Ya Hala Grill - Denver

Went to lunch today at Ya Hala Grill for some Middle eastern and Mediterranean food. It is on the south east corner of Evans and Colorado. It looks like its the size of an old gas station/convenience store that has been revamped.

I had never eaten there nor had Bubbles so we decided we'd give it a go. We also had a coupon, so we really thought we were hitting a home run. You walk in and it looks like cafeteria style food. A small menu in the upper left hand corner and then a true cafeteria line. Neither of knew what to do so we hesitated and looked at the menu. The man behind the register said, to go or dine in? Dine in we tell him...and he points to his left. Which happened to be a sit down restaurant. Before we are even situated in the booth, we are handed menus. It might not be the best method of customer service, but at least they acknowledged us.

A few minutes past and over came a different server. No small talk, no greeting, not "hi, how are you" or even something like "drop dead." We both ordered Water and then I also ordered a lemonade. As soon as we ordered our drinks, he said "what to eat?" In the most unprofessional, lack of personality, almost rude manor. We ordered our food and off he went. Unfortunately for me, I only got the lemonade, I guess two drinks are too much to ask. When they brought out the humus and the soup (lentil), I again asked for water. He didn't acknowledge that I was even speaking to him so for all he knows I might have been speaking in pig-latin or asking Bubbles for her water. Who knows.

Our entrees came. I had salmon (which was breaded and fried), weird I thought...but hey its all good, I can be adventurous. The salmon I ordered was suppose to be grilled with what they referred to it as a zesty sauce. So I am pretty sure I got the wrong salmon. Bubbles got the gyros, which she didn't complain about...so I will assume it was good. Both entrees came with a hummus and pitas, lentil soup or salad and rice. It was a yellow rice, that if it hadn't been over cooked, would have been fabulous. About half way through our meal...a different server than we had had before came over to take away an almost empty plate of humus from Bubbles. He asked if she was done with it, she said yes. He proceeded to ask "yes or no" about five times, until finally she was like "I don't understand." He laughed and walked away. Only to come back a few minutes later and just stare at her...literally standing at the table not saying anything, just looking at her. Here we are sitting in a booth, him standing looking at Bubbles, Bubbles looking at me with a look of panic, and me looking at the guy like he is a pedophile.

When we asked for a to-go box and he responded with 2 dollars. I have a look of confusion, and he says it again. He then just glances over at Bubbles and continues to stare. Just to get the weird creepy guy to leave our table I say yes, just put it on my tab. He again, says 2 dollars and laughs. He brings to go boxes and I go to give him the coupon. He walks away leaving the coupon on the table, apparently they don't take coupons on Holiday's. Since today is Presidents day, no coupon. He tries to explain that I can come back tomorrow for the coupon, but I can't use it today. Weird creepy guy just stands there and stares at me, until I give him my credit card. Bubbles reaches for hers, so we can split the bill and he has already walked away. We motion for him to come back, when he gets back to the table. He says "no coupon" yet again.

Although, the food was a little better than adequate, the really creepy service makes me never want to walk into the building again. I have a coupon that I am pretty sure will go completely unused just because I had such a bad server experience!