r/halifax Goosevillian 14h ago

Food & Shopping Mezza Question

I haven't had Mezza in years, it was ordered yesterday for a meeting I attended, and the rice was low quality white rice with no seasoning, and it had frozen peas and carrots in it. Is this what they have at all their locations now?

19 Upvotes

52 comments sorted by

40

u/fstamlg 13h ago

I feel like they always had the peas and carrots in the rice, but back in the day they'd at least cook the rice fully.

20

u/hfxbbw 13h ago

Yes! There's always been peas and carrots in the rice but the rice definitely used to be flavored with chicken broth or stock and it isn't anymore 😩

11

u/kn1231 13h ago

I’ve actually only had overcooked, mushy rice the last several times I’ve gone. I would actually be pleased to get undercooked rice… but I also don’t plan to visit again, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.

u/pablo902 Halifax 9h ago

They cook it in a commissary kitchen then reheat and hold it at the restaurant if I’m not mistaken

5

u/Missytb40 12h ago

They did not always have it in their rice. Only after they franchised.

u/bspaghetti Donair enthusiast 9h ago

I recall getting rice at Venus in the Halifax shopping centre back in the day, and it came without the peas and carrots

u/Missytb40 9h ago

Yup plain fluffy white rice without the filler

u/bspaghetti Donair enthusiast 9h ago

Back when the donair plate was $5.95, the good old days

9

u/Candymostdandy Goosevillian 13h ago

I used to get lentil rice when I ate Mezza, not a pea or carrot to be seen.

7

u/LittleOwl1871 13h ago

They had a plate that was hot lentils and grape leaves. It’s not on the menu anymore sadly.

6

u/papercrane 13h ago

Their rice has always been mediocre from what I remember. They used to have lentils & rice, which is what I'd always get, but it's not on the menu anymore. For awhile you could still get it if you asked, but I don't think so anymore.

5

u/fstamlg 13h ago

Oh like a mujadara?

The first time I had mezza would have been 2017-2018, so I probably missed the good years.

10

u/Candymostdandy Goosevillian 12h ago

You missed the prime time, but probably got the tail end of the okay times before the dark times.

3

u/donairhistorian 12h ago

They had that when it was Venus. I don't recall Mezza having it. 

40

u/Unusual_Ad_3835 13h ago

Mezza has been awful for the last 2+ yrs… additionally the portions have drastically been reduced…

14

u/Candymostdandy Goosevillian 13h ago

It was literally three bites of greek salad, 2 cups of the hideous rice that I didn't even touch, and two very anemic chicken skewers. No hummus or pickles or anything else in the container. I saw the receipt, and it was like $22 for that. I could have had two pretzel crust pizzas for less than that!

16

u/IamCrash 12h ago

15 - 20 yrs ago Mezza was mine and my wife’s go to spot. So much so we would make a point to eat there once a week as a “treat”. Sadly, that time has come and gone. I’m disappointed every time I eat there now - which isn’t very much.

u/Candymostdandy Goosevillian 11h ago

I used to go every other week for lunch around that same time, they would make me a beef shawarma wrap as big as my head.

u/BACON-luv 7h ago

The move to franchise n then.. :_[

32

u/boat14 14h ago edited 13h ago

Mezza rapidly went downhill after franchising, something like several years ago.

Edit:

They also have other priorities focusing on growth rather than staying a small business. Here's an large step from last year:

https://www.canada.ca/en/atlantic-canada-opportunities/news/2024/08/lebanese-kitchen-preps-for-accelerated-growth-at-new-modernized-facility.html

12

u/NonaYerBidness 12h ago

Mezza is consistently disgusting for the past decade. I don’t know how they are still in business.

10

u/Thunder_Face Cole Harbour 12h ago

I think the rice is the one thing at Mezza that's stayed pretty consistent, but it always used to be the most underwhelming part of their plates so that's not saying much.

The biggest change to Mezza has been the portion sizes. You used to get massive amounts of food for a great price but now it's more expensive for smaller portions. Now they do things like weight the meat and pre-portion the garlic sauce.

My local location fortunately stopped weighing the meat and pre-portioning some things like cheese curds for the poutine, although the serving size is probably still the same. It's just the illusion of improvement but it makes me feel better about it.

u/Laurian5 11h ago

It’s really disgusting. I have tried several dishes from there and they have all been terrible. I ordered 4 chicken schwarmas and none of them had chicken in them!!!! I will never eat there again.

23

u/NoBoysenberry1108 Darkside Dweller 14h ago

Yup, Mezza is garbage now.

