I am glad Danielle posted about Uncle Deek because I’ve been forgetting to talk about this place. To say it in few words, If I were the minister of Interior or head of the police or even a local police official in the Ain Mraisse area, I would do everything I can to close down this place because:
1- It does not have a Valet Parking but worse, it lets cars park randomly in front of it, blocking the whole right lane and causing endless traffic throughout the day.
2- The Coffee delivery people there are Kamikaze and jump in front of cars to get coffee to their customers on the other side of the road.
3- It looks very dirty from the inside and outside. I am quite sure it won’t pass any hygiene test.
4- Its slogan is stupid (cold-food-hot) WTH?. Reminds me of Bliss House’s slogan (BBQ, Juice, Ice Cream). That is not a reason to close it but I thought I mention it.
As for its Nescafe, I never understood the Lebanese people’s obsession with nescafes from small kiosks or dirty looking shops that pour lots of Nestle into the Nescafe to make it taste nice.
omg yes, the traffic! I get stuck every time I pass through there, just an hour ago I was passing in front of it on my way home, with some mercedes dude going reverse right in the middle of traffic to park there. I mean, the coffee can’t be THAT good can it?
Well…I do not want to start on Uncle Deek and CO. and CO. Bliss House on Bliss Street and CO. and CO. every other falafel joint and every other restaurants or convenient store or pharmacy with adequate parking…It is not their fault it is the fault of the Lebanese people and their total disregard for their own time and other people time. I do my part by boycotting such joints, i always did and I know I will not make a change but at least I feel better.
I was starting to think that I am the only one who finds Nescafe from such places sucks…honestly it tastes like shit (sorry if i offended anyone)
It is the best nescafe I ever had and as a Saudi I tasted a lot !! So don’t offend it
The parking infront of places isn’t just an Uncle Deek issue. It happens a lot in different places.
When I enter Antelias, there is a Hawa Chicken and a baking place where there is valet AND people randomly park infront of it. There’s constantly traffic there.
I think the Lebanese like it just because of the service!
Uncle Deek has the best Nescafe of all the nescafe joints…. but that doesn’t mean it’s any good.
But on the parking issue, what’s uncle deek’s fault if there is not a proper planning scheme when shops open up on major streets?
Someone mentioned Hawa chicken in Antelias, but it’s a lot more places…the cars parked on the outer skirt of the Moulin D’or front parking practically become the retainer wall on a busy day and some guy just pops perpendicularly right into oncoming traffic..
it’s got to do with planning, or lack thereof, and that has to do with municipalities and ultimately government…go figure
haha! glad I started a topic of conversation!
Well were not … And it’s not uncle deem fault the parking and it’s veery clean …. Lennon is a cheap country but yet the best … What do u expect
Ronman,
If there’s no place for cars to park, dont open a nescafe or drive through place in the first place.
I think Patrick’s example of Hawa Chicken in Antelias perfect! Hawa Chicken and Bechara were causing so much traffic that they added a sufficient amount of parking space to the side of the building.
The number of times I’ve seen the guy who stands outside organizing parking, having to yell at people for double and triple parking is insane! People refuse to abide and park 20m away!
The same thing is happening at Barbar in Hamra. They is a FREE parking lot just across the street that was provided by Barbar for their clients but people still double and triple park causing chaos on the streets.
The responsibility cannot be solely place on these places but the clientele too. However, I hold Uncle Deek responsible for their kamikaze staff.
Najib,
when Uncle deek set up shop decades ago, the street didn’t experience this amount of traffic… I Wonder what a proper bus line that goes through Beirut, outskirt parking, and a congestion charge would do to traffic in Lebanon…
The Barbar, and Hawa Chicken solutions are great, but Uncle deek’s area is limited in real estate, not to mention the price of the land to create a free parking is easily in the millions, how many nescafes would he have to sell, and how many kamikaze employees would he have to send home?
Good evening, I have recently seen this site and I would like to leave a comment on what is written about Uncle Deek.
1-It’s true it doesn’t have a valet parking but think about it the street has three lines two lines for the cars passing through Uncle Deek and one where you can park to be served by the employees. In fact this is what’s happening since there is always a police officer working according to this plan. Therefore you can make sure that the “Endless traffic†you’re talking about is not because of Uncle Deek. The traffic is everywhere from Rawshe to Hamra to Phoenicia hotel.
2-Concerning the delivery people you are talking about, I don’t think that you should judge on the whole staff if you have seen one person doing it.
3-“It looks very dirty from the inside and the outsideâ€. Well I don’t know what do you mean by this. Personally I’ve never seen a sign of dirtiness in making coffee or whatever… When it comes to the dirtiness from the outside mmm well I think that we live in a country where many people throw their trash on the street and the garbage can is one meter ahead.
Btw if you think that it won’t pass any hygiene test then I have a very easy solution… “Don’t go there†=) who knows maybe even the Kitkat or galaxy bars are contaminated lol.
4-“Cold-Food-Hot†Mmmm… I don’t think that we need Einstein to figure out the meaning of that. How about: Cold drinks – Food (chocolate etc…) – and Hot drinks…
Mission accomplished yey I broke the code=)
And finally, “The Lebanese people�?!! I think you should talk with more respect. Btw thank God you are not the minister of Interior or head of the police imagine all those employees jobless smart plan? I don’t think so…
Thank you 🙂
Hi Carole,
1- I did not know that prior to writing this post but the reason why the Police does not harass Uncle Deek is that “mad3oum” as they say unlike Barbar for example and its place and cars parking on the right cause more traffic than there should be there.
2- I’ve seen most of them do this as I used to pass there almost everyday and at different times during the day.
3- The place looks dirty from the outside and you do need a clean place to make your coffee, from the sugar to the milk to everything.
4- I didn’t say the slogan was hard to understand. I said it was stupid.
What do you mean more respect? I stated that I didn’t understand why Lebanese like this type of places. How is that disrespectful?
Hi again sah eno nehna b balad ma meshe fi ela lwasayit bas ma b3te2id eno l uncle deek mad3um cz law ken mad3um ma keno hato darake lel nhar 3a beb lmahal ta ymashe lsiyarat sah? Ba3den ma tensa eno 3a nafs l5at fi dardashat w cafe tene w nw mat3am 3m yeftah jdid. W bas temro2 mn honik ntebih eno l3aj2a bedal mkamle la ba3ed l uncle deek. W benesbe la be2e l eshia hayda ra2yak kel wahad 3ndo wejhit nazaro bs ma habet kif shamalet Lebanese people le ye3ne enta shu msh lebnene? Hasaytak me3tebir halak a3la mn lebnenie duno maybe ma hek azdak anw ur free to think the way u want tc.
Haha. Kalaa’s slogan is best : it’s not eatin, it’s chicken. I also wrote a post about deek by the way. –http://catierobbinswriting.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/uncle-deek-the-cult-of-nescafe-takes-in-another-pilgrim/
Najib, It’s really looks very dirty 🙁
Thanks for the post.