she really liked it too.
The building is 2 stories right in downtown Royal Oak. It’s very nice inside and a little swanky, in a good way. Plenty of space for big parties with a bar on both levels. The staff we had was awesome. Our waitress name was Dawn and when we return we will ask for her again.
Summary — great location, good food, cool atmosphere, with a variety menu. It is a little pricey but expected for the area. If you have a few people in your party that don’t want authentic middle eastern food and some that do this place is perfect because you can get both.

This is not the place you go to for authentic Middle Eastern– there are plenty of places in the Detroit area you can go if this is what you want. Gemmayze is a Middle Eastern– American lounge. The restaurant itself has a good atmosphere and the service was average (I do find it funny when asking for a recommendation that the waitress lists off half the menu. Does not help narrow it down). They do a happy hour, but you have to sit at the bar which was not helpful to us.
The reviews on Unilocal have not been good. What we found was that the food was very inconsistent. Which makes writing a review difficult. We liked the pita but the hummus was not good. The shish kafta was good but the swordfish kabob was dry and fairly tasteless. We also had the Mediterranean shrimp flat bread, which was very good. As in good enough to come back again, but only for the flat bread. So a four for the shish kafta and shrimp flat bread and a two for everything else.

The food was so mediocre and the portions were small for a Mediterranean place. I have definitely had more authentic and better Mediterranean/​Lebanese compared to this place.
The drink specials do look good though… Overall, very very ordinary.

I’m really surprised to see the negative ratings on here. I went with my boyfriend the other night and thought it was wonderful. Our waitress was great and very prompt with her service. I got lamb chops and my boyfriend got the beef tenderloin kabobs and they were both fantastic. We both ordered one of their sides and they ended up being out (not a big deal) but they gave us free dessert because of it.
Overall I thought it was great and will definitely go again, with or without a Groupon.

Well, we went on a Groupon and glad we did not pay full price. The place was busy for a Monday night to my surprise after we got our food. Atmosphere was nice. Service was very good. Food was not so much.
The choices were very limited and I thought way overpriced for what you got. Two flat breads (Labanese???) that were just so so and nothing we were thrilled with. I could have had those anywhere or made at home for a quarteer of the price. Ordered the veggie trio that was SO bad they took it off the bill. Lentils that were mushy, seosoned with parsely, raw onions, and pickles they tried to pass off as Mujadra. Artichoke salad that was jarred artichokes and frozen asparagus. Yuck! The veggie grape leaves were the only edible thing on the plate. The bread was chewy and flavorless.
Paid $ 8 for three sips of wine.
The bartender assured us the lamb chops were delicious AFTER we had our meals.
You have to impress me to bring back and risk paying that kind of money for food. Just another gimmicky Royal Oak eatery that will not last. Too bad for sure.

My experience was really nice, but not excellent.
I made reservations for two through their website. I loved that option.
We had a third person join us and that posed no problem.
Ambiance pretty laid-​back. I liked the overall layout of the restaurant.
The host was really attentive and friendly.
Our server was also very friendly. She was very attentive to my party’s needs, which was honestly over the top if I had been by myself.
Pros:
Wednesday night = half off bottle of wine. Excellent! Waitress even had us sample it to make sure we liked it.
Unlimited hot and fresh pita
My friends seemed to enjoy their meals
Cons:
I started the night with a cocktail. On the menu it stated my Black Rum would be muddled with pineapple and garnished with pineapple. I’m sure I’m not mistaken on this. I was confused when my drink came and it was lemon infused. I didn’t say anything, but for $ 10 I was hoping to get what was listed on the actual menu. I should have spoken up, but passed it off as maybe they were out of pineapple? The lemon was fine, but could have really irritated other patrons. I was surprised nothing was said…“sorry we ran out of pineapple” ?? Lol
I had a bowl of lentil soup which was very watery. Taste was fine, but I prefer the thicker soup that I usually got when I lived in Dearborn.
For the portion size I thought some of the meals were a little expensive
The only other issue was that my third person was like 30 minutes late. Our waitress despite being friendly and attentive, seemed slightly impatient which I didn’t understand.
Overall, we had a good time with no major complaints.

