If you live in Jacksonville, NC, then you know that the choices for going out to eat are pretty limited. Sure, we have the big chain restaurants that always have a long wait, but we know what they have. If you’ve been to one Olive Garden, you’ve been to them all.
In Jacksonville, we have a decent variety of cultures, considering how small town we really are. There are a few local restaurants that show off some of the different flavors that are out here. One such restaurant is Marrakesh Mediterranean Cuisine on Western Blvd.

My family was looking for something new, something exciting for dinner. We had been out running errands, and there was no way we wanted to cook dinner. We had heard about Marrakesh from a couple of friends and figured it would be a good idea to check it out. We first got there around 5pm, and it wasn’t too busy. We were able to sit at one of the booths, which the girls liked. Our server, Maria, was very friendly and was able to answer all of our questions about the food choices. We had never heard of most of the dishes, so we had a lot of questions. We finally decided on our selections and couldn’t wait to try them.

For our appetizer, we orded the Stuffed Grape Leaves. Sounds strange, but they are so yummy. We’ve eaten them before at a friends’ house, and hadn’t had them in a while, so it was a great choice! For my entree, I chose a chicken dish, that I was told was not yet on the menu. She told me to ask for the Chicken with a “T” LOL.. and everyone would know what I meant. It was delicious! It was the perfect blend of spicy and sweet, and the chicken was cooked to perfection. Not try, but definitely cooked thoroughly. My hubby had Shawarma, which is a steak dish. It did come out just a little bit dry, but the flavor was delicious. Our girls each had their choice of a meat and salad… They both chose Chicken Kabobs, and the cucumber salad. They ate all of it. I was surprised! They totally give their food two thumbs up. All of their meals come with Pita Bread, Rice and a Side Salad. The rice is amazing, and you get your choice of salad. We each chose a different salad so we could try them all. They did not disappoint!

For dessert, we picked two. My girls tried the Harissa, which is sweet Semulina and Honey Cake. I didn’t expect it to be cold, but the flavor was really good. My hubby and I chose Kulag, which is a sweet pastry made from phyllo dough, filled with Ricotta Cheese and topped with sugar syrup. Simple and really good! My hubby and I also decided to try out the Turkish Coffee with our dessert. Now that was some coffee! It was so good, the small cub of it just wasn’t enough!

All in all, we are very glad that we tried Marrakesh. It’s something new and different. It’s not a chain restaurant. The food was really good, and the service was excellent. I can see why UrbanSpoon has it rated as the #1 Restaurant in Jacksonville! If you live in Jacksonville, or nearby, or if you’ll be passing through here as you travel, I highly recommend checking out Marrakesh. We will definitely be going here more often!!

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*We were not compensated in any way for this post.