12 Chairs Cafe

We ate at 12 Chairs on a Saturday night with no prior reservation. We arrived closer to 5:30 pm and waited to be sat outside. If you want to sit inside though, I would highly recommend you reserve your party way in advance! They are really busy and tend to get booked very quickly. Several parties were turned away the longer the night went on. My friend and I ordered a host of dishes. We went for the small plates deal of buy three and get one free. We ordered the babaganoush, my personal favorite because of the delicious eggplant flavor and soft texture; the matbucha, very heavy on the tomatoes; the falafel and tahini - the falafel was delicious and flavorful, not dry and crisp, while the tahini had a slight tangy kick to it and heavily featured garlic; and the spicy platter, my second favorite, featuring a jalapeño and spices soaked in the most amazing garlic confit. The small plates are served with warm pita bread, which were super pillowy. We added on a middle-sized dish of roasted cauliflower with tahini, but it honestly wasn’t necessary. The four small plates really filled us up. The restaurant also serves a side order of Israeli pickles and olives, which are extremely tangy, with every order. I would highly recommend this restaurant for the amazing dishes and hope to return some time to try it again.

EXCELLENT place to share a great dinner with family or a date. The food is excellent; the eggplant in their pita is absolutely the best I have ever had. I love the salads and sides alike. The menu is excellent. Other reviews complain about their speed. First of all, this is New York, and they have limited seating. Second of all, their service is extremely helpful and FAST - I love the speed at which they get my food out. They were nice enough to sneak me in to a table on an extremely booked holiday, as well. Portions are generous: always a bit to take home. I recommend sharing a salad, trying their pita, and having a sandwich.

Absolutely loved this place. Everything we ordered was amazing — especially the halloumi and baba ganoush. We shared 4 small plates and honestly every dish was a 10/10. Great vibes, great food, great service. Idan was so nice and our server too !Can’t wait to go back!

We had a great lunch at Israel Place. We ordered the babaganoush, the 12 Chairs Salad with grilled chicken, and the pita schnitzel, everything was incredibly fresh and full of flavor. The portions were generous. A really enjoyable experience overall

12 Chairs Cafe is a small restaurant tucked away on a hidden street in Soho. It has about 10-12 tables, so reservations are highly recommended. The tables are pretty close together, making it more cozy than private. The service is great—quick and efficient—but they'll pressure you to leave the table quickly. The food, however, really shines. Prices are quite reasonable, especially considering the generous portions per plate. All dishes are shareable. I personally recommend the chicken and potatoes as the main dish!

12 Chairs has some excellent food across the menu. The Babaganoosh and Falafel Hummus are 2 great starters, the falafel is crispy and has tasty filling that pairs with well with their other appetizers and sauces. The schnitzel pita was loaded and delicious too. My only complaint here is that it’s probably the most uncomfortable seating I’ve experienced in NYC, and yes many NYC restaurants are cramped but this spot has to be noted. You can’t comfortably sit more than 2 people at any table here, and we were crammed in a corner with a pole to one of our backs, another poorly placed table to another one of our backs, and me with no back support on an uncomfortable bench near the entrance patio doors crammed next to every other table. I would not recommend this spot for anymore than 2 people and even then they were still shoving people in tiny spaces, also very quickly the small tables can become overcrowded when the mains come out.

The tastiest hummus and falafel I've had and delicious lamb kebab. Everything had a unique taste with lots of flavors. Service was super fast too. Highly recommended.

Very tasty Israeli and Middle Eastern fare. The place is tight so don't count on a gathering of 6 or more. All meat dishes are very good.