My company was looking to book a restaurant for our Christmas party, and our criteria was picky and borderline pain-​in-​the-​ass. We wanted a private bar, a private room, somewhere near Royal Oak, a specific date, our own waitstaff, the list goes on. We decided to check out Gemmayze (Ge-​May-​Zee, I asked how you say it!) since we heard that it had a private room. A coworker and I went one night to talk to a manager, I believe his name was Nick. He bought us both a glass of wine and then went over menu options, atmosphere, timing, etc. After we spoke with him, we sat at the bar, ordered some food, and drank some more. The bartender was constantly filling up our wine glasses with more wine, and I’m pretty sure he only charged us for 2 glasses each even though I am sure I drank an entire bottle by myself. I liked him!
Since everyone was friendly and the food we sampled was good, we booked our party here. Our admin worked with the manager to figure out the menu and everything, and we even hired a guy through the manager to play the guitar and sing during our party. The night of the party, everything was great. The room is upstairs and it is completely separate from the rest of the restaurant. There are a few tables and chairs, and then rest of the seating is more of a lounge feel with couches and shorter tables and stools. The bar is right next to the room and there are restrooms off to the back of the room so you don’t have to go downstairs to where there are only two single stalls. The waitstaff was also really attentive and kept the area clean of our dishes and empty glasses.
The food was AMAZING. I’m not kidding. We had chicken and shish kebobs, hummus, grapeleaves (which the manager said his Mom cooks every morning), tabbouleh, pizzas, I don’t even remember what else. The hummus is so good, so much better than other Mediterranean restaurants in the area. The meat for the shish kebobs was cooked so perfectly and was delicious. I couldn’t believe that it was cooked that well for being prepared for about 30 people and served in catering dishes. Everything was good, and I didn’t hear anyone complain about anything they ate. What I loved the most was that you didn’t walk out of here smelling like garlic. I love the taste of garlic, especially when eating this kind of food. But it’s nice that it’s not overpowering here, especially for a Christmas party.
We only had one small complaint about the whole night. We had told the manager that we wanted the bar to be private for at least the first few hours of the night. He had told us that it wouldn’t be all night, but pretty early on we spotted a few people going to the bar for drinks. Our company credit card was linked to the bar, and when I went to the bar to get a drink, the bartender just gave it to me without asking if I was with the party or if it should go on the credit card. It made us a little nervous that outsiders could just walk up to the bar and charge a drink to our company. After we complained about it, the waitstaff brought around free shots for everyone, which was a really nice gesture. Other than that we had a great night, and I know a lot of coworkers have already gone back since for dinner and drinks because we all had such a good time!

I don’t know why I get excited and suckered into the over rated buzz about new Royal Oak restaurants.
Just because the town is full of rich, bourgeoisie bitches doesn’t mean it’s necessarily worth it.
I went to Gemmayze with some friends for dinner because we all enjoy Lebanese cuisine and because the establishment has only been open for 4 or 5 months.
Fine, I’ll try it.
I ordered the lentil soup and the falafel salad, my friends ordered a fatoosh salad, grilled salmon dish and some shrimp scampi dish that had no pasta.
My dishes were OK, nothing noteworthy. The soup was delicate, leaning on the border of bland and lifeless. The positive thing about the dish was that everything was cooked perfectly, just very little flavor.
The falafel salad was displayed beautifully with chunks of cucumber, chopped falafel and tomato, smothered in a tahini dressing.
Well, the veggies were crisp and yummy, but the falafel’s were nothing but over-​fried sesame seeds and no other flavors of cumin or other spices I adore in a falafel dish. Ugh!
The grilled salmon wasn’t fresh and tasted like week old fish, the fatoosh salad didn’t knock my socks off either and was average.
The shrimp scampi dish was very good though! The shrimp had a creamy and encompassing sauce and the shrimp were plump and tender on the tongue.
Also their hummus and pita bread was hot and really good. Full of nutmeg and lemon, just how I enjoy it.
The real drag, however, was the price. My dish was 12 $ for soup and salad and my friends dishes were 20 $ and 30 $. GARBAGE!
If I had to pick a Lebanese place to eat at, Gemmayze is the LAST on my list.

My family and I went here for our monthly night on the town. I was expecting great, but what I got was just OK. I love, Love, LOVE lebanese, so I was expecting, just waiting, to love Gemmayze, but I couldn’t.
The setting is beautiful, but the service is so unprofessional it can’t be overlooked. And the food is OK at best. I had beef tips and hummus. Beef tips — chewy; hummus — acidic.
Oh, and the drinks — overpriced. Bummer.