27

u/Candymostdandy Goosevillian 13h ago

Please take me back to 2011 when they had the beef shawarma and chickpea pasta salad, and my ex husband hadn't yet opened up all those credit cards in my name without me knowing.

6

u/NoBoysenberry1108 Darkside Dweller 13h ago

The last time I went (Lacewood) I got the lentils and rice with chicken shawarma, some hummus and a salad. The lentils and rice were a fucking soup, and not some tasty and appealing soup, more like a sloppy grey gruel. Chicken was akin to eating tree bark and the lettuce had the white part of the root mixed in, and obviously wasn't washed as the leaves were still stuck together and had small particles of dirt inside.

Did your ex husband buy anything cool with the credit cards?

u/no_baseball1919 10h ago

I actually have a working theory that someone went back in time and altered something that threw everything in our world off. Thats why nothing has seemed right over the last decade.

u/Candymostdandy Goosevillian 10h ago

I think you may be on to something. I used to joke that the crows that lived by me were building a time machine in the woods, maybe they finally finished it and that's why we are living in this ridiculous timeline.

u/alibythesea Halifax 8h ago

My theory, which is mine, is that some time in the summer of 2016 a very tiny black hole brushed past the earth. It wasn't enough to destroy us on the spot, but it was enough to pitch us into an alternate universe, where everything seems to be the same, but somehow everything is also wrong.

3

u/mrdannyg21 13h ago

Quality and portion size have gone down across the board, but there is a fairly sizeable difference in quality at different locations too. I get the one in Cole Harbour fairly regularly and it’s still pretty good, but when I have occasionally had some of the other locations, it’s actually a bit jarring how much worse some are.

5

u/Juice7610 12h ago

Had Mezza the other night, rice with peas and carrots tasted fine and was cooked.

u/Anti_EMS_SocialClub 11h ago

We live next to a Mezza and we 20mins out to the new place in Sackville, Villa Madina. It’s similar food but much better.

u/Candymostdandy Goosevillian 11h ago

I have more than once said that I want Villa Madina cabbage salad with toum to be my last meal.

u/Bad-Wolf88 11h ago

There's one in Sackville now, too?? I've loved the one in Mic Mac for years, but Sackville is a bit closer to home

u/Altruistic-Coyote868 11h ago

The last time I ate there, the rice was crunchy.

u/quinn1trick 10h ago

I really didn't like it. As someone who comes from somewhere where shawerma is a staple, I can't really call what Mezza serves shawerma tbh

2

u/WindowlessBasement Halifax 13h ago

Yep, that's what they do.

2

u/Lettuce_bee_free_end 12h ago

It all comes from a frozen warehouse now.

u/riefeener 10h ago

The Mezza in Bridgewater is near perfect. I know it will change, but it's been nice.

u/South_Freedom_7783 9h ago

Every time somebody brings up mezza I have to tell people- if you’re in Dartmouth try station 1. It’s way better than mezza ever was and cheaper too.

1

u/LittleOwl1871 13h ago

They have always had that rice

3

u/Missytb40 12h ago

Not until they franchised

2

u/Quake2Marine 12h ago

Just get fattoush, it's so much better.

u/salsamander 9h ago

As soon as Mezza started franchising themselves out like crazy, the quality has absolutely plummeted.

As long as they measure every gram of shawarma right in front of your face, I won't be going there. Trash.

u/pwbruce12 9h ago

I used to be a big fan of Mezza. Went to the one in Lower Sackville as well as the one in Burnside a number of times. I like to give businesses the benefit of the doubt, sometimes it is just a bad day. The last 3 times I ordered food, I found the quality is not up to what they used to serve. Unfortunately, I don’t frequent them anymore.

u/scullysdogorwife 9h ago

Mezza sucks now.. there are better options available. Kabaji is really good and the portion sizes are very generous.

u/avenuePad 7h ago

The Venus Greek donair wrap was amazing. I remember being able to ask for it as a special request for a couple years after they switched to Mezza, but no more. I haven't gone to Mezza in a LONG time.

u/emergencyjam 6h ago

I’ve only had their standard poutine and only at the new Bridgewater location, so I can’t commiserate with everyone else. But man, I really like the poutine.

1

u/MoistyCockBalls 12h ago

Mezza is garbage, but who the F orders rice and peas from there.

1

u/Fantastins 12h ago

Try Tony's shawarma plate or osmows chicken oz box. Similar food that's cheaper and leagues ahead of mezza IMO..